wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “private downloads”
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 “private downloads”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Customize Private & Protected: Password Form & Prefix shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1,006)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142)
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 4 
My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82)
wp.org #3 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 5 
Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158)
wp.org #5 6 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2,778)
wp.org #7 ↑5 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 7 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1,445)
wp.org #8 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 8 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1,281)
wp.org #11 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 9 
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297)
wp.org #9 10 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3,224)
wp.org #13 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 11 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #14 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 12 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1,919)
wp.org #16 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 14 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (997)
wp.org #19 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 15 
File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1,492)
wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 16 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (185)
wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 17 
Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (442)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 18 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #23 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 19 
File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155)
wp.org #21 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 20 
Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142)
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 22 
WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43)
wp.org #18 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 23 Customize Private & Protected: Password Form & Prefix 400+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 17 places above merit 24 
Drive Downloads Lite – Google Drive for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.