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

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 “prevention”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Kount Fraud Prevention shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 590 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5

Fraud Prevention For WooCommerce and EDD 4K+ · 3.7★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #2 3 too high 6

Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #10 ↑6 3 too low 8

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #21 ↑3 13 too low 9

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #24 ↓6 15 too low 10

Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #23 12 too low 12

Sensfrx.ai (SFX) – Fraud Prevention for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 8 too high 13

Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #22 9 too low 14

Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15

Blacklist Manager – WooCommerce Anti-Fraud, Blacklist & Checkout Verification 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #13 2 too high 16

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #11 5 too high 17 D Disable WP Registration Page 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18

ClickCease Click Fraud Protection 10K+ · 3.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #14 4 too high 19

ats privacy policy 200+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20

Spam Prevention for Contact Form 7 and Comments 10+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #12 8 too high 21

TrustLens – Fraud Prevention & Chargeback Defense for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22

Kount Fraud Prevention 20+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23

Export/Import Media – CSV Media Library Import & Export 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24

Antispam for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #9 15 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.