The 8 Best Free Coming Soon and Maintenance Mode Plugins for WordPress (2026)
Under Construction is the best free coming soon plugin for WordPress on our data (95.4/100), ahead of Maintenance (89.8) and SeedProd (89.0).
The best free coming soon plugin for WordPress on our data is Under Construction, with 95.4 out of 100. Maintenance is second on 89.8 and SeedProd third on 89.0. We scored 8 free coming soon and maintenance mode plugins on their WordPress.org record and on what each one added to a page in our lab.
The lab barely separated them. With default settings every ranked plugin added 0 KB to the page and server time within noise, so all 8 took full lab marks and the order comes down to the WordPress.org record. Under Construction leads on that record: 96% from 1,285 ratings, all 4 recent support threads resolved and an update 33 days before our data pull.
Short answer: For a simple coming soon page with an automatic end date, install Under Construction. For a maintenance page that can send a 503, use Maintenance. To collect emails in the free version, try CMP. If you also want a page builder, use SeedProd. On a live site, do not activate Slim Maintenance Mode or Colorlib’s plugin “to try it”: both take the site offline the moment they are switched on.
Last updated: 21 October 2026. We re-run the numbers every month.
The top 8 at a glance
| # | Plugin | Score | Installs | Rating | Lab: weight, server time | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Under Construction | 95.4 | 600,000+ | 96% | 0 KB, -1.4 ms | 18 Sep 2026 |
| 2 | Maintenance | 89.8 | 1M+ | 88% | 0 KB, -3.1 ms | 16 Aug 2026 |
| 3 | SeedProd | 89.0 | 600,000+ | 98% | 0 KB, -1.4 ms | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 4 | CMP | 82.5 | 200,000+ | 94% | 0 KB, -1.3 ms | 16 Oct 2026 |
| 5 | LightStart | 79.4 | 400,000+ | 86% | 0 KB, +8.7 ms | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 6 | Minimal Coming Soon | 73.4 | 100,000+ | 86% | 0 KB, -3.5 ms | 16 Aug 2026 |
| 7 | WP Maintenance | 72.7 | 60,000+ | 94% | 0 KB, -0.8 ms | 9 Jun 2026 |
| 8 | Coming Soon Maintenance Mode | 64.1 | 6,000+ | 94% | 0 KB, -2.1 ms | 17 Sep 2026 |
How we scored them
Each plugin’s score has three parts:
- WordPress.org record, 80 points: our usual score out of 100, scaled to 80. Satisfaction 35 (rating blended with 25 imaginary votes at 80%), Adoption 25 (installs, log scale, 1,000 = 0 and 1,000,000 = full), Maintenance 20 (full within 30 days of an update, zero at 365), Support 20 (share of the last two months’ threads resolved; under 3 threads = half marks).
- Weight, 10 points: 0 KB added = 10, 40 KB or more = 0.
- Server time, 10 points: 10 ms or less added = 10, 100 ms or more = 0.
Lab: fresh WordPress 7.1.3, PHP 8.5, Twenty Twenty-Five. Each plugin was installed from WordPress.org on 21 October 2026, activated alone with default settings and measured on a 1,500-word post loaded by a logged-out visitor, in three separate runs. Weight is the HTML plus every CSS and JS file the page links, gzipped, minus the same page with no plugin (19.9 KB). Server time is the median of 15 requests minus the no-plugin median, and we use the middle of the three runs.
With default settings, none of the 8 showed its coming soon page to our visitor: the post loaded as normal. So the lab number is what the plugin costs while its page is switched off, which is the state it sits in if you leave it installed after launch. We did not measure the coming soon page itself.
That cost is close to nothing for all 8. Medians ran from -3.5 ms to +8.7 ms, and the no-plugin page itself moved between 64.2 and 77.6 ms across the three runs. Several plugins come out negative, which is noise: a plugin cannot make WordPress faster by being installed. The full method is on how we rank.
1. Under Construction, 95.4
Under Construction hides the site behind an under construction, maintenance, coming soon or landing page. The free options include an on/off switch, an automatic end date and time that turns the page off for you, a Google Analytics tracking ID, an SEO title and description, a login button, social icons, custom CSS, and whitelisted user roles and users who see the real site.
It has the best WordPress.org score here, 94.2, and no weak part: 96% (1,285 ratings), 600,000+ installs, 4 of 4 threads resolved, updated 18 September 2026. In the lab it added 0 KB and a median -1.4 ms. Its page lists the drag-and-drop builder as a PRO feature, and its FAQ says that past custom CSS, editing a design means editing the plugin’s theme files.
2. Maintenance, 89.8
Maintenance closes the site for maintenance with an editable page: logo, background image with an optional blur, colors and text. The free features include a 503 “Service temporarily unavailable” switch, login on the front end, an admin bar status, Google Analytics support and excluding selected pages from maintenance mode. Its FAQ says the site is hidden from search engines only when the 503 option is on.
