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

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 control”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Dam Spam shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. 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★ (3221) wp.org #1 2 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #4 ↑2 4 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions 20K+ · 4.7★ (204) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #22 ↓4 4 too low 19 Anti-Spam Protection – No API Key, GDPR Friendly 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 bbPress Notify (No-Spam) 2K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Spam Protect for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 OpenPorte Spam Protection 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Dam Spam 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 13 too high 24 Easy Spam Filter – Privacy-Friendly CAPTCHA Alternative with Turnstile for Contact Form 7, WPForms, BuddyPress, Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.