wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “prevent content”
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 content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 60 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29)
wp.org #1 2 
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297)
wp.org #2 3 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #3 4 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #4 5 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #5 6 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #7 8 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #19 10 too low 10 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #23 11 too low 13 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 2 too high 14 
Prevent Files / Folders Access 1K+ · 4.6★ (35)
wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 9 too high 16 
Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 
Get Use APIs – JSON Content Importer 5K+ · 4.9★ (78)
wp.org #18 ↓6 1 too high 20 
Add Widget After Content 6K+ · 4.7★ (38)
wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 
Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Content Update Scheduler 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 
Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓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.