Looking for the best WordPress plugins to install on your WordPress site? This post lists the must-have WordPress plugins to make your website stand above the rest.
Approximate read time: 15 minutes
Looking for the best WordPress plugins to take your website to the next level?
But when there are 60,000+ free WordPress plugins, plus many more premium options, how do you choose the best ones?
Lucky for you, we’ve made this list of the best WordPress plugins — including form builders, SEO, eCommerce, affiliate marketing, and much more. If you have a need, there’s a plugin here for it.
So, let’s get into the list.
25 Best WordPress plugins
- Formidable Forms
- OptinMonster
- All in One SEO
- SeedProd
- WooCommerce
- Tasty Links
- MemberPress
- MonsterInsights
- Pretty Links
- SEMRush
- Tasty Recipes
- WPForms
- Beaver Builder
- UpdraftPlus
- WP Rocket
- Envira Gallery
- TranslatePress
- WP Mail SMTP
- Live Chat
- Sucuri
- Shared Counts
- wpDataTables
- Grammarly
- Business Directory Plugin
- Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin
1. Formidable Forms
The first plugin we are going to look at today is none other than Formidable Forms.
This plugin is the perfect choice if you’re looking for the best WordPress form builder designed for those who want to create complex, compelling forms. This is one of the best WordPress plugins for anyone looking to take their forms to the net level. Anything is possible with Formidable Forms!
After you install Formidable Forms on your website, you have tons of tools and form types available. There's something for everyone, ranging from simple forms with a couple of questions to complex, engaging surveys that allow users to upload files and go through multiple pages based on conditional logic.
The design menu is sleek and easy to navigate, making this a must-have plugin for creators who want to build excellent input forms but aren’t sure where to start. Formidable's forms are also ADA-compliant, a massive plus for website accessibility.
Formidable Lite is also one of the best WordPress plugins too. Its form builder has a free plugin version that is also very powerful. Don't miss it!
2. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is the best plugin for people who want to generate more leads (and make more sales!) on their website.
Out of the box, this plugin allows you to create custom lead magnets. OptinMonster boasts that over 1 million websites currently use their software to get more conversions and connect with customers.
You can use this plugin to design visually attractive offers for people who land on your page. The technology targets customers who meet specific requirements, like landing on a particular page or getting ready to leave your site.
Your lead magnet will pop up as the customer gets ready to leave, lands on the page of your choice, or meets any of the other conditions you set.
This is a valuable and affordable resource if you’ve struggled to reach your audience.
3. All in One SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is one of the oldest tricks in the book to generate more leads by putting businesses that use good practices toward the top of the search results.
All in One SEO helps even the most novice website owner ace their SEO efforts by making their website and posts more SEO-friendly.
All in One SEO comes with various tools that monitor and update your SEO status while creating content out of the box. You can reference the quality of your SEO, see whether you’re putting keywords in the proper place, and even check the readability of your content before you publish it.
Features include XML sitemaps, image optimization, and a user-friendly interface too.
Yoast SEO was the only choice for WordPress SEO plugins for a long while. No longer! All in One SEO has both a free and premium version. It’s worth noting that the premium version of this plugin is well worth the investment for those looking to become successful online.
👉 Read more: Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide for Beginners
4. SeedProd
A shocking number of people could benefit from this following plugin.
Most folks design a website, wait until it’s ready, and put it online only to see no traffic for the first few days, weeks, or even months. SeedProd can help you change that.
SeedProd is a plugin that allows you to build a professional and functioning coming-soon page for your product, brand, or blog. You can easily create a page to accompany your social media efforts to build an audience before your website officially launches.
There are a whole host of great features included with this plugin. One of our favorites consists of the ability to create a Contact Page so customers can reach out early. We also love that you can entice your readers and give them a taste of things to come by adding subscriber opt-ins for news on the site and a countdown timer to keep people excited for launch day.
Need an all-around great plugin? SeedProd is one of them.
5. WooCommerce
Are you thinking about opening an online store?
If so, WooCommerce is your ticket to an excellent eCommerce experience.
The WooCommerce plugin has over 4 million installations, and to this day, more people are integrating it with their websites to generate sales. It plays well with other plugins and themes, so you’ll still have complete creative control when creating your shop.
