Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “spamhaus”

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 “spamhaus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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 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

Email Health Check & Log for WooCommerce – SPF, DKIM, DMARC & Alerts shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its — 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

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening places #4 on merit, 4.2★ from 386 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 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 2 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #2 3 Stop Spammers Classic 20K+ · 4.4★ (243) wp.org #15 ↑1 12 too low 4 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #21 ↓1 17 too low 5 MembershipWorks – Membership, Events & Directory 2K+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #22 ↓1 17 too low 6 Dolutech Blacklist Protect 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 7 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 WordSec – Malware Scanner & Removal, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and 2FA 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 DevDome Affiliate Manager: Amazon Affiliate Plugin for Amazon Associates 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 DevDome Redirect Manager: Link Rotator, Geo Redirect & 302 Redirect 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 DadsFam AntiSpam 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Dam Spam 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 Elevoire Email Delivery Doctor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 T Thessley Security Hardening — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 DeliverScope — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 S Sovaryx Login Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Webboll Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Email Health Check & Log for WooCommerce – SPF, DKIM, DMARC & Alerts — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Blueternal BOLT Security Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 SMTPing Email Suite: SMTP, Newsletter & Email Verification — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 PCrisk Trust Badge – Website Security Seal & Malware Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 SaferCheckout Lite – Fraud prevention for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.