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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “random password”

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 “random password”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1077 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 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #1 2 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too low 3 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Password Policy Manager 6K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #21 ↓2 11 too low 11 MASS Users Password Reset 600+ · 4.0★ (14) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 Simple JWT Login – Allows you to use JWT on REST endpoints. 4K+ · 5.0★ (47) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 A Random Number 700+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Emergency password reset 800+ · 3.4★ (12) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Block wp-login 600+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Password Protect – Temporary Login Without Password & Password Protect Entire Site 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 17 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.