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A client contacted me recently because her WordPress website was slow. Really slow. She wanted me to ‘just fix it’.
When I logged in to investigate, I found the problem staring back at me: 36 active plugins. 22 of them desperately needed updating. A lot of plugins that had better alternatives these days. And tucked in amongst the chaos? Two separate breadcrumb plugins, both switched on, both doing exactly the same job.
I wasn’t sure fixing was still an option.
If your website feels slow, looks outdated, or has a pile of updates you’ve been avoiding, this blog is for you.
How Websites End Up With Too Many Plugins
Most of the time, plugin bloat doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps in gradually, one seemingly reasonable decision at a time.
Maybe you needed a contact form, so you installed a plugin. Then you wanted a popup for your email list, so you added another, without checking if your first plugin could do that too.
Someone told you mega menus would make navigation easier, so you found a plugin for that. Your designer suggested a specific slider, which needed its own plugin. Then you switched themes, but the new theme already could do mega menus and sliders so those plugins could have gone. But instead they kept running.
Or perhaps you hired different developers over the years. Each one brought their preferred tools. Nobody removed the previous person’s plugins. They just added their own on top. (If that ever happens to you, please tell your developer to do a better job!)
Sometimes it’s the “I’ll just try this and see if it works” approach. You install a plugin to test a feature, decide it’s not quite right, deactivate it, but never actually delete it. It sits there, taking up space, occasionally needing updates, quietly forgotten.
And sometimes, honestly, you just don’t know what half the plugins do anymore. Someone installed them years ago. They might be critical. They might be completely redundant. You’re not sure, so you leave them alone.
Before you know it, you’ve got 36 active plugins and absolutely no idea which ones are actually necessary.
Why Too Many Plugins is a Problem
But does it really matter that you have too many plugins if they’re just sitting there?
Yes. Unfortunately having too many or the wrong plugins is a really big issue on a website.
Your website gets slower. Every active plugin adds code that needs to load when someone visits your site. Some plugins are lightweight and efficient. Others are bloated resource hogs. When you’ve got 30+ plugins all trying to load at once, your website becomes slow. And visitors don’t wait for your website to load.
Security becomes a nightmare. Those 22 updates sitting there? Each one is a potential vulnerability. Hackers actively scan for outdated plugins because they’re easy targets. One unpatched plugin can give someone access to your entire website. Now think about what 22 means…
WordPress updates become risky. When WordPress releases a core update, it should be straightforward. But unfortunately sometimes a plugin doesn’t work well with the new update. And the more plugins you have, the higher the chance that something breaks. You’re stuck choosing between staying on an outdated (potentially vulnerable) WordPress version or updating and hoping nothing explodes.
Things break in mysterious ways. Plugins can conflict with each other. Maybe your contact form stops working because a recent update to your pop-up plugin broke something. Or your checkout process fails because two plugins are both trying to control the same function. Tracking down these conflicts when you’ve got 36 plugins running is like finding a needle in a haystack. Generally, developers will recommend you deactivate EVERY plugin and start turning them on one by one. That’s a lot if you have 36 plugins.
You might hit hosting limits. Your hosting plan has resource limits (CPU, memory, database queries). Plugin-heavy sites can max these out, causing your host to throttle your site or even temporarily take it offline. Suddenly your “unlimited” hosting isn’t so unlimited anymore.
Maintenance becomes expensive. More plugins means more updates, more potential conflicts, and more troubleshooting when something goes wrong. What should be a simple “update and done” process becomes hours of testing and fixing.
The slow website you’re experiencing? That’s not bad luck. It’s the consequence of years of accumulated digital clutter.
What Actually Needs to Stay (And What Can Go)
Now, you might wonder how in the world you are meant to decide what plugins are important. So let me help you. Not all plugins are created equal after all. Some genuinely earn their place on your website. Others are just taking up space.
The plugins that typically earn their keep:
Security – Something like Wordfence or Sucuri to protect against attacks and scan for vulnerabilities.
Performance – I use a combination of WP Meteor and PhastPress myself but only because they do completely different things. If you aren’t sure, have a max of 1 performance plugin.
SEO – My recommended SEO plugin is RankMath to handle your search engine optimisation, sitemaps, and schema markup. It can also handle redirections (pretty links).
Backups – UpdraftPlus or similar to regularly back up your site, even if your host already does this too.
Forms – A solid form builder if your theme doesn’t include one. Could be Gravity Forms, WPForms, or Contact Form 7. However, a lot of page builders have a good form builder.
Essential functionality – Whatever makes your specific business work. Ecommerce plugins if you sell products. Booking systems if you take appointments. Membership plugins if you run a community.
The keyword here is “essential”. If you can’t run your business without it, it stays.
