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Fernet Encryption icon
Slowing down Tested up to 6.7.10 #17 in encryption

Fernet Encryption

Fernet Encryption is a plugin that can be used to encrypt and decrypt data in WordPress using fernet.

Active installs10+10+ tier
Downloads · 30d41▲ +10.8% vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score26/100At risk
All-time downloads1.9KSince Sep 2021
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 6.4PHP 8.0+
Downloads · 7d9▼ -18.2% week over week
Our verdict

Consider an alternative

Fernet Encryption shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (10+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far
  • No update in over a year
  • Only tested up to WordPress 6.7 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

246Jul 17Aug 30Oct 14
Yesterday1
Daily average (1y)1
Peak day8Sep 10, 2026
Last 12 months374

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Fernet Encryption stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
encryption >100 1,157 Best encryption plugins →
fernet #1 1 Best fernet plugins →
security >100 10,000 Best security plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 1.0100.0%

About Fernet Encryption

From the official readme · v1.1.0

Description

Fernet Encryption is a plugin that can be used to encrypt and decrypt data in WordPress using fernet.

Development was originally sponsered by Access Networks.

Setup your Key

To setup your key, you need to add the following line to your wp-config file.

`

define( ‘FERNET_KEY’, ‘YOUR_FERNET_KEY’ );
`

If you choose not to setup your key, you will need to save a copy of the one provided upon activation of the plugin.

IMPORTANT: Changing your WordPress salts will invalidate the default Fernet key provided.

How to Use

To encrypt data simply use $token = fernet_encrypt( 'YOUR MESSAGE' ) in your code.

To decrypt the data simply use fernet_decrypt( $token ) in your code.

You can use the following shortcode to encrypt:

[fernet-encrypt]YOUR MESSAGE[/fernet-encrypt]

You can use the following shortcode to decrypt:

[fernet-decrypt]YOUR-FERNET-TOKEN[/fernet-decrypt]

We have also added useful helper functions:

  • fernet_get_post_meta
  • fernet_add_post_meta
  • fernet_update_post_meta
  • fernet_get_user_meta
  • fernet_add_user_meta
  • fernet_update_user_meta
  • fernet_add_option
  • fernet_get_option
  • fernet_update_option

Credit

  • Illustrations provided by undraw.co
  • Fernent PHP modified from Kelvin Mo – Fernet-PHP

Changelog

1.0.7

  • Readme improvements

1.0.6

  • Add support for WordPress Rest API.
  • Add support for WordPress CLI.

1.0.5

  • Added Helper Functions.

1.0.4

  • Updated Readme

1.0.3

  • Updated Readme.
  • Provided shortcodes for encrypting and decrypting.

1.0.0

  • First release.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best Fernet Encryption alternatives

All encryption plugins →
Alternatives
Rank Plugin Active installs Rating Updated Health
1 Email Address Encoder Email Address Encoder A lightweight plugin that protects email addresses from email-harvesting robots, by… by Till Krüss 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (160) 6 months ago 56
2 WP PGP Encrypted Emails WP PGP Encrypted Emails Signs and encrypts emails using PGP/GPG keys or X.509 certificates. Provides OpenPGP and… by Meitar 400+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 (16) 5 years ago 37
3 WP Hashed IDs WP Hashed IDs This plugin adds a new permalink tag %hashed_id% which represents the encrypted by palicao 100+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (3) 10 years ago 32
4 wp2pgpmail wp2pgpmail A simple PGP Mail Form Plugin. Enter your PGP public key, then visitors will be able to… by wp2pgpmail 80+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 (5) 1 month ago 74
5 Semisecure Login Reimagined Semisecure Login Reimagined "Re-imagined" version of Semisecure Login that uses public and secret-key encryption to… by laceous 70+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (1) 15 years ago 32
6 JavaScript Obfuscator JavaScript Obfuscator Encrypt Your JavaScript Source Code By Obfuscating To Prevent Let Others Copying. by Sajjad Hossain Sagor 50+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 3 (2) 5 months ago 54
7 WP jCryption Security WP jCryption Security Prevents forms data against sniffing network traffic through encryption provided by… by andreyk 50+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (3) 11 years ago 31
8 PGP Key Generator PGP Key Generator A plugin to generate private and public PGP keys. No need to install any software to… by wp2pgpmail 50+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4 (4) 1 month ago 68
9 Secure Encrypted Form Secure Encrypted Form This plugin adds a secure form in your website that uses OpenPGP encryption to secure… by Daniel Pereyra Costas 40+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (4) 1 week ago 78
10 OpenPGP Form Encryption for WordPress OpenPGP Form Encryption for WordPress OpenPGP public key encryption for any textarea with a shortcode button. by arnesonium 30+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (1) 2 years ago 31

FAQ

Fernet Encryption: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 15, 2026

Is Fernet Encryption free?

Yes. Fernet Encryption is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Fernet Encryption safe to use in 2026?

Fernet Encryption shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Fernet Encryption?

Fernet Encryption is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,944 times since it launched in September 2021. It was downloaded 41 times in the last 30 days.

Does Fernet Encryption work with WordPress 7.1?

Fernet Encryption is officially tested up to WordPress 6.7.10, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

What PHP version does Fernet Encryption need?

Fernet Encryption requires PHP 8.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.

When was Fernet Encryption last updated?

The latest version, 1.1.0, was released on January 5, 2025 (2 years ago).

Who makes Fernet Encryption?

Fernet Encryption is developed and maintained by Hubbard Labs.

What are the best alternatives to Fernet Encryption?

The most popular alternatives to Fernet Encryption are Email Address Encoder (100K+ installs), WP PGP Encrypted Emails (400+ installs) and WP Hashed IDs (100+ installs).

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