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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “malware injection”

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 “malware injection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Cleverhog Malware Scanner shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1,039 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.

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 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5,043) wp.org #1 2 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (398) wp.org #2 3 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #3 4 Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783) wp.org #7 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 5 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (561) wp.org #6 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 6 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 7 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 8 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #15 ↑4 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 9 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1,039) wp.org #24 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 15 places below merit 10 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #20 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 10 places below merit 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 13 Melapress File Monitor 5K+ · 4.1★ (32) wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 14 SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #19 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 15 AntiVirus 30K+ · 4.1★ (23) wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 16 WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #13 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 17 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 18 Atomic Edge Security – Firewall, Malware Scan and Login Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 19 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 20 Atlant Security 800+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 21 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 22 Moatline Malware Scanner 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑6 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 23 Cleverhog Malware Scanner 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 14 places above merit 24 VulnTitan – Malware Scanner, Vulnerability Scanner & Security 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit

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.