Are you trying to decide which WordPress debug plugin is best for your site?

Debugging errors without the right plugins is a major hassle that wastes hours of your time. Since bugs and crashes hurt your user experience and business, resolving them quickly is crucial for your business. WordPress debug plugins simplify this process by making it much faster to detect and fix issues.

In this article, we'll compare the best WordPress debug plugins available to help you choose the right one for your needs.

What is a WordPress Debug Plugin

A WordPress debug plugin is a tool that makes troubleshooting easier. It offers a user-friendly interface to enable WordPress’s built-in debugging features and other advanced options. 

Without a WordPress debug plugin, you would typically have to turn on WordPress debug mode by manually adding WP_DEBUG code to your site’s wp-config.php file. You’d then have to locate and review the debug.log file, which displays logged errors within a text editor. This process can be pretty slow and inefficient, especially if you are working on multiple sites with limited time. 

WordPress debug plugins eliminate the need for this manual step, with many offering valuable debugging features such as:

• A centralized view of all logged errors from the WordPress admin dashboard. 
• Search and filtering capabilities for sorting through log entries by type, keyword, time, and more, saving you time.
• Real-time logging of PHP errors, warnings, notices, and deprecation messages.
• Insights into other site details you may need to analyze and debug, including HTTP API calls, hooks and actions, database queries, memory usage, etc.
• Performance and query monitoring to identify and fix queries that might be slowing your site down.
• Bulk disabling plugins and themes if your site crashes or you get locked out.
• Email alerts to notify you of critical errors on your site, and much more.

In essence, WordPress debugging plugins are a huge time-saver for developers and are also perfect for users with limited technical expertise. 

7 Best WordPress Debug Plugins

Now that you understand what a WordPress debug plugin is and the features to look out for, let’s review our list of the six best WordPress debug plugins!

For each plugin, we provide an overview, key features, and pros and cons to help you make an informed choice.

1. WP Debug Toolkit

WP Debug Toolkit is a premium debugging suite that simplifies the management of debug constants by allowing users to activate debug mode directly from the admin dashboard with a single click.

Unlike other debug plugins that stop working when your site goes down, WP Debug Toolkit includes a standalone log viewer app that keeps running even if WordPress completely crashes. This game-changing feature means you can always see what went wrong and get your site back online faster without needing FTP access or technical workarounds. It also features a proactive email alert system and a database query monitor, making it a complete toolkit for both site health and performance.

The plugin turns on debug mode with a single click from your dashboard. Once activated, it starts capturing every PHP error, warning, and notice in real-time.

Here's a quick look at WP Debug Toolkit in action:

Key Features

• Independent error log viewer app that functions even if WordPress crashes.
• Instant email alerts that notify you the moment a critical error occurs, with a "fail-safe" system that works even during memory-related crashes.
• A low-impact query monitor that logs database activity to the filesystem rather than the database itself, helping you find slow queries without adding extra load to your site.
• Advanced filters to include or exclude logs by keyword, level, time, or source.
• Robust file viewer to examine full error context beyond just reading logs.
• Real-time error logging ensures you never miss critical issues.
• Crash recovery system helps regain access if site crashes or you get locked out.
• Keyboard shortcuts for seamless navigation within the log viewer app.
• Error highlighting makes it easy to quickly identify different error levels.
• Theme switcher ensures debugging remains smooth with your preferences.

Pros

• Modern & user-friendly interface.
• Proactive notifications so you find errors before your clients do.
• Detailed database performance insights with N+1 pattern detection.
• Simplified debug constants management from the admin interface.
• Crash recovery system for site access restoration.
• Self-contained application works independently of WordPress.
• File viewer provides complete error context.
• Maintains error log accessibility during WordPress downtime.

Cons

• Premium plugin with no free version available
• Still need basic technical knowledge to understand error messages

2. Query Monitor

Query Monitor is one of the most popular WordPress debugging plugins, offering a comprehensive set of error monitoring and troubleshooting features that make it a strong choice for developers and technical users.

