Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) vs Basic Optimization

Basic Optimization provides simple on/off controls for common WordPress cleanup and performance-related tweaks. It is intentionally small, dependency-free, and designed for site owners who want practical optimization controls without a large performance suite. The plugin adds a Basic Optimization admin screen where administrators can enable or disable each feature independently. It also includes a child Email Notifications settings page for disabling selected WordPress core auto emails. Basic Optimization supports regular single-site WordPress installs and WordPress Multisite. On multisite, when the plugin is network activated, Super Admins configure the plugin only from Network Admin and all sites use the network settings. Features Multisite Support – Adds Network Admin settings pages and stores network-wide settings with WordPress network options. Network-Only Mode – When network activated, subsite admin pages are not added and every site uses the Network Admin settings. Disable Emojis – Removes WordPress emoji scripts, styles, filters, and emoji DNS prefetch output. Remove Shortlink – Removes the shortlink tag from the document head. Remove CSS/JS Version – Removes the ver query argument from enqueued stylesheet and script URLs. Remove RSD Links – Removes the Really Simple Discovery link from the document head. Disable Embeds – Removes WordPress oEmbed discovery links and dequeues the default wp-embed frontend script. Disable XML-RPC – Disables XML-RPC requests and removes the X-Pingback response header. Remove WLW Manifest Link – Removes the Windows Live Writer manifest link from the document head. Disable Self Pingback – Prevents self pingbacks when content links to the same site. Hide WordPress Version – Removes the WordPress generator meta tag from the document head. Disable Heartbeat – Deregisters the WordPress heartbeat script on the frontend. Email Notifications – Adds dropdown controls to disable selected WordPress core auto emails, including new user registration, password changed, comment moderation, and automatically approved comment notifications. Multisite Behavior On a multisite network, the plugin can be network activated. When network activated, only the Network Admin settings pages are shown. Subsite admin pages are not added, and all sites use the network-level settings. Network settings are available under Network Admin > Basic Optimization. Subsite dashboards do not receive a Basic Optimization admin menu while the plugin is network activated. Notes Some features can affect integrations that rely on WordPress defaults. For example, disabling XML-RPC can affect external publishing clients and services that still depend on XML-RPC. Disabling auto emails can also affect administrator awareness of user and comment activity. Disable only the features that match your site requirements.

Easily improve site security with WordPress Hardening, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Login Protection, Vulnerability Detection and SSL certificate. Really simple, Effective and Performant WordPress Security Really Simple Security is the most lightweight and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It secures your WordPress website with SSL certificate generation, including proper 301 https redirection and SSL enforcement, scanning for possible vulnerabilities, Login Protection and implementing essential WordPress hardening features. We believe that security should have the absolute minimum effect on website performance, user experience and maintainability. Therefore, Really Simple Security is: Lightweight: Every security feature is developed with a modular approach and with performance in mind. Disabled features won’t load any redundant code. Easy-to-use: 1-minute configuration with short onboarding setup. Security Features Easy SSL Migration Migrates your website to HTTPS and enforces SSL in just one click. 301 redirect via PHP or .htaccess Secure cookies Let’s Encrypt: Install an SSL Certificate if your hosting provider supports manual installation. Server Health Check: Your server configuration is every bit as important for your website security. WordPress Hardening Tweak your configuration and keep WordPress fortified and safe by tackling potential weaknesses. Prevent code execution in the uploads folder Prevent login feedback and disable user enumeration Disable XML-RPC Disable directory browsing Username restrictions (block ‘admin’ and public names) and much more.. Vulnerability Detection Get notified when plugins, themes or WP core contain vulnerabilities and need appropriate action. Login Protection Allow or enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for specific user roles. Users receive a two-factor code via Email. Improve Security with Really Simple Security Pro Protect your site with all essential security features by upgrading to Really Simple Security Pro. Advanced SSL enforcement Mixed Content Scan & Fixer. Detect files that are requested over HTTP and fix them to HTTPS, both Front- and Back-end. Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security and configure your site for the HSTS Preload list. Firewall Really Simple Security Pro includes a performant and efficient WordPress firewall, to stop bots, crawlers and bad actors with IP and username blocks. 404 blocking – Blocks crawlers as they trigger unusual numbers of 404 errors. Region blocking – Only allow/block access to your site from specific regions. Automated and customisable Firewall rules. IP blocklist and allowlist. Security Headers Security headers protect your site visitors against the risk of clickjacking, cross-site-forgery attacks, stealing login credentials and malware. Independent of your Server Configuration, works on Apache, LiteSpeed, NGINX, etc. Protect your website visitors with X-XSS Protection, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, a Referrer Policy and CORS headers. Automatically generate your WordPress-tailored Content Security Policy. Vulnerability Measures When a vulnerability is detected in a plugin, theme or WordPress core you will get notified accordingly. With Vulnerability Measures, you can configure simple but effective measures to make sure that a critical vulnerability won’t remain unattended. Force update: An update process will be tried multiple times until it can be assumed development of a theme or plugin is abandoned. You will be notified during these steps. Quarantine: When a plugin or theme can’t be updated to solve a vulnerability, Really Simple Security can quarantine the plugin. Advanced Site Hardening Choose a custom login URL Automated File Permissions check and fixer Rename and randomize your database prefix Change the debug.log file location to a non-public folder Disable application passwords Control admin creation Disable HTTP methods, reducing HTTP requests Login Protection Secure your website’s login process and user accounts with powerful security measures. Two-Step verification (Email login) 2FA (two factor authentication) with TOTP Passwordless login with passkey login Enforce strong passwords and frequent password change Limit Login Attempts With Limit Login Attempts you can configure a threshold to temporarily or permanently block IP addresses or (non-existing) usernames. You can also throw a CAPTCHA after a failed login (hCaptcha or Google reCaptcha) Access Control Restrict access to your site for specific regions. Add specific IP addresses or IP ranges to the Blocklist or Allowlist. Useful Links Documentation Security Definitions Translate Really Simple Security Issues & pull requests Feature requests Love Really Simple Security? If you want to support the continuing development of this plugin, please consider buying Really Simple Security Pro, which includes some excellent security features and premium support. About Really Simple Plugins Our mission is to make complex WordPress requirements really easy. Really Simple Security is developed by Really Simple Plugins. For generating SSL certificates, Really Simple Security uses the le acme2 PHP Let’s Encrypt client library, thanks to ‘fbett’ for providing it. Vulnerability Detection uses WP Vulnerability, an open-source initiative by Javier Casares. Want to join as a collaborator? We’re on GitHub as well!