One of the selling points of WooCommerce is that it lets you start for free. As your business grows and you start getting sales, you can buy paid upgrades to improve your store and generate even more sales.
This is one of the best WordPress plugins that grows right alongside your business.
👉 Read more: The Formidable WooCommerce Add-On
6. Tasty Links
Are you an affiliate marketer looking to simplify your process?
Tasty Links makes inserting affiliate links and products as simple as typing this sentence.
Tasty Links is your one-stop shop for affiliate links with auto-linking keywords, advanced customization options, and a simple way to add Amazon affiliate images. And you can easily track your link statistics right from the WordPress dashboard.
If you want to supercharge your marketing efforts, check out Tasty Links.
👉 Read more: 11 Best WordPress Affiliate Plugins for Managers & Marketers
7. MemberPress
MemberPress is one of the best WordPress plugins for those developers interested in creating a website with membership access.
This plugin is a breeze to install and use, and the features included certainly make this resource an asset.
You’ll be able to instantly set up and accept payment methods, gate off content to subscribers, and track your members in real time. Setting up your products for sale is simple if you sell digital content like music or ebooks. Users can get to your site, pay, then download their content in just a few minutes.
A unique feature of this plugin is the ability to create custom communities for your subscribers. MemberPress offers all of these features and more.
If you’ve been thinking about starting a members-only site, here’s the plugin you’ve been looking for.
8. MonsterInsights
Google Analytics is vital to the success of virtually all websites.
The data provided by your analytics helps you form and structure your marketing plan, your content, and more. MonsterInsights makes it easy to integrate your Google Analytics into your WordPress site.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed MonsterInsights, all you do is link your Google Analytics account to the plugin. After they have been linked together, you’ll be able to monitor your page views, bounce rate, how people find your site, and their demographics in seconds.
If you want more control over your analytics and use this information to grow your website, MonsterInsights is the way to go.
👉 Read more: The Best WordPress Google Analytics plugins
9. Pretty Links
Pretty Links is a plugin with a super-specific but necessary purpose.
The whole goal of this plugin is to help you create and manage the links on your website.
You can take any link to any part of your site and change it to be short, sweet, and memorable. Where Pretty Links shines is the ability to track your links once you’ve created them. This is helpful when it comes to affiliate links too.
You can make multiple links for various social media accounts, then put them on your business page and track in real-time how many people click the links in your post.
It’s then possible to see how many of those people converted, whether it’s subscribing to your email list or making a purchase.
Pretty Links helps you get the most from your website links.
10. SEMRush
Semrush is a digital marketer’s dream.
This plugin has many features, and all are designed to make the most of your site.
For example, with Semrush, you’ll be able to get insights into your social media strategies, all while seeing what your competition is doing. It's a huge help for those trying to emerge in a crowded market and want to stand out.
Semrush also allows you to track your social mentions and links to see if people are mentioning your brand and if people are landing on your website from these mentions.
Top all that off with the ability to run an SEO audit on your site and the fact that this plugin allows you to discover ways to bring in more organic traffic, and it’s no wonder people love using this plugin on their website.
If you want an all-in-one marketing solution, Semrush is a great choice.
FACT: Semrush has over 5 million users!
11. Tasty Recipes
Running a food blog and want a simple way to put your recipes together?
Look no further than Tasty Recipes (such a good name, right?). And its features are quite tasty, too.
With a beautiful and simple recipe format, visitors get a seamless experience. And adding the recipes is easy for you, too. Simply set up your layout, then start adding your recipes for your visitors to cook up!
Plus, it has plenty of pre-made themes to get you started quickly.
If you’re a food blogger, this is as simple a decision as whether to add more salt or not (yes!).
If you want the full suite of WPTasty products, you can bundle and save them, so be sure to check that out!
12. WPForms
WPForms is an excellent form builder that you can use regardless of the size of your site or how well-versed you are in code.
This plugin comes out of the box and is ready to use with various pre-made templates and forms.
If you’re into tech, that’s perfectly fine too. WPForms gives developers the freedom to make the form that’s perfect for their website. You can create contact forms, integrate payments with Paypal, allow file uploads, and much more. This is one of the best WordPress plugins, period.
There are multiple versions of WPForms. We have succeeded with the Pro version, as it offers several features that make form-building fun, fast, and easy.
