Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “nist”

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 “nist”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 of the top 19.

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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No unsafe-inline 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPDoctor Malware Scanner & Vulnerability Checker & IP blocker with Hack monitor Lite 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Activity Guard – Security Scanner, Activity Log with IP blocking 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 ANON::form embedded secure form 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Cypress North Password Policy — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 Vigidomain — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 w3mypq — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 CodeMedic SupplyScope — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 C CoffeeDevs CVE Check for PHP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 ncdLabs Assure – Security & Compliance Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 GeniousSonu Site Checkup — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Hard Guard Security – Malware Scanner, 2FA & Login Protection 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 SyncNet Patch Radar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 D Disallow Pwned Password 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 ArchivioMD — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Shakvaro Shield — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 Agentic Admin — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 Copyleaks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 MazeGuard Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 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.