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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “resilience”

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 “resilience”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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 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

Rate Limit Guard shows at wp.org #17 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 50+ 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

LiteSpeed Cache places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #1 2 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too low 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #20 ↑2 17 too low 4 WebTotem Security 700+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Simple Analytics 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Vulnerability Monitor for the EU Cyber Resilience Act 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑3 5 too high 9 ShipBG for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Fatal Plugin Auto Deactivator – Never let a plugin break your site 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 BrainCert Virtual Classroom 10+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Resilience Compliance Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Erdo CRA Compliance – EU Cyber Resilience Act, GDPR & NIS2 Scanner for WordPress — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Web-Engine Sentry 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 C CRAGuard Compliance Portal for the EU Cyber Resilience Act — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 CRA Vuln Notify 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Zero Budget Bot Shield 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Rooster One 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Secure DB Bridge For Bervice — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 LumenCache 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Proofwright — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Nimbbl 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Rate Limit Guard 50+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Shoplex – EU Compliance for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.