PluginSift

Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… vs Spider Blocker (2026)

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

Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…

Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…

5(102)

40K+ active installs

Free

Updated 4 months ago
View Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
VS
Spider Blocker

Spider Blocker

4(5)

20K+ active installs

Free

Updated 1 year ago
View Spider Blocker

Quick Verdict

As of April 2026, Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… has a higher user rating (5/5 from 102 reviews) and leads in active installations (40K+ vs 20K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… has accumulated 809K+ total downloads while Spider Blocker has 612K+.

Detailed Comparison

Rating
5/5Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
◄
Spider Blocker4/5
Total Reviews
102Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
◄
Spider Blocker5
Active Installs
40K+Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
◄
Spider Blocker20K+
Total Downloads
809K+Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
◄
Spider Blocker612K+
Support Resolution
N/AHtaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider BlockerN/A
Last Updated
4 months agoHtaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
◄
Spider Blocker1 year ago
First Released
2011Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider Blocker2015
Age
15 yearsHtaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider Blocker11 years
WP Requires
4.0+Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider Blocker4.0+
PHP Requires
5.2+Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider Blockerfalse+
Business Model
FreeHtaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider BlockerFree
Latest Version
1.73Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…
Spider Blocker1.3.7

Rating Breakdown

Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit…

5/5(102 reviews)
5
97%
4
2%
3
1%
2
0%
1
0%

Spider Blocker

4/5(5 reviews)
5
60%
4
0%
3
20%
2
20%
1
0%

Recent Reviews

Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… Reviews

by stevewizard

Reduce Plugin Overhead

Review in 2025/2026…After many years of using plugins to do redirects, 410 rules, browser cache etc. I now just use chatGPT to write my htaccess and WP htaccess editor to implement it. This method has

by Quentin Le Duff

Works well

Using in on a hosting that don’t display the .htacess in FTP, it’s working well ! 🙂

by STELIAXE

Thank you

esay to use

Spider Blocker Reviews

by hugrat

Too many concerns

Apparently you need to keep your htaccess readable all the time or the plugin turns off. I cannot find any info if the htaccess still needs the plugin to function after this. This does not make me fee

by Akshit Sethi

Perfect!

Does what it promises to do. No more bad bots to my WP blog 🙂

by deleted

Good first impression

I like that you can add additional bots. It does what it says and keeps the worst offenders of your page out of the box It also didn’t crash my multi site or disable admin or anything (like “Stop bad

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… or Spider Blocker more popular?
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… has 40K+ active installations while Spider Blocker has 20K+. Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… is the more widely-used plugin as of April 2026.
Which has better ratings — Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… or Spider Blocker?
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… has a 5/5 rating from 102 reviews, while Spider Blocker has a 4/5 rating from 5 reviews.
Are Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… and Spider Blocker free?
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… is free and Spider Blocker is free. Both can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Which plugin has better support — Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… or Spider Blocker?
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?
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit… was last updated 4 months ago and Spider Blocker was last updated 1 year ago.

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