Redirection vs Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Redirection 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
Redirection 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.
Redirection
Free WordPress plugin for managing 301 redirects and 404 errors
Free
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks
Free, minimal WordPress plugin for 301 redirects and wildcards
Free
Which one is for you
Pick Redirection if
- Fits if you're moving a site or changing its URLs and need lots of redirects
- Works for anyone fixing 404 errors on a WordPress site without paying
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for your whole SEO setup, as titles, sitemaps and schema need another plugin
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress, as there's no standalone app
- Watch out: the current version needs WordPress 6.6 or later and PHP 7.4 or later
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
| 3.0GPARedirectionVery good | 2.6GPASimple 301 Redirects by BetterLinksGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, with no paid edition: the whole plugin, its logs, conditional rules, imports and exports, REST API and WP-CLI access 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 | AEverything is free and there's no premium version, so there's no cap or locked feature to run into. | 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 | CRedirects with regex and conditions, automatic redirects when permalinks change, 404 logs, redirect logs and Apache or Nginx output. 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 simple redirect is quick, but regex, conditions and server rules take some learning, and you build every redirect yourself. | 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, PHP hooks and WP-CLI. It writes to Apache .htaccess, exports Nginx rules and imports from other redirect plugins. | CWeb only, inside WordPress, with WPDeveloper's BetterLinks the one connection listed. No API, CLI or standalone app is named. |
| Best for | free redirects and 404 tracking 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: Redirection and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks. How we grade
Price against what you get
Redirection 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.
Redirection scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other SEO plugins and apps on the chart, none scores higher than Redirection 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.
In commonFree planWebOpen source
At a glance
| Redirection | Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Everything is free: there is no premium version. Redirects, 404 tracking, logs, conditional rules, import and export, and the REST API and WP-CLI access. | 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 | John Godley | WPDeveloper |
| Price read from | redirection.me | wordpress.org |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Redirection
- It runs only inside WordPress; there is no standalone app.
- It manages redirects and 404s only; titles, sitemaps and schema need a separate SEO plugin.
- The current version supports WordPress 6.6 or later and PHP 7.4 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
Redirection
- Redirect manager
- Create redirects for any URL without editing Apache or Nginx, with regular expressions, query parameter matching and automatic redirects when permalinks change.
- Conditional redirects
- Redirect only for logged-in or logged-out users, a WordPress capability, browser, referrer, cookie, HTTP header, IP address, server or 404 pages.
- 404 tracking
- Logs every 404 error on the site, groups them to show where to focus, and lets them be redirected in bulk.
- Redirect logs
- Records each redirect with visitor, browser and referrer details and a hit count, with search, filters, export and controls to limit IP collection.
- Apache and Nginx output
- Redirects can be saved to .htaccess so Apache handles them, or exported as Nginx rewrite rules.
- Import, export and APIs
- Imports from other redirect plugins and .htaccess, exports to CSV, JSON and Nginx, and can be run through the WordPress REST API, PHP hooks and WP-CLI.
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
Redirection
Free$0
The whole plugin from WordPress.org, with no paid features.
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, Redirection or Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Redirection and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Redirection or Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Redirection and Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks have a free plan.
More comparisons
- Redirection vs Yoast SEO
- Redirection vs All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
- Redirection vs SEOPress
- Redirection vs Rank Math
- Redirection vs Slim SEO
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs 301 Redirects - Redirect Manager
- Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks vs 404 to 301
- 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.