by Ajay 4.4 (61 reviews)

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress

Name: Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress
Rating: 4.4 (61 reviews)
Author: Ajay

Better Search replaces the default WordPress search with a better search engine that gives contextual results sorted by relevance.

Better Search ranks #3,175 among WordPress.org plugins with 5,000+ active installations, a 4.4/5 rating from 61 reviews, and was last updated Oct 16, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1.4

v4.5.2 Current Version v4.5.2

Updated 3 weeks ago Last Update on 16 Oct, 2026

Refreshed 6 days ago Last Refreshed on

Top 5% by installs Downloads +343.6% this week Actively maintained

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#3,175

— No change

Active Installs

5K+

-7%

KW Avg Position

14.4

— No change

Downloads

326K

+54 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

88%

Review 4.4 out of 5

4.4 (61 reviews)

Next Milestone 6K

Total Progress 36.2%

5K+ 6K+

252

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

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Need 638 more installs to reach 6K+

Rank Changes

Current #3,175

Change

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.4

61 reviews

Overall 88%

45 (74%)

7 (11%)

3 (5%)

0 (0%)

6 (10%)

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

19 known vulnerabilities on record · 2 in the last 24 months · checked 1 month ago

Nov 22, 2025

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 4.2.2

CVE-2026-24938 · Fixed in v4.2.2
May 7, 2025

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 4.1.1

CVE-2025-47507 · Fixed in v4.1.1
Mar 18, 2024

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 3.3.1

CVE-2024-29142 · Fixed in v3.3.1
Jun 7, 2023

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 2.5.3

CVE-2021-4342 · Fixed in v2.5.3
Jun 7, 2023

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 2.5.3

CVE-2021-4373 · Fixed in v2.5.3
Apr 11, 2023

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 3.2.0

Fixed in v3.2.0
Apr 10, 2023

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 3.2.0

Fixed in v3.2.0
Mar 1, 2021

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 2.5.3

CVE-2021-4400 · Fixed in v2.5.3
Mar 1, 2021

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 2.5.3

CVE-2021-4373 · Fixed in v2.5.3
Feb 17, 2021

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress [better-search] < 2.5.3

Fixed in v2.5.3

Showing the 10 most recent of 19 records.

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Plugin Details

Version: 4.5.2
Last Updated: Oct 16, 2026
Requires WP: 6.9+
Tested Up To: 7.1.4
PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Author: Ajay

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 4.4
Reviews: 61
Support Threads: 0
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

better search related search relevance relevant search search

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

Better Search is for WordPress site owners who want to improve on the default search functionality. It replaces WordPress's built-in search with relevance-based, customizable results that can be sorted, filtered, and tracked without writing code.

Relevance-based sorting
Weighted title and content search
Search within meta fields and taxonomies
Popular searches heatmap
AJAX live search
Custom templates and CSS
Caching plugin support
Profanity filter

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress

Yes! It replaces the default WordPress search and integrates with most themes out of the box.

Yes, you can enable searching in any public post type from the settings.

Better Search uses MySQL FULLTEXT indexes and includes internal caching. It also works well with external caching plugins.

Yes, you can override the results template by copying the file to your theme directory. More info in the documentation.

It filters out selected keywords from being searched. Handy for family-safe sites. Better Search includes a very cool profanity filter using the script from Banbuilder. You can customize which list of words you want to filter out from the Better Search settings page. Find the setting called "Filter these words:". The plugin will automatically strip out partial and complete references to these words. You can turn the filter off by emptying the list.

You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities. Report a security vulnerability.