Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reverse proxy”

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 “reverse proxy”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Clear Cache Everywhere shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #4 ↑4 5 WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too high 11 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #21 ↓4 8 too low 14 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #14 ↑6 15 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 WP Cassify 900+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Login Armor 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 TNC Toolbox: Web Performance 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 20 Protect Login 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Traffic Monitor 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 S Show Visitor IP 300+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 Fail2WP 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.