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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Permissions

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Permissions

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for permissions 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. Members Best overall 94/100
  2. 2. PublishPress Capabilities 88/100
  3. 3. PublishPress Blocks 86/100
  4. 4. Restricted Site Access 85/100
  5. 5. PublishPress Permissions: Control User Access for Posts, Pag... 82/100
  6. 6. Melapress File Monitor 81/100
  7. 7. Simple Restrict 81/100
  8. 8. Post Lockdown 80/100
  9. 9. Simple Client Dashboard 79/100
  10. 10. Security Header Generator 79/100
  11. 11. Custom Access Roles 77/100
  12. 12. Reset file and folder permissions 76/100
  13. 13. Melapress Role Editor 76/100
  14. 14. Roles & Capabilities 74/100
  15. 15. Integrity Checker 74/100
1 Members
Best overall Free by Blair Williams

Members

The best WordPress membership and user role editor plugin. User Roles & Capabilities editor helps you restrict content in just a few clicks.

4.9★
from 1,274 ratings
300k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
94

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 PublishPress Capabilities
Free by PublishPress

PublishPress Capabilities

PublishPress Capabilities is the access control plugin. You can manage user capabilities, permissions, user roles, admin menus and more.

4.7★
from 143 ratings
100k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
88

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 PublishPress Blocks
Free by PublishPress

PublishPress Blocks

PublishPress Blocks is your complete solution for the WordPress block editor. You can control block permissions, styles, visibility, usage and more.

4.7★
from 204 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 Restricted Site Access
Free by 10up

Restricted Site Access

Limit access to visitors who are logged in or allowed by IP addresses. Includes many options for handling blocked visitors.

4.8★
from 62 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
7 Simple Restrict
Free by WP Chill

Simple Restrict

Restrict pages based on permissions assigned to pages and granted in user profiles.

4.9★
from 15 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Post Lockdown
Free by andyexeter

Post Lockdown

Stop non-admin users trashing, deleting or unpublishing your site-critical posts and pages. Lock content down in seconds - no code required.

4.6★
from 9 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
80

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Simple Client Dashboard
Free by TylerDigital

Simple Client Dashboard

Restrict permissions with Simple Client Dashboard. Our new "Admin" user role between Administrator and Editor is perfect for clients and Webmasters.

4.5★
from 26 ratings
2k+
active installs
Updated
Apr 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 Custom Access Roles
Free by Room 34 Creative Services, LLC

Custom Access Roles

Create custom roles with editing capability for only specific pages, categories and post types.

5★
from 1 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
77

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 Reset file and folder permissions
Free by Prakhar Bhatia

Reset file and folder permissions

A WordPress plugin to reset file permissions to 0644, directory permissions to 0755, and file/folder ownership for security and maintenance purposes.

5★
from 3 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
15 Integrity Checker
Free by Erik Torsner

Integrity Checker

The WordPress Integrity Checker checks your WordPress installation by detecting modified files, permissions issues and other common problems. trnk

4.8★
from 6 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 6.7.7
74

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org