wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “simple 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 “simple comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Simply Disable Comments shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 8K+ 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.
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475)
wp.org #3 4 
Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491)
wp.org #4 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #5 6 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72)
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #17 2 too low 16 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #18 19 
Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
Simple Yearly Archive 6K+ · 4.7★ (30)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
Simple User Avatar 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #19 2 too high 22 
ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #11 13 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.