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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Moderation

13 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Moderation

All 13 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for moderation 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 13 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. 13 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. Content Censor Best overall 79/100
  2. 2. Block, Suspend, Report for BuddyPress 76/100
  3. 3. Comment Moderation/Notification Recipients 74/100
  4. 4. CM Answers 74/100
  5. 5. Comment Moderation Role by WPBeginner 73/100
  6. 6. forumManager for bbPress 63/100
  7. 7. Registration Options for BuddyPress 49/100
  8. 8. bbPress Moderation 48/100
  9. 9. Auto Approve Comments 46/100
  10. 10. Comment Moderator 45/100
  11. 11. BuddyPress Moderation 43/100
  12. 12. BuddyVerified 41/100
  13. 13. No Comment 38/100
1 Content Censor
Best overall Free by gwycon

Content Censor

Filter configured words from selected public-facing parts of a WordPress site without changing the stored source content.

4.5★
from 4 ratings
500+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 CM Answers
Free by CreativeMindsSolutions

CM Answers

Discussion Forum Plugin for WordPress Q&A. Build engaging community forums with voting, moderation, notifications, and AI integration.

3.8★
from 86 ratings
300+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
74

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 forumManager for bbPress
Free by Milan Petrovic

forumManager for bbPress

Expand how the moderators can manage forum and topics content from the frontend, from any page showing the list of topics or forums.

5★
from 1 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2025
Tested to
WP 6.8.8
63

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 bbPress Moderation
Free by ianhaycox

bbPress Moderation

Add the ability to moderate and approve new topics and replies in the bbPress V2.0 plugin

4.3★
from 14 ratings
500+
active installs
Updated
Sep 2013
Tested to
WP 3.6.1
48

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Auto Approve Comments
Free by Federico Andrioli

Auto Approve Comments

Auto approve comments by Commenter (email, name, url), User and Role (Akismet and wpDiscuz compatible)

3.2★
from 5 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2021
Tested to
WP 5.8.15
46

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
10 Comment Moderator
Free by DraftPress Team

Comment Moderator

Add a new user role, Comment Moderator, that allows any selected user to manage comments.

3.7★
from 3 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2022
Tested to
WP 6.0.14
45

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 BuddyPress Moderation
Free by francescolaffi

BuddyPress Moderation

Adds links/buttons to flag inappropriate content and gives a convenient way to moderators to view reports and take actions.

2.3★
from 9 ratings
10+
active installs
Updated
Nov 2014
43

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 BuddyVerified
Free by modemlooper

BuddyVerified

Allows admins to specify verified accounts. Adds a badge to verified usernames.

3.7★
from 20 ratings
20+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2017
Tested to
WP 4.7.35
41

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
13 No Comment
Free by oiler

No Comment

No Comment is a simple way to remove email notification for just one person out of your list of blog administrators.

100+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2011
Tested to
WP 3.2.1
38

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org