Broken Link Checker vs External Links in New Window / New Tab (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
External Links in New Window / New Tab
30K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, External Links in New Window / New Tab has a higher user rating (4.5/5 from 77 reviews) while Broken Link Checker leads in active installations (500K+ vs 30K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Broken Link Checker has accumulated 22M+ total downloads while External Links in New Window / New Tab has 489K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Broken Link Checker | External Links in New Window / New Tab | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.8/5 | ► | 4.5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 592 | ◄ | 77 |
| Active Installs | 500K+ | ◄ | 30K+ |
| Total Downloads | 22M+ | ◄ | 489K+ |
| Support Resolution | 71% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 3 weeks ago | ◄ | 4 months ago |
| First Released | 2007 | 2010 | |
| Age | 19 years | 16 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.2+ | 4.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | 5.2+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 2.4.8 | 1.45 |
Rating Breakdown
Broken Link Checker
External Links in New Window / New Tab
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Broken Link Checker averaged approximately 13,816 daily downloads while External Links in New Window / New Tab averaged 83.
Recent Reviews
Broken Link Checker Reviews
False Positives for Broken Links EVERY TIME
I have used this plugin for years and it’s always been problematic, but now it gives every single link a false positive and then I have to manually check and dismiss each one. If I bulk rescan all of
Thank you
Thank you very much your work developers. I am very grateful for your wok and for your helpful plugin <3. I was migrating from my old CMS to WordPress and on my WordPress Localhost PC I successfully a
Useful by annoyingly inaccurate.
I’ve been using this plugin on 3 of my main sites for several years. It reports too many false positives when it encounters a crawler violation when checking the URLs. I have NEVER been able to connec
External Links in New Window / New Tab Reviews
Not working
Not working with google ads
Works as expected, minimal setup
Download, activate, you are done. This is pretty much you need, works flawlessly.
Simple, elegant plug-in
This one’s going to save me a good deal of time with my new writing process. Thank you for creating it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Broken Link Checker or External Links in New Window / New Tab more popular?
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.