13. Beaver Builder
Building a website from the ground up can be a real challenge if you’re not great with code. Beaver Builder makes web design more straightforward than it has ever been before.
The Beaver Builder plugin is a drag-and-drop plugin that integrates with WordPress and helps you design fabulous-looking websites in no time. You can customize simple or complex blocks with colors, text, images, and more.
There are very few plugins anyone can use, and Beaver Builder makes that list. If you’ve tried to make a website in the past but felt overwhelmed, this plugin can make your next crack at web design a breeze.
They make our list of the best WordPress plugins for a good reason! Try it out for yourself to see why.
FACT: Beaver Builder powers over 200,000 websites.
14. UpdraftPlus
Here's one of the best WordPress plugins for backing up your site with a lot of power!
Technology is excellent. There’s no doubt about it. One of the problems we run into with technology is that things fail. And nothing is more terrifying than realizing your website is down with no clear solution to get it up and running again.
UpdraftPlus lets you kick back and relax, knowing that your website is always backed up. The free version of this plugin allows you to save your website and emails to their backup server; if something happens, you can bring it back.
The premium version had additional features like priority website retrieval for those afraid of ruining their customer’s experience because their site has been down for an extended period.
Both versions are great, but as expected, the premium version has a worthwhile edge. Both make our list of the best WordPress plugins, however.
15. WP Rocket
Your website speed can have a severe negative impact on how customers perceive your website.
Most people browsing the internet get discouraged if a page takes more than two seconds to load. The result is they bounce from the website and may never come back. And your website traffic along with your Google rankings take a hit.
The solution? Dramatically reduce your page load times with the WP Rocket caching plugin.
WP Rocket helps WordPress website owners speed up their sites by focusing on things like cached data and keeping large files compressed. You can check your site's performance in real-time and see your site’s areas of opportunity.
WP Rocket is one of the best WordPress plugins for novice website creators and professionals alike if you want to boost your website speed and get more happy customers.
16. Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery is a plugin for WordPress that allows you to create beautiful, fully customized photo galleries in minutes.
This is a super simple plugin to use. Envira Gallery comes with pre-built templates and a drag-and-drop builder, making it easy for people not experienced in coding to create incredible, shareable galleries.
If you know how to code, you’ll be happy to know that this plugin allows you to customize your galleries to fit your needs precisely.
It comes out of the box, is ready to go, and blends seamlessly with other WordPress plugins. That's why it made the list of the best WordPress plugins.
FACT: 57% of users will only recommend a business with good site design.
17. TranslatePress
Is your goal to reach a global audience, regardless of their language?
If you want everyone who comes to your website to have an excellent experience, TranslatePress can help. They are one of the best WordPress plugins for a global audience.
This plugin is unique because it allows you to translate your pages on the front end of your website. After your page has been translated, you’ll own full rights to the translated versions of your website — forever.
And if that isn't handy enough, TranslatePress also works seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it a real asset if you have an online store.
If the customers are interested in reading your website but don’t have the website available in their language, you could lose potential subscribers and sales.
Don’t let that happen to you by using one of the best WordPress plugins, TranslatePress.
18. WP Mail SMTP
There’s an odd issue with WordPress’s default mailer option that results in you not getting all the emails sent out from your customers.
WP Mail SMTP integrates with your WordPress site and allows you to get all your emails as soon as they are sent out.
This problem pops up because the emails are being sent to you through a PHP email type, which isn’t always reliable. WP Mail SMTP uses Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to deliver your emails.
This is one of the best WordPress plugins to ensure that you’ll be able to respond to customer questions and concerns without fear that you missed an email.
👉 Read more: How to Use the WP Mail SMTP Plugin in WordPress
19. Live Chat
Good customer service is a vital part of every successful business.
Live Chat allows you to have your own live customer support line on your website without sitting down and building your chat code from scratch.
You can use Live Chat on any device, making it perfect for those who are often on the go but still want to talk to their customers if there is a question or concern.
Out of the box, Live Chat allows you to blend your current marketing plan and WordPress website with this chat service so you can rest easy knowing that you’ll always be in the loop.
Up your marketing efforts with one of the best WordPress plugins, LiveChat.
FACT: A JD Power study found 46% of customers prefer live chat over other options.
