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

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 video”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 155 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 too high 10 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Vimeotheque – Vimeo WordPress Plugin & Video Gallery 2K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 FV Flowplayer Video Player 10K+ · 4.4★ (90) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo Gallery & YouTube API 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 CopySafe Video Protection – Copy Protect Video 100+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 oEmbed External Video 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Gumlet Video 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 10 too high 24 Mux Video Uploader 90+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.