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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “math captcha”

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 “math captcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

BotShield CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ 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

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 578 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 D DS CF7 Math Captcha 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 2 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (971) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (828) wp.org #14 9 too low 6 Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #21 14 too low 8 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (268) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Math Captcha for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Quick Paypal Payments 1K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Captchinoo, admin login page protection with Google recaptcha 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 RMGCaptcha Math Guard – Math CAPTCHA for Login and WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 Contact Form 7 Spam Killer 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 HSArticle Math CAPTCHA for Forms 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 HSArticle Login Math Verification 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 D Dlit Easy Math Captcha 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 SKP WP Admin Login Captcha 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 BotShield CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Math Captcha for Gravity Forms 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 C Custom Captcha Field for Fluent Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 AMSites Login Customizer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Admintosh – WordPress admin customization and security tools 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 Alpha Addons for Gravity Forms 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.