wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “menu restriction”
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 “menu restriction”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
WP User Profile Restriction shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 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.
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #1 2 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #2 3 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #3 4 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
Login IP & Country Restriction 8K+ · 4.6★ (52)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #10 4 too low 7 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #12 ↑4 4 too low 9 
Simple Page Access Restriction 6K+ · 4.9★ (32)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526)
wp.org #21 10 too low 12 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #19 6 too low 14 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #22 7 too low 16 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Page and Post Restriction 1K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 
Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52)
wp.org #11 8 too high 20 
Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25)
wp.org #9 11 too high 21 WP User Profile Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #8 13 too high 22 
Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25)
wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 
Restrictions for BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 
SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 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.