Best WordPress Plugins​ for 2025

It’s been 4 years since my last WordPress plugin list, so it’s time for an updated best WordPress plugins​ list to replace “Top WordPress Plugins for 2020.” A few plugins have been dropped, like Yoast SEO, WCK – Custom Fields and Custom Post Types Creator, and Custom Sidebars. Some new ones have made the list: RankMath, Enable Media Replace, and WP Last Modified Info.

iThemes Security had a rebrand—it’s still on the list but is now called Solid Security Basic. RankMath replaces Yoast because I just prefer the extra features it has, though Yoast is still solid. WCK has been replaced by custom code; it’s easy enough to create custom post types in the functions file now, and ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) can handle it too.

So what are the best WordPress Plugins?

• Advanced Custom Fields
• Autoptimize
• Classic Editor
• Contact Form 7
• Enable Media Replace
• iThemes Security
• Polylang Pro
• WP Last Modified Info
• WooCommerce
• WP All Import – ACF Add-On
• Rank Math

1. Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) – website
It’s great for creating flexible page blocks for custom content and easily makes Gutenberg blocks too. I prefer this over using site builders because the code overhead is quite low. By that, I mean I can have dynamic content like multi-column layouts, photo carousels, FAQs, etc., without the massive code bloat that traditional site builders have, making for a much faster website.

The free version is solid, but Pro is even better with more features if it’s in your budget. This is the most important plugin in my WordPress toolkit, and I’ll create a blog post about the features I use soon.
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2. Autoptimize – website
This is a great tool for speeding up your website by minifying all HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then loading it at the bottom of the page. It only loads essential code for a quick page load and a better user experience.

This plugin is still very useful, especially for quick wins with Google Page Speed Insights, though it may struggle with sites that use excessive plugins or page builders like Divi or WP Bakery.
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3. Classic Editor – website
This might be a bit controversial, but I find the new WYSIWYG content editors cumbersome—and, more importantly, they can slow your website down significantly. Most sites using them struggle with Page Speed Insights due to the excessive, unnecessary code they add, leaving the sites slow and clunky.

WP Bakery Builder and Divi are today’s equivalent of Microsoft FrontPage—do yourself a favour and avoid them at all costs. If you really need a site builder, Gutenberg is the way to go.
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4. Contact Form 7 – website
This is a simple-to-install contact form plugin that’s very easy to customize and design. I also install the extension plugin, which saves all form submissions in the database and provides an easy-to-use interface to retrieve them. No leads will be lost.
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5. Enable Media Replace – website
I like this plugin for swapping out and updating media items like images. It allows you to change the dates or keep them the same, and it searches and replaces all instances across your site if you decide to change the file name.
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6. iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security) – website
Changing the WordPress dashboard URL and using this plugin definitely adds a solid layer of security, as most people know the URL of the WordPress admin area. It’s really effective at stopping common bots and scripts that target the default login page, so this change alone throws off most automated attacks.

Paired with Cloudflare’s added security features, like rate limiting and bot management, it’s a strong defence that keeps out most hackers. Since I started using this setup with my clients, none of them have been hacked—it’s a straightforward way to make things much harder for anyone trying to break in.
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7. Polylang Pro – website
This plugin allows you to display and manage content in multiple languages. It’s really easy to use, and for most plugins and themes, the language pack is already included, which Polylang uses automatically without any configuration. For those tricky words buried deep within a theme or plugin that aren’t translated, Polylang provides a tool to let you add your own translations.
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9. WP Last Modified Info – website
Simple backend plugin that I use for SEO. Sometimes, I want to control the modified date on my blog posts—for reasons such as only fixing a comma, which doesn’t warrant a date change. I also order posts by modified and published date, and this allows me to set the modified date as needed.

10. WooCommerce – website
Over the years, I’ve built many eCommerce websites using a variety of tools, and I’ve even built several from scratch. But as soon as I tried WooCommerce, I fell in love with it. All the shopping cart features come built-in and pre-configured, making setup easy.

It also has many extensions for selling custom products that don’t fit the standard mould and pairs well with Polylang and Advanced Custom Fields.
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11. WP All Import – ACF Add-On – website
Sometimes, when building websites, you need to import content from outside sources—like converting a Drupal website to WordPress or importing content from a spreadsheet. This plugin lets you import a CSV file and instantly map the content into ACF custom fields for a custom post type, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
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12. Rank Math – website
My new favourite SEO plugin—you can install it on any site that uses Yoast or AIOSEO, and it will import all the data from those plugins, so nothing is lost.

What I really like is its scoring system, which lets you know how optimized your page is for your keywords. It has many other features, such as built-in schema, redirections, integration with Analytics, and a 404 monitor, to name a few.
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My criteria for determining the best WordPress plugins over the years has changed. As a WordPress developer, I try to use as few plugins as possible and hand-code where I can. Why, you may ask? Simply because it’s easier to control code conflicts (for example, between plugins) and keep code bloat to a minimum.

Of course, every site has unique needs, and the best WordPress plugins may vary to accommodate those needs, but many of the custom WordPress sites I build only contain plugins from this list. For more information, feel free to reach out at 416.450.5439.