Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “report comments”

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 “report comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

S

Ranked above its merit

Safe Report Comments shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 1205 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 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #1 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too low 3 Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Zeno Report Comments 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #23 ↓8 9 too low 15 Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↓1 12 too high 18 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too high 20 S Safe Report Comments 100+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 16 too high 21 MainWP Child Reports 100K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓2 12 too high 22 FluentComments – AJAX Comments, Anti-Spam & Comment Email Notifications 700+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too high 23 WP Client Reports 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too high 24 Comments Shield – Disable Comments & Stop Spam, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.