April 26, 2022
Best Database Plugins

Worried your WordPress website might be a bit sluggish? Help is on the way! Use this list to find the best database plugins for WordPress to help optimize your site.

Keeping your database in tip-top shape can be challenging if you lack experience with MySQL databases. These database plugins allow you to optimize or reset your database from your WordPress admin.

What to Look for in a WordPress Database Plugin

Most people have a junk drawer in their house. If you have one, you know the pain of trying to find what you need in the junk drawer. You have to look under the owner’s manuals for a toaster and a lawnmower you no longer own just to find the nine-volt battery for the smoke alarm.

WordPress databases can be a lot like junk drawers. WordPress saves drafts of posts and copies of spam comments. Finding useful data for pages or products takes longer when the database overflows with junk. A clean and optimized database improves your site’s performance.

The benefits of using a database plugin for WordPress include faster sites, improving your customer experience, and search engine rankings. For more information on WordPress basics and how to optimize your website, check out our guides on What is WordPress and WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.

Key Features and Capabilities

WordPress database plugins can rid your database of junk or optimize how you manage and use data.

Common uses of database plugins include:

  • Database Cleanup. Remove necessary and unused entries from your database.
  • Backup. Save a copy of your data.
  • Reset. Return your database and site to the default settings and clear your data tables.
  • Migration. Move data from one website to another.

Technical Considerations for a Database Plugin

Before installing and using a database plugin, check to ensure the plugin is compatible with your WordPress version. You’ll also want to see what database optimization settings your web host provides. Some database plugins could interfere with your host’s optimization programs and settings for database optimization. You’re better off picking a quality hosting provider than trying to install a bunch of plugins to make up for a slow server.

Top Picks for Best Database Plugins for WordPress

Use these plugins to help with managing and optimizing your WordPress database.

1. Database Reset

This free database plugin for WordPress allows you to reset your database with just one click. You can reset the entire database or select individual tables to clear. With this plugin, you can return your database to its original setting without reinstalling WordPress or modifying files. Theme and plugin developers use this plugin to clear unnecessary content out of the database when testing products.

  • Active Installations: 50,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: WebFactory Ltd
  • Pricing: Free

Download Database Reset

2. WP Reset

WP Reset is a more advanced plugin option from the same developers as Database Reset. WP Reset enables you to reset a site to a blank WordPress site or to a saved “snapshot.” You can also delete themes and plugins. An upgraded Pro version includes resetting options, automatically creating snapshots, and deleting content and widgets.

  • Active Installations: 300,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: WebFactory Ltd
  • Pricing: Free or a Lifetime license for the Pro version starting at $49

Download WP Reset

3. WP Database Backup

This WordPress database backup plugin takes the hassle out of backing up and restoring your database. Create a backup or restore your database with one click. The paid Pro version supports automatic scheduled backups and integrations with Dropbox, FPT, Email, Google Drive, and Amazon S3.

  • Active Installations: 60,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Prashant Walke
  • Pricing: Free or $22 for a single site Pro license

Download WP Database Backup

4. WP-Optimize Cache

WP-Optimize Cache is an excellent choice for people who want to improve their website’s speed and performance. The plugin cleans and optimizes databases, compresses images, and caches pages. Upgrade to the Premium version for more scheduling, integrations, and support options.

  • Active Installations: 1 million+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: David Anderson, Ruhani Rabin, and Team Updraft
  • Pricing: Free or Premium version starting at $70 for the first year and renewing at $42

Download WP-Optimize Cache

5. Advanced Database Cleaner

Old revisions, spam comments, and orphaned post metadata can clutter up your WordPress database. This extra bloat slows your site down. The Advanced Database Cleaner plugin removes the clutter to reduce your database size and improve website performance. Another benefit is faster backups since you won’t need to back up all the unneeded data. The upgraded Pro version of the plugin also removes any leftover data from deleted plugins and themes.

