Duo Universal
by Duo Security · Login & Users
Also makes 1 other plugin · 5K+ installs across the portfolio →
Easily add Duo authentication to your WordPress website. Enable multi-factor authentication for your admins and/or users.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 71/100
Few reviews
Active installs
2K+
≈2.9K estimated
Momentum
+16%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “authentication”, “authenticator” and “login” for “biometric”, “mfa” and “multi factor authentication”. “authentication” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “biometric” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “authenticator” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mfa” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “login” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “multi factor authentication” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
71 health vs 61 average across 2,203 Login & Users plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →9.4%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 21.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Login & Users plugin keeps 0.7%, across 1,476 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Login & Users plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 1 reviews to 2024-05-06The one review here is happy with it, calling out the login prompts and the free tier for up to 10 users.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 298 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
4.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.10★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
33
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
6%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| muti factor your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| universal | #2 | #18 | down 1 |
| universal login | #1 | #13 | 0 |
| biometric | #5 | #9 | 0 |
| mfa | #7 | #10 | down 1 |
| multi factor authentication | #13 | #23 | 0 |
| multi factor | #16 | #24 | down 3 |
| passkey | #21 | #23 | down 4 |
| passkeys | #21 | #23 | down 5 |
| authentication your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| authenticator your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| login your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| two factor your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
16 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 7 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “authentication”, “authenticator” and “login” for “biometric”, “mfa” and “multi factor authentication”. “authentication” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “biometric” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “authenticator” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mfa” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “login” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “multi factor authentication” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 28 Feb 2024 · 977 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.4K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
10mo ago
latest release · v1.2.1 · 6 Jan 2026
4
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 97% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “2K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 16 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 27 Feb 2024
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ ankushdas2.5y ago
I use Wordfence on my websites for essential security protection. Sure, the 2FA method is available for free, and is plenty good for most.However, I have been fascinated with log-in prompts recently, and it saves so much time with the websites that support it. So, I thought, why not add it to my WordPress site? And, in my journey to explore, I found Duo Universal. It’s entirely free for up to 10 users – meaning, 10 WordPress applications, (don’t get confused when it asks to create a “Trial account”). Unfortunately, the passkeys functionality is only applicable to the devices you created it in during the trial period. While you can use existing passkeys on the OS you created it in, you cannot create new ones after the trial period ends.Wish the pricing plan was geared towards individuals, but the premium edition needs you to purchase a subscription for 10 users at once, at the very least :/Moreover, you get to customize your branded logo + background for free. I have tested the plugin on two of my websites (WordPress 6.5.2) with different combination of plugins that include: Wordfence, SEOPress, RankMath, Really Simple SSL, Akismet, Malcare, Updraft Backups, and LightSpeed Cachep.s: I hope more people rate it, and the information for the plugin is updated to “Tested with latest WordPress version” This topic was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by ankushdas. This topic was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by ankushdas.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.2.1 Adds support for new Duo certificate authorities. 1.2.1
- — Version 1.2.0 Updated dependencies to require duo_universal_php v1.1.0 1.2.0
- — Version 1.1.0 Refactored 2FA session management Switching between multisites will no longer logout the current user. Clearing WordPress caches will no longer logout all users. There is no longer a 48 hour Duo session separate from the 1.1.0
- — Version 1.0.0 Initial Release 1.0.0
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Easily add Duo authentication to your WordPress website. Enable multi-factor authentication for your admins..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,458 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("Authenticator", "muti-factor", "two factor" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-07-02 1K+ → 2K+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2025-06-28 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-27 1K+ → 2K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-26 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-25 1K+ → 2K+ up after 300 days in tier
- 2024-08-29 900+ → 1K+ up after 12 days in tier
- 2024-08-17 800+ → 900+ up after 21 days in tier
- 2024-07-27 700+ → 800+ up after 20 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Duo Two-Factor Authentication 3K+ installs · 3.7★ · 4 shared tags C -
SecSign 200+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags C - L Limit Login Attempts 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags C
-
WPS Limit Login 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
XO Security 30K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Duo Universal into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/duo-universal" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Duo Universal — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Duo Universal: 2K+ active installs, 4.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/duo-universal
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