wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “forgot password”

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 “forgot password”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Direct Password Reset Link | Share a password reset link to the user shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 327 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #2 3 C Custom Forgot Password Mail 300+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #1 2 too high 4

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #19 11 too low 9

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #22 13 too low 10

Frontend Dashboard 500+ · 4.9★ (136) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11

Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction 1K+ · 4.2★ (222) wp.org #17 6 too low 12

Swift SMTP (formerly Welcome Email Editor) 7K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #13 1 too low 13

Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15

WP Telegram Login & Register 800+ · 4.9★ (37) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16

Wheel of Life: Coaching and Assessment Tool for Life Coach 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #15 1 too high 17

Ultimate Client Dash 2K+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too high 18

Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19

ARCaptcha – Puzzle Captcha | New-generation Captcha and bot protection 300+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20

Direct Password Reset Link | Share a password reset link to the user 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 16 too high 22

PhonePe Payment Solutions 10K+ · 2.6★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #14 8 too high 23

User Registration Using Contact Form 7 400+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 11 too high 24

Simple Custom Login Page 60+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.