wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ssl authentication”

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 “ssl authentication”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #1 2

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #2 3

One Click SSL 10K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #3 4

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #4 5

Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #5 6

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #11 5 too low 7

Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #7 2 too high 10

SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #13 2 too low 12

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 2 too high 13

WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115) wp.org #14 1 too low 14

Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Gmail SMTP 10K+ · 4.1★ (103) wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #19 20

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 8 too high 21

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #23 2 too low 22

SmartSMTP 2K+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 7 too high 23

Volixta SSL & Security Headers – Free SSL Certificates, HTTPS & Mixed Content Fixer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24

Simple REST API Authenticaton with WooCommerce Credentials 60+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 4 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.