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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “external authentication”

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 “external authentication”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 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 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #1 2 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #2 3 miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 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 #10 5 too low 6 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Captcha Code 100K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #12 ↑5 1 too high 14 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too low 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email 9K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Capsquery Facial Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Simple REST API Authenticaton with WooCommerce Credentials 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 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.