10+ Best WordPress Directory Plugins
If you’re looking to create an online directory website, choosing the right WordPress directory plugin is essential. Directory plugins offer powerful features that help businesses, especially those serving local communities, showcase their listings effectively. In this article, we explore some of the best WordPress directory plugins available, designed to help you build a professional, user-friendly directory that drives traffic and revenue.
Table of contents
Key Features When Choosing a WordPress Directory Plugin
Before you install any WordPress directory plugin, it’s crucial to make sure it delivers real value for your investment. Wasting time switching between plugins or settling for one that doesn’t meet your needs can slow down your project and cost you more in the long run.
To help you make an informed decision, here are some essential features to consider before picking the right plugin for your directory website:
Payment Gateway Options
If you plan to run a directory that includes paid listings or memberships, having a variety of payment options is a must. Different users prefer different payment methods, so your plugin should support multiple gateways to avoid losing potential customers.
Customizable Form Fields
Every directory has unique requirements based on the industry it serves and the location it targets. Your chosen plugin should let you tailor the submission forms so you can collect the exact information you need from your users.
Media Support
Displaying images and logos is vital for businesses to showcase their brand identity. Studies show that many users hesitate to list their business if they can’t upload media files. Ensure your plugin makes it easy to add photos, logos, or videos to listings.
Monetization Options
Running a directory is a business, and finding effective ways to generate income is key to long-term success. The right plugin should support a variety of monetization options, such as paid listings, subscription tiers, or featured placements.
If you’re looking for ideas on how to generate revenue from your directory, check out our guide on how to monetize a business directory for practical strategies and tips.
User-Friendly Factor
The submission process should be simple and intuitive. If users struggle to find or complete the listing form, they’ll likely give up. Choose a plugin designed with a smooth, user-friendly interface to encourage more listings and improve overall engagement.
While other features like customer interaction tools, easy listing management, and shortcode support are important too, these core elements are the foundation of any solid directory plugin.
Now that you know what to look for, let’s dive into some of the top WordPress directory plugins available today, along with their features and pricing options.
Ready to explore? Let’s get started with the first plugin on our list!
Curated List of Directory Plugins
When it comes to building a powerful and user-friendly directory website on WordPress, selecting the right plugins can make all the difference. To help you navigate the options, we’ve put together a curated list of WordPress directory plugins that offer a variety of features such as customizable listing templates, advanced search filters, payment integration, and user submission tools.
Whether you’re creating a local business directory, a niche listing site, or a global catalog, this collection showcases plugins known for their flexibility and ease of use. These options can help you find the right fit for your project, no matter the scope or audience.
1. Directorist
Developed by WPWax, Directorist is one of the most intuitive WordPress business directory plugins you might have come across. The plugin lets you build an online business listing directory like Yelp and Yellow-Pages. With features to create directories based on location, category, and interests, Directorist is our featured plugin in this read. The plugin is compatible with almost all popular themes like Astra, Divi, Avada, etc. Other features include 25+ Elementor page builder widgets, front-end and back-end listing submission, endless shortcode options, customer reviews & ratings, etc which make this plugin a must-have on your deck!
Not to mention, using Directorist, you can discover your directory website with a swarm of exclusive features like an advanced form builder, CSV Bulk Importer, easy migration and Personalization, unlimited custom fields, powerful search, and advanced filters, multiple mapping sources, compatibility with popular WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins like Dokan, WC Vendors, WC Marketplace, WCFM, YITH WooCommerce Multivendor, etc. Interestingly enough, a new hurdle of features like custom directory builder, multi-directory, private directory, custom badges, GDPR ready, renew listings, Email notification, schedule task, save and bookmark, author public profile, RTL languages like Arabic, Aramaic, Azeri, etc. can easily drive you to participate in any competition with your directory business.
Additionally, the built-in checkout and popular gateways like Paypal, Stripe, WooCommerce, and local bank transfer are available with this plugin. The plugin creates a tunnel for you to earn through multiple monetization facilities like paid listings, featured listings, rank-featured listing, claim a listing, pay per Submit, and subscriptions. Meaning, Directorist not only helps you to build your directory website but also shows you the rope to scale your business up with a handsome amount of revenue.
