wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “light 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 “light login”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Personio Integration Light shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 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

WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #1 2

Easy Hide Login 20K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

WP Limit Login Attempts 10K+ · 4.6★ (300) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too low 7

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #7 8

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #22 10 too low 13

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #20 ↑2 6 too low 15

Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 ↑2 17

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #17 ↓1 18

reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.6★ (76) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19

Personio Integration Light 200+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #8 11 too high 20

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #21 22

Social Login, Passkeys, Magic Link & Email OTP – Passwordless Login by VentraConnect 90+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23

HSArticle Login Math Verification 50+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24

Chout – Custom Login Page 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1

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.