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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “jwt tokens”

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 “jwt tokens”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

CoCart JWT Authentication shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ 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

SAML IDP (Identity Provider) – Login with Website Users places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 62 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.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple JWT Login – Allows you to use JWT on REST endpoints. 4K+ · 5.0★ (47) wp.org #1 2 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WP OAuth Server ( Login with WordPress ) 1K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too low 7 WP Login and Register using JWT 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 A API Bearer Auth 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Firebase Authentication 400+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 SAML IDP (Identity Provider) – Login with Website Users 600+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #21 ↓1 11 too low 11 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Login Me Now – Passwordless, Magic Link, OTP & Social Login for WordPress 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 JSON API Auth 600+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 WPRaiz Content API Tool 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 MyWorks Sync for WooCommerce & Xero 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 CoCart JWT Authentication 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 AH JWT Auth 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Connect WPForm to Any API 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too high 23 Simple JWT Auth – JWT Authentication for WP REST API — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Mux Video Uploader 100+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.