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Are you looking for the best WordPress plugins (both free and paid) to boost your website? It is indeed difficult to navigate with the thousands of extensions available.

That's why we have prepared a selection of essential plugins for you to have on your WordPress site in 2022. And whether you are looking for an extension to improve your SEO, make backups, optimize your images, create a contact form, and more.

 Best WordPress Plugins

The best plugins to absolutely use on WordPress

To be as complete as possible in this comparison and ranking for the best WordPress plugin of 2022, we have decided to select additional plugins.

You should know that all the extensions listed below have alternatives. However, they remain the best in their respective categories.

List of the best free and paid WordPress plugins for WordPress:

1. Yoast SEO
2. MonsterInsights
3. WPForms
4. UpdraftPlus
5. Elementor
6. Pretty Links
7. WooCommerce
8. W3 Total Cache
9. Smush
10. Simple Author Box
11. Shortcode Ultimate
12. Autoptimize
13. WP-Optimize
14. WP Product Review
15. OptinMonster
16. Akismet Anti-Spam
17. Loco Translate
18. TablePress
19. Classic Editor
20. iThemes Security
21. MaxButtons

1) Yoast SEO (Recommended Version: Free)

If you are looking for the best SEO plugin for WordPress, Yoast is a really good choice.

It is currently a reference even if it is true that its competitor Rank Math is gaining ground.

Features

The Yoast SEO extension will allow you to:

1. Evaluate the quality of your text about SEO optimization.
2. Analyze the readability of your texts.
3. Fill in the meta title of an article/page, its slug (which makes up the URL), as well as a meta description.
4. Manage your sitemaps.

How much does Yoast SEO cost?

The Yoast SEO plugin is offered for free. If you want our opinion, the free version is more than enough.

However, be aware that a paid version exists and is available from 89€ / year (for one site).

Via the Premium version, you will be able to take advantage of additional features such as the suggestion of internal links, advanced management of redirections, better analysis of your keywords, as well as customer support available 24/7.

2) MonsterInsights (Recommended version: free)

Don't want to bother getting your hands on your site's code to set up and run Google Analytics?

Then the MonsterInsights WordPress plugin is for you. In just a few clicks you will be able to link your WordPress site to your Google Analytics account.

This will give you an overview of the behaviour of your visitors.

Features

With the MonsterInsights plugin you can:

• View Google Analytics statistics directly from your WordPress admin panel.
• Find a large number of graphs, analyzes and reports concerning the behaviour of visitors to your site.

How much does MonsterInsights cost?

As for Yoast SEO, MonsterInsights has a paid version but it does not seem relevant to us to use.

The WordPress MonsterInsights Lite (free) extension will do the trick!

3) WPForms (Recommended version: free)

Looking for a quick and easy way to create a contact form? WPForms will give you that. It is in our eyes one of the best WordPress plugins in 2022.

Thanks to an automated wizard, you will be able to create an ultra-professional contact form.

Features

The WPForms WordPress plugin comes with the following features:

• Simplified form builder (thanks to the principle of click/drag).
• A large number of templates to create various and varied forms.
• Mobile compatibility and optimal adaptation for SEO.

How much does WPForms cost?

WPForms is offered as a free WordPress plugin. This version will suit most users.

However, there is also a Pro version of WPForms. It is aimed at a professional audience and will cost at least $39.50/year.

4) UpdraftPlus

The best WordPress plugin of 2022 to make backups of your website is UpdraftPlus.

If you want to avoid any disappointment in the case of a bug, a server crash, or the hacking of your site, you must at all costs make daily backups. And that's exactly what UpdraftPlus offers…all for free.

Features

With UpdraftPlus you will be able to:

• Set up automated backups of your WordPress site.
• Store your backups in online storage or on a physical hard drive.
• Restore your website with a single click.

How much does UpdraftPlus cost?

The UpdraftPlus WordPress plugin is free.

Now if you need more complete support and especially online storage space, then know that there is a premium version. It is available for €39.60 / year (for two websites).

5) Elementor (Recommended version: Paid)

Are you looking to personalize your website or certain important pages? One of the best WordPress plugins to achieve all of this is Elementor.

Whether you are new to site creation or you are more expert, this extension called “ Page Builder ” is extremely practical.

Other equally good alternatives exist. We think for example of Beaver Builder (free or paid) or Divi (paid).

