wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “json web token”

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

REST API Guard shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #1 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #5 2 too low 4

JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5

JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) not PHP-current wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 8

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9

JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too high 10

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #14 4 too low 11

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #6 5 too high 12

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #23 8 too low 16

PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 3 too low 19

WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) not PHP-current wp.org #19 ↓6 20

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21

WP Login and Register using JWT 100+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22

GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23

REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑8 13 too high 24

Visa Acceptance Solutions 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 11 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.