82
Simply Static – The Static Site Generator
Hosting bills vanish while your dynamic features disappear into the static void.
Healthy
82/100
Users love the hosting savings but struggle with hanging exports and missing dynamic features.
Active installs
~47,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 30k+
Rating
4.5★
192 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+2%
Holding steady
581 → 590 installs/day
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
Holding steady · +2% in the last year
581/day a year ago→590/day today
Reviews
what people actually saySimply Static is a well-regarded free static site generator for WordPress that reliably converts sites for cheap or free hosting, though some users encounter export jobs that hang indefinitely and a few report compatibility gaps with dynamic features and certain plugins.
What people like
- +Reliably generates static versions of WordPress sites with minimal configuration×7
- +Enables free or very cheap hosting via platforms like Cloudflare Pages×3
- +Works with complex setups including page builders (Divi, Bricks) and custom animations×2
- +Long-term reliability — users report consistent results over multiple years×2
- +Support from the developer (Patrick Posner) described as responsive and helpful×2
Common complaints
- −Export jobs can hang indefinitely, locking the plugin and preventing new jobs from starting×2
- −Generation process can heavily hammer the server, especially on lightweight infrastructure
- −Incompatibility with certain dynamic features (e.g., Jetpack galleries, image slideshows, clickable images)
- −Advertised compatibility with Elementor forms disputed by at least one user
- −A Basic Auth bug reportedly prevents export even after Basic Auth credentials are removed
- −Paid tier ($99/year) considered too expensive for personal/small projects, with no lower-cost option for features like local search and optimization
- −Occasional communication issues with GitHub deployment
- −Converting a WordPress site to static removes all dynamic WordPress functionality, which some users find limiting after the fact
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.23★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.50★
- 12%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-07-202025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 192 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-02-08★★★★★Works well, even as free version.openletter
- 2026-02-02★★★★★The best static HTML generator plugin – Patrickの誠実な対応に感謝yoshidevjp1-shot
- 2025-11-05★★★★★Top-tier Plugin and SupportJason LeMahieu (MadtownLems)
- 2025-10-29★★★★★Broken or sloweconexact
- 2025-09-06★★★★★Works great and has many advantagesJlwp
- 2025-08-31★★★★★Works Wonderfullytremlas
- 2025-07-02★★★★★Goodbye expensive hostingMike Lopez
- 2025-06-13★★★★★Saved me hundreds on hosting feesmebugarin
- 2025-06-09★★★★★Does what you need it to dojmavajac
- 2025-03-18★★★★★課金させるためのトラップ?sakoryu
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.
648
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
499
Prior 7-day baseline
648
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
6,121
Mean release-day peak (30d)
700
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+29.9%
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.
13%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.02
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
74%
5★ share in analyzed sample
12%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
-67%
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.24 → 4.23★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered