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

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 monitor”, 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

Cron Setup and Monitor – Get URL Cron shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ManageWP Worker places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 679 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 LukStack Uptime Monitor 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 WebTotem Security 700+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 SmartSMTP 2K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Uptime Monitoring for WordPress – My Website is Online 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Aepto Domain Expiry, SSL, DNS & PHP Security — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 Flex SSL 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 Cron Setup and Monitor – Get URL Cron 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 14 too high 24 Scanfully 100+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.