Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 mode”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 4 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

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Events Calendar places #10 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #7 ↓3 4 too low 4 WP Safe Mode 2K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #18 ↑4 9 too low 10 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓1 8 too high 12 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #20 ↓6 7 too low 14 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #17 ↓5 3 too low 15 AEO God Mode – AI Search Visibility 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #22 ↓3 4 too low 19 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 20 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 S Safe Report Comments 100+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓2 13 too high 23 Beckin Maintenance Mode 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 Simple Maintenance Mode White Screen 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 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.