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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide rest api”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “hide rest api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

SteadFast API shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #1 2 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #2 3 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 WC Hide Shipping Methods 20K+ · 4.2★ (44) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #13 14 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 SMNTCS Disable REST API User Endpoints 8K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #18 19 REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 SteadFast API 8K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 Hide Price and Add to Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Hide Author Archive 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 WPEM – REST API 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Hide Any Page 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.