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

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 screen”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Login Page Customizer – Customize Login Screen & Branding shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.2★ average from 5 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 #14. 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

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

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #6 ↑8 3 too low 4

Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #4 5

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #3 ↑4 3 too high 7

Force Login 30K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #7 ↑10 1 too high 9

Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #11 ↓6 2 too low 10

Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too low 11

LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) not PHP-current wp.org #15 ↓9 4 too low 12

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓6 6 too high 16

FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #10 6 too high 17

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18

Custom Login 10K+ · 3.6★ (97) wp.org #19 ↓6 20

When Last Login 40K+ · 4.7★ (37) wp.org #22 ↓7 2 too low 21

WP Last Login 10K+ · 3.8★ (26) wp.org #13 ↑6 8 too high 22

Login or Logout Menu Item 20K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓5 1 too high 23 L Login rebuilder 20K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 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.