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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Development

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Development

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for development 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. Query Monitor Best overall 87/100
  2. 2. Yoast Test Helper 87/100
  3. 3. What The File 82/100
  4. 4. Theme Switcha 82/100
  5. 5. SiteCare 78/100
  6. 6. Stop Emails 77/100
  7. 7. DebugPress: Debugger in Popup 77/100
  8. 8. Local Development 77/100
  9. 9. Alpaca Issue Tracker 76/100
  10. 10. 一介資男(Mxp.TW) 開發工具箱 76/100
  11. 11. CL WP Info 75/100
  12. 12. Display Environment Type 74/100
  13. 13. Ray 71/100
  14. 14. KAGG Generator 71/100
  15. 15. Discourage Search Engines 64/100
1 Query Monitor
Best overall 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
2 Yoast Test Helper
Free by Yoast

Yoast Test Helper

This plugin makes testing Yoast SEO, Yoast SEO add-ons and integrations and resetting the different features a lot easier.

4.9★
from 12 ratings
60k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
87

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 What The File
Free by Barry Kooij

What The File

What The File is the best tool to find out what template parts are used to display the page you're currently viewing!

4.9★
from 882 ratings
40k+
active installs
Updated
Feb 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
82

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 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
7 DebugPress: Debugger in Popup
Free by Milan Petrovic

DebugPress: Debugger in Popup

Easy-to-use plugin for debugging and profiling website loading, SQL queries analysis, help with development, bug fixing, all in configurable popup.

5★
from 5 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
77

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Local Development
Free by Andy Fragen

Local Development

Places development notice for plugins or themes that are in local development. Prevents updating of selected plugins and themes.

5★
from 5 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
77

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 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
11 CL WP Info
Free by Carlos Longarela

CL WP Info

Show us information about WordPress install, PHP, Database and Hosting Server

5★
from 3 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
75

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 Display Environment Type
Free by Stoil Dobreff

Display Environment Type

Displays WordPress 5.5's environment type setting in the admin bar and the "At a Glance" dashboard widget.

5★
from 4 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Dec 2025
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
74

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
13 Ray
Free by freekmurze

Ray

Easily debug WordPress sites using Ray.

5★
from 10 ratings
500+
active installs
Updated
Dec 2025
Tested to
WP 6.8.8
71

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
14 KAGG Generator
Free by kaggdesign

KAGG Generator

The plugin generates posts/pages. Useful to generate millions of records in the wp_posts table.

5★
from 5 ratings
20+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
71

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org