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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “secure api”

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 “secure api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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

SteadFast API shows at wp.org #2 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4958 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (66) wp.org #1 2 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5018) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #4 5 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (5202) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4825) wp.org #6 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4958) wp.org #19 ↓3 12 too low 8 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #8 9 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (407) wp.org #18 ↓4 9 too low 10 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4939) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7314) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1483) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI providers 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↑4 9 too high 17 Custom API for WP 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 SteadFast API 8K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #2 16 too high 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 JSON API Auth 600+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 SiteGuard WP Plugin 500K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #9 ↓4 13 too high 23 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too high 24 Secure Downloads 600+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.