The plugin was designed to mimic Chrome Developer Tools, but for WordPress and WooCommerce. It provides detailed diagnostic information about your WordPress site, allowing you to identify and troubleshoot errors efficiently.

It adds a menu to your admin toolbar that provides a quick overview of the current page load. Clicking the menu opens a pop-up panel containing more detailed information, including sections for checking database queries, PHP errors, HTTP API calls, enqueued scripts, and more.

If you are adding custom code to your site, Query Monitor can flag any PHP errors in real-time, helping you identify and fix bugs immediately. The WordPress debug plugin also allows you to debug the value of PHP variables without using the var_dump function, making your coding workflow more convenient.

Key Features

• User-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate.
• Allows debugging of database queries sorted by time, calling function, and components.
• Supports debugging of PHP errors, enqueued scripts and stylesheets, hooks, actions, and more.
• Includes advanced features for tracking and debugging Ajax calls, REST API calls, and user capability checks.
• Enables grouping of data output by plugin or theme for easy identification of poor performers.
• Allows setting an authentication cookie to view output even when not logged in or logged in as a non-administrator.

Pros

• Powerful WordPress debugging capabilities
• Supports troubleshooting performance issues
• Offers real-time data insights
• Groups queries by source intuitively
• Easy-to-use navigation
• Regularly updated
• Free to download

Cons

• Lacks historical data
• May slightly impact site performance, especially on large sites
• Data-rich panels can feel overwhelming, especially for beginners
• Requires technical knowledge to decode data insights
• May conflict with some plugins, as reported by some users

3. Debug Log Manager

The Debug Log Manager plugin offers a simple and clean interface for identifying and troubleshooting WordPress errors. With just one click, you can activate WP_DEBUG and begin logging PHP, database, and JavaScript errors on your site.

Logged errors appear in a table sorted by error type, details, and the date and time they last occurred. The specifics of each error are broken down further by source (such as core, plugin, or theme), file path, and line number. This makes it easy to read and quickly trace the origin of an error.

One notable feature of the Debug Log Manager plugin is that, instead of creating the debug.log file in the /wp-content/ folder, it stores it in a non-default location with a custom file name. This adds an extra layer of security by preventing easy access to the file.

Key Features

• Enables built-in WordPress error logging with a single click.
• Stores debug.log file in a non-default location for added security.
• Includes a search bar and filters to quickly locate specific errors during WordPress debugging.
• Features auto-refresh to log new entries automatically without reloading the browser tab.
• Provides an error log clearing feature to delete old logs and save disk space.
• Adds a dashboard widget to show the latest logged errors at a glance.
• Shows an indicator on the admin toolbar when error logging is enabled, ensuring you never forget to disable it after debugging.

Pros

• Enable error logging with no code
• Decent set of WordPress debugging features
• Enhanced security for debug.log file
• An indicator to prevent leaving error logging turned on indefinitely
• Free plugin
• Frequently updated

Cons

• Requires some technical knowledge
• Previous security bypass issues

4. WP Debugging

WP Debugging is another popular WordPress debugging plugin that is loved for its simplicity in enabling the built-in WordPress debug mode and error logging feature.

The plugin automatically adds three WordPress debug constants to the wp-config.php file when activated, allowing users to avoid manually editing the file.

To enable WordPress debug mode and error logging, simply check the corresponding boxes, and they will be activated immediately. Debug mode is instantly turned off, and the constants are removed once you deactivate the plugin.

WP Debugging includes Debug Quick Look, which makes it easy to view errors logged in the debug.log file. It also offers optional integrations with the Query Monitor and Debug Bar plugins to enhance its WordPress debugging and troubleshooting features.

Key Features

• Simple and easy-to-use interface.
• Automatically adds built-in WordPress debug constants upon plugin activation.
• Includes Debug Quick Look to view logged error details.
• Optional integrations with Query Monitor and Debug Bar plugins for enhanced WordPress debugging.
• Automatically removes WordPress debug constants upon plugin deactivation.

