How to Redirect WordPress Users After Login or Logout (2026)
Most guides on redirecting WordPress users after login describe an old plugin. Here's what changed in 2026 - and the fastest way to set it up free.
Guides Md Aminur Islam
By default, WordPress sends everyone to the same place after they log in: the admin dashboard. That’s rarely what you want. A customer should land on their account page, a member on the members area, a subscriber on your homepage. And on logout, “back to the login form” is almost never the right answer either.
The good news: you don’t need code for any of it. The catch is that most of the popular guides on this topic were written a while ago, and they describe the free alternatives as they were years ago. One of those alternatives is ours, and it’s not the plugin they think it is anymore.
Let’s fix that, then get you set up in about two minutes.
Disclosure
We build Entryway (formerly WP Login and Logout Redirect). We’ll be straight about where it wins and where the paid options still beat it - the comparison table below is checked against WordPress.org and each vendor’s own pricing in August 2026.
The fastest way: role-based redirects, no code
Install Entryway – WP Login & Logout Redirect from the WordPress plugin directory. It’s free and GPL, with 6,000+ active installs. Then:
- Open Users → Redirects.
- Add a rule. Choose who it applies to - a role (e.g. Customer), a specific user, or a capability.
- Set the login destination, the logout destination, or both. You can drop in placeholders like
{{username}},{{user_slug}}or{{website_url}}to build the URL dynamically. - Drag rules to order them. Entryway evaluates top to bottom and uses the first match, so put your most specific rules first.
- Set a site-wide default for everyone a rule doesn’t cover.
That’s it. It works with the standard WordPress login and with WooCommerce’s account flow, so a customer logging in from checkout ends up where you’d expect.
If you’d rather not add a plugin at all and you’re comfortable with PHP, the core login_redirect filter does the login half in a few lines - but it can’t do logout, role priority, or any of the tracking below, and one typo locks you out of admin. For most sites a rule engine is the safer trade.
What actually changed
Most older write-ups still call this plugin “the simplest, smallest plugin possible” or “a single redirect rule for everyone.” That was true - years ago. As of version 4.0, Entryway is a full redirect and login-management tool:
- Smart rule engine - target by role, individual user, or capability, with drag-and-drop priority.
- Dynamic URLs -
{{username}},{{user_slug}}, and{{website_url}}placeholders. - Audit log - a searchable record of logins, logouts, failed attempts, and forced logouts, each with IP address, browser, and OS. Auto-cleans on a schedule you set (7 / 30 / 90 days, or keep forever).
- Live sessions - see everyone currently signed in, and force-logout a single session or a whole group.
- Last Login column - sortable, right on the Users screen.
- Sign-in alerts - email notifications when a watched role logs in, plus daily/weekly/monthly digests.
The interface is a modern React admin, and all of it is in the free version. Requirements are modest: WordPress 6.6+ and PHP 7.4+.
Honest comparison
Three plugins own this category. Here’s how they line up today.
| Entryway | LoginWP | Sky Login Redirect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active installs | 6,000+ | 90,000+ | 2,000+ |
| Rating | 4.8 (5) | 4.8 (500+) | 4.7 (24) |
| Role / user / capability rules | Free | Free | Free (role/user) |
| Dynamic URL placeholders | Free | Free (1); more are Pro | - |
| Redirect to previous page | - | Pro | Free |
| Login-page styling | - | - | Free |
| Audit log (IP / browser / OS) | Free | - | - |
| Live sessions + force logout | Free | - | - |
| Last-login tracking | Free | - | - |
| Plugin integrations (LearnDash, etc.) | - | Pro ($49/yr) | - |
| Price | Free, GPL | Free + Pro from $49/yr | Free + Pro |
Figures from WordPress.org and vendor pricing pages, August 2026; they drift, so confirm the current readme before you commit.
Where the others win, honestly. LoginWP has the deepest membership-plugin integrations - if you route users based on LearnDash course enrollment or MemberPress level, its Pro conditions are purpose-built for that, and its 90,000+ installs make it the most battle-tested option here. Sky Login Redirect bundles login-page customization (logo, colors, form styling) that Entryway doesn’t touch at all - if restyling the login screen is half your goal, it does both jobs in one plugin. And LoginWP and Sky both ship redirect-to-previous-page in the box, which Entryway currently doesn’t.
Where Entryway wins. Nobody else gives you the audit log, live session view, force-logout, and last-login tracking - and Entryway gives you all four for free. LoginWP puts extra placeholders and every integration behind a $49/year license; Entryway’s rule engine is entirely free. If your goal is “send people to the right place and know who’s actually logging in,” it’s the only plugin here that does both without a paid tier.
Which one to pick
- You want redirects plus visibility into logins (who signed in, from where, force someone out) → Entryway.
- You route users by membership or LMS status and don’t mind paying → LoginWP Pro.
- You also want to restyle the login page in the same plugin → Sky Login Redirect.
For most sites the first line is the answer, and it costs nothing to test - it’s GPL, it writes no data you can’t remove, and deactivating it leaves your site exactly as it was. That’s the cheapest way to find out if it fits.
