Best protected plugins for WordPress
The most popular protected plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Force Login leads with 30K+ active installs, ahead of WP Basic Authentication (2K+) and Multiple Post Passwords (2K+). All 21 plugins tagged “protected” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 protected plugins
- 1.Force Login
The most installed protected plugin, with 30K+ active installs. Rated 4.8 from 101 reviews, updated 4 months ago.
- 2.WP Basic Authentication
2K+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 5 reviews, updated 5 months ago.
- 3.Multiple Post Passwords
2K+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 11 reviews, updated 9 months ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.8.12.
- 4.
BuddyPress Members Only900+ active installs. Rated 3.7 from 26 reviews, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.8.12.
- 5.Password Passthrough
500+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 6 reviews, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.8.12.
- 6.FT Password Protect Children Pages
400+ active installs. Only 4 reviews so far, last updated 16 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.0.5.
- 7.Remove Protected
300+ active installs. Rated 4.6 from 9 reviews, last updated 9 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39.
- 8.
Very Simple Password for WordPress200+ active installs. Rated 4.6 from 10 reviews, last updated 9 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39.
- 9.Custom Password Protected Text
100+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 5 reviews, last updated 14 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.4.2.
- 10.bbPress Protected Forums
90+ active installs. Only 3 reviews so far, last updated 14 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.4.2.
All 21 plugins tagged “protected”
Force Login
#972by Kevin Vess4 months ago
Force Login is a simple lightweight plugin that requires visitors to log in to interact with the website.
- Installs
- 30K+
- Rating
- 4.8(101)
- Downloads
- 5.8K/day
WP Basic Authentication
Down in the last 7 days:8#4,222by nutttaro5 months ago
Basic Authentication for protected your development WordPress site like .htpasswd
- Installs
- 2K+
- Rating
- 5.0(5)
- Downloads
- 60/day
Multiple Post Passwords
Down in the last 7 days:11#4,812by Andreas Münch9 months ago
Set multiple passwords for your protected pages so you can give them to different users.
- Installs
- 2K+
- Rating
- 5.0(11)
- Downloads
- 16/day

BuddyPress Members Only
Down in the last 7 days:19#6,986by Tomas1 year ago
BuddyPress Members Only restricts Your Buddypress and Wordpress to logged in/registered members.
- Installs
- 900+
- Rating
- 3.7(26)
- Downloads
- 16/day
Password Passthrough
Down in the last 7 days:51#8,624by KaeruCT1 year ago
This plugin allows passwords for password-protected pages/posts to be passed directly through the URL.
- Installs
- 500+
- Rating
- 5.0(6)
- Downloads
- 11/day
FT Password Protect Children Pages
Down in the last 7 days:58#9,585by Glenn Ansley16 years ago
Applies the same protection to children pages applied to the parent page.
- Installs
- 400+
- Rating
- 4.0(4)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Remove Protected
Down in the last 7 days:37#10,155by Aubrey Portwood9 years ago
Small script that removes Protected: and Private: from titles of posts and pages that are password protected and private.
- Installs
- 300+
- Rating
- 4.6(9)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Very Simple Password for WordPress
Up in the last 7 days:23#12,660by lucasbustamante9 years ago
A simple and lightweight password protection for Wordpress.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 4.6(10)
- Downloads
- 5/day
Custom Password Protected Text
Down in the last 7 days:7#14,190by Marcello Scacchetti14 years ago
Custom text message for password protected pages and posts
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(5)
- Downloads
- 0/day
bbPress Protected Forums
Down in the last 7 days:70#17,228by JordiPlana14 years ago
Disables new topic creation in some forums for determined roles.
- Installs
- 90+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 11/day
FT Remove Private From Post Titles
Down in the last 7 days:9#23,785by Glenn Ansley17 years ago
Once activated, private posts will no longer have the word "Private: " appended to the beginning of their title.
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 2/day
Instant Cookie Expire
Down in the last 7 days:109#25,954by brechtryckaert10 years ago
This plugin turns the cookie for a password-protected post into a session-based cookie.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 1.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Clean Protected and Private Page Titles
Up in the last 7 days:130#28,703by peckjon11 years ago
Some themes prefix post titles with "Protected" or "Private"; this plugin removes those prefixes
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Neutrope Protected Audio Player
#31,079by Neutrope Inc.1 month ago
Protected audio player that hides direct audio file URLs and serves audio through short-lived, signed playback URLs.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

Force Login Pro
Down in the last 7 days:863#34,596by Brandon Hubbard5 years ago
A simple WordPress plugin to force login.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Plugin Name
Down in the last 7 days:7,816#43,367by oQeySites15 years ago
oQey Pdfs plugin is a Wordpress Plugin that allows to add and manage protected pdf files.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
al3x_file_manager
Up in the last 7 days:1,064#45,915by al3x.de16 years ago
A neat User/File Management with a jQuery frontend to display customizable directory/file tree. Now with public download area.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Copyright Protected
Up in the last 7 days:6,907#57,447by doods8 years ago
Displays a copyright statement with the current year. Requires PHP.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

AccessWise
#59,463by Engramium9 months ago
Show each website visitor a quick age verification screen before using the site. Saves the response in a cookie for further visits.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
BuddyPress Members Only
Down in the last 7 days:8,963#71,413by membersonly2 years ago
BuddyPress Members Only restricts Your Buddypress and Wordpress to logged in/registered members.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 2/day

Visitor force login page
Down in the last 7 days:19,677#73,748by Sumit Singh3 years ago
Easily hide your WordPress site from public viewing by requiring visitors to redirect specific or login page in first.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day