The Must-Have List of Free WordPress Plugins

Make Your Life Easier with the Right WP Plugins

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links.

If you work with WordPress for a while, you know that finding the right plugin is not an easy thing. Some plugins create conflicts with other plugins. Some of them simply do not work as expected or are not compatible with your theme. Some are simply broken or outdated.

Pretty much any website function is covered by a good dozen of WordPress plugins, but you never know which one is the most optimal in your case. You have to spend a lot of time installing and testing them until you define what works best for your website. Let me tell you more… These are some brilliant plugins out there that are available for free you would never think of. But once you integrate these plugins, you won’t imagine your website without them.

The following list may be updated from time to time, but most of these free plugins will probably stay here as long as the WordPress web design platform exists.

Yoast SEO

Official Description
The first true all-in-one SEO solution for WordPress, including on-page content analysis, XML sitemaps and much more.
By Team Yoast

What it Looks Like
Yoast SEO is a widely recognized and comprehensive SEO plugin. Thanks to frequent updates it always meets modern search optimization requirements. Overall highly recommended.

All-in-One WP Migration

Official Description
Migration tool for all your blog data. Import or Export your blog content with a single click.
By ServMask

What it Looks Like
Easy to use, reliable, and highly efficient. In some cases (if you are dealing with a large website) you may need to use a free add-on plugin called “All-in-One WP Migration File Extension”.

All-in-One WP Migration File Extension

Official Description
Extension for All-in-One WP Migration that enables using import from file.
By ServMask

What it Looks Like
This little addon plugin seamlessly extends the capacity of All-in-One WP Migration plugin. Have a look at this additional information to find out more.

Call Now Button

Official Description
Mobile visitors will see a Call Now Button on your website. Easy to use but flexible to meet more demanding requirements. Change placement and colour, hide on specific pages, track how many people click them or conversions of your Google Ads campaigns. It’s all optional but possible.
By Jerry Rietveld

What it Looks Like
Easy to use and efficient if you need to put emphasis on phone communication.

Classic Editor

Official Description
Enables the WordPress Classic Editor and the old-style Edit Post screen with TinyMCE, Meta Boxes, etc. Supports the older plugins that extend this screen.
By WordPress Contributors

What it Looks Like
If you hate new WordPress blocks and used to old classic editing layout, this plugin is for you.

Contact Form 7

Official Description
Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible.
By Takayuki Miyoshi

What it Looks Like
Probably, the most popular contact form plugin with large editing capabilities. It is a good idea to test your contact form because due to misconfiguration it sometimes doesn’t work. Check out this blog post to get some tips about Contact Form 7.

Disable Comments

Official Description
Allows administrators to globally disable comments on their site. Comments can be disabled according to post type.
By Samir Shah

What it Looks Like
Simple and efficient WordPress plugin that disables comments on posts, pages, and/or media.

Easy Remove Footer Credit

Official Description
A simple plugin to remove or modify footer credits
By Joe Bill

What it Looks Like
Unfortunately, it does not work with all themes, so you may need to manually edit your theme footer.

Flamingo

Official Description
A trustworthy message storage plugin for Contact Form 7.
By Takayuki Miyoshi

What it Looks Like
If you are using Contact Form 7 plugin, it is a really good idea to install and activate Flamingo to make sure none of the messages sent through your contact forms disappear due to Contact Form 7 plugin misconfiguration.

Health Check & Troubleshooting

Official Description
Checks the health of your WordPress install.
By The WordPress.org community

What it Looks Like
A pretty useful tool that helps to identify and resolve various issues with your WordPress site.

MaxButtons

Official Description
The best WordPress button generator.
By Max Foundry

What it Looks Like
Flexible and easy to use button builder.

MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress

Official Description
Mailchimp for WordPress by ibericode. Adds various highly effective sign-up methods to your site.
By ibericode

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Password Protected

Official Description
A very simple way to quickly password protect your WordPress site with a single password. Please note: This plugin does not restrict access to uploaded files and images and does not work with some caching setups.
By Ben Huson

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Per Page Sidebars

Last Updated: 2 years ago. (I recommend to look for alternatives.)

Official Description
Allows the creation and display of custom sidebars for each page on your site.
By Brian Layman.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Simple Page Sidebars

Official Description

Assign custom, widget-enabled sidebars to any page with ease.
By Cedaro.

What it Looks Like
This plugin is just as good as Per Page Sidebars plugin.

Polylang

Official Description
Adds multilingual capability to WordPress.
By WP SYNTEX.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

WP SEO Structured Data Schema

Official Description
Comprehensive JSON-LD based Structured Data solution for WordPress for adding schema for organizations, businesses, blog posts, ratings & more.
By WPSEMPlugins.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Change Password Protected Message

Official Description
Change the message displayed on content which is Password-Protected.
By pipdig.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Compact Audio Player

Official Description
Plays a specified audio file (.mp3 or .ogg) using a simple and compact audio player. The audio player is compatible with all major browsers and devices (Android, iPhone).
By Tips and Tricks HQ.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Envira Gallery Lite

Official Description
Envira Gallery is the best responsive WordPress gallery plugin. This is the Lite version.
By Envira Gallery Team.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Redirection for Contact Form 7

Official Description
Contact Form 7 Add-on – Redirect after mail sent.
By Query Solutions.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Remove Protected In Title

