56
Custom Permalinks
Total URL control that might leave your site in permanent chaos.
DecliningPoor rating
56/100
Users enjoy the customization but many report permanent redirect loops and broken links.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
4.1★
115 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-48%
Declining fast
486 → 252 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORverified rating is 3.99★
- MINORdownloads down 48% vs a year ago
- MINORnot updated in 8 months
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining fast · -48% in the last year
486/day a year ago→252/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayCustom Permalinks is a polarizing plugin that works smoothly for some users but carries a serious caveat: multiple users report it causes redirect loops, SEO damage, and broken URLs that persist even after the plugin is removed.
What people like
- +Solves permalink customization needs in a straightforward way×3
- +Easy to use, especially for client work requiring specific URL structures×2
- +Developer is noted as responsive and supportive
Common complaints
- −Causes redirect issues — posts or pages redirect to wrong URLs, breaking navigation and SEO×4
- −Difficult or impossible to safely remove — deactivating or uninstalling leaves behind redirect problems and URL crashes×2
- −Google indexing failures reported as a direct result of the plugin's redirect behavior×2
- −Causes 404 errors on posts, particularly those with future or past publish dates
- −Does not update the wp_posts table and breaks core WordPress functions like get_permalink()
- −UI broken for some users — no button available to add custom post type permalinks×2
Review trustMostly organic
- 3.99★Verified rating — drops from 4.10★ once one-shot reviewers are removed
- 10%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- past spikeReview timing — up to 33% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-07-202025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 115 total
Latest reviews · 89 analyzed
- 2025-08-23★★★★★Changed the slug but the page turned unavailabledondonkiii
- 2024-09-23★★★★★caused Posts/Pages to redirect to other posts/pages.saad7777
- 2024-02-21★★★★★Excellent pluginnimonogi
- 2023-12-10★★★★★Plugin can't be removedddayoverlordwebmaster
- 2023-12-06★★★★★It caused redirect issuesalexnenov
- 2023-07-04★★★★★Thank you very muchjohn0zhuang
- 2023-05-10★★★★★Exactly what I wantedAli BZ
- 2023-04-17★★★★★Word Perfect!wildworm
- 2023-03-05★★★★★Some posts were showing 404er because of this plugininterwebsltd
- 2023-02-26★★★★★Nice pluginegeoposada
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNFor developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
243
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
249
Prior 7-day baseline
199
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
273
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-2.4%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
33%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.65
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
71%
5★ share in analyzed sample
10%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.09 → 3.99★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered