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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Developer

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Developer

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for developer comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.

We ranked 15 plugins using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.

How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.

At a glance

  1. 1. Advanced Custom Fields Best overall 93/100
  2. 2. Temporary Login Without Password 90/100
  3. 3. Query Monitor 87/100
  4. 4. FakerPress 86/100
  5. 5. Debug Log Manager 85/100
  6. 6. TemplateSpare 83/100
  7. 7. Maintenance Mode 83/100
  8. 8. Simply Show Hooks 82/100
  9. 9. Maintenance Redirect 81/100
  10. 10. System Dashboard 79/100
  11. 11. Outdated Plugin Notifier 79/100
  12. 12. SiteCare 78/100
  13. 13. Debug Bar Console 77/100
  14. 14. Developer Debug Tools 77/100
  15. 15. Alpaca Issue Tracker 76/100
1 Advanced Custom Fields
Best overall Free by WP Engine

Advanced Custom Fields

ACF helps customize WordPress with powerful, professional and intuitive fields. Proudly powering over 2 million sites, WordPress developers love ACF.

4.5★
from 1,438 ratings
2M+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
93

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 Query Monitor
Free by John Blackbourn

Query Monitor

Query Monitor is the developer tools panel for WordPress and WooCommerce.

4.9★
from 469 ratings
200k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
87

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 FakerPress
Free by Gustavo Bordoni

FakerPress

FakerPress is a clean way to generate fake and dummy content to your WordPress, great for developers who need testing

4.9★
from 205 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 Debug Log Manager
Free by Bowo

Debug Log Manager

Log PHP, database and JavaScript errors via WP_DEBUG with one click. Conveniently create, view, filter and clear the debug.log file.

5★
from 25 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 TemplateSpare
Free by Templatespare

TemplateSpare

Imagine this... You’re planning your new website. You’re excited at first—but then reality hits. The design takes months. You wait for the developer t …

4.3★
from 6 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
7 Maintenance Mode
Free by helderk

Maintenance Mode

This plugin is intended primarily for developers who need to allow clients to preview sites before public launch, or temporarily hide a WordPress site …

4.6★
from 14 ratings
7k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Simply Show Hooks
Free by stuartobrien

Simply Show Hooks

Simply Show Hooks helps theme and plugin developers to quickly see where all the action and filter hooks are on any WordPress page.

5★
from 63 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
82

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Maintenance Redirect
Free by Peter Hardy-vanDoorn

Maintenance Redirect

Display a maintenance mode page and allow invited visitors to bypass the functionality to preview the site.

4.9★
from 24 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
10 System Dashboard
Free by Bowo

System Dashboard

Central dashboard to monitor various WordPress components, processes and data, including the server.

4.9★
from 16 ratings
900+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 SiteCare
Free by SiteCare

SiteCare

One forgotten setting can hide your site from Google. A red/green eye shows visibility at a glance, plus a one-click fix and instant email alerts.

5★
from 4 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
78

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
15 Alpaca Issue Tracker
Free by Rareview®

Alpaca Issue Tracker

A lightweight issue tracker built entirely inside WordPress, designed for developers and agencies managing client projects.

5★
from 2 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org