wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “invisible”
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 “invisible”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 2 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
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133)
wp.org #1 2 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #4 2 too low 3 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #3 4 
Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #9 4 too low 6 
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA 6K+ · 3.1★ (14) thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #2 6 too high 9 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 
Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376)
wp.org #17 7 too low 11 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #22 10 too low 13 
Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #8 5 too high 14 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #6 8 too high 15 
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #11 ↑3 5 too high 17 
StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #15 3 too high 19 
Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 
Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #16 4 too high 21 
LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 
Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 
Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.