2. CM Business Directory
Showcase businesses on your WordPress site with the CM Business Directory. Developed by the folks at CreativeMinds this plugin makes it easy to add business pages with detailed information, galleries, videos, docs, and even WhatsApp. Use included templates and customization options to make business listings stand out. Plus you can create and assign up to 5 custom taxonomies to organize your listings – as well as define which taxonomies to allow as filters on the frontend search.
But wait – there’s more! With add-ons you can extend the CM Business Directory to have even more features. Specifically, the Community Edition enables user submissions, Community Payments allows you to charge for listings (with options for set rates or subscriptions), Forms makes it possible to include custom contact forms for businesses, Google Maps adds locations and the Product Directory add-on seamlessly displays relevant products on businesses pages.
And there’s even a free version of CM Business Directory Lite that you can install right from WordPress (though we do recommend upgrading to pro to access the full suite of features).
3. HivePress
Whether you’re looking to build a directory for business, real estate, jobs, restaurants, or something else HivePress is a great option. This free plugin offers everything you need (and more) for a fully functional directory or listings style site. Best of all, the plugin is able to offer all of these features while remaining completely free and easy to use – so there’s really no excuse for not giving it a try.
HivePress is primarily a directory. This means it includes the expected listings custom post type (with related archives and taxonomies). However there are a number of free and premium HivePress extensions that add features to the base plugin. Free extensions cover Authentication for Facebook or Google login support, Favorites to add the capability for users to “heart” a listing, Messages to enable private messaging, Geolocation for listings, Reviews and ratings, as well as Claim and Paid listings (which make it possible for users to claim or pay for a listing respectively).
Paid extensions for HivePress cover more niche functionality that may be a great investment for your business. At the time of writing these include Memberships, Marketplace and Requests if you wish to monetize your directory outside of simple paid listings. But also informational addons like Search Alerts, Social Links, Opening Hours, Statistics, and listing Tags to provide you (and your site visitors) with more helpful data.
If you’re a developer, you’ll be glad to know that the plugin follows WordPress coding standards, utilizes the REST API and offers its own set of actions and filters to make extension easy. And for non-devs, using HivePress on your site is a breeze as there are currently three premium themes in addition to the free ListingHive theme for you to choose from.
4. BusinessDirectory
BusinessDirectory is a WordPress plugin that is simple and easy to use. With limited features (in the free version), you should find no trouble in creating your first online directory. The free version allows you to accept both free & paid listing and avoid spam listing with ReCaptcha options.
The options to upload files, display geolocation of the listing, allow customers to give reviews & ratings come in the form of additional software add-ons (which is quite the opposite to Directorist). You also get multiple payment gateway options like Stripe, Paypal, Payfast in the premium version of the plugin.
Put in a few words, BusinessDirectory is a good choice if you’re comfortable with the basic features. But if you need advanced features like Google maps integration and discount codes, you’ve got to start paying out of your pocket.
5. GeoDirectory
They’ve got themselves a promising banner with the quote that says “The World’s Most Advanced and Scalable WordPress Directory Plugin”! Well, let’s see more about this WordPress directory plugin!
Developed by AyeCode Ltd, GeoDirectory strikes hard with the fact that it allows you to create location-based business directories with ease – doesn’t matter whether you want to come up with a directory for a single street or a city, GeoDirectory has got your back!
Recent developments from the team have made the plugin one hundred percent compatible with Gutenberg and other popular page builders like Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder and more. The plugin is lightweight, easy to use and most importantly, developer-friendly (you can quickly build custom directory themes if you want to). You can use the new features like extended business hours display, custom email templates and the badge system for featured listings to improve the quality of your business directory.
And the GeoDirectory Pro version has even more to offer.
6. Connections Business Directory
The name portrays what the plugin is all about! Connections Business Directory promotes itself with one unique point – the enhanced simplicity with extraordinary features! And the plugin is being continuously updated in order to bring its users new features!
Also, you get custom fields which help businesses add more information like business hours, certification, local time, facilities, etc. There are a couple of premium options (CSV import, custom entry order, etc) and premium templates you should find quite useful.
The plugin is developer-friendly and can find the open source on Github. Also, the plugin is used all around the world where users have managed to translate it into their own languages.
7. Sabai Directory
We started exploring a bit and came across this “hard to miss” plugin – Sabari directory. What literally amazed us is the pricing factor of this particular plugin. You get all premium features for just $29 (with 6 months support of course) and you need not pay a penny more than this to use this plugin!
