wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website hide”
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 “website hide”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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
WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111)
wp.org #1 2 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #9 5 too low 5 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #14 ↑3 8 too low 7 
Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367)
wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too low 8 
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #16 ↑3 8 too low 9 
Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓2 5 too high 10 
LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #6 4 too high 11 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #24 12 too low 13 
Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) heavy footprint
wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 
Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ · 3.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #7 7 too high 15 
Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 7 too high 16 
Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 
Hide Admin Bar 20K+ · 4.5★ (30)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) not PHP-current
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104)
wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 
Hide Dashboard Notifications 20K+ · 3.9★ (33)
wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 
Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #15 6 too high 22 WP Hide Post — Hide Posts, Pages, Custom Post Types, and Control Products Visibility for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #10 12 too high 23 
Hide Price Until Login 1K+ · 3.5★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Hide Price and Add to Cart for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑2 6 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.