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

All In One Login shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 35 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Login Page Customizer places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 476 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. 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★ (5038) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #2 3

WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #3 4

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #8 ↑6 3 too low 6

LoginWP (Formerly Peter's Login Redirect) 80K+ · 4.8★ (503) wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too low 7

LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓5 4 too low 9

Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #10 ↑7 1 too low 10

Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #11 12

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #6 ↑3 7 too high 14

WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15

Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #14 ↓8 1 too high 16

FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #9 7 too high 17

Easy Hide Login 20K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #15 3 too high 19

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓7 2 too high 21

When Last Login 40K+ · 4.7★ (37) wp.org #23 ↓8 2 too low 22

WP Last Login 10K+ · 3.8★ (26) wp.org #19 3 too high 23

Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA 50K+ · 4.5★ (63) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 L Login rebuilder 20K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #20 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.