Public Post Preview vs Hide Drafts in Menus (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Hide Drafts in Menus has a higher user rating (5/5 from 9 reviews) while Public Post Preview leads in active installations (100K+ vs 1.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Public Post Preview has accumulated 1.6M+ total downloads while Hide Drafts in Menus has 15K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Public Post Preview | Hide Drafts in Menus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5/5 | ► | 5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 79 | ◄ | 9 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | ◄ | 1.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 1.6M+ | ◄ | 15K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 month ago | ◄ | 1 year ago |
| First Released | 2009 | 2016 | |
| Age | 17 years | 10 years | |
| WP Requires | 6.6+ | 4.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | 8.0+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 3.1.0 | 1.5.1 |
Rating Breakdown
Public Post Preview
Hide Drafts in Menus
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Public Post Preview averaged approximately 1,451 daily downloads while Hide Drafts in Menus averaged 7.
Recent Reviews
Public Post Preview Reviews
Awesome Plugin
Does the work as it is advertised. Thanks for this good plugin.
What Happened?!
The preview links no longer work. Users are forced to log in when using the public preview link – defeating the entire purpose of this plugin. This used to be a must-have plugin. Unless you fix this,
no longer working
Been using this plugin always then all of a sudden it stopped working..
Hide Drafts in Menus Reviews
Excellent. Very useful plugin.
One of those plugins you can’t believe hasn’t been rolled into core by now. I’ve been using it as one of my standard install plugins and it’s very helpful for rolling out sites with multiple draft
Should be part of WordPress core
It’s hard to believe that this functionality is not part of WordPress core, since it simply does not make sense to show a menu item which links to an unpublished page.
Very helpfull!
Does what it says, I could easily extend it to hide also private posts.
More Drafts Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Public Post Preview and Hide Drafts in Menus
Now you don't need to add friends as users to the blog in order to let them preview your drafts
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.