wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mfa”

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 “mfa”, we agree with wp.org 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 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

Erdo CRA Compliance – EU Cyber Resilience Act, GDPR & NIS2 Scanner for WordPress shows at wp.org #19 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1483) wp.org #1 2

Two Factor 100K+ · 4.8★ (208) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Rublon Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) 400+ · 4.2★ (88) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385) wp.org #4 5

SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (397) wp.org #10 5 too low 6

Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (209) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Trusona for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #5 2 too high 8

Duo Universal 2K+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #6 3 too high 10

BAAR MFA 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 3 too high 11

Acadlix LMS – AI Quiz Maker, Online Exam & Course Plugin for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too low 12

Rainbow Secure – Advanced MFA & SSO Plugin — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 1 too low 13

Tiny 2FA + Brute Force Protection 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 1 too low 14

Gatey – Login & SSO with Amazon Cognito 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Yubikey 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 3 too high 16

Integration with WorkOS — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17

PasswordFree — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18

Notakey Two Factor extension — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 3 too high 19

Logto – User Authentication and Authorization 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too low 20 A Authentiq8 Me — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too low 21

SI 2FA Login Security — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too low 22

Vendor Onboarding W9-1099 Chaser by Mypowerly — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Nubivio Security Headers, security.txt & NIS2 Compliance for Healthcare — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Erdo CRA Compliance – EU Cyber Resilience Act, GDPR & NIS2 Scanner for WordPress — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.