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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “really simple captcha”

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 “really simple captcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 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.

R

Ranked above its merit

Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 300+ 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

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #1 2 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #2 3 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #3 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #8 9 Newsletters 2K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 cformsII 3K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #12 ↑4 2 too high 15 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (157) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 Login Widget With Shortcode 5K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 ApplyOnline – Application Form Builder and Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (40) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 JS Help Desk – AI-Powered Support & Ticketing System 7K+ · 3.7★ (74) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 WCFM Membership – WooCommerce Memberships for Multivendor Marketplace 10K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 SimpleForm – Form Maker to Chat Apps with Quiz, Poll and Multi Lead Notifications 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 R Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.