How Many WordPress Plugins are too Many for Your Website
May 18th, 2017 | by Ravi Chahar || 13 Comments |
This is one of the biggest concerns to every WordPress user. Haven’t you thought about how many WordPress plugins are too many?
What’s the exact number you shouldn’t cross? In the past few years, the numbers of WordPress websites have been increased which brings more questions.
To run a WordPress blog smoothly, you would definitely need its plugins. There are thousands of plugins in the WordPress repository.
Every time you check your website speed, people recommend to reduce the number of plugins but no one tells you why.
In this article, you will learn about how many WordPress plugins are too many and what’s the real concept behind it.
Why do People Say No to Plugins and Seek for Manual Tutorials
You may have read many articles to do the things without any plugin. Is that mean, you shouldn’t use a plugin?
It wouldn’t be fair to say that. You can’t judge a plugin until you test it. A well-coded plugin can help you run our website successfully.
But there are many things which can affect the page loading time.
Let me mention some reasons why you shouldn’t use many plugins.
#1. More HTTP Requests
Most of the WordPress plugins have CSS and JavaScript files which increase the number of HTTP requests.
It means whenever your readers open your website, the browser will make more HTTP requests which will directly impact the speed of your website.
It’s all about the user experience. People need a fast loading website. Though you can reduce HTTP requests but not everyone is techie enough to accomplish this.
#2. Increase the Database Size
There are many plugins which get integrated with the database of your website and adds their own tables.
Increases the database size which can be a major problem for you. It’s always recommended to clean up your WordPress database because it plays a vital role in the website speed.
A bigger database will take more time to get loaded.
Many plugins leave their tables in the database even after uninstalling from your website. That’s why it’s always recommended to choose a plugin which can satisfy you in every way.
#3. Risk of Conflictions
More plugins mean the chances of getting conflicted increases. Not every plugin works fine with all the other plugins you have installed.
Even the plugin developers mention the list of plugins which can create some problem if you use those together.
And you know that most of the time, the plugins are the culprits for getting errors in WordPress. To reduce the risk, you should install fewer plugins.
#4. Vulnerabilities Increase
Millions of websites get hacked every year and it’s all because of the vulnerabilities present on a WordPress website.
More plugins mean more coding files which lead directly to the security concern. Most of the WordPress users don’t have any idea about such concepts but they can understand that a plugin can be the reason of their website hack.
Not every WordPress plugin is secure. That’s why it’s always recommended to read the reviews, check the ratings of a plugin before using.
The Number of Plugins You Should Be using
We have talked about the negative impacts of the plugins but what about how many WordPress plugins are too many for your website.
According to WPBeginner’s blueprint, they are using 53 plugins on their website which can be scary for many.
But you should understand the difference between a plugin and a poorly coded plugin.
You can run as many plugins on your WordPress website until and unless your website speed is perfect. You should understand that not every plugin you use, puts the negative impacts shown above.
It depends on its working. There are many plugins which don’t have any CSS or JavaScript file and they directly use the .htaccess file to add their rules.
Such types of plugins don’t affect the page loading time.
It’s always recommended to protect the wp-config.php file by disabling the editing. Either you can directly add the code in the .htaccess file manually or use a plugin.
The plugin does the same thing.
Not all WordPress users are techie enough to edit such file so they need plugins. And such plugins don’t have any negative impact on your website speed.
Though to run a WordPress website perfectly, 15 plugins are more than enough.
But if you consider every plugin as the negative entry that it’s wrong. Even a single plugin can affect the page loading time if the coding is poor.
So there is no such thing like plugin number. But still, people take it seriously because not everyone is knowledgeable to handle many plugins.
Did You Get an Answer to How Many WordPress Plugins are Too Many
As I have just mentioned, the number of plugins doesn’t matter. The number of poorly coded plugins matters.
Why do you get an error on your website just because of a plugin? Sometimes you may be get locked away of the login panel.
It’s all because on single plugin whose code is not working properly. It directly resembles the concept of poorly coded plugins.
I am sure now you know how many WordPress plugins are too many. And the plugins you use on your website are worth keeping or not.
It all depends on the working of the plugin. It’s kind of contradictory but you should understand it. If you have any doubt, feel free to share it in the comment section.
