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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “secured comments”

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 “secured comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Easy Spam Filter – Privacy-Friendly CAPTCHA Alternative with Turnstile for Contact Form 7, WPForms, BuddyPress, Elementor shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 402 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #1 2 Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 ReplyBox – Better WordPress Comments 60+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Anti-Spam Protection – No API Key, GDPR Friendly 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 7 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Atarim – AI Agency for WordPress: Edit Pages, Fix Code, Update Plugins, SEO & Client Feedback 1K+ · 4.9★ (126) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 GDPR CCPA Compliance & Cookie Consent Banner 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 iControlWP 900+ · 4.8★ (63) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Easy Spam Filter – Privacy-Friendly CAPTCHA Alternative with Turnstile for Contact Form 7, WPForms, BuddyPress, Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Hitsteps Web Analytics 700+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 C Comments Press Zone — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Raptcha 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 TodoX — Project & Task Management for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.