by Kevin Vess 4.8 (101 reviews)

Force Login

Name: Force Login
Rating: 4.8 (101 reviews)
Author: Kevin Vess

Force Login is a simple lightweight plugin that requires visitors to log in to interact with the website.

Force Login ranks #991 among WordPress.org plugins with 30,000+ active installations, is #47 of 1,578 in the Authentication category, a 4.8/5 rating from 101 reviews, and was last updated Jun 19, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Tested up to WP 7 (Current: 7.1)

v5.6.3 Current Version v5.6.3

Updated 2 months ago Last Update on 19 Jun, 2026

Refreshed 14 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#47 of 1,578 in Authentication Top 5% by installs Downloads -17.9% this week

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#991

— No change

Active Installs

30K+

-16.6%

KW Avg Position

14.6

0.2 worse

Downloads

+3,651 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

96%

Review 4.8 out of 5

4.8 (101 reviews)

Next Milestone 40K

Total Progress 57.4%

30K+ 40K+

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

Unlock Exact Install Count

See the precise estimated active installs for this plugin, calculated from real-time ranking data.

Exact install estimates within tiers
Track install growth over time
Milestone progress predictions

Upgrade to Pro

Need 4,263 more installs to reach 40K+

Rank Changes

Current #991

Change

Best #

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock 30-day and 90-day rank history charts with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Active Installs Growth

Upgrade to Pro

Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock 30-day, 90-day, and yearly download history charts with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Reviews & Ratings

4.8

101 reviews

Overall 96%

95 (94%)

0 (0%)

3 (3%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

No known vulnerabilities on record for Force Login. Checked 1 week ago.

Track This Plugin

Get detailed analytics, keyword tracking, and position alerts delivered to your inbox.

Start Tracking Free

Plugin Details

Version: 5.6.3
Last Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Requires WP: 4.6+
Tested Up To: 7
PHP Version: N/A
Author: Kevin Vess

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.8
Reviews: 101
Support Threads: 1
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

privacy private protected registered only restricted

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock keyword rankings, search positions, and detailed analytics with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Similar Plugins

Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer

6K+ installs

#2,752

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits

30K+ installs

#1,007

WPForms - AI Form Builder for WordPress - Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More

5M+ installs

Wordfence Security - Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security

Limit Login Attempts Security - Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall

1M+ installs

#62

MainWP Child - Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites

700K+ installs

#86

View all Authentication plugins

TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

Force Login is for site owners who want to make their WordPress site private, whether for pre-launch staging or members-only access. It solves the problem of restricting public visitors from viewing the site by requiring login before any content, including the REST API, can be accessed.

WordPress Multisite compatible
Redirects visitors to requested URL
Extensive Developer API (hooks & filters)
Customizable login redirect URL
Filter exceptions for pages or posts
Restricts REST API to authenticated users
Translation Ready & WPML certified

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Force Login

By default, the plugin sends visitors back to the URL they tried to access. However, you can redirect users to a specific URL by adding the built-in WordPress filter login_redirect to your functions.php file.

You can bypass Force Login based on any condition by adding the following filter to your functions.php file. You may use the WordPress Conditional Tags in your code. /** * Bypass Force Login to allow for exceptions. * * @param bool $bypass Whether to disable Force Login. Default false. * @param string $visited_url The visited URL. * @return bool */ function my_forcelogin_bypass( $bypass, $visited_url ) { // Allow 'My Page' to be publicly accessible if ( is_page('my-page') ) { $bypass = true; } return $bypass; } add_filter( 'v_forcelogin_bypass', 'my_forcelogin_bypass', 10, 2 ); Check out the Force Login Wiki on GitHub for additional examples to allow URLs to be publicly accessible.

The WordPress login screen includes a "← Back to {sitename}" link below the login form; which may not actually take you back to the site while Force Login is activated. You can hide this link by adding the following action to your functions.php file. Requires: WordPress 2.5 or higher // Hide the 'Back to {sitename}' link on the login screen. function my_forcelogin_hide_backtoblog() { echo '<style type="text/css">#backtoblog{display:none;}</style>'; } add_action( 'login_enqueue_scripts', 'my_forcelogin_hide_backtoblog' );