Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “protected links”

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 “protected links”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Customize Private & Protected: Password Form & Prefix shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 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.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #1 2 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 3 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #16 ↑2 8 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 ↓3 13 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #20 ↓4 8 too low 13 Email Address Encoder 100K+ · 4.2★ (160) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too low 14 Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too high 19 C Cloak Affiliate Links for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Customize Private & Protected: Password Form & Prefix 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #17 ↓5 5 too high 23 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 too high 24 Erdo Draft Links – Share Drafts, Client Preview, Secure Link 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.