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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “source code protection”

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 “source code protection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Image Protection shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 3 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 ↓7 1 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #11 ↑12 1 too low 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too low 13 Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Filr – Secure document library 700+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 OpenPorte Spam Protection 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Custom Code 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 eDarpan: Website Protection 200+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Image Protection 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.