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

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 connection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Secure Encrypted Form shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 8708 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 signals wp.org

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #3 1 too low 3

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4

Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #2 4 too high 7

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 ↑5 1 too low 10

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #20 9 too low 12

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #16 4 too low 13

MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 7 too high 14

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #23 8 too low 16

Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin 50K+ · 3.8★ (397) heavy footprint wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #8 10 too high 19

SureFeedback Client Site 5K+ · 4.0★ (39) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20

NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 1 too low 21

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #18 3 too high 22

WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23

VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24

Secure Encrypted Form 50+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.