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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “text captcha”

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 “text captcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

Simple Login Captcha shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 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 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #3 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #6 ↓5 2 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Friendly Captcha for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (18) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #18 ↑3 9 too low 10 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #21 ↓3 7 too low 15 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 D DS CF7 Math Captcha 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too high 17 Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 B Blue Captcha 400+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA 50K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Simple Login Captcha 10K+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #12 ↓2 8 too high 21 Easy Spam Filter – Privacy-Friendly CAPTCHA Alternative with Turnstile for Contact Form 7, WPForms, BuddyPress, Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Captcha Ajax 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Contact Form 7 Text CAPTCHA 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 BotShield CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.