wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “membership plugins”
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 “membership plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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
Simple Membership Custom Messages shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Groups – Memberships and Access Control places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 382 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #3 4 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #4 5 
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272)
wp.org #5 6 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #17 ↑1 11 too low 7 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382)
wp.org #20 ↑1 12 too low 9 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 S Simple Membership After Login Redirection 10K+ · 4.8★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 
Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships 8K+ · 3.1★ (100) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 5 too high 13 
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
WCFM Membership – WooCommerce Memberships for Multivendor Marketplace 10K+ · 4.0★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 8 too high 15 
CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 
Membership For WooCommerce 800+ · 4.4★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 
s2Member – Excellent for All Kinds of Memberships, Content Restriction Paywalls & Member Access Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.1★ (234) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
Memberful – Membership Plugin 1K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 S Simple Membership Custom Messages 7K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #8 11 too high 20 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 S Simple Membership WP user Import 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 S Simple Membership Form Shortcode 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #12 10 too high 23 
SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 S Simple Membership MailChimp Integration 900+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.