Our favorite WordPress Plugins are a must install on most of our website builds. Out of the box, WordPress is a solid starting point for a blog or business website. But what truly makes it the most popular web platform on the Internet is its massive library of commercially supported plugins. Depending on the source, around 25% of all websites run on WordPress. Its e-commerce platform, WooCommerce, is one of the more popular shopping cart systems for small businesses.
Membership and training companies can also get up and running quickly—without the high ongoing costs of cloud hosting services. If there’s a functionality you want for your website, chances are someone has at least built a basic version of it.
Here are some of our favorite plugins that we regularly use on client sites:
Essential WordPress Plugins for Every Site
Even for a basic website, we almost always include the following:
- Elementor / Divi / other Page Builder
- Yoast SEO or All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
- Page Duplicator / Post Page Switchers
- Enable Media Replace
- UpdraftPlus Backups
- Form Builder (Ninja Forms or Gravity Forms)
- Caching Engine
- SMTP Mail Server Integration
Other Favorite WordPress Plugins by Category
- Shopping Cart & E-commerce
- Appointment Booking
- Paywalled Content
- Online Courses
- Ticketing Systems
- Membership & Community Sites
- Bulletin Boards / Forums
Page Builders vs. Themes
What’s the Difference?
A page builder allows you to quickly create custom landing pages without needing a front-end developer. WordPress supports multiple template systems that let you define global headers, footers, menus, and reusable content blocks.
It can get complex, as themes, WordPress core, and page builders all interact. WordPress has also recently introduced its own native builder system: Genesis Blocks.
Key Tips:
- Avoid using multiple page builders—this leads to conflicts.
- You can only have one active theme, and you should always build a child theme.
Favorite Page Builders and Themes
- Divi – Large library of templates. Great for design-heavy builds.
- Elementor – The most popular builder among developers. Integrated into many third-party themes.
- Avada – Similar to Divi, with a strong template library and interactive content modules.
- Baker – We use this on one site due to its magazine-style layout. Unfortunately, the backend is unstable across most hosting platforms. Not recommended.
- Beaver – We just started using this for a big clients, It’s fast ane doesn’t crash, so far we like it.
SEO WordPress Plugins
Both Yoast and AIOSEO offer excellent free versions that analyze headlines, content structure, and keyword targeting for single-focus SEO posts.
The paid versions are about $100/year and well worth it if your marketing budget is over $2,000 annually.
Enable Media Replace
It’s surprising that this feature isn’t built into WordPress by default. Without it, replacing an image involves uploading a new one and manually updating content references. This plugin allows users to replace images directly—no SFTP or server access required.
UpdraftPlus Backups
This is a free and user-friendly backup plugin. Since WordPress core, themes, and plugin updates can all potentially break your site, regular backups are a must. While nightly backups from your hosting provider are ideal, many clients don’t purchase this feature. We use Updraft frequently—it’s reliable and simple to use.
Forms
Our go-to form builder is Ninja Forms. The free version stores form submissions (so you’re not dependent on email notifications), and the paid version supports file uploads, conditional logic, and payments.
When custom form programming is needed, we turn to Gravity Forms.
Caching Engines
Many premium hosts include caching out of the box. If you’re on shared hosting, W3 Total Cache is a free and effective solution to improve site speed.
SMTP Servers
If you’re using budget hosting, it’s a good idea to set up a third-party SMTP service for sending email. Default email servers on shared hosting often lack deliverability and tracking features. SMTP services range from free to $20/month depending on your needs.
E-commerce (WooCommerce)
In the early days, we often built CMS functionality on WordPress and integrated it with better standalone shopping carts like OpenCart, X-Cart, or osCommerce.
Now, WooCommerce is the standard for WordPress e-commerce. While it’s not a direct competitor to enterprise systems like Shopify Plus or Magento, it’s excellent for small to mid-sized businesses.
Favorite Appointment Booking Plugin
We’ve tested nearly every booking plugin on the market. Bookly stands out as a solid option—it supports a wide variety of business models and offers a clean user interface.
There are better cloud-based systems available, but they often come with high transaction fees (10%+) or monthly charges ($20–$50+).
Favorites for Images & Video Optimization
There are dozens of image compression plugins available, many of which are bundled with caching plugins.
However, most fall short when dealing with massive image uploads. If someone uploads a 3MB, 1900px-wide image, these tools often can’t handle it. In that case, you’ll need to manually resize images using tools like Photoshop or GIMP, re-upload them, and optionally serve them through a CDN.
Security WordPress Plugins
WordFence and Jetpack are two of the most popular WordPress security plugins. They’re effective but can be problematic or redundant on managed WordPress hosting providers like WP Engine.
For clients with internal IT teams or dedicated servers, security should be handled at the server level, not via plugins.
Google Analytics
If you want Google Analytics data visible in your WordPress dashboard, MonsterInsights is a great option. It also simplifies the embedding process for non-technical users.
That said, we typically embed tracking codes manually and review analytics directly on the Google platform—it’s faster and more reliable.
Looking for Custom Plugin Development?
At Code Team Blue, we specialize in developing custom WordPress plugins tailored to your exact business needs—no bloated code or one-size-fits-all solutions. Whether you need advanced integrations, unique functionality, or scalable tools, we build plugins that work seamlessly with your existing site and workflows. Get the power of custom development with the reliability and support of an experienced WordPress team. Thank you for reading our Favorite WordPress Plugins blog post