It has the most installs, 1M+, which earns full adoption marks, and 3 of 3 threads resolved. Satisfaction holds it back: 88% (865 ratings) is the lowest rating in the top 4. Do not confuse it with WP Maintenance, 7th below: they are different plugins, although this one’s page opens with the words “WP Maintenance plugin”.
3. SeedProd, 89.0
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode is a website builder whose page says it began as a coming soon and maintenance mode plugin, and it still uses the slug coming-soon. The page says it “allows you to build a coming soon or maintenance mode page that will hide your site from visitors and search engines like Google”, returns a 503 in maintenance mode, and that the free version comes with a variety of coming soon and maintenance mode templates.
It has the best rating in this list, 98% from 4,699 ratings, and an update 22 days before our pull. Support is the gap: one recent thread, unresolved, which our scale counts as too few to judge and gives half marks. It sits 0.8 points behind Maintenance, a tie in practice.
It is a full website builder, and its FAQ says building the whole site and theme is a Pro feature; the free version builds landing, coming soon and maintenance pages. If you want a builder for the whole site, see our page builder ranking.
4. CMP, 82.5
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes has a long free feature list. It switches between maintenance, coming soon and landing page modes, ships 3 free themes with 20+ more to download (free and premium), and collects emails in a subscribe form stored locally or sent to MailChimp, MailPoet or Mailster. It also offers a bypass URL for previews, role-based bypass, whitelists and blacklists of pages, WPML and Polylang support, and a choice of 200 or 503 response codes.
It was updated 16 October 2026, 5 days before our pull, and is rated 94% (327 ratings). Two things hold it at 4th: 200,000+ installs earn 19.2 of 25 for adoption, and 2 of 4 recent threads were resolved, worth 10 of 20.
5. LightStart, 79.4
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder adds a maintenance page, a coming soon page or a landing page. The free features include a subscription form with CSV export, a countdown timer, a contact form, excluded URLs, SEO options and multisite support, with each site in a network keeping its own settings.
Its page says “Activate the plugin and your blog is in maintenance-mode”, but in our lab, with default settings, the logged-out visitor got the post as normal. Check in a private window after activating it. Its FAQ recommends turning off cache plugins while maintenance mode is on.
It has 400,000+ installs but a rating of 86% (874 ratings). Its median server time, +8.7 ms, is the only clearly positive one, but the three runs were +14.3, +8.7 and -1.7 ms, which is noise. It needs PHP 7.1, the highest minimum of the 8.
6. Minimal Coming Soon, 73.4
Minimal Coming Soon – Coming Soon Page sets up a coming soon, maintenance, landing or launch page. MailChimp email collection is free, along with a preview before activation, custom CSS and HTML, drag-and-drop arrangement of page elements, a login link and an option to let search engines see the normal site while visitors see the coming soon page.
It is rated 86% (282 ratings) with 100,000+ installs and was updated 16 August 2026, 66 days before our pull. On multisite, read its FAQ first: when activated it enables itself across the entire network.
7. WP Maintenance, 72.7
WP Maintenance puts up a waiting page with your colors, fonts, logo, background picture and a countdown. It can insert a shortcode for a newsletter or contact form, send a 503, and let visitors through by role and capability, by page ID or by IP address. None of the other ranked plugins’ pages list access by IP address.
It is rated 94% (98 ratings). Maintenance is its weak part: last updated 9 June 2026, 134 days before our pull, worth 13.8 of 20, and its WordPress.org listing gives no “tested up to” version. Its one recent support thread was unresolved.
8. Coming Soon Maintenance Mode, 64.1
Coming Soon Maintenance Mode has a coming soon mode that returns HTTP 200 and a maintenance mode that returns 503, applied site-wide or to selected pages, posts or the front page. The free version has 5 templates, a countdown timer, a logo and headline, Facebook, X and Instagram links, and settings import and export as JSON. Email collection, custom CSS and automatic launch are Pro.
Its record is thin. The 94% rating comes from 3 ratings, which our blend pulls to 81.5%; it has 6,000+ installs and no recent support threads. It joined WordPress.org on 31 January 2023, the newest plugin in this list.
Two plugins that go live the moment you activate them
Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib and Slim Maintenance Mode put the whole site behind their page as soon as they are activated, with default settings, for every logged-out visitor. In all our runs, Colorlib’s plugin served its coming soon page instead of the post, and Slim Maintenance Mode answered with an HTTP 503 maintenance response.
For a maintenance plugin that is not a defect. Slim Maintenance Mode’s page says so plainly: “Simply activate the plugin and only administrators can see the website”, and it has no settings page. Colorlib’s page lists turning coming soon mode on as a step after picking a template, so its behavior is easier to miss. Either way, activating one on a live site to try it takes the site offline, and you will not see it while you are logged in.
Because the lab could not load the test post with them active, they are not lab-scored and not ranked. Their WordPress.org scores: Slim Maintenance Mode 65.6, with 100% from 63 ratings and 10,000+ installs, and Colorlib 61.0, with 94% from 42 ratings and 5,000+ installs. Colorlib’s page says it has no premium version and blocks the REST API for visitors while the page is on.
Every plugin we measured
| # | Plugin | Score | WordPress.org /100 | Server time, 3 runs (ms) | Threads resolved | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Under Construction | 95.4 | 94.2 | +3.0, -1.4, -8.1 | 4 of 4 | 18 Sep 2026 |
| 2 | Maintenance | 89.8 | 87.2 | -0.5, -3.1, -9.0 | 3 of 3 | 16 Aug 2026 |
| 3 | SeedProd | 89.0 | 86.3 | +0.7, -1.4, -9.2 | 0 of 1 | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 4 | CMP | 82.5 | 78.1 | -1.3, -0.9, -9.6 | 2 of 4 | 16 Oct 2026 |
| 5 | LightStart | 79.4 | 74.3 | +14.3, +8.7, -1.7 | 1 of 1 | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 6 | Minimal Coming Soon | 73.4 | 66.8 | +4.4, -3.5, -14.2 | 1 of 1 | 16 Aug 2026 |
| 7 | WP Maintenance | 72.7 | 65.9 | +7.5, -0.8, -9.0 | 0 of 1 | 9 Jun 2026 |
| 8 | Coming Soon Maintenance Mode | 64.1 | 55.1 | +1.6, -2.1, -7.2 | 0 of 0 | 17 Sep 2026 |
| Slim Maintenance Mode | Not scored | 65.6 | Live on activation (503) | 1 of 1 | 6 Aug 2026 | |
| Colorlib Coming Soon | Not scored | 61.0 | Live on activation | 0 of 0 | 29 Sep 2026 | |
| Maintenance Switch | Out | 50.8 | Not tested (700 installs) | 0 of 0 | 13 Aug 2026 | |
| Easy Coming Soon | Out | n/a | Closed 12 Sep 2023 | n/a | n/a | |
| Ultimate Coming Soon Page | Out | n/a | Closed 13 May 2018 | n/a | n/a |
What we left out, and why
Maintenance Switch has 700 active installs, under our 1,000 minimum, so it is out of the running. It is rated 100% from 12 ratings and was updated 13 August 2026.
Two plugins that still appear in older lists are closed on WordPress.org and cannot be installed from it: Easy Coming Soon, closed 12 September 2023, and Ultimate Coming Soon Page, closed 13 May 2018.
Slim Maintenance Mode and Colorlib’s Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode were installed and tested, but are not lab-scored because they go live on activation, as described above.
How to choose a coming soon plugin
- Decide which mode you need. Coming soon is for a site that has not launched; SeedProd’s and CMP’s pages describe it as an HTTP 200 page search engines can index. Maintenance is for a short outage on a live site, and sends a 503 so search engines come back later.
- On a live site, do not activate Slim Maintenance Mode or Colorlib’s plugin until you are ready to go offline: both show their page to visitors the moment they are switched on. After activating any plugin in this list, open the site in a private window to see what visitors get.
- For a plain page with an automatic end date, install Under Construction. For a 503 maintenance page, Maintenance or WP Maintenance.
- To collect emails without paying, pick CMP (local list, MailChimp, MailPoet or Mailster), Minimal Coming Soon (MailChimp) or LightStart (CSV export). Coming Soon Maintenance Mode keeps email capture in Pro.
- If someone without a WordPress account needs to see the real site, use CMP’s bypass URL or WP Maintenance’s IP access.
- Clear your page cache every time you turn the page on or off. Several of these plugins’ FAQs say a cached copy is the usual reason the page will not go away; see our cache plugin ranking if you use one.
Questions people ask
Which is the best free coming soon plugin for WordPress?
On our data, Under Construction, with 95.4 out of 100. Maintenance (89.8) and SeedProd (89.0) are close behind; pick Maintenance for a 503 maintenance page and SeedProd if you want a page builder.
Does a coming soon plugin slow down my site?
Not while its page is switched off. All 8 ranked plugins added 0 KB, and their median server time ran from -3.5 ms to +8.7 ms, all within noise. We did not measure the coming soon page itself while it was on.
What is the difference between coming soon and maintenance mode?
In the plugins that offer both, coming soon mode returns HTTP 200, so search engines can index the page, and maintenance mode returns 503, which tells them the site is down for a while. SeedProd’s FAQ says to use coming soon mode while a site is under construction and maintenance mode for short-term work on an existing site.
I turned the coming soon page on, but I still see my site. Is it broken?
Probably not. CMP’s, Maintenance’s and WP Maintenance’s FAQs all say that logged-in users see the real site, not the coming soon page. Open the site in a private window or another browser, and clear any page cache.
Is it safe to activate a coming soon plugin to try it?
For 8 of the 10 we tested, yes: with default settings, logged-out visitors still got the normal site. Slim Maintenance Mode and Colorlib’s Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode took the site offline for logged-out visitors as soon as they were activated.