As for the features, you can display listings either in the form of lists or grids or in map view. And you can search listings using multiple methods like keywords, category, distance or location. The plugin is fully responsive and comes with an interactive map (where users can hover and drag) and the option to vote review as helpful/not helpful.
There are a couple of other features like featured listings, multiple payment gateways, options to comment on reviews and photos, etc. All these features make this plugin one of the best WordPress directory plugins available around.
8. Toolset Directory
Toolset Directory is one of the best WordPress directory plugins around and is an ideal fit for both beginners and advanced developers. What makes this plugin special is its ability to allow individuals with no coding experience to create advanced directory websites!
You can easily create custom fields, maps with additional filters, paid listings and set email notifications. You can also allow your users to search your directory with multiple custom search filters. The fact that the Toolset Directory was created by WPML allows you to create a multilingual directory website with ease.
As for the integrations, you can integrate with popular plugins like Elementor, WooCommerce and Yoast SEO.
9. LDD Directory Lite
LDD Directory Lite is one of the best ways to create a fully custom directory website with ease. It’s because the plugin is extremely user-friendly – easy to install, configure and proceed with. One thing that’d really make you consider going for this plugin is its compatibility with almost all the page builder and theme plugins.
You can easily customize the look and feel of your website the way you want, integrate with Google Maps and display lists in the form of grids or in the compact view. Also, you can add extensions like Directory Reports & Exports, Directory Reviews, Directory Social login and a couple of other plugins to make your directory website more sophisticated!
And thats pretty much about the LDD Directory Lite WordPress business directory plugin. Let’s move on to the pricing sector, shall we?
10. Directory Pro
If you’re quite the person who is both playful and professional, Directory Pro is just the plugin for you! Available in CodeCanyon, Directory Pro allows you to create directories that are fully responsive with a signup mobile!
Also, you have options to view and customize the front-end and the back end dashboard. There are multiple payment methods like Paypal & Stripe, VIP badges to highlight certain listings and the integration option with MailChimp.
With this plugin, you can create multilingual directories and the fact that the plugin is SEO friendly makes the Directory PRO plugin a must-have on our list.
11. BePro Listings
Another free WordPress directory plugin we came across when we were rummaging around the repository. Developed by BePro Software company, this directory plugin allows you to create simple directories with its limited features.
Although the plugin gives you only limited features in the free versions, you get additional add-ons that can help turn your website into one of the best classifieds platforms. You also get the shortcode feature that allows you to display and restrict only certain things on certain pages.
The option to create unlimited payment packages, display them on your website and accept payments with the help of BePro Cart plugin makes this an ideal choice in our read.
12. Name Directory
Developed by Jeroen Peters, Name Directory is a plugin that takes a different approach from the usual business index plugins that exist. This is more like a glossary index where your audience can search and find the information they want!
You on the other hand can create multiple directories for the same website, show/hide titles, descriptions, suggestion forms, submitter names and more. Also, you can choose the number of characters that should be revealed in a description and place the read more button for additional information. The plugin comes with a few more similar customization options.
Put in a few words, Name Directory is for those who think a basic directory is sufficient enough for their business.
13. Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro
Become an entrepreneur now with Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro plugin. A free plugin with all pro features unlocked for those planning to start a classifieds/directory business.
Best classifieds script available in WordPress market with wide range of exciting features and built your own classifieds or a directory site without any coding knowledge within minutes and be an owner yourself. It’s very simple to begin because of its very easy configurable setting available in backend.
A user friendly backend that shape’s your site as per your ideas and easy understanding to utilize all the options available that makes you not to depend on any developers.
To continuously make the product better and provide greater values to users, ACADP are updated at least once a month and the updates are available free of charge for all of its users.
Conclusion
There you have it, a selection of ten notable WordPress business directory plugins to consider for your website. Before making your final choice, be sure to revisit the key features we highlighted at the beginning of this article. Keeping those essential criteria in mind will help you select a plugin that best aligns with your specific needs and goals.
Remember, the right plugin can significantly impact how your directory functions and how users interact with it. Take the time to evaluate each option carefully, considering factors like ease of use, customization capabilities, and scalability. With the right tools in place, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful and engaging WordPress directory site.
