wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “http https apache”

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 “http https apache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WPVulnerability shows at wp.org #13 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 20 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #1 2

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #2 3

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too high 8

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16

EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) not PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17

Prime Mover – Backup and Migration 10K+ · 5.0★ (141) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19

WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #13 6 too high 20

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24

PDF viewer for Elementor & Gutenberg 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.