Official Description
Removes “Private” or “Protected” prefix that WordPress adds to password-protected & private pages.
By Dejan Blazeski.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Edit Author Slug

Official Description
Allows an Admin (or capable user) to edit the author slug of a user, and change the Author Base. i.e. – (WordPress default structure) http://example.com/author/username/ (Plugin allows) http://example.com/ninja/master-ninja/
By Brandon Allen.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Insert Headers and Footers

Official Description
Allows you to insert code or text in the header or footer of your WordPress blog.
By WPBeginner.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

My Custom Functions

Official Description
Easily and safely add your custom PHP code to your WordPress website, directly out of the WordPress Admin Area, without the need to have an external editor.
By Space X-Chimp.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Post Tags and Categories for Pages

Official Description
Simply adds the stock Categories and Post Tags to your Pages.
By curtismchale.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Really Simple SSL

Official Description
Lightweight plugin without any setup to make your site SSL proof.
By Rogier Lankhorst, Mark Wolters.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Redirection

Official Description
Manage all your 301 redirects and monitor 404 errors.
+ other useful redirects.
By John Godley.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Simple Side Tab

Official Description
Display a side tab that you can easily link to any page. Customize the tab text, font and colours. It’s that simple. That’s Simple Side Tab.
By Scot Rumery.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Tidio Chat

Official Description
Tidio Live Chat – live chat boosted with chatbots for your online business. Integrates with your website in less than 20 seconds.
By Tidio Ltd.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

W3 Total Cache

Official Description
The highest-rated and most complete WordPress performance plugin. Dramatically improve the speed and user experience of your site. Add browser, page, object and database caching as well as minify and content delivery network (CDN) to WordPress.
By BoldGrid.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Wordfence Security

Official Description
Wordfence Security – Anti-virus, Firewall and Malware Scan.
By Wordfence.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

WP File Manager

Official Description
Manage your WP files.
By mndpsingh287.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

All 404 Redirect to Homepage

Official Description
A plugin to redirect 404 pages to the home page or any custom page.
By Fakhri Alsadi.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Call Now Icon Animate

Official Description
Mobile visitors will see a “call now” icon with animate css3 at the bottom of your site.
By Alan Tien.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Contact Form 7 Datepicker

Official Description
Easily add a date field using jQuery UI’s date picker to your CF7 forms. This plugin depends on Contact Form 7.
By Aurel Canciu.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

GDPR Cookie Consent

Official Description
A simple way to show your website complies with the EU Cookie Law / GDPR.
By WebToffee.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Header Footer Code Manager

Official Description
Header Footer Code Manager by 99 Robots is a quick and simple way for you to add tracking code snippets, conversion pixels, or other scripts required by third-party services for analytics, tracking, marketing, or chat functions. For detailed documentation, please visit the plugin’s official page.
By 99robots.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Share Buttons by AddThis

Official Description
Set up sharing tools from AddThis right in WordPress. With AddThis you can see how your users are engaging with your content, provide a personalized experience for each user and encourage them to share your content in their social networks. Follow tools, recommended content, conversion tools and social analytics available to registered accounts at addthis.com.
By The AddThis Team.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

WPFront Notification Bar

Official Description
Easily lets you create a bar on top or bottom to display a notification.
By Syam Mohan.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Login Logo

Official Description
Drop a PNG file named login-logo.png into your wp-content directory. This simple plugin takes care of the rest, with zero configuration. Transparent backgrounds work best. Crop it tight, with a width of 312 pixels, for best results.
By Mark Jaquith.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Analytics Cat Free

Official Description
Add Your Google Analytics / Universal Analytics Tracking Code To Your Site With Ease.
By Fatcat Apps.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Maintenance

Official Description
Put your site in maintenance mode, away from the public view. Use maintenance plugin if your website is in development or you need to change a few things, run an upgrade. Make it only accessible to logged-in users.
By WP Maintenance.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Title Remover

Official Description
Gives you the ability to hide the title of any post, page or custom post type item without affecting menus or titles in the admin area.
By WPGurus.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Under Construction

Official Description
Put your site behind a great looking under construction, coming soon, maintenance mode or landing page.
By WebFactory Ltd.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Unique Headers

Official Description
Unique Headers.
By Ryan Hellyer.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Business Hours Indicator

Official Description
Add an indication of being currently open or closed. Show business hour tables. Conditional logic: show/hide content only when open/closed.
By Maarten Belmans.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Contact Widgets

Official Description
Beautifully display social media and contact information on your website with these simple widgets.
By GoDaddy.

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Service Box

Official Description
Service Box plugin is to manage the showcase of your services. Easily add unlimited services box with drag and drop builder Api.
By wpshopmart

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

TablePress

Official Description
Embed beautiful and feature-rich tables into your posts and pages, without having to write code.
By Tobias Bäthge

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…

Remove “Powered by WordPress”

Official Description
Removes the WordPress credit on the default WordPress theme and inserts a widget area.
By Webd Ltd

What it Looks Like
A simple and efficient solution that allows removing “Powered by WordPress” text in the footer of the “Twenty Twenty” WordPress theme.

Easy WP SMTP

Official Description
Send email via SMTP from your WordPress Blog.
By wpecommerce, alexanderfoxc

What it Looks Like
Coming soon…