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10 Best Two Factor Authentication via Email Alternatives in 2026

Updated October 23, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works

Two Factor Authentication via Email sits at #3 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.

The 10 closest alternatives to Two Factor Authentication via Email

  1. 1

    WP 2-step verification

    Closest match
    4.2 (27) 1,000+ active installs

    Adds an extra layer of security to your Wordpress Account. Same as Google 2-step verification.

    #7 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. 1,000+ installs against 9,000+, no update since October 10, 2025.

  2. 2

    miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator)

    4.5 (385) 10,000+ active installs

    Free 2FA plugin for unlimited users with Passkey, Google Authenticator, Email/SMS OTP, Push Notification & passwordless login.

    #2 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. A similar number of installs, last updated today.

  3. 3
    3.7 (39) 3,000+ active installs

    Easily add Duo Security two-factor authentication to your WordPress website. Enable two-factor authentication for your admins and/or users.

    #6 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About a third of the installs, no update since June 6, 2025.

  4. 4
    4.0 (1) 2,000+ active installs

    Easily add Duo authentication to your WordPress website. Enable multi-factor authentication for your admins and/or users.

    #8 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About a quarter of the installs, last updated January 6, 2026.

  5. 5
    4.8 (208) 100,000+ active installs

    Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) using time-based one-time passwords (TOTP), email, and backup verification codes.

    #1 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About 11 times the installs, last updated 24 days ago.

  6. 6
    4.3 (135) 20,000+ active installs

    Google Authenticator for your WordPress blog.

    #4 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About 2.2 times the installs, last updated August 23, 2026.

  7. 7

    Login for Google Apps by WPAuth

    4.6 (64) 10,000+ active installs

    Simple secure login and user management through your Google Workspace for WordPress (using oAuth2 and MFA if enabled).

    #5 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. A similar number of installs, last updated 23 days ago.

  8. 8

    WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress

    4.7 (183) 100,000+ active installs

    Get better WordPress login security; add two-factor authentication (2FA) for all your users with this easy-to-use plugin.

    #10 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About 11 times the installs, last updated 8 days ago.

  9. 9
    4.6 (202) 300,000+ active installs

    Limit rate of login attempts, including by way of cookies, for each IP. Fully customizable.

    #9 in the WordPress.org Authentication Plugins ranking. About 33 times the installs, no update since April 4, 2023.

  10. 10
    4.4 (77) 20,000+ active installs

    Secure WordPress login with Two Factor Authentication - supports WP, Woo + other login forms, HOTP, TOTP (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.)

    Shares the 2FA, two factor tags on WordPress.org. About 2.2 times the installs, last updated August 13, 2026.

Two Factor Authentication via Email against each of them

Head to head on installs, ratings, reviews and updates. Each measure names its own leader; there is no overall winner.

Switching from Two Factor Authentication via Email: common questions

What is the best alternative to Two Factor Authentication via Email?

WP 2-step verification is the closest match: it shares the Authentication Plugins top 10 with Two Factor Authentication via Email and has 1,000+ active installs with a 4.2 out of 5 rating.

Which Two Factor Authentication via Email alternative has the most users?

Limit Login Attempts, with 300,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.

Which Two Factor Authentication via Email alternative is rated highest?

Two Factor, rated 4.8 out of 5 by 208 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.

Are these Two Factor Authentication via Email alternatives free?

Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.

How are alternatives chosen?

Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Two Factor Authentication via Email score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.

How we choose these alternatives

Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Two Factor Authentication via Email on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.

The bottom line

WP 2-step verification is the closest match to Two Factor Authentication via Email by the data we track, and Limit Login Attempts has the widest reach with 300,000+ active installs. miniOrange 2FA shipped the most recent release, on October 21, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.

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