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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “private website”

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 website”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Private Store for WooCommerce B2B & Wholesale by B2BKing shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 600+ 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.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #5 6 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #7 8 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 12 too high 14 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Private Google Calendars 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Build Private Store For WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Website Toolbox Forum 70+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Restrict Website Access 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Private Store for WooCommerce B2B & Wholesale by B2BKing 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Uptime Monitoring for WordPress – My Website is Online 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.