30 Best Download Plugins for WordPress File Sharing & More

WordPress is undoubtedly an excellent platform for blogging or creating a business or personal website. Plugins make WordPress a great platform, as they are a form of useful tools that are at your disposal. The best download plugins in particularly  offer users limitless possibilities to manage files sharing on WordPress .

This means that you can extend file sharing and downloads functionality through plugins from time to time. Moreover, WordPress is a powerful content management system that powers over 37% of the web.

If you want to develop a website that can handle a variety of different file download needs, then you are in the right place. This article contains a curated list of 30 of the best Download manager plugins for WordPress.

However, it is important to note that the native WordPress user interface can manage file downloads. Nevertheless, it is not the easiest or the most efficient way to manage files. Additionally, the native function does not have as many features of the new and popular WordPress download manager plugins now available to help you handle files.

If you do a quick search in the WordPress repository, you will find a plethora of plugins that offer the same. It becomes a hard task to narrow down your search. This is why I decided to create this list of the best download plugins for WordPress. .

Best WordPress Download Plugins

In this post, we will look at an expert’s pick of 30 of the best WordPress download manager plugins. They will help you to enhance WordPress’ built-in file management features. Moreover, the ones on this list have the best reviews, many downloads, and sales. Let us take a deep dive!

1.    WordPress Download Manager

WordPress Download Manager is a popular plugin that helps you to manage documents, track, and control file downloads from your WordPress Site. With more than 100,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to control your downloads in so many aspects. It allows you to use passwords, by creating user roles to control the access of your files. Additionally, you can control downloads by speed or by putting a limit on download count per user.

What’s more, you can block bots, spammers, or unwanted users using Captcha Lock or IP Block feature. The unique feature of this plugin is that you can use it as a complete ecommerce solution for selling digital products and license them as well. It will allow users to directly download free items, and go to cart then proceed to an easy to use checkout option to give the user better experience in purchasing an item.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a drag and drop file upload functionality.
• It allows you to easily add downloads like a post.
• It allows you to bulk upload files or documents.
• It has an integrated document viewer.
• It allows you to easily insert a download when you are editing a post or page.
• It provides Google Drive and Dropbox support.
• It supports file icons.
• It allows you to upload videos as well.
• It is translation ready.

2.    Gutenberg Blocks by WordPress Download Manager

Gutenberg Blocks by WordPress Download Manager is a powerful plugin that provides you with a collection of beautiful ready-to-use custom blocks for the new Gutenberg block editor. With more than 4,000 active installations in the WordPress repository, this plugin offers you the basic features of a download manager plugin like embedding packages or categories within a page or post. Moreover, it offers you many generic User Interface blocks to give you more customization options with your page design.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a table builder block that tables all downloads visually.
• It allows you to add a sign-up form with a custom signup role selection option.
• It has an optional dashboard.
• It has a search option on a page.
• It allows you to show selected download manager categories in UI blocks with different styles.

3.    Lana Downloads Manager

Lana Downloads Manager is a simple download manager for WordPress. With more than 2,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to manage local files through WP upload and remote files. If you are looking for a lightweight download manager solution, then this is the plugin for you that will not slow down your site.

Moreover, this plugin includes a counter system and a log system, which pair well to count the number of downloads and files in your system. This plugin comes in handy for measuring file sizing, just in case you begin reaching your server limits. It works right out of the box after installing it on your WordPress site, and it works by asking you to upload digital content to your admin.

4.    File Manager

File Manager is a popular freemium plugin that helps you to simplify your workflow by enabling features like editing, deleting, copying, pasting, uploading, downloading, and zipping versions of your files and folders directly from the WordPress backend. With more than 600,000 active installations in the WordPress community, this plugin helps you to save time, as you no longer have to fuss with SFTP. The free version is ideal for most businesses and includes a code editor and syntax checker for those interested in working with more advanced tools.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a plugin shortcode for non-logged-in users.
• It allows the admin to create, archive, and extract files.
• It has a multi-file section.
• It allows you to control what types of files can be uploaded or downloaded.
• It allows you to move deleted files to the trash.
• It works as an alternative to SFTP or cPanel.
• It has a drag and drop upload functionality.

