Controlled Admin Access vs Roles & Capabilities (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Controlled Admin Access
10K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Roles & Capabilities has a higher user rating (5/5 from 6 reviews) while Controlled Admin Access leads in active installations (10K+ vs 1.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Controlled Admin Access has accumulated 218K+ total downloads while Roles & Capabilities has 30K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Controlled Admin Access | Roles & Capabilities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.8/5 | ► | 5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 44 | ◄ | 6 |
| Active Installs | 10K+ | ◄ | 1.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 218K+ | ◄ | 30K+ |
| Support Resolution | 0% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 3 months ago | ► | 3 months ago |
| First Released | 2015 | 2019 | |
| Age | 11 years | 7 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.0+ | 4.1+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.0+ | 7.4+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 2.1.2 | 1.1.14 |
Rating Breakdown
Controlled Admin Access
Roles & Capabilities
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Controlled Admin Access averaged approximately 44 daily downloads while Roles & Capabilities averaged 21.
Recent Reviews
Controlled Admin Access Reviews
Great Plugin
It’s a very great plugin. Thank you.
Perfect software
The software works perfectly. Something than can maybe be added is a way to log page view, of the admins we create. (Real time, or simply log events & display them onto a page), maybe with an email no
Excellent!
This is an extremely useful little plugin that not only makes it easier to provide admin access to outsiders but also to understand what actions they are taking and ensuring they don’t have access to
Roles & Capabilities Reviews
Simple and effective
This plugin is exactly in line with I think plugins should be: clear, one task only, well integrated without bloat meaningless UI elements that do nothing. That’s what I do with my plugins as well.
Simple and efficient
I just needed to add the capabilities for specific users to edit the pages they own, which is not possible with the default Author role. This plugin made it really easy: I could clone the Author role
The best plugin for delete unwanted capabilities
finally! Thank you so much for this! After testing several very complex and confusing user role plugins (which by the way just added more garbage to my wp_options table), I found “Roles & Capabilities
More Role Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Controlled Admin Access and Roles & Capabilities
User Role Editor WordPress plugin makes user roles and capabilities changing easy. Edit/add/delete WordPress user roles and capabilities.
Select easily which admin menus to remove for which roles.
It hides the default role dropdown list and displays a list of role checkboxes to select multiple roles for a user.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.