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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ip reputation”

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 “ip reputation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

Anti Fake Orders & IP Blocker shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 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 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 2 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #2 3 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 11 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 ↓5 11 too low 12 GranTech IP Firewall for AbuseIPDB 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 8 too high 13 ThreatPoint IP Reputation 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Elastic Email Sender 10K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 SMTP.com 80+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑5 1 too high 18 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 ZeroBounce Email Verification & Validation 900+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 BeyondSEO – AI SEO to Improve Rankings, Listings & Online Visibility 20K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 IronPhantom Fraud Defense 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 SentraIP 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Anti Fake Orders & IP Blocker 300+ · 1.0★ (2) wp.org #11 13 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.