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Better Search Replace

by WP Engine · Search

Also makes 14 other plugins · 3.5M+ installs across the portfolio →

A simple plugin to update URLs or other text in a database.

How scoring works →
74 Health · B
Maintenance 100/100
Rating quality 84/100
Support 18/100

74 health vs 60 average across 606 Search plugins

Directory ranking optimization

How it's scored →

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

82 / 100

Well optimized

Biggest win: Support resolution

Update recency 100/100
WP compatibility 100/100
Rating quality 86/100
Listing tuning 100/100
Support resolution 0/100

To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.

Get the full rank-higher report →

Daily downloads

Since 2022-10-05 · 1,421 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

-70% vs prior 30d
5.5KDownloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

205.4K

now · peak 842.7K

209.7K30d downloads · Aug 26

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

Better Search Replac · #40 you Search & Replace Eve · #1268 Better Find and Repl · #811 CM Search And Replac · #4545

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4.3Stars · Aug 26

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

210per 1k installs · Aug 26

Release cadence

Occasionally updated
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

2

releases in the last 12 months

2mo ago

latest release · v1.4.11

11

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.4.11 · 2mo ago1.4.10 · 9mo ago1.4.7 · 2.2y ago1.4.6 · 2.4y ago1.4.5 · 2.6y ago1.4.4 · 2.7y ago1.4.3 · 3.0y ago1.4.2 · 3.6y ago1.4.1 · 4.1y ago1.4 · 4.3y ago1.3.4 · 4.4y ago

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 94% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.4 94%
v1.3 6%
Older / other versions 0.1%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “1M+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

modeled estimate
1M–2M ≈1.4M

Modeled within the band wp.org reports; tightens as we track daily.

Install history · since 2015-03-10 · 1,485 observations

1MInstalls · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A declining trend compresses what a buyer would pay.

Details

Version
1.4.11
Last updated
2mo ago
Added
2015-01-06 · 11 yrs old
Requires WP
6.2
Tested up to
7.0.4
Requires PHP
8.1

Recent review vibe

read from the latest 12 reviews to 2026-07-13
Deteriorating Broken updatesPricingPraisePerformance

The newest reviews report a mistranslated checkbox and database corruption that broke sites, a real dip from the mostly five-star praise running through the older reviews, while gripes about Pro-only features show up throughout.

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. darquelf
    1mo ago

    The Portuguese translation is misleading. In English, the checkbox says ‘Case-Insensitive’, but in Portuguese it’s translated as ‘Sensível à caixa-alta’ (Case-sensitive).If the subtext says it’s already case-sensitive by default, why the fkn checkbox? This terrible translation caused me to rework my entire site.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. accordionmaniac
    4mo ago

    Replaces all instances of the string, with one instance of the string that it finds in the database, everywhere. Completely out of your control. This topic was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by accordionmaniac.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. Anonymous
    4mo ago

    Using it for years, doing it’s job well 🙂

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. urmirun
    6mo ago

    Used Better Search Replace while moving my site. It did the basic job fine & was easy to run. But some useful options are locked in Pro, which was a bit annoying. Still ok for quick replace tasks tho.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  5. hakeemstone
    6mo ago

    Used it to update old URLs after site move. Did the job smooth, no big issue. UI is simple & easy to get. Saved a lot of time tbh. Would be 5 star if a bit faster on large DB, but still solid plugin 👍

    Read on wp.org ↗
  6. Juarez Meireles
    6mo ago

    Se você não quer passar raiva, fique longe deste plugin. Instalei para somente para alterar alguns links de saída que haviam em postagens de cupons e produtos Woo. Ele realmente fez o trabalho. Troucou. Porém, bagunçou tudo no banco de dados com coisas que não tinha nada relacionado à estes links.Todos os botões de saída do site, independente do url de saída, ficaram com um mesmo url que nunca foi inserido no plugin. Trocou a descrição de todas as categorias para um mesmo texto que era o texto de uma das lojas que sou parceiro(dealstore).Se ele alterasse só o que solicitamos, era maravilhoso. Mas ele alterou foi tudo. O pior é que só percebi 10 dias depois. Agora é trabalhar vários dias para recuperar os valores reais em diversos campos.Mas tirando esse bug, o plugin é bom.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  7. KeithRowley
    8mo ago

    I’ve done the job before, migrating a site to a new url. This made the job easier and presented no false steps or problems. Thank you. This topic was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by KeithRowley.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  8. andyrogers
    8mo ago

    This is about the free version of this plug. I tried Better Search Replace to change a couple of words on the website. It left me hanging, neither completing the process nor enabling me to restore my site. It deliberately did not change the menu items and asked me to buy their paid version to complete the replacement. Hiding the facts from the free users was dishonest, and I had to restore the website. The plug developer should tell users upfront what would happen if it were used for free. However, I completed the job using their competitor’s plug in that replaced EVERYTHING. Th BSR plugin should be removed from this website because it offers incomplete job and a disservice to the free users. It should not be promoted on this site for free to attract buyers, while hunting for those who use it for free to force them buy it. They should understand that offering a free version is the price they pay for their plugin to be promoted to the broad market. This topic was modified 7 months ago by andyrogers. Reason: Add the name of the plugin

    Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

  1. Version 1.4.11 New: Requires WordPress 6.2+ New: Requires PHP 8.1+ Fix: Core tables altered to have compound primary keys are now properly handled during search and replace Fix: SQL injection vulnerability on multibyte charsets (GBK, B 1.4.11
  2. Version 1.4.10 Fix: Improved security and stability 1.4.10
  3. Version 1.4.9 Security: The plugin now uses its own update mechanism from WP Engine servers New: Dependencies have been updated 1.4.9
  4. Version 1.4.8 No changes as this was a pro-only release for Better Search Replace Pro 1.4.8
  5. Version 1.4.7 Fix: The case-insensitive setting once again allows case-insensitive strings to be matched within serialized data, fixing a regression introduced in version 1.4.6 1.4.7
  6. Version 1.4.6 Changed: Serialized text strings are now only deserialized when containing a match, resulting in faster performance Security: Table names are now escaped when displaying search results 1.4.6

Known vulnerabilities

via Wordfence Intelligence

2 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

  1. 2024-01-24 CVE-2023-6933 Deserialization of Untrusted Data Affects <= 1.4.4 Patched in 1.4.5
  2. 2022-08-01 CVE-2022-2593 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') Affects <= 1.4 Patched in 1.4.1

Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.

CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0

Low memory footprint
Low page-speed impact
Runs on latest PHP + WP
No PHP errors
No JS errors
Activates cleanly
No resource errors
No external HTTP errors
Optimized database use
Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 83 languages, 10 at 90% or more

Chinese (Taiwan) 100%
Dutch 100%
Dutch (Belgium) 100%
Dutch (Formal) 100%
English (UK) 100%
Portuguese (Brazil) 100%
Spanish (Argentina) 100%
Spanish (Chile) 100%
Spanish (Spain) 100%
Norwegian (Bokmål) 93%
Catalan 89%
Swedish 89%
Czech 82%
Danish 82%
French (France) 82%
Galician 82%
German 82%
German (Formal) 82%
Italian 82%
Korean 82%
Lithuanian 82%
Russian 82%
Spanish (Colombia) 82%
Persian 81%

Plus 59 more locales with partial translations.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

No tier crossings observed yet.

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Compare head to head →

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Better Search Replace: 1M+ active installs, 4.3★ (544 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-25. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/better-search-replace