20. Sucuri
Everyone loves a sense of security in their home or office, but what about your website?
Sucuri is a plugin that’s like a home security device for your website. This is one of the best WordPress plugins for security.
You’ll have access to a whole suite of security options designed to help you fight back against spammers, people trying to hack into your site, or those looking for weak websites that they can attack with malware.
There’s no doubt a severe concern for the integrity and safety of your website, and Sucuri delivers. You can create multiple website backups, restore from a previous state, and identify when it appears that someone is trying to “break in” your site.
Overall, if you need security, Sucuri is a solid choice. Many people say this is one of the best WordPress plugins for improving site security.
21. Nutrifox
We showed a plugin for food websites earlier.
But we figured another one would be a great addition to this list. And that's because of how powerful Nutrifox is.
With this plugin, you can easily add nutrition information to your website. Create custom nutrition labels for recipes, create entire nutritional databases, and even export nutrient factsheets! And beginners and experts alike will find Nutrifox easy to use with its user-friendly design.
Plus, you can customize the labels to fit your website's design! Nothing like a unique look to match your unique theme!
So, for anyone looking to add accurate and detailed nutrition information to their site, Nutrifox is for you.
22. wpDataTables
Data tables are a notoriously tricky thing to code and display responsively on any website.
When you have things looking right on your site's desktop version, you realize that they could be clearer on mobile.
This is where wpDataTables comes to the rescue! They are one of the best WordPress plugins for tables and charts.
In wpDataTables, you can create responsive WordPress tables and charts with ease. Just resize your browser window to see how things look across different devices!
The process of making tables has never been more straightforward. It's no wonder it's the best-selling WordPress table plugin on the market.
With plugins like this, making data tables can actually be fun!
FACT: wpDataTables is trusted by over 50,000 businesses!
23. Grammarly
One of the biggest problems website creators need help with is spelling and grammatical errors in their blog posts and emails.
Grammarly makes it super simple to avoid making mistakes when you’re writing. After you install the extension, you can pick either the free version of Grammarly or the paid version.
The free and paid versions both do the same thing. Still, the paid version of this software examines everything you type out in real time, gives suggestions on spelling/grammatical errors and punctuation changes, and even includes an on-the-fly thesaurus.
So you can rest easy knowing you’re consistently delivering your best content to the people who subscribe to you or visit your website.
If you want to become a better writer, Grammarly is here to help.
FACT: Charles Duncombe told the BBC that poor grammar and spelling can lower sales by as much as 50%.
24. Business Directory Plugin
If you want to create any kind of business directory on your WordPress website, the Business Directory plugin is a great choice. This is one of the best WordPress plugins for directories.
Using this plugin, you can create many different types of directory sites, like restaurant directories or local business directories.
The BD plugin even has a powerful free version where you can get a feel for how the plugin works. The plugin has over 20,000 users and an excellent support team to help new users.
Check this out if you plan to make a business directory site!
FACT: You can make a site like Yelp with the BD plugin!
25. Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin
Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin is... well, another option if you want to create classified-style ads on your WordPress site.
Don’t let the exact name fool you, though. This is one of the best WordPress plugins for those looking to make a classified site.
Users can create a listing site where buyers can search by directory city, state, country, username, or keyword.
And the free version of the plugin also gives plenty of control over the classified ad options. For example, you can limit ad postings' text size or allow/disallow images.
You can also allow AdSense ads to display in your classified directory with configurable ad placement.
This makes it even easier to monetize your classified site!
Which WordPress plugins are best for your website?
So there you have it!
That’s our list of top picks for the best WordPress plugins to download.
We hope this helped you make some decisions and guided you in the right direction. Many of the above options are free, so there's nothing to lose if you want to try them out!
There's a lot more to WordPress than just plugins. If you want more WordPress tips, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. And be sure to check the Formidable blog often.
Read more about WordPress plugins!
If you'd like to learn more about what Formidable Forms can do for you, check out our list of features. Our form maker plugin is one of the best WordPress plugins, even if you're just starting your WordPress site. Formidable is more than a form builder - take advantage of our 14-day money-back guarantee and see for yourself!
Bobby Clapp says
The free versions of the WMPU Dev plugins are great tools to have in your toolbelt as well.