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

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 “wp privacy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 Consent API shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1138 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #1 2

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #2 3

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #3 4

WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6

WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #6 7

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑6 3 too high 12

WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too low 14

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑9 3 too high 16

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #17 1 too low 17

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #18 ↓1 19

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too low 20

Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #24 3 too low 22

WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too high 24

WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓2 13 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.