wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “prevent bots”

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 “prevent bots”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Email No Bot – Prevent bots from detecting emails shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ 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

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 590 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #1 2

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

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #4 ↓1 5

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14

Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #6 8 too high 15

No-Bot Registration 2K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #22 5 too low 18

Authorizer 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19

Telegram Bot & Channel 500+ · 4.8★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20

Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 D Disable WP Registration Page 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22

Email No Bot – Prevent bots from detecting emails 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 17 too high 23

Duplicate Killer – Prevent Duplicate Form Submissions 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑3 3 too high 24

EDH Bad Bots 50+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑3 8 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.