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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “support bot”

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 “support bot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. 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 ↓1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Chat Button & Custom ChatGPT-Powered Bot by GetButton.io 20K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #19 ↑2 9 too low 11 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #20 ↓3 9 too low 12 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #21 ↑3 9 too low 13 Telegram Bot & Channel 500+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 11 too high 16 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 No-Bot Registration 2K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 Show Support Ribbon 300+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 WPChat – Live Chat & Messaging Widget for Customer Support 6K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑4 9 too high 24 Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification 90+ · 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.