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

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 editor”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Login or Logout Menu Item shows at wp.org #13 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 23 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 #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1550) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #5 6

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #18 7 too low 12

Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (477) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #12 3 too high 16

WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18

WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65) wp.org #16 2 too high 19

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #19 1 too high 21

FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23

Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too high 24

Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #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.