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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Private

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Private

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for private 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. Better Messages Best overall 88/100
  2. 2. Force Login 87/100
  3. 3. My Private Site 83/100
  4. 4. Intranet & Private Site 82/100
  5. 5. Private groups 82/100
  6. 6. WP Customer Area 81/100
  7. 7. User Private Files 79/100
  8. 8. Private Website 77/100
  9. 9. WebEquipe PDF Search 76/100
  10. 10. WPC Advanced Password Protect for WooCommerce 76/100
  11. 11. Client Portal 74/100
  12. 12. Private Google Calendars 74/100
  13. 13. Eazy Under Construction 73/100
  14. 14. BP Simple Private 72/100
  15. 15. Private Store for WooCommerce B2B & Wholesale by B2BKing 71/100
1 Better Messages
Best overall Free by wordplus

Better Messages

Real-time messaging and chat rooms for WordPress ecosystem: private conversations, public and private chat rooms, video & audio calls, and more.

4.8★
from 141 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
88

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 Force Login
Free by Kevin Vess

Force Login

Force Login is a simple lightweight plugin that requires visitors to log in to interact with the website.

4.8★
from 101 ratings
30k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
87

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 My Private Site
Free by David Gewirtz

My Private Site

Make your WordPress site private in one click, block registration spam, and clean up existing spam accounts with staged safeguards that protect online …

4.5★
from 81 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 Intranet & Private Site
Free by Syed Balkhi

Intranet & Private Site

Turn WordPress into a private intranet in one click. Restrict access to logged-in members, with auto-logout and login redirect, also on multisite.

5★
from 11 ratings
3k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
82

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 WP Customer Area
Free by Aguila Technologies

WP Customer Area

WP Customer Area is a modular all-in-one solution to manage private content with WordPress.

4★
from 89 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
7 User Private Files
Free by Deepak Khokhar

User Private Files

A secure client file portal for WordPress. Upload files to your clients and let clients securely upload files back to you.

4.4★
from 56 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Private Website
Free by roehler

Private Website

This plugin requires users to be logged in to view the website. Activate the plugin to enforce login, and deactivate it to remove the restriction.

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

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 WebEquipe PDF Search
Free by WebEquipe

WebEquipe PDF Search

Search inside your PDF documents. Index text-based PDFs in WordPress search. Pro adds OCR, private search, and analytics.

5★
from 3 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 Client Portal
Free by madalin.ungureanu

Client Portal

WordPress Client Portal Plugin that creates private pages for all users that only an administrator can edit.

4.3★
from 23 ratings
3k+
active installs
Updated
Jan 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
74

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org