10 Best Stream Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Stream has 80,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. 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 Stream
- 1
Activity Log
Closest matchActivity Log – Monitor & Record User Changes
4.3 (74) 200,000+ active installsMonitor every change on your WordPress site — who did what, when, and where it came from — for a complete audit trail and stronger security.
Shares the Activity Log, audit log, security tags on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, last updated 5 days ago.
- 2
Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes
4.9 (489) 300,000+ active installsTrack changes and user activities on your WordPress site. See who created a page, uploaded an attachment, and more, for a complete audit trail.
Shares the audit log, event log, user tracking tags on WordPress.org. About 3.8 times the installs, rated 4.9 against 4.3, last updated 2 days ago.
- 3
4.7 (488) 300,000+ active installsThe #1 user-rated activity log plugin for event logging, activity monitoring and change tracking.
Shares the Activity Log, event log, user tracking tags on WordPress.org. About 3.8 times the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.3, last updated 13 days ago.
- 4
Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning
4.8 (1,038) 30,000+ active installsSmart WordPress security that blocks bots automatically, guides you to what matters, and repairs problems — without drowning you in noise.
Shares the Activity Log, security tags on WordPress.org. About a third of the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.3, last updated 11 days ago.
- 5
4.6 (202) 300,000+ active installsLimit rate of login attempts, including by way of cookies, for each IP. Fully customizable.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 3.8 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.3, no update since April 4, 2023.
- 6
4.6 (312) 300,000+ active installsLets you edit the WordPress admin menu. You can re-order, hide or rename menus, add custom menus and more.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 3.8 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.3, last updated 19 days ago.
- 7
4.5 (288) 700,000+ active installsUser Role Editor WordPress plugin makes user roles and capabilities changing easy. Edit/add/delete WordPress user roles and capabilities.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 8.8 times the installs, rated 4.5 against 4.3, last updated 13 days ago.
- 8
Kadence Security
Paid version availableKadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection
4.6 (3,990) 700,000+ active installsHarden your site security with Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Vulnerability Scanner, Firewall, and more. Formerly iThemes Security.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 8.8 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.3, last updated July 27, 2026.
- 9
Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening
4.2 (384) 600,000+ active installsThe Sucuri WordPress Security plugin is a security toolset for security integrity monitoring, malware detection and security hardening.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.2 against 4.3, last updated July 7, 2026.
- 10
MainWP Child
Paid version availableMainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites
5.0 (70) 700,000+ active installsMainWP Child establishes a secure link between your WordPress sites and your self-hosted MainWP Dashboard, simplifying site management.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 8.8 times the installs, rated 5.0 against 4.3, last updated 13 days ago.
Switching from Stream: common questions
What is the best alternative to Stream?
Activity Log is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 200,000+ active installs with a 4.3 out of 5 rating.
Which Stream alternative has the most users?
User Role Editor, with 700,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Stream alternative is rated highest?
MainWP Child, rated 5.0 out of 5 by 70 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Stream 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 Stream 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 Stream 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
Activity Log is the closest match to Stream by the data we track, and User Role Editor has the widest reach with 700,000+ active installs. Simple History shipped the most recent release, on September 5, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
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.