57
Simple 301 Redirects By BetterLinks – Easy WordPress Redirect Manager for Redirects, 404 Error Log & More
The redirect king has lost its crown to bloat.
GrowingPoor rating
57/100
This once reliable tool is now buggy and bloated after its acquisition.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
3.8★
162 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+40%
Growing fast
270 → 378 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MAJORverified rating is 3.25★
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
Growing fast · +40% in the last year
270/day a year ago→378/day today
Reviews
what people actually saySimple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks has a long history as a trusted, lightweight redirect tool, but its reputation has sharply declined since the BetterLinks acquisition, with users reporting broken core functionality, bloat, and poor support.
What people like
- +Historically reliable for basic 301 redirects over many years of use×5
- +Admin notices can be permanently dismissed without recurring nag screens
Common complaints
- −Redirects randomly stop working, causing 404 errors on previously functioning setups×4
- −Import functionality is broken — even importing the plugin's own export file fails×2
- −Plugin became bloated with promotion for BetterLinks after the acquisition, losing its simplicity×3
- −UI bugs: no global save button, deleted redirects reappear after page reload, edits revert on return
- −Unable to add new redirect rows
- −Wildcard/variable permalink redirects (e.g. %year%/%postname%) do not work correctly×2
- −Lacks advanced features expected of a redirect manager: no 404 tracking, no search/filter, no HTTP status code control, no query string rules
- −Support is slow or unresponsive, and when provided, recommends switching to a heavier plugin×2
- −Debug log cluttering reported as an unresolved issue
- −No easy way to bulk-remove or migrate redirects to another plugin
Review trustMostly organic
- 3.25★Verified rating — drops from 3.80★ once one-shot reviewers are removed
- 8%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- past spikeReview timing — up to 50% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-10-182025-02-092026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 162 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2025-01-26★★★★★No longer maintainedKnut Sparhell
- 2023-09-23★★★★★Cant importleviblu
- 2023-04-19★★★★★No longer working after upgrading (for URL strings with symbols)thejae1-shot
- 2022-09-21★★★★★Redirects stopped workingStanislav Khromov
- 2022-08-05★★★★★Plugin Quit Workinggraphicsbyte
- 2022-05-19★★★★★Abandoning this plugin after using it for yearsStudiobovenkamer
- 2021-09-06★★★★★Just starting using this again.xolite
- 2021-08-09★★★★★Don't use this Plugin if you value your siteEdwardR
- 2021-07-01★★★★★Used to work, but not any more…naznewsgirl
- 2021-06-10★★★★★Plugin stopped workingmozzie34
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Simple 301 Redirects By BetterLinks
Top Redirects plugins, ranked by score.For 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.
365
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
391
Prior 7-day baseline
269
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
614
Mean release-day peak (30d)
475
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-6.6%
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.
50%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
3.94
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
53%
5★ share in analyzed sample
8%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
3.38 → 3.25★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered