10 Best JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs has 10,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. 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 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs
- 1
WordPress REST API
Closest matchWordPress REST API (Version 2)
4.2 (34) 10,000+ active installsAccess your site's data through an easy-to-use HTTP REST API. (Version 2)
Shares the rest, rest-api tags on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, no update since November 28, 2017.
- 2
4.8 (38) 80,000+ active installsDisable the use of the REST API on your website to site users. Now with User Role support!
Shares the rest, rest-api tags on WordPress.org. About 8 times the installs, no update since September 14, 2023.
- 3
4.8 (36) 30,000+ active installsDisables the WP REST API for visitors not logged into WordPress.
Shares the rest, rest-api tags on WordPress.org. About 3 times the installs, last updated 28 days ago.
- 4
4.9 (42) 10,000+ active installsEnable caching of the WordPress REST API and auto-flush caches upon wp-admin editing.
Shares the rest tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated July 25, 2026.
- 5
WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API
5.0 (32) 10,000+ active installsConnect any REST API to WordPress. WPGet API enables easy API integration, allowing you to display API data without any code.
Shares the rest tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated 25 days ago.
- 6
4.4 (53) 60,000+ active installsExtends the WP REST API using JSON Web Tokens Authentication as an authentication method.
Shares the rest-api tag on WordPress.org. About 6 times the installs, last updated February 18, 2026.
- 7
4.9 (48) 30,000+ active installsWPGraphQL adds a flexible and powerful GraphQL API to WordPress, enabling efficient querying and interaction with your site's data.
Shares the rest-api tag on WordPress.org. About 3 times the installs, last updated 3 days ago.
- 8
Contact Form to Any API
Paid version available5.0 (28) 8,000+ active installsSend Contact Form 7 submissions to any API, Webhook or CRM — quick setup, flexible payloads, endpoints and authentication.
Shares the rest-api tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated August 6, 2026.
- 9
Login Lockdown & Protection
4.3 (61) 100,000+ active installsProtect, lockdown & secure login form by limiting login attempts from the same IP & banning IPs.
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.3 against 4.4, last updated 22 days ago.
- 10
4.6 (123) 100,000+ active installsFree daily vulnerability scans & WordPress security, powered by WPScan (an Automattic brand) and its 60,000+ vulnerability database. No setup needed!
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.4, last updated 26 days ago.
Switching from JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs: common questions
What is the best alternative to JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs?
WordPress REST API is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 10,000+ active installs with a 4.2 out of 5 rating.
Which JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs alternative has the most users?
Login Lockdown, with 100,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs alternative is rated highest?
Jetpack Protect, rated 4.6 out of 5 by 123 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 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 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 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 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 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
WordPress REST API is the closest match to JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs by the data we track, and Login Lockdown has the widest reach with 100,000+ active installs. WPGraphQL shipped the most recent release, on September 4, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.