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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “spam bots”

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 “spam bots”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Under Construction places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1285 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #1 2 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #3 4 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #4 5 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #21 ↑3 8 too low 14 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #15 ↑1 16 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Anti-Spam Protection – No API Key, GDPR Friendly 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too high 21 Spam Master 200+ · 4.2★ (72) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Block Specific Spam Woo Orders 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 En Spam 500+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.