Features

The Elementor plugin, which claims to be the best site creation assistant for WordPress, will give you access to:

• A click-and-drag based live design tool.
• Professional templates.
• Many free widgets.
• Full compatibility with tablets and smartphones.

How much does Elementor cost?

The basic version of the WordPress Elementor plugin is offered for free.

However, if you want to have access to more modules and functionalities, it is in our opinion very interesting to consider the paid version of Elementor. It is currently available for $49.00 / year.

6) Pretty Links (Recommended version: free)

If you dabble in the world of affiliate marketing, it is more than interesting to consider the use of an extension to manage your affiliate links and especially to make them more readable.

The best WordPress plugin at this level is Pretty Links. It is closely followed by Thirsty Affiliates.

Features

With the Pretty Links extension, you will be able to:

• Beautify your affiliate links by making them more readable and above all shorter.
• Quickly change a link on several pages/articles thanks to centralized management.
• Track the performance of each of your links so you know which ones generate the most clicks day-to-day.

How much do Pretty Links cost?

Pretty Links is free. Although there is a paid version of this WordPress plugin (available for $49.00 / year), we advise you to stay on the free version.

7) WooCommerce (Free)

WooCommerce is certainly the best WordPress plugin for creating an online store.

If you are looking to sell products online, read the following carefully.

Features

The WordPress WooCommerce extension will give you the possibility to:

• Create your online store from a simple WordPress site.
• Manage a large number of payment methods.
• Add various and varied articles thanks to many parameters.
• Set up an efficient delivery system.

How much does WooCommerce cost?

WooCommerce is the best E-Commerce plugin on WordPress largely because it's free.

The only thing that is chargeable is the addition of some add-ons. Be aware that it is very easy to get by with the free options.

Want to learn more about it? Be sure to check out the WooCommerce review we posted.

8) W3 Total Cache (Free)

Each website must have optimal cache management. In this game, the best WordPress 2022 plugin for cache management is W3 Total Cache.

By optimizing the speed of your site, you will improve the user experience and especially your ranking on Google. The speed of a website is indeed one of the criteria that is taken into account by the search engine to rank it against the competition.

There are many alternatives to W3 Total Cache such as WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache, WP Super Cache, etc.

However, W3 Total Cache seems to us to be the best extension to manage the cache of a WordPress site.

Features

With this plugin, you will be able to improve the speed of your site. To influence this variable, W3 Total Cache will let you configure a large number of aspects such as image management, file compression (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), page display management, etc.

In addition, you can of course count on W3 Total Cache to empty the cache of your WordPress site.

How much does W3 Total Cache cost?

This excellent WordPress extension is free.

9) Smush (Free)

did you know that it was important to optimize and compress all the images that you put online on your site?

If this was something unfamiliar to you, now you know. To achieve all this, the best WordPress plugin for us is Smush.

Installed on more than 1 million websites, it is a real reference in the field.

Features

Thanks to the Smush extension here is what it will be possible to do:

1. Automatic optimization of your images (resizing and compression) without loss of quality
2. Management of lazy load (loading of images as you scroll down a page)

How much does Smush cost?

Although it is part of our ranking of the best WordPress plugins in 2022, Smush is offered for free.

10) Simple Author Box (Free)

It is important to introduce the authors of the articles on your website. If your WordPress theme does not offer this option, you will need to use a plugin.

The best WordPress extension to manage the description of the authors of your site is Simple Author Box.

Features

In just a few clicks, Simple Author Box will allow you to:

• Create a profile for each author of your website (including a description, an image)
• Place links to the social networks of each author
• Customize the display of the box reserved for the author (colour, border, shape, etc.)
• Obviously, this WordPress plugin is fully compatible with use on smartphones. The display of authors will adapt according to the device used.

How much does Simple Author Box cost?

Simple Author Box is a completely free WordPress plugin. You don't have to pay anything to use it.

11) Shortcode Ultimate (Free)

Your WordPress theme does not allow you to make certain layouts and you are frustrated?

Shortcode Ultimate is here to relieve you. This WordPress plugin which serves as a reference in 2022 will give you access to many features from your article editing interface.

Features

With Shortcode Ultimate you will be able to enjoy:

• A large number of visuals and functions available via a shortcode
• Create tables, buttons, boxes, and more!
• It is worth pointing out that the Shortcode Ultimate extension is compatible with all WordPress themes and that of course, its use meets the requirements of mobile users.

