Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “pharma”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 17. 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

SolverGuard Spam Shield — Anti-Spam, Bot & Login Protection shows at wp.org #6 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #1 2 Content Guard Pro – Database Malware Scanner & SEO Spam Detector 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 3 DocID® 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 4 Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too low 5 Turbo Guard – Security & Malware Scanner 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 Dotsquares Custom Login URL & Security Suite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 MDL Spam Filter 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 FormGhost — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 SolverGuard Spam Shield — Anti-Spam, Bot & Login Protection 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Synth Antispam – AI Comment Spam Protection — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 German Posting Filter Plugin — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 BotSubmit 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 Yuga AntiMalware — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 AlgoRadar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 MCP Content Manager Lite 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 Nexura Security — Malware Scanner, Firewall, 2FA & WordPress Security 20+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 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.