5.    Simple Download Manager for WP Document Revisions

Simple Download Manager for WP Document Revisions is a simple yet effective plugin that allows you to offer public downloads right in your WordPress site. It is a small and lightweight plugin, which is an add-on to the WordPress Document Revisions plugin that does all the heavy lifting. This robust and future proof plugin comes with a custom post type solution to replace an old, unsupported download counter plugin.

Here are some of the features of this plugin:

• It has a simple download counter.
• It has 2 additional taxonomies for download files, that is, File Categories and File Tags.
• It offers you widgets which you can place anywhere on your site.
• It has a plugin settings page.
• It is an internationalized plugin.
• It supports a multisite network.

6.    WP-DownloadManager

WP-DownloadManager is a completely free plugin that allows you to manage download for files or documents in your WordPress site. With more than 7,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to embed a specific file to be downloaded into a post or page using a shortcode. Moreover, you can embed files to be downloaded as well. It allows you to limit the number of embedded downloads shown for each post in a post stream. Additionally, you can also choose what to display within the embedded file. If you are looking for a plugin that offers you many options to configure your downloads then this is the ultimate solution for you.

7.    Download Monitor

Download Monitor is one of the best download manager plugins that provides an interface for uploading files. With more than 100,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin supports multiple versions. Moreover, it allows you to insert download links into posts, and you can easily log all the downloads that you sell.

Additionally, you can add, edit, and remove downloads from an intuitive user interface, as it treats your downloads as posts. It is a Gutenberg compatible plugin, which has a quick-add panel for adding downloads.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to add multiple file versions to your downloads each with their data like download count and links.
• It allows you to add alternative links per download version.
• It allows you to display links on the frontend using shortcodes.
• It allows you to track the download counts.
• It allows you to have member only downloads.
• It offers you customizable endpoints for showing pretty download links.

8.    Advanced File Manager

Advanced File Manager is a user-friendly file manager plugin that allows you to do multiple file operations like delete, upload, delete, download, zip, copy, edit, and many more. This popular plugin has more than 40,000 active installations in the WordPress Community and works as an alternative for a cPanel and FTP.

Moreover, this plugin allows you to access files inside and outside the WordPress root directory. This feature-rich plugin allows you to edit the root directory path. It also offers shortcodes for logged in and non-logged in users with multiple attributes and features like users role access in the pro version.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to access files inside and outside the WordPress root directory.
• It allows user operations like uploading and downloading files or documents.
• It has a PDF preview feature.
• It is an alternative to FTP.
• It allows you to hide the file’s real and actual path.
• It has an elegant client User Interface.
• It has a drag and drop upload support.
• It allows you to calculate your directory sizes.

9.    Easy Media Download

Easy Media Download is a popular download manager plugin for WordPress. With more than 20,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin gives your users the ability to download digital media files from your website. Moreover, it has a lightweight design and it does not slow down your site. Additionally, this plugin makes downloading items from your site a breeze, and you can create beautiful download buttons, which instantly starts the download once clicked. If you are looking for a way to embed shortcodes for downloads, then this is the perfect solution for you.

Here are some of the features.

• It allows you to track your downloads.
• It allows you to create quick downloads.
• It offers free downloads for music or audio files.
• It allows you to insert download buttons into your landing page
• It has free downloads for video files.
• It allows users to directly download in all file formats
• It offers free downloads for document files.
• It allows large file downloads (no limit on the file size).
• It offers free downloads for office files.
• It allows you to accept donations for your free digital downloads using PayPal.
• It offers free downloads for script e.g. JavaScript, CSS, and PHP.

10.  Frontend File Manager Plugin

If you are looking for a plugin that lets users upload files to the admin, then Frontend File Manager Plugin is the ultimate solution for you. With more than 2,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin saves each file in a private directory so each user can download or delete their files after login.

Moreover, it has a secure uploader script and it has a fast, responsive, and beautiful user interface. It has a pro version that adds more features to the core of this plugin like creating directories, setting the maximum file upload size, limiting per user file count, guest uploads, file groups, and many more.

