Here’s a short guide that will help you to find the “perfect” one. We have been using this method on our own sites, but also in our web dev agency to find the right plugin for our client needs.
The Ratings
You can start by doing a Google search for the plugin you need. For example, let’s say you need an anti-spam plugin. Simply perform a search for your needed tool + “plugin”:
Even though for a lot of plugins you already have the ratings displayed in the search results, the best approach is to go straight to the WordPress.org page and avoid the plugin websites themselves – this way you get the unfiltered, unbiased feedback of users. Of course, you can perform a search on the WordPress site as well.
And then you just look at the ratings.
If you have a lot of options, go with the one with the higher rating. We usually avoid plugins that fall below a 4.0. While this is not a guaranteed approach, it still gives a good indication that something is off with the plugin. You can also always dig a bit deeper and look at the feedback people have left.
Sometimes the rating is just an emotional response to the latest changes the developer has made, even though the plugin works. For example, the rating of 2.1 above is the new Gutenberg editor that replaced the default editor in WordPress. While not perfect, it has come a long way and does not deserve a 2.1 rating.
And then there are plugins that actually are terrible, and the low rating is there for a reason. So do your due diligence.
Last Updated
This one is easy: when was the plugin last updated?
A plugin that hasn’t been updated for a long time could break your site, introduce new security holes, or simply not work at all. So always check when it was last updated. Even if a plugin that hasn’t been updated in many months or years still works, it could still mean that it has been abandoned and might cause issues down the road. Think twice before you adopt it into your system as the be-all and end-all solution.
Quick extra checks: Does it list “Tested up to [your WP version]”? Are support threads getting replies?
Read the Reviews
Yes I know, I have mentioned this already, but doing some research on the plugin does pay off. Sometimes you can find specific compatibility issues or hidden bugs that others have already encountered.
Review Sites
Sometimes review sites are the right answer to your problems – they’ll list the top plugins for your required task and give you the “best” solutions to solve it.
Why did I put the word “best” into quotes? Because it’s not always true!
Sometimes the reviews are biased toward a promoted plugin where they heavily promote one that offers an affiliate system, and sometimes the author of the review is the plugin author themselves. So some due diligence is in order.
With this being said, these reviews still serve as an excellent source of alternative options and help you filter out plugins that are not needed.
Another idea is to search something like Reddit and simply read what people have recommended. Just perform your search with “+ reddit”.
Prefer Paid
Sometimes it pays to pay for a plugin. Not only do you support the developer, which guarantees you priority support and more features, it also offers the developer an incentive to continue developing the plugin.
In cases where you absolutely REFUSE to pay for a plugin (hey, you don’t have to!) and have a choice between two excellent plugins, it might be a better option to go with the one that comes with a paid option (that offers extra stuff you don’t need).
If you have two plugins and the first comes with a free and paid version versus the second that just offers the free version, the developer of the first one might be a bit more incentivized to keep the free plugin alive. Especially if people are already paying for their paid plan.
Since their free plugin does the basic stuff and is a “foot in the door” method to get you to sign up for their paid plugin, they are also more motivated to keep it alive and working efficiently – no one is going to pay for your paid plugin if the free version sucks!
Test it Yourself
If the plugin has checked all the priority checkboxes – it has a good rating, people rave about it, and it does exactly what you need – then just test it yourself.