GD Security Headers
by Milan Petrovic · Security
Also makes 16 other plugins · 11K+ installs across the portfolio →
Configure various security-related HTTP headers, including CSP, XSS, Referrer Policy and more.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 81/100
Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.7K estimated
Momentum
+15%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “security” and “content security policy” for “referrer policy” and “headers”. “security” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referrer policy” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “content security policy” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #22. “headers” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
81 health vs 66 average across 1,775 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.7%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 36.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,059 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 172 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.0★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.09★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
41
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
25%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.1
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| permission policy your tag | #2 | #12 | down 1 |
| referrer policy | #6 | #20 | down 1 |
| dev4press your tag | #6 | #7 | 0 |
| csp your tag | #7 | #8 | down 2 |
| http headers | #7 | #21 | down 1 |
| security headers | #12 | #20 | down 3 |
| headers | #14 | #23 | up 1 |
| xss | #14 | #19 | down 1 |
| content security policy your tag | #22 | #24 | 0 |
| wordpress http headers security | #17 | #23 | — |
| headers security | #18 | #23 | down 2 |
| http security header | #22 | #24 | up 2 |
| security your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
32 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 12 listed. 20 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “security” and “content security policy” for “referrer policy” and “headers”. “security” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referrer policy” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “content security policy” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #22. “headers” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.1K · peaks are release surges
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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
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.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
6mo ago
latest release · v1.9 · 12 May 2026
13
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 62% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 9 months ago; the previous band took 2.7 years to cross, which places it about 72% of the way through.
Install history since 24 Jan 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ nichu422.4y ago
It’s the best plug-in for setting security headers that I found so far. Easy set-up, good explanations.But what really stands out is the local reporting feature! Thank you very much!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tszesty3.7y ago
Easy to install and relatively easy to configure.I only want to set CSP rules and it lets me do that easily, having the shortcuts for common rules such as Google Analytics etc is useful.The report-only features is clear and easy to use when starting to add rules and you need to gather a list of them.If had had one feature request it would be for the plugin to show an estimated header size.. I sometimes trip header size limits on a server when I need to add a lot of rules. If it coudl detect the server limit and warn if getting close – that’d be nice.All in all good plugin. Really dont know why some people only gave it 1 star, I can only assume they made mistakes configuring it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nadeistos4.5y ago
A+ on headers scan, thank you for your work 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User4.7y ago
Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mesmer75.2y ago
There are a lot mistakes in the generated Content-Security-Policy statement. It fails to insert the blob and data directives. It adds a semicolon and double quote at the end of the line that shouldn’t be there. The only thing this plugin is really good for is the report page.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ advertino5.3y ago
The Content-Security-Policy directive ‘script-src’ contains ‘script-src’ as a source expression. Did you want to add it as a directive and forget a semicolon? The Content-Security-Policy directive name ‘widget.gleamjs.io’ contains one or more invalid characters. Only ASCII alphanumeric characters or dashes ‘-‘ are allowed in directive names. The Content-Security-Policy directive name ‘www.googletagservices.com’ contains one or more invalid characters. Only ASCII alphanumeric characters or dashes ‘-‘ are allowed in directive names. etc etc etc
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ozwest5.7y ago
Thank you for creating this plugin, I have been looking for something like that. It comes with so many options that you can configure, so you really can address each need a website has.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ranggie47.0y ago
For someone who is not a developer, GD Security Headers (GPSH) plugin is truly a gift to WP users. It turns “Rocket Science” into just “Science 101”; still needs a bit of knowledge of what you’re doing but this makes it so much easier to tweak security headers. Particularly, that option to only generate reports first for “Content-Security-Policy” before going live is how great plugins should be designed. Also love the fact that if enabled, the GPSH can write directly to the .htaccess file, and if a user prefers otherwise, they can also choose to disable that option to manually add by way of the ‘Generated Headers’ button. Now, I do have some feedbacks though but please bear in mind again I’m no developer. As such, the things I write might make some of the senior WP users chuckle but I’m just sharing what I think I understand. 1. GPSH writes to the .htaccess file that resides in the same folder where all WP files are kept, meaning if the WP installation is kept inside another folder i.e. /public_html/WP/, the /public_html/WP/.htaccess file will be written to instead of /public_html/.htaccess. Don’t know if it changes anything but just thought I should share that some folks do move their WP installation to another folder. 2. Even though ‘Add: X-XSS-Protection’ has been enabled, a check on Mozilla Observatory came back with the error: “X-XSS-Protection header cannot be recognized”. However, just want to add that it did come out ok when checked on Security Headers. 3. According to Security Headers, there also seems to be a new header called “Feature-Policy”. Is this something that’s already in GPSH? I can’t find it. Also, First! 🙂 This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by ranggie4. This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Jan Dembowski. Reason: Deleted all links to other sites This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by ranggie4. Reason: Removed links and replaced with text
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.9). Sites still on an older version should update.
- 2026-07-08 CVE-2026-57403 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.8 Patched in 1.9
- 2023-10-29 CVE-2023-46821 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 1.7 Patched in 1.7.1
- 2023-08-17 CVE-2023-40330 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.6.1 Patched in 1.7
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 HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 21 languages, 0 at 90% or more · development strings
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
6 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions PayPal, Instagram, Vimeo.
- ✓ Headings and lists 4 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,090 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "dev4press", "permission policy" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-01-23 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1000 days in tier
- 2023-04-29 1K+ → 2K+ up after 207 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 900+ → 1K+ up after 344 days in tier
- 2021-10-25 300+ → 900+ up
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).
- C Content Security Policy Manager 2K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Auto SRI 500+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Security Header Generator 400+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Hostinger Tools 3M+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag B -
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for GD Security Headers into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/gd-security-headers" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="GD Security Headers — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> GD Security Headers: 1K+ active installs, 4.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/gd-security-headers
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