wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “forced login”

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 “forced login”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Entryway – WP Login & Logout Redirect shows at wp.org #3 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #6 3 too low 4

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #7 ↑10 3 too low 5

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too high 7

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #13 ↓6 5 too low 9

Loggedin – Session Manager: Limit Concurrent Logins & Auto Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #11 1 too low 11

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #12 ↓4 1 too low 12

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #14 2 too low 13

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too low 14

Entryway – WP Login & Logout Redirect 6K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #3 11 too high 15

Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-Bot and Security Plugin for Login and Forms 4K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #9 6 too high 16

Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17

My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #17 ↓3 18

Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19

Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20

Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21

DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too high 22

Password Policy Manager 6K+ · 4.4★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too high 23

SiteLock Security – WP Hardening, Login Security & Malware Scans 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24

Teydea Login Security – Password Policy, Complexity Rules & Expiration 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓3 6 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.