  • Active Installations: 80,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Younes JFR
  • Pricing: Free or lifetime license for the Pro version starts at $39

Download Advanced Database Cleaner

6. WP-Sweep

This database plugin cleans up your extraneous data for a faster-running website. The plugin helps remove revisions, auto drafts, deleted or spam comments, and orphaned metadata for posts, comments, users, and terms.

  • Active Installations: 100,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Lester 'GaMerZ' Chan
  • Pricing: Free

Download WP-Sweep

7. Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions

This plugin makes optimizing your database a breeze. You can delete revisions, delete trash, and remove orphan items with just one click.

  • Active Installations: 100,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: CAGE Web Design | Rolf van Gelder, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • Pricing: Free

Download Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions

Additional Database Tools

The next plugins won’t help with database cleaning and optimization, but they will make managing your data and website faster and easier.

WP All Import

This plugin allows you to import any XML or CSV Files to WordPress in four simple steps. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes importing data simple. This plugin is a great option for people still learning WordPress for beginners. The most common use case for the plugin is migrating content from an old site or different CMS. You could also upgrade to the Pro version to unlock additional features such as importing products into WooCommerce.

  • Active Installations: 100,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Soflyy
  • Pricing: Free or Lifetime license to the Pro version starting at $99

Download WP All Import

WP All Export

This database plugin is a companion to WP All Import. Made by the same developer, it helps you export items from your WordPress database. If you’ve ever needed to view data from your WordPress website in Excel or another program, this is the plugin for you. You can use the plugin with the import option to simplify your WordPress data bulk editing. For example, you could export entries as a CSV file, edit the entries in Excel, and use the WP All Import plugin to add the changes back to WordPress. Like the import plug, WP All Export includes a Pro version. You can also purchase a combo license that includes the pro version of the export and import plugins with all addons for $299.

  • Active Installations: 90,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Soflyy
  • Pricing: Free or Lifetime license to the Pro version starting at $99.

Download WP All Export

Contact Form 7 Database Addon

Contact Form 7 is one of the most popular contact form plugins for WordPress, but the plugin only emails form submissions. The submissions don’t get saved in your WordPress database. The Contact Form 7 Database Addon plugin solves this problem. The plugin automatically captures form submissions and saves them to your WordPress database. The plugin also includes an option to export form submissions as a CSV file. The plugin is free but does include several paid upgrades for additional Contact Form 7 add-ons.

  • Active Installations: 400,000+
  • WordPress Repository Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Developer: Arshid
  • Pricing: Free with paid add-ons available

Download Contact Form 7 Database Addon

Managed WordPress Hosting from Nexcess

For the best WordPress hosting experience, trust the experts at Nexcess. Our managed WordPress hosting plans include the security, features, and performance you need to deliver a fast Website.

Managed WordPress hosting from Nexcess includes:

  • Free premium image compression, advanced caching, and built-in CDN
  • Automatic plugin updates with visual comparisons
  • Free migration services
  • Automatic backups

People often look for WordPress database plugins for migration or backup services. Nexcess hosting plans include both, so you don’t need an extra plugin. For any plugins you need, our exclusive Plugin Performance Monitor continuously analyzes your site's performance. Anytime you make a plugin or theme change, the monitor compares the site performance before and after to alert you if a plugin negatively impacts your site’s performance.

Make the switch to a better host today. Pick your plan and sign up today.

Lindsey Miller
Lindsey Miller

Lindsey Miller is a WordPress and WooCommerce expert and Chief Executive Officer of Content Journey, a content marketing agency that focuses on increasing organic website traffic for their clients through SEO and blogging. She knows WordPress inside and out and has been working with WordPress since 2010 when she started her first WordPress blog. Since then she has attended WordCamps all over the world and had the honor of speaking at many WordCamps and other WordPress events such as WooSesh and WordFest. Lindsey has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in human relations, clinical mental health from the University of Oklahoma.

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