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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “intelligence”

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 “intelligence”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

AI Provider for Anthropic shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1039 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 TWIPLA – Website Intelligence 800+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #14 ↓3 7 too low 8 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 WP fail2ban – Advanced Security 60K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #9 ↑5 2 too high 12 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (286) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 ActiveCampaign – The autonomous marketing platform 40K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 ActiveCampaign for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.0★ (48) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Blacklist Manager – WooCommerce Anti-Fraud, Blacklist & Checkout Verification 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Lockora Security Audit 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 AI Provider for Anthropic 70K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 AI Provider For DeepSeek 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Vulnerability Monitor for Wordfence Intelligence 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓2 11 too high 23 Customer Intelligence for WooCommerce 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 AI Provider for Google 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.