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13 comments
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HI Ravi, Love this topic! I try not to use too many but I do have 19. Yikes! I believe I have 4 just for CommentLuv premium – which is not working properly anymore. The only one I would think of getting rid of is Revive old post – click to tweet. I probably could with the additional use of Elokezn where I can schedule old posts there for evergreen content.
I once almost lost my whole blog because of a plugin when I first started out – so one has to be extremely careful with them.
You got me thinking today Ravi, thank you!
Hey Lisa,
CommentLuv is one of the best plugins for the commenting system but it can be glitchy sometimes. As I have mentioned in the article, it doesn’t matter how many plugins you have, the only thing matters as if you have the poorly-coded plugins or the right plugins.
15 is just a number as per my personal experience. You can run a blog with 15 blogs perfectly.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
~Ravi
Hi ravi, love the idea of how many plugins you should use. There are a lots of factors besides the listed one like when that plugin will be activated any how it is accessing your database etc. So before activating any plugin on my site I do manually check the plugin and check it through plugin checker and profiler so that it would not ruin my site.
Hey Rakesh,
I have already mentioned the working of the plugins. Some directly inject the database tables whereas others don’t have anything regarding the database.
It’s always a smart move to test a plugin before you use it on your live website. I do that all the time.
Thanks for your sharing your insights.
~Ravi
Ravi, I 100 % agree with you. You can use as many plugins as you like as long as they are well coded and properly designed. It is the poorly coded plugins which will give you a hassle. I have been stung before and spent hours and hours of time finding the culprit plugin to bring everything back on track.
Thanks for writing on an important topic.
Hey Ahmad,
People don’t really understand the behavior of a plugin until they test it. Sometimes I test on the offline server whereas it requires giving some attention to an online server.
That’s why I keep more than one web hostings.
Thanks for your input.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Great article and I am sure that this will help so many people. There always seems to be a plugin for anything that you want to do, before you know it, the blog is loaded down with a ton of plugins.
I always try to use popular plugins that are supported, I don’t really use a lot of free plugins. Just a personal choice, I’d rather have plugins that are supported and updated on a regular basis.
If there is a way for me to accomplish something without the plugin, I will do that instead of adding a plugin. I am not a developer like you, but usually, I can accomplish what I need to do without having to add a plugin. Of course I always test things out on localhost first.
If I can’t then, I’ll resort to adding a plugin. However, I’ve learned how to do some things without adding a plugin just by reading your blog. For instance, you showed me how to add a set limit for my comments, I did that using the code you provided.
Thanks for sharing this information with us, it’s definitely helping us grow our blog.
Have a great day ?
Susan
Hey Susan,
I know you’re good with coding which makes it easier for you to accomplish the tasks without any plugin. That’s what everyone needs.
I have met many clients having more than 25 plugins. And the problem is that people don’t even test those without using on their live websites.
The number of plugins can be a tricky stuff to tell but still, the minimum is better.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
You just picked up one hot topic here. The number of plugins one should be using on his blog is one big concern for bloggers. As everyone is seeking more great features on their blog and stop counting the plugins they already have installed.
I am running 20 active plugins right now on my blog. I hope they are assumed as a good number. I have two questions for you.
– Do inactive plugins also count for the slow website speed?
– Is it possible that the main reason is your hosting not the number of plugins you installed?
Thanks for sharing this informative content with us. Hope to get your answer on my questions.
~Alok
Hey Alok,
The speed of your website is not only dependent on the number of plugins. There are uncountable factors. Though the deactivated plugins don’t get counted but still it’s one of worst things to have.
Never keep them, from the security perspective, you should keep only activated plugins. Your web hosting plays a vital role in the speed.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Thanks for this info about inactive plugins. I will get rid of them soon.
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for posting this insightful post. I never know there are some plugins that have CSS and Javascrpt files which increases HTTP request, and as such indirectly affects website speed. As well as other plugins that doesn’t have those functionalities which is a good thing for website owners because such plugins will have no negative effects on one’s website.
So it’s important to try to identify the best plugins with best functionalities that will have no negative effects on a person’s website in terms of speed. I think the problem here is “How To Identify Those Plugins?”
It’s also good to know that numbers doesn’t count in terms of website plugins,
Hey Moss,
It’s one of the biggest challenges for the WordPress users. To find a perfect plugin, you should always test it offline on an offline server. Reading the reviews, checking the rating and the last updated date also plays an important role.
Having the right kind of plugin can help you run an easy going WordPress website.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi