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← Rankings

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

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 rest”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 5 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

JWT Authentication for WP REST API shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 53 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1138 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 ↓2 2 too low 3 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #11 ↑8 3 too low 9 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #8 ↑5 1 too high 10 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #16 ↑7 17 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #18 19 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 CloudSecure WP Security 100K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓9 4 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.