Best dev plugins for WordPress
The most popular dev plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Taxonomy Thumbnail leads with 3K+ active installs, ahead of WP PHP Console (500+) and Gravity Forms (100+). All 19 plugins tagged “dev” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 dev plugins
- 1.
Taxonomy ThumbnailThe most installed dev plugin, with 3K+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 10 reviews, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.33.
- 2.
WP PHP Console500+ active installs. Rated 4.7 from 19 reviews, last updated 5 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.5.24.
- 3.
Gravity Forms100+ active installs. Rated 4.1 from 7 reviews, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.0.38.
- 4.
Custom Admin Footer Text100+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.1.42.
- 5.
Add Login Text80+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.1.42.
- 6.
WP Manage Plugins30+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 16 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 2.8.6.
- 7.
Dev Theme30+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 3 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.2.15.
- 8.
PLX Multi-Environments20+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 8 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35.
- 9.
BX Essentials20+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 2 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.6.11.
- 10.
Empty Blog20+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 6 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.3.27.
All 19 plugins tagged “dev”
Taxonomy Thumbnail
Down in the last 7 days:16#3,849by Grégory Viguier10 years ago
Add a thumbnail to your taxonomy terms.
- Installs
- 3K+
- Rating
- 5.0(10)
- Downloads
- 20/day
WP PHP Console
Down in the last 7 days:21#9,115by Fulvio Notarstefano6 years ago
An implementation of PHP Console as a WordPress plugin. Use Chrome Dev Tools to debug your WordPress installation!
- Installs
- 500+
- Rating
- 4.7(19)
- Downloads
- 12/day
Gravity Forms
Down in the last 7 days:19#14,154by Brett12 years ago
Gravity Forms Add On. Adds custom tabindex field to the "Advanced" tab for form fields.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 4.1(7)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Custom Admin Footer Text
Up in the last 7 days:31#15,205by jp211211 years ago
Display custom text (or links) in the admin footer.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Add Login Text
Down in the last 7 days:46#17,445by jp211211 years ago
Display custom text (or links) on the admin login screen.
- Installs
- 80+
- Rating
- 1.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
WP Manage Plugins
#23,954by Brad Williams17 years ago
An easy way to give you more control over the plugins section of WordPress
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Dev Theme
#24,773by Avi Bashari3 years ago
DEV Theme
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
PLX Multi-Environments
Down in the last 7 days:11#25,538by Webmaster9 years ago
Manage separate Development, Staging, and Production environments directly from the Wordpress Admin screen.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
BX Essentials
#26,817by Buildbox2 years ago
Ferramentas e configurações padrões recomendados pelo time WordPress Buildbox.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Empty Blog
Down in the last 7 days:485#27,773by Daryl L. L. Houston (dllh)7 years ago
Created with developers in mind, this plugin allows you to easily delete posts, tags, and categories.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Admin Menu Class by 010Pixel
Up in the last 7 days:1,894#43,058by 010pixel8 years ago
Admin Menu PHP Class helps developer easily create menus and submenus in WordPress Admin Panel
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 6/day
Theme and Plugin file Search
Up in the last 7 days:4,939#43,319by surror2 months ago
Add a search field to the theme and plugin file editor screens in wp-admin.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
WP Dev Dashboard
Down in the last 7 days:2,328#46,327by Mickey Kay10 years ago
The better tool for monitoring your plugins & themes, including support requests, download stats, version support, and more.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 4.8(5)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Debug Bar Hook Log
Down in the last 7 days:584#46,370by Will Anderson12 years ago
Logs and displays a filterable list of all hooks called during the request, with their arguments
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 4.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Trigger Browsersync
Down in the last 7 days:6,976#46,428by Patabugen4 years ago
Integrates WordPress with Browsersync to trigger events like Reload when you edit pages and settings.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 4.7(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Block Repo Plugin Updates
Up in the last 7 days:4,269#62,579by noplanman7 years ago
Blocks plugin updates for any plugin whose folder looks like a code repo.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Development Environment
#69,307by loonpwn7 years ago
Whoops error handling, no password logins, template hints, no indexing, flush rewrites, everything a developer needs for their local development envir …
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day