Simple Download Monitor vs Easy Digital Downloads Free Link (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Simple Download Monitor
20K+ active installs
Free
Easy Digital Downloads Free Link
1.0K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Easy Digital Downloads Free Link has a higher user rating (5/5 from 5 reviews) while Simple Download Monitor leads in active installations (20K+ vs 1.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Simple Download Monitor has accumulated 1.3M+ total downloads while Easy Digital Downloads Free Link has 36K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Simple Download Monitor | Easy Digital Downloads Free Link | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6/5 | ► | 5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 151 | ◄ | 5 |
| Active Installs | 20K+ | ◄ | 1.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 1.3M+ | ◄ | 36K+ |
| Support Resolution | 67% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 week ago | ◄ | 3 months ago |
| First Released | 2009 | 2014 | |
| Age | 17 years | 12 years | |
| WP Requires | 6.0+ | 4.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | 5.6+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.0.6 | 1.1.0 |
Rating Breakdown
Simple Download Monitor
Easy Digital Downloads Free Link
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Simple Download Monitor averaged approximately 185 daily downloads while Easy Digital Downloads Free Link averaged 6.
Recent Reviews
Simple Download Monitor Reviews
Love it
Been using it for years and it does the job perfectly. Plenty of features but simple enough to use.
Great Plug-in
Lifesaver, if in need for a simple and reliable download app. Thanks!!!
Clean, Simple and it just works!
I have been using this plugin for a few years now on two of the websites I manage and I cannot imagine using another plugin like this. I tried to, but I always come back to this one! Setup is fairly e
Easy Digital Downloads Free Link Reviews
Perfect for the job!
This works great for my needs, I wanted to have a simple link, and this extension does it.
Works very well
Other plugin I used stopped working suddenly, I assume it is stopped by EDD because is too old and probably breaks some rules. This plugin, however works very nicely. Great job, webaware!
Useful plugin – top notch support
I have used this plugin for a number of years and find it very useful – it works exactly as advertised. I decided to post a review today because after something went wrong I needed a bit of support an
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.