Pros

• Free to download and use
• Easy to set up
• Straightforward user interface
• Eliminates the need to edit the wp-config.php file with code
• Includes a plugin to view debug.log file content
• Integrates with Query Monitor and Debug Bar for extended functionality

Cons

• Limited WordPress debugging capabilities
• Depends on third-party plugins for additional features
• Error log display issues
• Not frequently updated

5. Debug Bar

Debug Bar is a popular debugging plugin that adds a clean debug menu to the WordPress admin toolbar, allowing users to view useful debugging information, such as queries and cache. 

Unlike most other WordPress debug plugins that include features to enable the built-in WordPress debug mode from the admin dashboard, Debug Bar requires you to enable it in the wp-config.php file manually. Once this is done, you can also monitor PHP warnings and notices from the plugin’s interface.

To further expand its features and provide more WordPress debugging insights, Debug Bar offers a variety of add-ons. These include add-ons for WP Cron, Post Types, Shortcodes, Actions, and Filters.

Key Features

• Displays debugging information for queries and cache by default.
• Tracks and displays PHP warnings and notices when debug mode is enabled in the wp-config.php file.
• Tracks and displays all SQL queries when SAVEQUERIES is enabled in the wp-config.php file.
• Provides numerous add-ons to extend its capabilities.

Pro

• Quickly troubleshoot query and cache issues
• Add-ons to extend features
• Free to use

Cons

• Requires code to enable specific options
• Can feel overwhelming for non-technical users
• Limited WordPress debug information displayed out of the box
• Limited plugin updates (last update was 2 months ago as of 09/18/2025)

6. Debug This

Debug This is a more technically advanced WordPress debug plugin designed specifically for WordPress site administrators, developers, and support staff.

It helps save time by providing access to a wide range of information about a WordPress site, including; the current WP_Query object, embed providers, files in rendered HTML (CSS, images, JavaScript), filters and actions, globals and constants, rewrite rules, queries, PHP and server information, WP cron schedules and jobs, WP debug log, and much more.

With the Debug This plugin, instead of hard-coding WordPress debug snippets or writing complex unit tests for small functionalities, you can easily access what you need directly from the admin bar.

The setup process is simple. After installing the plugin, you can access it via your admin toolbar. From the drop-down menu, you can then select the information you want to view for troubleshooting purposes.

Key Features

• Provides information on filters and actions, scripts and styles enqueued, PHP errors, object cache stats, and many more.
• Supports creating new WordPress debug modes with code.
• Supports extending the plugin with code snippets for your own needs.
• Shows all SQL queries when SAVEQUERIES is on, making it easy to identify performance issues.

Pros

• Easy access via the admin toolbar
• Extensive information provided
• Speeds up WordPress debugging process
• Free to use

Cons

• Too technical for beginners
• Few filtering and grouping capabilities
• Not updated frequently (last plugin update was 4 months ago as of 09/16/2025)

7. Black Bar

With the Black Bar plugin, you get a discreet debug bar that attaches itself to the bottom of your WordPress admin dashboard. The plugin makes WordPress development easier by collecting and displaying errors, executed SQL queries, slow actions and hooks, theme templates, and global variables.

A profiler is also included that measures the resource consumption and execution time of your plugins, themes, and core WordPress functions to analyze your site’s performance.

• Key Features
• Supports debugging code with the Console.
• Enables viewing PHP errors, executed MySQL queries, and template files of the active theme, etc.
• Supports inspecting global variables such as COOKIE, GET, SERVER, SESSION, etc.
• Provides a profiler to help measure the performance of your code.
• Enables viewing the 50 slowest actions and filter hooks, in addition to callbacks ordered by priority.

Pros

• Clean, minimalist interface
• Ideal for profiling and identifying errors quickly
• Free plugin

Cons

• Limited WordPress debugging features
• Using the profiler and adding entries to the console requires code
• Not often updated (last plugin update was 3 months ago, as of 09/16/2025)

Best WordPress Debug Plugins — Conclusion

WordPress debug plugins are valuable tools that save you time when you need to identify and fix issues on your site. They help ensure your sites run at peak performance and stay healthy.

However, they all have different capabilities and limitations. Therefore, selecting the right one for your WordPress site depends largely on your debugging needs and technical skills.