How much does Shortcode Ultimate cost?

As you may have noticed above, Shortcode Ultimate is available for free.

12) Autoptimize (Free)

After having been able to introduce you to the best WordPress cache management plugin, we are going to tell you about Autoptimize.

The latter may seem to duplicate some cache plugins but in reality, it will be very often useful and above all complementary.

However, you will note that if you are already using W3 Total Cache, it will not be necessary to install Autoptimize because the management of your code can already be done via the cache plugin.

Features

Thanks to Autoptimize you will be able to optimize the management of the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code of your website to improve its performance.

How much does Autoptimize cost?

Autoptimize is free.

13) WP-Optimize (Free)

To continue on the subject of optimizing your WordPress site, we are going to tell you about one of the best plugins at this level: WP-Optimize.

As the name suggests, it optimizes. But what exactly?

Features

With WP-Optimize, you will be able to clean up your website and its databases in a few clicks.

This goes for spam comments, article revisions, drafts, pings, trackbacks, etc.

A cache and image management function is also available. Be careful not to enable it if you already have plugins that meet these needs.

How much does WP-Optimize cost?

Like many of the best WordPress plugins listed in our comparison, WP-Optimize is free.

14) WP Product Review (Free)

Does your WordPress site aim to carry out tests or give your opinion on products/services? Then you will need a plugin to add a rating system.

WP Product Review is for us the best WordPress plugin to fulfil this task.

Features

With this extension, you will be able to:

• Rate a product according to one or more aspects
• Create a detail sheet
• Include an affiliate link and an image in your product sheet
• Filling in this information will also allow your site to appear in Google/Bing/etc results with stars that correspond to the ratings given.

How much does WP Product Review cost?

The WP Product Review plugin is available for free.

A paid version allowing you to take advantage of additional options existed before but it seems to have completely disappeared.

15) OptinMonster (Paid)

The best WordPress plugin to boost generated leads is OptinMonster.

Various tools, it will allow bloggers, creators, medium-sized companies, or large companies, to grow their online business at high speed.

Features

With the OptinMonster extension, you will be able to:

• Create quality popups.
• Boost your mailing list.
• Increase the engagement of your visitors.
• All this will be done in an extremely simple way thanks to a click/drag function.

How much does OptinMonster cost?

OptinMonster is the first WordPress plugin in our ranking to only be available by paying for a subscription.

The first price subscription is offered at $9.00 / month.

16) Akismet Anti-Spam (Free)

Tired of being drowned out by spam comments?

Akismet Anti-Spam is for us the best WordPress plugin to counter this problem.

After a few minutes of configuration, you will have the possibility of setting up an effective anti-spam system.

If you already use Akismet Anti-Spam and are looking for an alternative, we recommend Antispam Bee.

Features

Akismet's features are as follows:

• Automatic review of comments to filter and categorize them.
• Highlighting malicious links placed in comments.
• Total blocking of recurring unwanted messages.
• Creation of statistics to allow you to judge the effectiveness of the filtering.

How much does Akismet Anti-Spam cost?

The Akismet spam management extension is free.

17) Loco Translate

You just installed a WordPress theme and you realized that it was not available in French?

This is not a problem if you have Loco Translate. It is the best plugin to carry out this mission.

Features

The Loco Translate extension is only intended to assist you in translating your site. To do this, an interface integrated into WordPress is offered by the plugin.

You will not have to go to the code of your site to make these changes, which is more than practical.

How much does Loco Translate cost?

Loco Translate may be part of our ranking for the best WordPress plugin, but the plugin is free.

18) TablePress

It is sometimes complicated to create beautiful paintings. Based on this observation, many plugins have been implemented to assist you.

The best WordPress plugin for creating and managing tables remains TablePress.

Looking for alternatives to TablePress? In this case, you can consider Visualizer or Ninja Tables.

Features

With TablePress installed, it is possible to:

• Create tables.
• Insert them using just a simple shortcode.
• Include images as well as links.

How much does TablePress cost?

TablePress is available on the WordPress plugin store for free.

19) Classic Editor (Free)

We should perhaps have started our comparison of the best WordPress plugins of 2022 with Classic Editor, it seems so essential to us.

If you want to avoid the unreadable and inconvenient admin interface that comes with WordPress (Gutenberg), the Classic Editor plugin will save you.

Features

Installing Classic Editor will allow you to return to the old WordPress administration and article editing interface (see screenshot above).

This will offer you much more clarity and above all practicality, because we are not going to hide it, the Gutenberg interface is far from being a success.

Proof of this is that more than 5 million WordPress sites are actively using this plugin.

How much does Classic Editor cost?

It's free. You will have absolutely nothing to pay to take advantage of it and simplify your life.

20) iThemes Security (anciennement Better WP Security)

Ensuring the security of your site is essential. Because yes, any website is exposed to attacks and threats, even if it is not well known.

The best WordPress plugin for all things security in our opinion is iThemes Security (formerly known as Better WP Security).

Features

With iThemes Security, you will have access to 30 different ways to secure your site.

For example, it will be possible to block access to specific IP addresses, detect 404 errors, protect against brute force attacks, etc.

How much does iThemes Security cost?

iThemes Security exists as a free and paid plugin.

The paid offer is available from $80/year and will allow you to deploy two-factor authentication, integrate Google reCAPTCHA, or benefit from priority support.

21) MaxButtons

If you are looking to add buttons to your WordPress site, the MaxButtons plugin is for you.

Features

With it, you will be able to create an incalculable number of buttons and customize them (colour, shape, font size, font, etc.). The most pleasant thing is that you will be able to do all this without even touching a line of code. Everything will be done through a clear and quick to learn interface.

Thanks to MaxButtons, you can also take advantage of personalized buttons for your social networks (so that people can access them from your site).

How much does MaxButtons cost?

It is possible to use the MaxButtons plugin for free. You really won't have to pay anything to enjoy it!

Now if you want to take advantage of more than 5000 “pre-configured” buttons, know that there is a Pro version. The latter is available for $49 from the official MaxButtons website.

What is a plugin/extension?

First of all, know that the terms plugin and WordPress extension define the same thing. They are just two different ways of naming them.

To answer the question, a plugin/extension is a piece of program that can be downloaded to improve or complete the functionalities offered by WordPress.

They are generally coded in PHP language and integrate perfectly with the CMS.

What are the notable differences between a free and paid plugin?

The notable differences between the best free and paid WordPress plugins are mainly in the:

• Variety of features offered.
• Quality of customer support.
• Frequency of deployment of new updates.

As you have seen throughout our ranking as the best WordPress plugin for 2022, you will very often be able to settle for the free version.

They are indeed rather complete and will, in most cases, meet everyone's expectations.

Which host to choose for your WordPress site?

Now that you know which free and paid plugins to turn to optimize the operation and administration of your WordPress site, we are going to advise you on the choice of hosting.

If you are still looking for a web host, or if you want to change, then do not hesitate to consult our comparison of the best WordPress hosts.

Here you will find our recommendations for 2022.

To sum up, the best WordPress host in our eyes is Hostinger.

The latter has everything to please you:

• Quality of service
• Value for money
• Increased performance
• Hosting optimized for WordPress
• Responsive customer support, available 24/7
• …

Conclusion on the best WordPress plugins of 2022

This is already the end of our comparison of the best extensions to have on WordPress.

We hope this detailed ranking will help you find the plugin(s) that meet your needs.

And what you are looking for is to improve your SEO, manage the backups of your site, make your daily administration task easier, or even secure your site.

If you have any questions regarding any of the WordPress plugins that we were able to present to you, let us know in the comments. Don't hesitate to recommend other extensions that make your daily life easier. We are interested!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a plugin/extension used for?

A plugin (which can also be called an extension or addon) aims to provide access to new functionalities (admin side or client-side) to improve or facilitate the management/use of your website. Indeed, although WordPress is a very complete solution, you will see that it is essential to rely on extensions to be able to administer and use your site in an even more complete way.

Where to find WordPress plugins?

You can find them directly from the administration interface of your WordPress site. To do this, simply click on the “Extensions” menu. You will be automatically redirected to the plugins already installed and then you just have to click on “Add” to browse the catalogue of plugins set up by WordPress. You will find several thousand paid and/or free plugins there.

What are the essential plugins on WordPress?

There are a lot of interesting plugins to have on your WordPress site. Here is a non-exhaustive list (for more details, read our complete guide on the subject): Yoast SEO, UpdraftPlus, Classic Editor, Pretty Links, Smush, W3 Total Cache, TablePress…