LoginPress Review: Customize Your WordPress Login Page

What Is LoginPress and What Does It Cost?

LoginPress is a WordPress plugin that tackles two things most site owners eventually care about: making the default WordPress login page look less... well, WordPressy, and adding some practical security layers on top. There's a free version available in the WordPress repository that covers the core customization features, so you can take it for a spin before committing any cash.

The AppSumo lifetime deal comes in two tiers: $39 for five sites or $78 for unlimited sites. That gets you the pro add-ons — login redirects, social login, a login widget, limit login attempts, auto-login URLs, and the ability to hide your login page. It's not going to break the bank, but whether it's worth it depends on how much value those add-ons bring to your specific setup.

LoginPress Settings and Core Features

The settings panel packs in more than you might expect from a login page plugin. The Force Login option is immediately interesting — it locks your entire site behind the login screen. This is genuinely useful if you're a web developer running a staging site for a client. Instead of fumbling with cPanel passwords, your client just logs in through a clean, familiar interface.

You'll also find reCAPTCHA integration, though Dave's advice here is worth repeating: don't slap it on the login form unless you have a real security concern. For most sites, enabling reCAPTCHA only on the registration and lost password forms will stop bots without annoying your legitimate users. Session expiration settings, custom password fields on registration, and the option to restrict login to username-only or email-only round out the core configuration.

Two settings stand out as thoughtful touches. First, a one-click reset that wipes all your customizations back to the WordPress default — a lifesaver if you go overboard experimenting. Second, a clean uninstall option that removes all plugin data from your database when you deactivate. It's the kind of housekeeping feature every plugin should have but few actually include.

Customizing the Look of Your Login Page

Here's where LoginPress really shines. Rather than building a proprietary editor, the developers integrated everything directly into the WordPress Customizer. This is a smart move — you get a live preview, a familiar interface, and none of the learning curve that comes with a custom builder. Pencil icons light up on hover so you can jump straight to whichever component you want to edit.

There are roughly 20 pre-built themes to start from. You can go from a fitness-themed background to a shopping aesthetic in a click, and each one instantly transforms the login page into something that looks far more polished than the default WordPress screen. Even with a basic theme applied and a transparent form background, the result gives visitors the impression you're running something more premium.

The customization depth goes well beyond themes. You can swap in Google Fonts, upload a custom logo with size controls, set background images or even video backgrounds, and fine-tune the login form itself — width, height, border radius, shadow, padding, input field colors, label colors, and button styling are all adjustable. The button customizer lets you go from sharp rectangles to pill-shaped buttons with hover color transitions.

There are a couple of minor quirks worth noting. The logo doesn't auto-scale its width when you increase the height, so you'll need to manually adjust both. And some changes — like form footer text and the "back to site" toggle — don't render in real-time in the customizer, though they do apply correctly once you publish. Small bugs, but nothing that gets in the way of the end result.

Login Redirects: Where the Real Value Lives

If there's one feature that justifies the paid upgrade, login redirects might be it. This add-on lets you control exactly where users land after logging in or out, and you can set it up per individual user or per user role.

For individual users, you enter their username and assign a specific login URL and logout URL. That's straightforward enough, but the role-based redirects are where it gets powerful. WooCommerce, for example, creates a "customer" role automatically. You could redirect all customers to their purchase history on login, and then on logout, send them to a special offers page — maybe a weekly deal they haven't seen yet. That's a real marketing lever most people never think about.

One small improvement that would be welcome: the role field requires you to type the role name manually rather than offering a dropdown of available roles. It works fine, but a dropdown would save time and prevent typos. Despite that, the redirects feature opens up creative possibilities for membership sites, client portals, and e-commerce stores that make the plugin worth far more than the asking price.

Login Widget for Sidebars

The login widget add-on drops a compact login form into any WordPress sidebar or widget area. Once installed, you add it through the Customizer like any other widget — search for "LoginPress Login Widget," click to add, and position it wherever you'd like.

For logged-in users, it displays a welcome message with their avatar, along with links to the admin dashboard and profile. For visitors, it shows a clean username and password form. The widget picks up your theme's styles automatically, so it generally looks good out of the box without any extra work.

Customization options include changing the welcome text, toggling admin and profile links, and adjusting the avatar size. Beyond that, you'll need CSS for further styling. It's not the most feature-rich widget out there, but it's a quick, no-fuss way to add login functionality to your site's front end — especially useful for membership sites where users need easy access to log in without navigating to a separate page.

Limit Login Attempts

Brute force protection is a pretty standard security feature, and LoginPress handles it cleanly. You set the maximum number of failed login attempts (default is four) and define a lockout duration (default is 20 minutes). After that threshold, the user — or bot — gets locked out.

The attempt details log is useful for spotting patterns. If you notice a particular IP address hammering your login page hundreds of times a day, you can blacklist it outright. On the flip side, if you've got that one client who perpetually misremembers their password, you can whitelist their IP so they never get locked out. It's a practical, no-nonsense implementation of a feature you probably already have through a security plugin, but having it baked into LoginPress keeps things consolidated.

Auto-Login URLs: A Clever Trick

This is the feature that surprised Dave the most, and for good reason — it's not something you see in many plugins. Auto-login generates a unique URL tied to a specific WordPress user account. Anyone who visits that URL gets logged in instantly, no credentials required.

The practical use case is giving temporary access to developers or support teams. Instead of creating a new user account every time your theme developer needs to troubleshoot something, you create a support account once and generate an auto-login link. Send it over, they fix the issue, and you hit "regenerate" to invalidate the old link. Next time someone needs access, you generate a fresh URL from the same account.

It's not solving a massive problem, but it eliminates one of those recurring annoyances that WordPress site owners deal with regularly. Just be mindful of the security implications — anyone with that link has full access to whatever role the account holds, so treat it with the same care you'd give a password.

Hide Your Login Page

The hide login add-on changes your login URL from the default wp-login.php to a custom slug of your choosing. You can set it to something memorable like /my-login or go for maximum security with a randomly generated string of characters that no one could guess.

If you go the random route, there's an important safety net: LoginPress can email you the new login URL so you don't lock yourself out of your own site. You'll also want to bookmark it. A reset button lets you revert to the standard WordPress login path if needed.

This is another feature that dedicated security plugins often include, but having it available within LoginPress means one fewer plugin to install and maintain. For sites that face regular brute force attempts, hiding the login page is a simple first line of defense that eliminates a large portion of automated attacks.

Final Verdict: Is LoginPress Worth It?

LoginPress earns a 9.3 out of 10, with an important caveat: it's a "nice to have" rather than a "must have." If you're tight on funds, this isn't the plugin that's going to move the needle for your business. A custom login page won't let you charge double your rates or drive new revenue.

But if $39 isn't going to hurt, LoginPress is genuinely well-built and fun to use. The developer clearly understands WordPress and has built features that feel native to the platform rather than bolted on. The Customizer integration is elegant, the login redirects add real marketing potential, and the auto-login URL feature is a clever touch you won't find in many competitors.

Keep in mind that if you already run a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri, you probably have some overlap with the limit login attempts and hide login features. And if you're on Elementor Pro, you can already build custom login pages. LoginPress doesn't replace those tools, but it consolidates several useful features into one lightweight, affordable package — and the lifetime deal makes it an easy bet for anyone managing WordPress sites.

Watch the Full Video

Prefer watching to reading? Check out the full video on YouTube for a complete walkthrough with live demos and commentary.