wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “authenticate user”

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 “authenticate user”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Login as User or Customer — User Switching shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Disable User Login 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 O OpenID Connect Generic Client 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #4 1 too high 6

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7

JSON API Auth 600+ · 4.7★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #3 4 too high 8

SAML IDP (Identity Provider) – Login with Website Users 600+ · 4.8★ (62) not PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too low 10

Authorizer 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11

JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #16 ↑7 4 too low 13

HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #14 ↑7 1 too low 14

Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15

Gmail SMTP 10K+ · 4.1★ (103) wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too low 16

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #12 ↑4 4 too high 17

WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #22 ↓7 5 too low 18 O OneLogin SAML SSO 7K+ · 4.4★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #17 1 too high 19

GSheetConnector – Elementor Forms Google Sheet Connector to Sync Submissions to Google Sheets 9K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20

App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 2 too low 22 S SSO for Entra ID 700+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23

REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

LegalBlink 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.