wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “whitelist”

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 “whitelist”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

IP Whitelist shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 160 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 signals wp.org

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #1 2

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #7 3 too low 5

Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7

CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9

Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10

Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #11 ↑4 12

BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too high 14

Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16

WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17

IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.1★ (128) not PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓8 1 too low 18

DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #20 21

Really Simple Under Construction Page – Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 1K+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22

CM E-Mail Blacklist – Simple email filtering for safer registration 800+ · 4.5★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23

Kadence Central – Site Management, Backups, Security, and Reporting 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24

IP Whitelist 60+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.