wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user roles and permission”
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 “user roles and permission”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 350 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1,281)
wp.org #1 2 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #2 3 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1,720)
wp.org #3 ↑2 4 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #5 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 5 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (144)
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 6 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #6 7 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1,920)
wp.org #8 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 8 
WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65)
wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 9 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #13 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 10 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #12 ↑6 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 11 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #15 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 12 
PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66)
wp.org #10 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 13 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #11 ↑3 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 14 
PublishPress Blocks – Block Controls, Block Visibility, Block Permissions 20K+ · 4.7★ (204)
wp.org #19 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 15 
Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (443)
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 8 places below merit 16 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #18 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 17 
User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112)
wp.org #17 ↑2 18 M Multiple Roles 5K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 9 places above merit 19 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #21 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 20 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 21 
Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94)
wp.org #24 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 22 
User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 23 
User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29)
wp.org #22 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 24 User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress 3K+ · 3.6★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 10 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.