wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress security plugin”

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 “wordpress security plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 600K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 386 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #2 ↑2 3

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #7 8

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too low 9

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16

Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too high 17

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 4 too high 18

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓2 21

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23

FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #19 ↑5 4 too high 24

Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.