10 Best Download Plugin Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Download Plugin sits at #3 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Download Plugin
- 1
4.9 (27) 30,000+ active installsDownload installed plugins and themes in ZIP files directly from your WordPress admin dashboard, download any or all without FTP or cPanel access.
#4 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. About half the installs, last updated July 24, 2026.
- 2
4.0 (28) 9,000+ active installsEasy Media Download allows you to embed download buttons on your WordPress site. Add file download functionality with this WordPress download plugin.
#8 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 9,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated 14 days ago.
- 3
5.0 (16) 3,000+ active installsDownloadable files management system
#9 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 3,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated December 15, 2025.
- 4
Download Monitor
Paid version available4.5 (524) 80,000+ active installsPowerful Download Manager Plugin for WordPress
#2 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. A similar number of installs, last updated 5 days ago.
- 5
Download Manager
Paid version available4.1 (1,007) 100,000+ active installsThis File Management & Digital Store plugin will help you to control file downloads & sell digital products from your WP site.
#1 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. About 1.7 times the installs, last updated 17 days ago.
- 6
2.2 (5) 6,000+ active installsDownload Manager Addons for Elementor
#7 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 6,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated 7 days ago.
- 7
Shared Files – File Upload & Download Manager
4.4 (34) 4,000+ active installsFile management plugin featuring file upload, download manager, statistics and download log.
#6 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 4,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated 18 days ago.
- 8
5.0 (1) 5,000+ active installsEditor Blocks by Download Manager is the collection of beautiful ready-to-use custom blocks for the new Gutenberg block editor.
#5 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 5,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated 7 days ago.
- 9
4.9 (19) 2,000+ active installsSimply counts the number of times your files are downloaded. Display download links and counts using shortcodes.
#10 in the WordPress.org Download Manager Plugins ranking. 2,000+ installs against 60,000+, last updated 29 days ago.
- 10
4.8 (725) 300,000+ active installsManage all your WordPress updates, including individual updates, automatic updates, logs, and loads more. This also works very well with WordPress Mul …
About 5 times the installs, last updated 6 days ago.
Download Plugin against each of them
Head to head on installs, ratings, reviews and updates. Each measure names its own leader; there is no overall winner.
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Download Plugin vs Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard60,000+ vs 30,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 4.9
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Download Plugin vs Easy Media Download60,000+ vs 9,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 4.0
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Download Plugin vs Lana Downloads Manager60,000+ vs 3,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 5.0
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Download Plugin vs Download Monitor60,000+ vs 80,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 4.5
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Download Plugin vs Download Manager60,000+ vs 100,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 4.1
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Download Plugin vs Download Manager Addons for Elementor60,000+ vs 6,000+ installs · 4.5 vs 2.2
Switching from Download Plugin: common questions
What is the best alternative to Download Plugin?
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard is the closest match: it shares the Download Manager Plugins top 10 with Download Plugin and has 30,000+ active installs with a 4.9 out of 5 rating.
Which Download Plugin alternative has the most users?
Easy Updates Manager, with 300,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Download Plugin alternative is rated highest?
Easy Updates Manager, rated 4.8 out of 5 by 725 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Download Plugin alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Download Plugin score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Download Plugin on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard is the closest match to Download Plugin by the data we track, and Easy Updates Manager has the widest reach with 300,000+ active installs. Download Monitor shipped the most recent release, on September 2, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
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What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.