For most WordPress users, WP Debug Toolkit offers the best balance of ease-of-use and powerful features. Its independent log viewer app ensures you can always access logs during crashes, while the email alert and query monitoring systems allow you to stay ahead of both errors and performance bottlenecks. Its modern interface also makes debugging straightforward for users of all skill levels.

If you're a developer looking for comprehensive diagnostic tools and don't mind a steeper learning curve, Query Monitor is another excellent choice for real-time debugging.

WordPress Debug Plugins — Frequently Asked Questions

What is debugging in WordPress?

Debugging in WordPress is the process of finding and fixing problems on a website, including errors, warnings, broken features, slow performance, and plugin/theme conflicts. To learn more, see Debugging in WordPress.

Does WordPress have a debug mode?

Yes, WordPress has both a native, manual debugging system and debugging plugins like WP Debug Toolkit that offer more comprehensive debugging solutions.

How do I enable WordPress debug mode?

You enable manual debugging by editing constants such as WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, and WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY in the config.php file. If you're using a debugging plugin, you can manage these settings and surface errors/logs right inside the WordPress admin. For more information, see enabling WordPress debug mode.

What is WP_DEBUG?

WP_DEBUG is a WordPress constant that turns on debugging, helping you see or log PHP errors and warnings so you can troubleshoot problems on your site. To learn more, see What Does WP_DEBUG Do?

What is a WordPress debug plugin?

A WordPress debug plugin helps you identify and troubleshoot issues by surfacing errors, warnings, and performance data inside the WordPress dashboard. It makes debugging easier by providing real-time insights without manually accessing the debug log file.

What is the best debug plugin for WordPress?

The best debug plugin for WordPress is WP Debug Toolkit. With a one-click installation, it lets you see every PHP/WordPress error in real-time. Errors are completely readable, searchable, and filterable without the need for SSH or FTP.

How do I use a debug plugin in WordPress?

Most debug plugins follow a similar approach: install it, activate it, enable a debugging session, and use the plugin's interface to debug. The devil is in the details, which we describe here: How to Use a Debug Plugin in WordPress.

How do I debug WordPress?

Debugging WordPress requires a disciplined, repeatable process to identify the cause of whatever problem, warning, or notice that you're trying to resolve. Learn more about this process in our article on How to Debug WordPress.

How do I debug a WordPress Theme?

Debugging a WordPress theme means tracking an issue back to the part of the theme that’s responsible, whether that’s a template file, a function in functions.php, or a script or style the theme loads. For more information, see How to Debug a WordPress Theme.

How do I debug a WordPress Plugin?

Debugging a problem with a WordPress plugin involves tracing it to a specific part of the plugin causing it, such as a hook or filter callback, a shortcode/block, an AJAX/REST request handler, an admin settings page, or a database operation run by the plugin. Learn more here: How To Debug a WordPress Plugin.

How do I check WordPress error logs?

You have two options for checking your WordPress error logs: manual inspection or using a plugin. The manual option is free but time-consuming and a bit awkward. Using a plugin costs a bit more but is easier and quicker. Learn more about your options to check WP error logs.

Where is the WordPress debug log stored?

The WordPress debug log is stored in the debug.log file, located within the /wp-content/ folder of your WordPress site's files. It is created only when both WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG are enabled. See

How do I read the WordPress debug log?

To read the WordPress debug log, simply open it with any text editor or text reader, such as Notepad, TextEdit, etc. No special software is required. However, to access it, you will need FTP, file manager, or SSH access. For more information, see How Do I Debug a Log File in WordPress?

Should I enable WordPress debugging on a live site?

No, you should not enable WordPress debugging on a live site, as it can expose error messages to visitors. If needed, enable logging only and disable on-screen error display to safely troubleshoot issues without affecting users.

How do I fix the most common WordPress errors?

There are many common WordPress errors, and fixing them usually starts with understanding what’s causing the problem. Some issues can be resolved quickly with basic troubleshooting, while others require deeper investigation into themes, plugins, or server settings.