wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “safe http redirection”

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 “safe http redirection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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.

Ranked above its merit

Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 251 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #1 2

Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #2 3

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #3 1 too high 5

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7

SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #10 11

Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too low 13

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #13 14

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16

CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) not PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18

Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19

HUSKY – Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional. MCP is onboard 80K+ · 4.6★ (337) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21

s2Member – Excellent for All Kinds of Memberships, Content Restriction Paywalls & Member Access Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.1★ (234) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓4 7 too high 23

Simple Page Redirect 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24

Paymob for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓4 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.