wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google 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 “google login”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Log in with Google shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #8 4 too low 5

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 11 too low 9

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #15 6 too low 10

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #20 ↓5 10 too low 11

Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #6 7 too high 14

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #14 ↓1 15

Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17

GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 8 too high 19

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #18 ↑6 1 too high 20

Google Authenticator 20K+ · 4.3★ (135) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21

FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #11 10 too high 22

Social Login, Social Sharing by miniOrange 10K+ · 4.6★ (356) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

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.