404 to 301 vs Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, 404 to 301 grades higher than Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
404 to 301 grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks
Free, minimal WordPress plugin for 301 redirects and wildcards
Free
Which one is for you
Pick 404 to 301 if
- Fits if a site move needs prefix or regex redirects for whole folders
- Works for admins who want 404 reports by email instead of checking a dashboard
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress 6.6 or later
- Too light for your whole SEO setup, as titles, sitemaps and schema need another plugin
- Watch out: full-site and .htaccess redirect rules and Search Console crawl error data aren't included
- Watch out: the 404 logs record visitor IP addresses unless you switch on IP masking
Pick Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks if
- Fits if you need a handful of redirects and want almost no settings
- Works for moving a folder of old files to a new one with a single wildcard rule
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress, as there's no standalone app
- Too light for anything past redirects: no 404 log, no click counts, and titles, sitemaps and schema need an SEO plugin
- Not for you if you need 302 or 307 redirects or regex rules, which the listing doesn't name
- Watch out: click analytics mean moving your redirects to WPDeveloper's separate BetterLinks plugin
How we grade them
| 3.0GPA404 to 301Very good | 2.6GPASimple 301 Redirects by BetterLinksGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree with no license key or paid edition: redirect rules, the catch-all 404 redirect, logs, email reports, CSV import, REST API and WP-CLI all come from WordPress.org at no cost. | AFree from WordPress.org with no paid edition: 301 rules, wildcard folder redirects, bulk import and export and the setup wizard cost nothing. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery feature ships free, so there's no cap or locked feature to run into. The listing points to AIOSEO Pro for the few things it leaves out. | AEvery feature is free and there's no paid version, so there's nothing locked. Click analytics mean moving to BetterLinks, a separate plugin that's also free. |
| Features | CExact, prefix and regex redirects with hit counters, a catch-all 404 redirect, merged 404 logs, email alerts and reports, slug change redirects and CSV import. It does redirects fully, but that's a smaller job: no titles, sitemaps or schema. | D301 redirects to any URL, wildcard folder moves and CSV import and export. That's one narrow function, and even within redirects there's no 404 log, no click counts and no 302, 307 or regex option named. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. A catch-all redirect is quick, but prefix and regex rules and the log filters take some learning, and you still write each rule. | CNo rating on record. There's almost nothing to configure, a skippable wizard and one settings screen, but you type each old path and new destination yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, inside WordPress, with a REST API for every admin action, WP-CLI commands and WordPress Site Health. No standalone app. | CWeb only, inside WordPress, with WPDeveloper's BetterLinks the one connection listed. No API, CLI or standalone app is named. |
| Best for | free redirect rules and 404 alerts in WordPress | a handful of 301 redirects in WordPress |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: 404 to 301 and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks. How we grade
Price against what you get
404 to 301 has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
404 to 301 scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other SEO plugins and apps on the chart, none scores higher than 404 to 301 for less, and none scores higher than Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 404 to 301 also covers reports.
In commonFree planWebOpen source
At a glance
| 404 to 301 | Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Everything is free with no license key: exact, prefix and regex redirects, a catch-all 404 redirect, 404 logs with filters, email alerts and reports, CSV import, REST API and WP-CLI. | The whole plugin is free from WordPress.org: 301 redirects to any page or URL, wildcard folder redirects, bulk import and export, and a quick setup wizard. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | All in One SEO | WPDeveloper |
| Price read from | wordpress.org | wordpress.org |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
404 to 301
- It runs only inside WordPress and handles redirects and 404s only; titles, sitemaps and schema need an SEO plugin.
- Full-site and .htaccess redirect rules and Search Console crawl error data are not included; the listing points to AIOSEO Pro for them.
- 404 logs record visitor IP addresses unless IP masking is switched on.
- The current version needs WordPress 6.6 or later.
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks
- It runs only inside WordPress and handles redirects only; titles, sitemaps and schema need an SEO plugin.
- It does not count clicks or log 404 errors; click analytics mean moving the redirects to BetterLinks.
- The listing describes 301 redirects only and names no 302 or 307 option or regex matching.
- Sharing usage data with WPDeveloper's WPInsight service is opt-in and off unless an admin agrees.
Key features
404 to 301
- Redirect rules
- Create 301, 302 or 307 redirects matched by exact path, prefix for moved folders, or regular expression, each with a hit counter and an on/off switch.
- Catch-all 404 redirect
- Send every 404 not covered by a rule to the homepage, a chosen page or any URL, with the redirect type you pick.
- 404 error logs
- Logs URL, referrer, IP, user agent and time, merges repeat hits into one row, and filters by referrer source, request type, status and date.
- Alerts and reports
- Email alerts when a broken URL passes a hit threshold, and daily, weekly or monthly reports with the log attached as a CSV.
- Slug change redirects
- Writes a redirect automatically when a post or page is renamed, and can stop WordPress guessing at the closest post for unknown URLs.
- Import, export and APIs
- Bulk CSV import with a preview and duplicate check, CSV log export, settings as JSON, a REST API for every admin action and WP-CLI commands.
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks
- 301 redirect rules
- Enter a requested path and a destination, on the same site or another, from the Settings > 301 Redirects screen.
- Wildcard folder redirects
- Put an asterisk after a folder name to send every file in it to the same filename in a new folder, such as /old-folder/* to /new-folder/*.
- Bulk import and export
- Import redirect rules in bulk and export them as a CSV file to reuse on another site or keep as a backup.
- Quick setup wizard
- A first-run wizard asks whether to share usage data, turns wildcards on or off and adds the first redirect; each step can be skipped.
- Move to BetterLinks for analytics
- Redirects can be migrated to WPDeveloper's separate, free BetterLinks plugin for click-through analytics on each redirect.
Plans
404 to 301
Free$0
The whole plugin from WordPress.org, with every feature included and no paid upgrade of its own.
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks
Free$0
The WordPress.org plugin with every feature; there is no paid version of it.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, 404 to 301 or Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both 404 to 301 and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks are free to use.
Which has a free plan, 404 to 301 or Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both 404 to 301 and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks have a free plan.
More comparisons
- 404 to 301 vs Redirection
- 404 to 301 vs 301 Redirects - Redirect Manager
- 404 to 301 vs All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
- 404 to 301 vs Rank Math
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs Redirection
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs 301 Redirects - Redirect Manager
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs PrettyLinks
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs Rank Math
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.