10 Best Htaccess File Editor Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Htaccess File Editor has 40,000+ 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 Htaccess File Editor
- 1
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin
4.0 (1,321) 400,000+ active installsBack up, restore, and protect your WordPress website with automated backups, cloud storage, one-click recovery, and AI-assisted backup management.
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.0 against 5.0, last updated 4 days ago.
- 2
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF
4.5 (819) 300,000+ active installsOptimize images & PDFs smartly. Create and compress next-gen WebP and AVIF formats. Smart crop and resize.
About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.5 against 5.0, last updated 18 days ago.
- 3
Simply Static – The Static Site Generator
4.5 (194) 30,000+ active installsConvert WordPress to static HTML. Boost performance 3-5x. Eliminate security vulnerabilities. Deploy anywhere.
A similar number of installs, rated 4.5 against 5.0, last updated 10 days ago.
- 4
reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin
4.3 (165) 100,000+ active installsreSmush.it is the FREE image compressor and optimizer plugin - use it to optimize your images and improve the SEO and performance of your website.
About 2.5 times the installs, rated 4.3 against 5.0, last updated 18 days ago.
- 5
Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More
4.7 (46) 6,000+ active installsOffload WordPress media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & more. Save server space, serve files via CDN, speed up your site.
6,000+ installs against 40,000+, last updated 4 days ago.
- 6
EWWW Image Optimizer
Paid version available4.8 (1,838) 1 million+ active installsComprehensive image optimization with WebP, AVIF, Lazy Load, and more. Optimize images automatically for Faster Sites and Happy Visitors.
About 25 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 5.0, last updated 6 days ago.
- 7
WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor
4.8 (302) 40,000+ active installsWPIDE is a powerful file manager and code editor for WordPress with tabs, code completion, and full access to the entire wp-content folder.
Shares the file editor tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, rated 4.8 against 5.0, last updated July 27, 2026.
- 8
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery
4.3 (4,339) 300,000+ active installsThe most popular gallery plugin that lets you create galleries and albums in seconds.
About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.3 against 5.0, last updated 3 days ago.
- 9
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 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 5.0, last updated 6 days ago.
- 10
Post SMTP
Paid version availablePost SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App
4.7 (525) 300,000+ active installsImprove WordPress email deliverability. Connect Gmail SMTP, Microsoft 365, Brevo, SendGrid, Mailgun, Zoho, Amazon SES, etc. #1 WordPress SMTP Plugin.
About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.7 against 5.0, last updated 13 days ago.
Switching from Htaccess File Editor: common questions
What is the best alternative to Htaccess File Editor?
BackWPup is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 400,000+ active installs with a 4.0 out of 5 rating.
Which Htaccess File Editor alternative has the most users?
EWWW Image Optimizer, with 1 million+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Htaccess File Editor alternative is rated highest?
EWWW Image Optimizer, rated 4.8 out of 5 by 1,838 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Htaccess File Editor 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 Htaccess File Editor 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 Htaccess File Editor 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
BackWPup is the closest match to Htaccess File Editor by the data we track, and EWWW Image Optimizer has the widest reach with 1 million+ active installs. NextGEN Gallery shipped the most recent release, on September 3, 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.