wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “number comments”

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 “number comments”, 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

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4229 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #1 2

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #2 3

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 4

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too low 8

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #12 ↑6 3 too low 10

Social comments by WpDevArt 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #20 ↑3 8 too low 13

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15

Decent Comments 1K+ · 4.6★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #9 6 too high 16

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #8 9 too high 18

oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #19 1 too low 19

Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #14 5 too high 20

Counters Block – Animated Number Counters, Stats & Dynamic KPIs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21

Comment Notifier 400+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22

Russian Number Comments 90+ · 4.2★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 R Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts 100+ · 4.5★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Multilingual Comments Number 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.