Broken Link Checker vs Show External Links (2026)

Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.

Broken Link Checker

Broken Link Checker

3.8(592)

500K+ active installs

Free

Updated 3 weeks ago
View Broken Link Checker
VS
Show External Links

Show External Links

1(1)

10 active installs

Free

Updated 7 years ago
View Show External Links

Quick Verdict

As of April 2026, Broken Link Checker has a higher user rating (3.8/5 from 592 reviews) and leads in active installations (500K+ vs 10). Both are free WordPress plugins. Broken Link Checker has accumulated 22M+ total downloads while Show External Links has 1.7K+.

Detailed Comparison

Rating
3.8/5Broken Link Checker
Show External Links1/5
Total Reviews
592Broken Link Checker
Show External Links1
Active Installs
500K+Broken Link Checker
Show External Links10
Total Downloads
22M+Broken Link Checker
Show External Links1.7K+
Support Resolution
71%Broken Link Checker
Show External LinksN/A
Last Updated
3 weeks agoBroken Link Checker
Show External Links7 years ago
First Released
2007Broken Link Checker
Show External Links2019
Age
19 yearsBroken Link Checker
Show External Links7 years
WP Requires
5.2+Broken Link Checker
Show External Links4.8+
PHP Requires
7.4+Broken Link Checker
Show External Links5.6+
Business Model
FreeBroken Link Checker
Show External LinksFree
Latest Version
2.4.8Broken Link Checker
Show External Links1.0.1

Rating Breakdown

Broken Link Checker

3.8/5(592 reviews)
5
60%
4
7%
3
4%
2
7%
1
22%

Show External Links

1/5(1 reviews)
5
0%
4
0%
3
0%
2
0%
1
100%

Recent Reviews

Broken Link Checker Reviews

by smileee2

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

by slavomir12

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

by timmitra

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

Show External Links Reviews

No reviews yet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Broken Link Checker or Show External Links more popular?
Broken Link Checker has 500K+ active installations while Show External Links has 10. Broken Link Checker is the more widely-used plugin as of April 2026.
Which has better ratings — Broken Link Checker or Show External Links?
Broken Link Checker has a 3.8/5 rating from 592 reviews, while Show External Links has a 1/5 rating from 1 reviews.
Are Broken Link Checker and Show External Links free?
Broken Link Checker is free and Show External Links is free. Both can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Which plugin has better support — Broken Link Checker or Show External Links?
Support resolution data is not available for all plugins. Check each plugin's WordPress.org support forum for current response quality.
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Broken Link Checker was last updated 3 weeks ago and Show External Links was last updated 7 years ago.

Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.