The plugins that can probably go:
This is where it gets interesting. Here are real examples I’ve found on client sites that absolutely didn’t need to be there:
Two GDPR plugins running at once – Pick one. They both do the same job.
Image optimisation plugins – Please optimise your images before you upload them. Make sure they have a good format (pixelwise) and are small in size (MB wise). There are plenty of free online tools for this.
Multiple email opt-in tools – Someone tried a few different pop-up builders and never deleted the old ones. They had a builder for forms and a separate one for pop-ups, even though the first one also handled pop-ups. Choose the one that works best for you and delete the others.
Premium Elementor addons that duplicate core Elementor features – Check what Elementor can already do before paying for addons.
Header/footer plugins when you use Elementor – Talking about extra plugins for things Elementor can do… Elementor can build headers and footers. You don’t need a separate plugin for this. Please don’t use a separate plugin for this.
Site Kit by Google – Yes, it’s official. Yes, it connects to Google Analytics. It also slows your site down considerably. Use a different analytics solution or just add the tracking code manually.
Breadcrumb plugins when you have RankMath or Yoast – Separate breadcrumbs plugins are almost never useful anymore. Most SEO plugins handle breadcrumbs. You don’t need a separate plugin.
Page builders fighting each other – I’ve seen sites with Elementor AND another page builder (Divi) both active. This is so bad for speed. Please pick one, rebuild your pages if necessary, and remove the other.
In general, I see a lot of people installing plugins for features their theme or page builder already provides, such as social sharing or related posts. I recommend checking your theme documentation.
What Does "Normal" Actually Look Like?
Before you start your audit, it helps to know what you’re aiming for.
The sites I actively maintain run between 7 and 20 plugins, depending on their requirements.
Simple sites (brochure websites with contact forms and basic SEO) typically have 7 to 12 plugins. They need security, backups, SEO, maybe a form builder, and a few tools for performance and functionality.
Complex sites (e-commerce, booking systems, events, membership areas) typically require 16-20 plugins. They need all the basics plus payment processing, booking calendars, membership management, and whatever else makes that specific business work.
When you’re consistently hitting 30+ active plugins, something has gone wrong. Either the site was built by someone who reached for a plugin for every tiny feature, or it’s been maintained by multiple people over time without anyone cleaning up properly.
And those updates you’ve been ignoring? If you’ve got more than a handful of plugins needing updates at any given time, your maintenance routine needs work. Sites I maintain rarely have more than 2-3 updates waiting because I keep on top of them regularly.
So where does your site sit right now? If you’re sitting at 36 active plugins, you’ve got significant cleanup ahead of you. If you’re at 25, you can probably audit your way back to health. And if you’re already around 15-20, you might just need some tidying and better maintenance habits.
Need an extra set of hands to help you tackle your slow website problem?
The Simple Plugin Audit
Step 1: See what you have
Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. You’ll see a list of everything that’s currently installed, both active and inactive.
Write down (or screenshot) how many you have total, how many are active, and how many need updating. This gives you your baseline.
Step 2: Ask questions about each plugin
Go through your active plugins one by one. For each one, ask:
- What does this actually do?
- When did I last update it?
- Do I have another plugin doing the same thing?
- Does my theme or page builder already do this?
- What happens if I deactivate it? (We’ll test this in a moment)
If you don’t know what a plugin does, Google it. If you can’t remember why you installed it (if you did it yourself), that’s a red flag.
Step 3: Check for obvious duplicates
Look for plugins that clearly overlap. Two contact form plugins. Two SEO plugins. Two breadcrumb solutions. Multiple caching plugins. If you spot duplicates, mark them for removal.
Step 4: Create your action plan
Now that you know what you have and you’ve spotted the duplicates, don’t just start deactivating things randomly. Make a plan.
Create a list with four categories:
Definitely important – We do not want to delete those. You might want to Google what they can do so you can see if there are functions you didn’t know they had so you can add other tools to the duplicated pile.Â
Definitely redundant – Clear duplicates where you have two plugins doing the same job. Example: two breadcrumb plugins, or WPForms AND Gravity Forms both active.
Probably unnecessary – Plugins that your theme, page builder, or another plugin can already handle. Example: a separate header/footer plugin when you’re using Elementor, or a PrettyLinks plugin when you have RankMath.
Need investigation – Plugins you’re not sure about. Maybe they were installed years ago. Maybe a previous developer added them. You don’t know if they’re critical or completely pointless.
For each plugin on your list, note down:
- What it does
- What you’ll use instead (if anything)
- What might need rebuilding (like recreating a header in Elementor instead of using a separate plugin)
Prioritise your list. Start with the obvious duplicates where you can simply pick the better one and remove the other. Then tackle the “probably unnecessary” ones. Save the “need investigation” plugins for last when you’ve got more confidence.
This planning step might feel slow, but it’ll save you hours of panicked troubleshooting later.