Here are some of the features:

• It has searching and sorting filters.
• It has a file detail popup.
• It offers you file types and size settings.
• It allows you to label upload and save buttons.
• It has thumbs for images.
• It has file details in the admin side.

11.  Filester – File Manager Pro

Filester – File Manager Pro thrives at providing file management features offered by most pro plugins for free. This is the main reason I included this plugin on the list. With more than 800 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to copy, paste, create archive, download, upload, edit, delete, preview, duplicate and get info of the WordPress configuration and other files without FTP access. In other words, you can use it as an alternative to an FTP server.

Moreover, these plugins are dedicated to boosting your productivity, as all operations are fully provided and tested on a variety of servers and browsers. Additionally, it has a modern and compact user interface that makes editing and transferring files faster.

Here are some of the features.

• It has a drag and drop interface that lets you move, or copy files inbound and outbound.
• It has a smart context menu.
• It allows you to manage files and folders on a remote server.
• It has a flexible configuration.
• It allows you to create and extract archives.
• It has a clean user interface.
• It is a multilingual plugin.
• It is RTL supported.

12.  WordPress Real Media Library-Media Library Folder & File Manager

WordPress Real Media Library is a popular plugin that helps you to manage your WordPress Media library. With more than 10,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin helps you to organize all your uploaded files into folders, collections, and galleries. This file manager plugin allows you to manage large amounts of files such as pictures, videos, or documents in WordPress. If you are looking for a free plugin that allows you to upload and download files, then this plugin will work well for you.

Here are some of the features:

• It is a complete file and folder manager plugin.
• It allows you to create shortcuts for files.
• It has a filter for inserting media dialog.
• It has a custom image order.
• It works great in a list mode.
• It allows you to upload files directly to folders.
• It allows you to create galleries from the folder.

13.  Download Plugin

If you are looking for a plugin that allows you to download a plugin in zip format in your WordPress admin side, then Download Plugin is the answer for you. With more than 5,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin helps you to even download premium plugins right at your WordPress dashboard. This is a great plugin because by default WordPress does not allow you to backup or download the plugins before you delete them from your site. This saves a lot of time and helps you recover from difficult situations.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to back up a plugin for future installation.
• It allows you to download premium plugins.
• It is helpful when migrating to a different site.
• It helps you preserve modifications to plugin files to suit your requirements.

14.  Download Plugins and Themes from Dashboard

Download Plugins and Themes from Dashboard is a simple yet effective plugin that allows you to download installed plugins and themes in ZIP files directly on your admin dashboard without using FTP. With more than 10,000 active installations in the WordPress community, this plugin requires no configurations or settings. All you have to do is install it and you will see a download link that will let you download your themes or plugins.

Moreover, you can bulk download all the plugins and themes very easily. It also has a pro version that has the option to set periodical plugins and themes. It works very well and it is regularly updated and tested to ensure that it works.

15.  Download After Email – Subscribe & Download Form Plugin

Download After Email is a freemium plugin that allows you to gain subscribers by offering free downloads. With more than 4,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to create a new subscribe and download form just as you would for a new post or page. Moreover, it offers you a live preview while creating the form after which you can save it and place it on a page, post, or widget on your site using a shortcode.

Additionally, users are required to enter his or her email address before the download link can be sent through email. You also have the option to make the secure download link to be used only once by the user. It is a responsive plugin, which is highly customizable and has an AJAX-based opt-in form. It is also GDPR ready and this means that it does not store user information.

16.  Subscribe to Download

Subscribe to Download is an opt in to download plugin, which helps you to easily capture subscribers right from your WordPress site by simply providing them free downloads through email after successful subscription. However, if you do not have free downloads to offer, then you can use it as a subscription plugin.

Moreover, it allows you to disable components from a form and it offers you five beautifully pre-designed templates that you can use for your layout design. Additionally, you can encrypt your download links and track the download status right in your WordPress Dashboard. It also allows you to export subscribers and it is very easy to use it. It has a premium version that has 20 pre-designed templates, custom form customizer, and MailChimp integration.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to encrypt your download links.
• It has a popup subscription form.
• It allows you to enable or disable form components.
• It has an AJAX-based form submission.
• It offers you a backend form preview.
• It is fully responsive.
• It is translation ready.
• It allows you to customize the email message.

