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

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 “wordpress login widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 Widget With Shortcode shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 29 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. 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 – Brute Force Protection, 2FA, Firewall & Login Security 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #1 2

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

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 4

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 5

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #5 6

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 7

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8

LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9

Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #9 ↓2 10

WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #10 1 too high 12

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #21 ↓2 9 too low 13

Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (477) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #20 6 too low 15

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #15 ↑3 16

Custom Login Page Customizer 80K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #24 ↓3 7 too low 18

When Last Login 40K+ · 4.7★ (37) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19

Sidebar Login 9K+ · 4.5★ (78) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 L Login rebuilder 20K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.