ClassicPress alternatives for popular WordPress plugins

One of the main reasons for the remarkable popularity of WordPress was the high level of adaptability that could be achieved via plugins. The CMS design allowed extra features to be “bolted on” quickly and easily, to extend it in almost any direction imaginable. And one of the most common questions that we get asked here at ClassicPress is: “Can I still use my favourite plugins?”

There are two answers to this question. The first is that if your plugin is compatible with WordPress 4.9 then, yes, it will still work with ClassicPress. This is because ClassicPress v1 was based on WP4.9 and has guaranteed not to introduce any breaking changes.

But what if your favourite plugin is rated WP5+ and relies on using the new block editor? Well, that’s the second answer: we still have plenty of options for you. It may not be the plugin you are currently using, but we hope it will be a perfectly suitable replacement (and it may even be better!)

In the early days of ClassicPress, we anticipated this question and started compiling a list to cover many of the popular, broad plugin categories. The idea was partly to keep track of what plugins we had available so that we could better advise our users, but it also gave us an idea of where we should be directing our own efforts. It’s heartening to say that this list is now looking very healthy and shows a wide range of good, solid options. This was sometimes due to wonderful developers who committed to supporting us with their existing plugins, but also because we have had our own developers crafting CP-specific solutions.

For those not following our progress, it might be worth looking at some of these areas to see what alternatives ClassicPress now has available for you.

Security

We were very fortunate in the early days to get a number of security plugin developers committing to support us. BulletProofSecurity, GD Security Toolbox Pro  and Shield Security have all stated that they will make sure their plugins continue to work with ClassicPress.

Paul from Shield Security is a regular contributor on the forum and has even modified his file scanning so that CP core files are now recognised.

Page Builders

Another very popular plugin requirement was for a page builder and we do have an Elementor alternative.  Beaver Builder is a fully functional page builder that has made a definite commitment to keep working with ClassicPress. Many of our members now rely on Beaver Builder and it has become a firm favourite. You can start with a free version and upgrade to the Pro version if you need additional functionality. The Pro version comes with a great theme, so you can build an entire website using the Beaver Builder theme and page builder plugin. If you build websites for clients, Beaver Builder’s licensing and pricing are much more developer-friendly than Elementor’s. 

E-commerce

It became clear from the start that a reliable e-commerce solution would be a necessity, so the Classic Commerce project was initiated. Classic Commerce is a fork of WooCommerce 3.5.3 that has been trimmed down and rebadged. There is no bloat, no nags or upsells and the code remains lean and fast. Plugins will still work as long as they are compatible with WP 4.9 or earlier and WC 3.5.3 or earlier (and don’t rely on JetPack or WooCommerce Services, which have been removed). To help you further we have compiled one of the most comprehensive code snippet libraries on the web with almost 100 different examples to help you customise your e-commerce site.

SEO

We do have Yoast SEO and SEOpress alternatives. ClassicPress has a dedicated SEO solution called Classic SEO (which was forked from the RankMath plugin) but there is also GD SEO Toolbox and Slim SEO . Another one called ZP SEO  is on the way from one of our long-time supporters, ZigPress. It is still in the development stage, but ZigPress already has many other useful plugins available.  

Contact Forms

For a fully-featured contact form, we have Fluent Forms , but if you prefer a simple solution you can use TukuToi Contact Form, a plugin developed by one of our members,  Beda Schmid at TukuToi.

Caching

Litespeed Cache has declared its support for us and is helping to speed up many of our sites. You can still use Autoptimize to optimize your static resources. If you need a fully-featured caching plugin, you can also use WP Fastest Cache with ClassicPress.

Ad Management

To manage ads on your site we have AdRotate from Arnan de Gans.  Arnan has also started adding plugins for Classic Commerce, so keep an eye on his site for more developments.

SMTP

We now have our own dedicated plugin to handle SMTP. This was developed by Ian Grieve (@azurecurve), one of our most prolific contributors who has over 50 plugins available.

Email Subscriptions

If you’re using the Jetpack email subscriptions feature and consider moving to ClassicPress, you can add email subscriptions functionality using the Subscribe2 plugin. It allows visitors to subscribe using their email to receive updates when you publish posts. It has a lot of options to help you customise the experience and templates. Plus, if you want more options you can purchase Subscribe2 HTML.

Other Plugins

These are just some of the main areas, but there are many more plugins to choose from. Migrations can be done using All-in-One WP Migration, custom fields created with Meta Box, pages and posts duplicated with Carbon Copy, backups created using Akeeba, conditional widgets using Widget Conditions,  and so on. At the time of this writing, the directory has over 80 plugins.

We can’t offer you a range of 58,000 plugins here at ClassicPress (then again, who needs that much choice?) – but, as you can see, we do have many solid options available to cover most of the common requirements. And we are regularly adding more to the list.

If you still have questions about plugin options (or anything else) then jump onto our forum and ask. Or keep an eye on the “Must-have” Plugin List wiki for more developments. And if we missed a ClassicPress-compatible or ClassicPress-first plugin that you like, let us know about it in the comments!

If you’re a plugin developer, please consider making your WordPress plugins compatible with ClassicPress so you can grow your user base. Don’t forget to list your plugin in the directory. If you’ve written something specifically designed for ClassicPress you will need to handle your own updates for now, but we have even developed our own plugin to help you with that. The Update Manager provides an easy way to quickly and securely push out your updates from GitHub or other remote sources.

About Alan Coggins

Alan builds and maintains websites. He thinks that computing is way too complicated for most people and enjoys finding simple and elegant ways to make things happen. His clients seem to appreciate this approach.

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