17.  Simple Download Monitor

Simple Download Monitor is a free feature-rich plugin that provides you with a nice way to manage digital downloads and monitor the number of downloads of files and documents. With more than 20,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to password protect your downloadable files and documents. This implies that visitors require a password before downloading the file, making it secure.

Moreover, it also has an option to show an AJAX file tree browser so that your visitors can browse all your files and download the ones they want. You can also configure downloadable files with an elegant user interface that is very easy to use.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a user-friendly interface.
• It allows you to add, edit, and remove downloads.
• It has a drag and drop feature for uploading files or documents.
• It has a rich text editor.
• It uses shortcodes to display a download.
• It has a download counter for each file.
• It offers you the ability to set a download count and offset for each file.
• It offers you the ability to search and sort your downloadable files.
• It allows you to create a search page and allows your visitors to search your downloads.
• It allows you to password-protect your downloads.

18.  Easy Digital Downloads – Simple Ecommerce for Selling Digital Files

Easy Digital Downloads is a popular plugin that offers you a simple ecommerce solution for selling digital files. With more than 60,000 active installations in the WordPress community, this plugin has all the ecommerce features that you need, accompanied by an intuitive design that you will love. It is very easy to configure this plugin without sacrificing any important functionality.

Here are some of the features:

• It has an intuitive design.
• It is a translation ready plugin.
• It has a frontend shopping cart.
• It has a clean checkout form that is flexible.
• It has complete customer management.
• It offers detailed ecommerce reports.
• It allows you to protect product files.
• It offers discount codes.
• It works with any theme.

19.  Download Theme

If you are looking for a simple and lightweight plugin to download your theme, then Download Theme is the perfect solution for you. With more than 2,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin simply works out of the box and no configurations are required. All you have to do is install it and you will see a download link that will let you download your themes. It works very well and it is regularly updated and tested to ensure that it works.

20.  Secure Downloads

Secure Downloads is a plugin that allows you to generate secure download links for protected files. With more than 1,000 active installations in the WordPress Community, this plugin allows you to send emails to your clients for downloading. Moreover, links can expire after a predefined time and you can set an IP lock for a specific download. Additionally, the links created will not show the real location path of files at your server. It also allows you to track every download of files by receiving email about file download with detailed information.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to securely distribute your files and track downloads.
• It has an intuitive design.
• It makes links expire after a certain time.
• It allows you to send emails to your customers with secure links.
• It is a mobile-friendly plugin.
• It is easy to reorder lists of files.

21.  Wp Theme plugin Download

Wp Theme plugin Download is a lightweight plugin that allows you to download themes and plugins, right at your WordPress admin panel. With more than 3,000 active installations, this plugin compresses the plugin and theme files to a downloadable ZIP format. Moreover, after downloading them, you can transfer them to another site easily. This plugin simply works out of the box, and no complex configurations are required. This is a great plugin because by default WordPress does not allow you to backup or download the plugins before you delete them from your site. This saves a lot of time and helps you recover from difficult situations.

22.  Sell Downloads

If you are looking for an ecommerce plugin that allows you to sell downloadable content, then Sell Downloads is one of the best solutions. This plugin allows you to sell downloadable files like audio, video, documents, and pictures. For easy payments, this plugin uses the PayPal payment gateway that makes the sale process easy and secure.

Moreover, this plugin can filter products by types of files, paging, and sorting the results. It also allows you to associate additional information with the products. You can take the next step and protect the files with the inclusion of a file’s demo. Additionally, you can track sales statistics and this will help you to make well-informed decisions.

Here are some of the features:

• It provides an ecommerce solution for selling downloadable products.
• It allows you to filter products by types of files.
• It offers you multiple layouts for the store.
• It allows you to page and sort the results by popularity, price, or file name.
• It uses PayPal as a mode of payment.
• It allows you to share products on social networks.

