wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “image protection”
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 “image protection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.
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
Image Protection shows at wp.org #2 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1106 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830)
wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 
Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103)
wp.org #4 ↑6 5 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #9 ↑4 3 too low 7 
Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264)
wp.org #8 ↓6 1 too low 8 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #14 ↓13 6 too low 9 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (166)
wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106)
wp.org #19 ↓4 7 too low 13 
Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406)
wp.org #16 ↑5 3 too low 14 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #22 ↓6 7 too low 16 
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82)
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 
Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32)
wp.org #20 ↑3 21 Image Protection 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑2 19 too high 22 
Ultimate Watermark – Image Watermark, Image Protection & Bulk Watermarking 1K+ · 3.3★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 
Featured Image with URL 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 
CodingBunny Image Optimizer 600+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.