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WordPress Guide → Plugins → Developers
10 Most Popular WordPress Plugins for Developers
WordPress is beloved by developers because it’s flexible, extensible, and endlessly hackable. But building custom themes and plugins from scratch takes time. That’s why experienced developers rely on plugins that streamline development, improve performance, and simplify testing.
Whether you’re creating custom post types, debugging theme issues, or migrating data between environments, the right tools make a difference. These 10 plugins are popular among developers for a reason: they solve real problems in efficient, code-friendly ways.
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1. Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
ACF is one of the most essential plugins in the WordPress developer toolkit. It allows you to add custom fields to posts, pages, users, and more without writing repetitive code. ACF’s intuitive interface and advanced field types make it a go-to for building structured content.
Features:
- Create repeaters, flexible content layouts, and field groups.
- Supports custom post types and taxonomies.
- Includes location rules and conditional logic.
Best for: Developers building dynamic, content-rich websites.
Starting at: Free, with Pro features starting at $49/year.
2. Custom Post Type UI
Custom Post Type UI makes it easy to register custom post types and taxonomies through a clean admin interface. Developers love it because it simplifies the process of structuring WordPress content without writing manual register_post_type() code.
Features:
- Intuitive admin dashboard.
- Post type and taxonomy export for hardcoding.
- Supports hierarchical and non-hierarchical types.
Best for: Developers building custom post type structures quickly.
Starting at: Free.
3. Query Monitor
Query Monitor is a powerful debugging tool that shows you what your site is doing behind the scenes. It adds an admin bar interface that tracks database queries, hooks, HTTP requests, and more in real time.
Features:
- Identifies slow queries and duplicate queries.
- Debugs AJAX, REST API, and user capability issues.
- Integrates with object caching and persistent storage.
Best for: Developers diagnosing performance and logic issues.
Starting at: Free.
4. WP Migrate
WP Migrate is designed to simplify the process of moving WordPress databases between environments. Developers can push, pull, and export data without risking broken serialized strings.
Features:
- Safe find-and-replace for URLs and paths.
- Handles serialized data and arrays.
- Premium version supports full site sync.
Best for: Developers working across staging and production environments.
Starting at: Free, with Pro plans from $49/year.
5. User Role Editor
User Role Editor gives you complete control over user capabilities. It’s useful when you need to create custom roles or adjust permissions for clients, contributors, or multisite admins.
Features:
- Edit, clone, or delete user roles.
- Assign capabilities individually.
- Multisite compatible.
Best for: Developers managing complex user roles and permissions.
Starting at: Free, Pro version starts at $29/year.
6. WP All Import
WP All Import lets you import XML or CSV files into WordPress with full control over mapping, filtering, and custom fields. It’s especially handy for populating custom post types or migrating ecommerce product data.
Features:
- Drag-and-drop field mapping.
- Supports ACF, WooCommerce, and custom fields.
- Handles large files and cron jobs.
Best for: Developers managing bulk data imports.
Starting at: Free, with Pro add-ons starting at $149 (one-time).
7. Redirection
Redirection is a developer-friendly plugin for managing 301 redirects and monitoring 404 errors. It’s great for site migrations, SEO cleanup, and ensuring link continuity.
Features:
- Conditional redirects based on login status, referrer, and more.
- Full redirect and 404 logs.
- Import/export rules.
Best for: Developers managing SEO and site structure changes.
Starting at: Free.
8. WPCode
Formerly known as Insert Headers and Footers, WPCode is a snippet manager that lets you safely add PHP, CSS, or JavaScript to your site. Developers love it for testing functions without editing functions.php directly.
Features:
- Add code to header, footer, or specific pages.
- Supports conditional logic.
- Snippet library and version control.
Best for: Developers managing sitewide and page-level code snippets.
Starting at: Free, Pro starts at $49/year.
9. Health Check & Troubleshooting
Health Check & Troubleshooting is the official plugin from the WordPress.org team that helps developers identify configuration issues and plugin conflicts. Its “troubleshooting mode” is a safe sandbox for isolating errors without affecting other users.
Features:
- Troubleshooting mode for safe conflict testing.
- Full site health diagnostics.
- Persistent object cache and cron insights.
Best for: Developers diagnosing errors on live or staging sites.
Starting at: Free.
10. Code Snippets
Code Snippets lets you add PHP functions to your site via a visual interface. It replaces the need for editing theme files and protects your site with error handling and execution toggles.
Features:
- Snippet tagging and categorization.
- Execution toggle and safe rollback.
- Multisite and export/import support.
Best for: Developers adding and managing PHP code.
Starting at: Free, Pro plans from $39/year.
Why developers rely on plugins
While hand-coding is often ideal, plugins give developers a faster way to implement essential features, debug issues, and customize client sites. These tools are specifically built to fit developer workflows, from local development to production deployments.
Next steps for using WordPress developer plugins
Choosing the right plugins helps you streamline your workflow, debug faster, and launch better WordPress sites. Each plugin on this list solves a distinct problem, whether it’s user management, data migration, or debugging complex queries.
Start by identifying one area where your workflow feels slow or repetitive, then test the matching plugin from this list in a staging environment.
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Additional resources
What is a WordPress plugin? →
A complete beginner’s guide to WordPress plugins and how to manage them
Easy SEO for WordPress →
7 SEO tasks anyone can do, to set your WordPress site up for success in organic search.
How to check if a plugin is safe →
Simple steps to evaluating a plugin before you install and activate it
Leslie Bowman is an Organic SEO Manager at Liquid Web and expert wordsmith. She specializes in driving revenue through organic and paid channels with SEO and CRO. When she’s not bending search algorithms to her will, she’s most likely spending time with animals, reading nonfiction, or marveling at nature’s beauty.