23.  WooCommerce

If you are familiar with WordPress, then you know that it is built with extendibility in mind. If you have ever interacted with WooCommerce, then you know that it is a great free ecommerce solution, which has an incredibly useful set of features. What stands out is that WooCommerce is developed with extendibility in mind, similar to the modularity of WordPress.

WooCommerce is an open-source solution that allows you to sell anything on your site. With more than 5 million active installations, this plugin is similar to Easy Digital Downloads, where you can upload all of your digital files and organize them for selling online. This plugin can act as a file manager and an ecommerce platform. It allows you to sell digital goods like eBooks or music tracks. It offers you options to provide instant downloads to customers and send out emails with download links.

Here are some of the features:

• It is extendible.
• It has comprehensive payment options.
• It allows you to ship locally and globally.
• It allows you to design your store with themes and blocks.
• It allows you to control your data.

24.  Multiverso

Multiverso is a premium plugin that allows you to manage and encrypt downloads in the frontend. This plugin is priced at $30 and has accumulated more than 1,000 sales over at CodeCanyon. If you are looking for a premium download manager plugin that allows you to potentially block downloads for some users, then this is the plugin for you.

Moreover, this plugin provides premium support and offers advanced theme compatibility, localization, and shortcode support. Additionally, you can limit the file upload sizes and access management, as encryption forms a big part of this plugin.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a separate upload folder.
• It allows you to restrict direct downloads for uploaded files.
• It has an encrypted file path.
• It offers security wp check during upload.
• It is possible to attach a direct link to the download button (without upload).
• It is possible to limit the download number for every file.
• It is easy to manage downloads.
• It allows you to create user roles.
• It allows you to add title, content, and thumbs like a simple WordPress post.
• It allows you to manage file types that the upload system can accept.
• It allows you to set the file size limit.
• It has custom slugs for the post type.

25.  File Manager (Premium)

File Manager is a premium plugin that is packed with many features to allow you to manage all downloads. This plugin is priced at $20 and has accumulated more than 800 sales over at CodeCanyon. Additionally, it has a widget that you can use to manage your files from multiple locations. It also has a direct login tool to give users access to downloads.

This plugin has a download counter that has an intuitive design and offers encryption features to the download URL. This will ensure that all your digital downloads are secure. It also has a drag and drop file uploader, and offers you the chance to control who has access to the files being downloaded.

Here are some of the features:

• It has a drag and drop file upload.
• It allows you to control who can access to download.
• It allows you to create folders and subfolders.
• It allows you to create user groups for quick assignment.
• It allows you to control what user has access by folder
• It allows you to create custom icon images links.
• It has file type icon support.
• It offers you a search and sorting option.
• It allows you to add download link labels.

26.  WooCommerce Attach Me!

WooCommerce Attach Me! is a popular premium plugin that allows you to attach any kind of file to your clients’ orders in your WooCommerce Store. This pocket-friendly plugin is priced at $22 and has more than 1,000 sales over at CodeCanyon. This plugin however does serve as a complete file download manager for WooCommerce sites. It only allows you to send download links to customers who purchase items, but it has unique tools for organizing those files and categorizing them into sections before downloading them. It has a clean admin module for shifting around the files and identifying which ones are being downloaded the most.

Here are some of the features:

• It offers your users secure download links.
• It has an image lightbox preview.
• It offers WPML Multilanguage support.
• It allows for a wide range of file types such as PDFs, Word docs, and MP3s.
• It allows you to bulk upload and delete files on your WordPress admin.
• It provides shortcodes that you can place anywhere on your site.
• It allows you to add file expiration dates to some of your files.

27.  File Manager Plugin for WordPress

File Manager Plugin for WordPress is a powerful plugin that allows you to manage your downloadable files on a WordPress site. This plugin is priced at $19 and has accumulated more than 3,000 sales over at CodeCanyon. It is very easy to upload content using the drag and drop feature that speeds up the process and ensures that all skill levels can utilize the tool.

Additionally, it offers you frontend access, which is important if you plan to let customers or employees upload their files or download the files the admin has provided. It is packed with multiple themes that have an intuitive design and offers you many customization options like colors and button locations make or break whether or not people are willing to use an interface.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to edit images and documents.
• It allows you to adjust user access by identifying which of your users should be able to look at and download certain folders.
• It has a shortcode generator.
• It sends out email notifications when someone downloads a file.
• It allows you to ban access of unauthorized users try to download files.

