The same document library, for less, and the renewal stays where it started.
Most WordPress document plugins are priced per site, per tier and per renewal, and the second year is where the bill grows. These guides put the published prices side by side, work out what a library costs over three years, and show where switching to FileDeck saves money and where it does not.
Or start with the free plugin on WordPress.org, which has no site or document limit.
- $177
- FileDeck Pro, one site, three years
- $59 a year, and the renewal is the same $59.
- $447
- The best-known premium library, same three years
- Document Library Pro Essentials at $149 a year for one site.
- 2×
- What some renewals cost against year one
- Download Monitor and SearchWP both renew at double the published first-year price.
The short answer
Where the money goes, and where it can stop going
A paid WordPress document library plugin costs between $39 and $199 a year for one site at published list prices, and between $179 and $599 a year for fifty sites. The gap widens after the first year, because two of the plugins compared here renew at double their first-year price, and it widens again when a site pays for a separate search plugin or membership plugin to cover what the library plugin lacks.
FileDeck Pro is $59 a year for one site, $99 for five and $179 for fifty, and each renews at the price you paid. It includes search inside PDF and Office files, access control with protected files, version history and review reminders, so there is usually no add-on to buy. The free version has no site or document limit, which for a public library is often the whole saving.
Two plugins in these tables cost less than FileDeck Pro per year: FileBird’s Document Library add-on at $39 and Filr at $49, both for one site. If one of them already does what your site needs, it is the cheaper choice, and these guides say so rather than pretend otherwise.
One site, three years, published prices
Each vendor’s entry plan for a single site. Three years is a fair horizon for a library that outlives the site redesign it was bought for.
| Published annual plan | First year | Regular renewal | Sites | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FileDeck Pro, 1 site | $59 | $59 | 1 | $177 |
| Document Library Pro Essentials, 1 site | $149 | $149 | 1 | $447 |
| Document Library Pro Advanced, 1 site | $199 | $199 | 1 | $597 |
| Download Monitor Basic, 1 site | $69 | $138 | 1 | $345 |
| WordPress Download Manager Pro, 1 site | $99 | $99* | 1 | $297 |
| FileBird Document Library 1 site | $39 | $39* | 1 | $117 |
| Filr Single, 1 site | $49 | $49 | 1 | $147 |
Published list prices in USD, read from each vendor’s own pricing page on 13 October 2026. Totals are the first year plus regular renewals; hosting, tax and lifetime plans are not included. *This vendor publishes no renewal price, so the table assumes the listed price repeats.
Five and fifty-site plans, and what each plan includes, are in the full price comparison.
Savings calculator
What would your library cost on FileDeck?
Pick the plugin you pay for now, how many sites, and how many years. The figures are the same published prices as the tables; the result shows a smaller bill when there is one and a larger bill when there is not.
The calculator picks each vendor’s cheapest published plan that covers the sites you choose. Where a vendor has no plan that large, it says so. FileDeck Pro is matched the same way: $59 for one site, $99 for up to five, $179 for up to fifty.
Five ways a document plugin costs more than it should
Each guide takes one of them, with the published prices and the honest exceptions.
Paying the premium rate for a library
What a WordPress document library plugin costs in 2026, plan by plan and site by site, with three-year totals for one, five and fifty sites.
Renewals that double
Why the second year of some plugins costs twice the first, which vendors publish a renewal price, and how to stop paying the increase.
Paying per site
Agencies and multi-site owners: the per-site maths for five and fifty sites, and the one licence that covers fifty for $179.
Paying for what is free
Table, grid, gallery and folder layouts, instant search, filters and sorting are free in FileDeck. When a public library needs no paid plan at all.
Paying for three plugins
A download manager, a search plugin and a members plugin add up. What one library plugin with search inside files and access control replaces.
Moving without starting over
FileDeck Pro imports from eleven document plugins on your own site, as drafts you can check first. Free help from the people who build it.
What the numbers leave out
A three-year total is one input to a decision, not the decision. Four things the tables cannot show:
- Features differ. Document Library Pro’s Advanced plan, Download Monitor’s Complete plan and FileDeck Pro do not contain the same things. The comparison pages go feature by feature; the cost guides only price them.
- Lifetime plans exist. FileBird, Filr and Document Library Pro sell one-off lifetime licences. Over five years or more a lifetime licence can cost less than any annual plan, FileDeck’s included. FileDeck sells no lifetime plan.
- Expiry behaves differently. Document Library Pro states that an expired licence keeps working without updates. When a FileDeck Pro licence lapses, access rules keep being enforced so files do not become public, but the Pro features stop until you renew.
- Time is money too. A migration takes an afternoon. FileDeck Pro’s importers read the other plugin’s data on your own site and can import as drafts, and assisted migration is free, but it is still an afternoon.
Questions about plugin costs
How much does a WordPress document library plugin cost?
At published list prices on 13 October 2026, a paid WordPress document library plugin costs between $39 and $199 a year for one site, between $69 and $349 a year for five sites, and between $179 and $599 a year for fifty sites. FileDeck Pro is $59, $99 and $179 for those three sizes, and FileDeck’s free version is $0 with no site or document limit.
Which WordPress document library plugin is cheapest?
Of the plugins compared here, the cheapest paid plan for one site is FileBird Document Library at $39 a year, then Filr at $49, then FileDeck Pro at $59. FileDeck Pro is the cheapest of the compared plans that includes search inside PDF and Office files together with access control and protected files. For a public library with no restricted documents, FileDeck’s free version is the cheapest option at $0.
Do plugin renewals cost more than the first year?
Sometimes. Download Monitor and SearchWP publish a regular renewal price that is double the first-year price. Document Library Pro and FileDeck renew at the same price as the first year. WordPress Download Manager and FileBird publish no renewal price on their pricing pages, so the tables here assume the listed price repeats.
Is the saving real if I have to buy a licence to migrate?
The one-click importers are part of FileDeck Pro, so a migration from a paid plugin means buying Pro at $59 a year for one site. The saving is the difference between that and what you pay now, over the years you keep the library. For a library moving from a $149 plan, the first year alone saves $90; from a plan that renews at $138, the second year saves $79. Paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee if the import does not work out.
Will I lose documents, categories or download counts when I switch?
FileDeck Pro has importers for eleven document plugins. They read the other plugin’s data on your own site, bring across documents, files, categories, tags and, where the source records them, download counts, and can import as drafts so you can check the result before anything is published. Access rules usually import as logged-in-only and are recreated by hand. Each guide under Switch to FileDeck lists exactly what its importer carries.
What happens to my files if I stop paying for FileDeck Pro?
Access rules keep being enforced, so restricted files do not become public when a licence lapses. The Pro features themselves, such as search inside files, client areas and version history, stop working until you renew. The free library, with its layouts, search and filters, keeps working.
Pay for the library, not the renewal.
FileDeck Pro is $59 a year for one site, renews at $59, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free assisted migration from eleven plugins.
Or tell us about your library and we will scope the move with you.
Written by the FileDeck team. Prices were read from each vendor’s pricing page on 13 October 2026 and are re-checked monthly — read about our methods.
Sources, as published on 13 October 2026: Document Library Pro · Download Monitor · WordPress Download Manager · FileBird Document Library · Filr · SearchWP.
Document Library Pro, Download Monitor, WordPress Download Manager, FileBird, Filr, SearchWP are trademarks of their respective owners. FileDeck is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them; the names and prices are used only to identify the products being compared. Prices are the vendors’ published list prices on the date shown and may change.