When to Fix vs When to Rebuild
You’ve done your audit. You’ve identified the bloat. Now comes the big question: can you fix this, or is it time to start fresh?
Here’s how I decide.
You can probably fix it if:
- Most of your plugins just need updating
- You’ve identified clear duplicates and redundancies you can remove
- Your site structure and pages make sense
- The core functionality works, it’s just slow or cluttered
- You’re willing to spend time deactivating, testing, and rebuilding a few elements
Cleaning up a plugin-heavy site takes time, but it’s absolutely doable if the foundation is solid.
It’s probably time to rebuild if:
- You’re not sure what half your plugins do or why they’re there
- Multiple developers have built on top of each other’s work without cleanup
- Your theme is outdated and no longer supported
- You’ve got page builders conflicting with each other
- The site was built years ago and doesn’t reflect your current business
- Fixing would require rebuilding most of your key pages anyway
Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for your website (and your sanity) is start fresh with a clear plan. A rebuild lets you build only what you actually need, using current best practices, with proper documentation so you don’t end up back here in three years.
That client with 36 plugins and two breadcrumb solutions? I’m recommending a rebuild. The foundation was too damaged to salvage, and attempting to repair it would have cost more than starting fresh.
Not sure which path is right for you?
If you’re uncertain whether your site needs fixing or rebuilding, that’s exactly the kind of conversation I have with clients regularly. Book a Pick My Brain session and we’ll look at your specific situation together.
How to Actually Clean Up Your Plugins
Work through your list strategically
Remember that prioritised list you created? Start at the top with the obvious duplicates. These are your safest bets because you’re simply choosing between two plugins doing the same job.
Then move to the “probably unnecessary” plugins where your theme or page builder can handle the work instead.
Save the “need investigation” plugins for last when you’ve built up confidence and seen how the cleanup process works.
Deactivate one plugin at a time
Never deactivate multiple plugins at once. One at a time. Every single time.
Deactivate the plugin, then immediately check your website. Don’t just check your homepage. Click through your site properly:
- Test your contact forms
- Check your shop or booking system if you have one
- Look at a few blog posts
- Try your main navigation
- Check if pop-ups or opt-ins still work
Does everything still work? Great, that plugin probably wasn’t doing anything critical. Did something break? Cool, that’s information. Now, you’ve got two choices.
When something breaks, you have options
Was the plan to rebuild that functionality with one of your “definitely important” plugins or your theme? Perfect, go do that now. Recreate the header in Elementor. Set up redirects in RankMath instead of that separate plugin (they actually have an import function to make it even simpler). Build the pop-up in your form builder instead of using a standalone tool.
If you weren’t planning to rebuild and it broke unexpectedly? Reactivate the plugin and investigate further. Maybe it’s more critical than you thought. Maybe there’s a setting you need to adjust first. Don’t just leave it broken.
Use a staging site if you have one
If your host provides a staging environment, use it. (I recommend Lyrical Host because they offer this (and many other reasons)!) Test all your changes there first before moving it over to your live site. This way, if something goes catastrophically wrong, your actual visitors never see it.
Don’t have staging? Then do this work during your quietest hours. Early morning or late evening when fewer people are visiting your site.
Only delete after everything settles
Once you’ve deactivated a plugin and confirmed everything still works, don’t delete it immediately. Leave it deactivated for a few days.
Sometimes issues only show up later. A form that seemed fine might fail when someone actually tries to submit it. A checkout process might break under specific conditions.
After a few days of everything running smoothly with the plugin deactivated, then you can safely delete it.
Keep notes as you go
Write down what you deactivated, what you rebuilt with alternative tools, and any issues you encountered. Future you will thank you for this documentation.
This cleanup process isn’t quick. Depending on how many plugins you’re removing, it might take several hours spread across a few days. But it’s worth doing properly.
Your Website Doesn't Have to Stay Slow
If you started reading this blog because your WordPress website was frustratingly slow, you now know why. Plugin bloat isn’t just annoying, it’s actively harming your site’s performance, security, and your ability to maintain it properly.
The good news? You don’t have to live with it.
Your next steps:
If you’re ready to tackle this yourself, start with the audit. See what you’re actually dealing with. You might discover the cleanup is simpler than you thought, or you might realise a rebuild makes more sense.
If you’ve done the audit and you’re not sure what to do next, I can help.
Need guidance on fixing it yourself?
Book a Pick My Brain session. I’ll review your specific situation, help you understand what’s fixable versus what needs rebuilding, and give you a clear plan for moving forward.
Want me to handle it for you?
Book a free connection call and let’s talk about what your site actually needs. Whether it’s cleanup through my Tech Hours packages or a complete rebuild, we’ll figure out the right solution for your situation.
But whether you work with me or tackle it yourself, let’s get your plugin count under control. Your website (and your visitors) will thank you for it.