28.  Groups File Access WordPress Plugin

Groups File Access WordPress Plugin is a premium plugin that allows you to provide file download links for authorized users. This plugin is priced at $29 and has more than 1,000 sales over at CodeCanyon. Additionally, file access is restricted, depending on the user’s group membership. Some of the plugins listed here have the same functionalities, but this one mainly focuses on restricting content and protecting the files on your website. This in turn makes your entire website secure.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to restrict access to downloads to authorized user groups.
• It allows you to embedded protected streaming media with HTML5 <audio> and <video> elements.
• It offers full multisite support (WordPress network installations).
• It offers you a file management area.
• It allows you to upload files via FTP and bulk import.
• It allows for file access notifications (customizable).
• It has many flexible shortcodes.
• It has a limited or unlimited number of downloads per user.
• It has key authentication file access.

29.  WordPress File Download Manager

WordPress File Download Manager is a pocket-friendly premium plugin that allows you to use your WordPress install as a file manager. This plugin is great for giving clients access to confidential files securely. It is priced at $17 and has more than 1,000 sales over at code Canyon, with the option to upgrade for additional customer support. The main aim of this plugin is to provide your WordPress users access to files, all without compromising the security of those files. Moreover, it is compatible with many WordPress Themes and there is no need to customize the interface.

Here are some of the features:

• It allows you to upload a file in the admin panel and assign it to a user.
• It allows WordPress users to log in and download any files assigned to them.
• It has a dedicated login and download page automatically created.
• It is highly secure, even if a direct file URL is known only assigned users can download.
• It seamlessly integrates with WordPress’s built-in file system and user system.

30.  Use-your-Drive

Use-your-Drive is a very popular premium plugin that allows you to display your Google Drive files elegantly, with no coding. This highly customizable plugin seamlessly integrated with your WordPress website. It is priced at $34 and has more than 6,000 sales over at CodeCanyon. If you are looking for a premium plugin, I highly suggest this plugin as it provides a rather unique capability that is occasionally found in other plugins, but not perfected. It provides a link to your Google Drive account, allowing you to upload all types of files and display them on your site or offer Download buttons. It works like most plugins on this list, however, the files are stored in Google Drive.

Here are some of the features:

• It has an organized admin panel for linking to Google Drive in one click and managing your files.
• It has a reports panel.
• It allows you to list your documents, images, and videos on the frontend of your website.
• It allows you to share certain folders with specific groups or individuals.
• It allows you to create shared links so that your files remain secure.
• It offers you options for previewing or streaming content online.
• It allows you to search your files with the help of filters and a powerful search bar.
• It has a shortcode builder.

Conclusion

That concludes 30 of the best download plugins for WordPress. It is also important to mention that there is pretty much a WordPress download manager plugin for every scenario, depending on your specific needs. The plugins listed here offer you features like group collaboration, download tracking, and even simple file organization.

However, there is no clear winner as to which plugin is the best winner for all downloads needs, as some of them have useful features but lack other common features. Therefore, you need to choose the ones that make the most sense for your downloads and file management needs. You can test them until you find a perfect match. I hope that this expert’s pick helped you to narrow down your search.

Similar Articles

1. 26 Best WooCommerce Plugins for Customer Feedback
2. 30+ Overall Best WordPress SEO Plugins For Higher Ranking
3. 30 Best WordPress Events Plugin for Better Events Management
4. 30+ Best Google Analytics Plugins for Your WordPress Site
5. 32+ Best WordPress Chat Plugins For Customer Support
6. 30+ Best Forum WordPress Plugins for Building a Community
7. 23 Best WooCommerce Plugins for Checkout Page Customization
8. 30+ Best WordPress Backup Plugins to Protect Your Sit
9. 30 Best WordPress Security Plugins to Protect Your Site
10. 30+ Best WordPress Caching Plugins to Speed Up Your Website
11. 30+ Best WordPress Calendar Plugins for Event Management