Secure HTTP Headers
HTTP header fields are components of the header section of request and response messages. The headers define the operating parameters of an HTTP transaction.
Consider an alternative
Secure HTTP Headers shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 3/5 and was last updated 5 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 5 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.7 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Secure HTTP Headers stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| cookies | >100 |
| hardening | >100 |
| headers | >100 |
| security | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 3 from 2 reviews
About Secure HTTP Headers
From the official readme · v1.0Description
Harden your web applications.
HTTP header fields are components of the header section of request and response messages. The headers define the operating parameters of an HTTP transaction.
Securing HTTP headers will improve the resilience of your web application against many common attacks including those that are on the OWASP top 10 list.
Securing headers can also improve your SEO rank and in addition to preventing websites from being marked as dangerous by browsers and antivirus applications.
Protect sensitive user information and be compliant with privacy regulations. Defend users from stealing private data by protecting website cookies. Use the proper directive such as “secure”, “httponly” and “samesite”, all of those will be applied automatically by “Secure HTTP Headers” plugin.
Secure HTTP Headers will automatically analyze any website and will build up secure headers directives, by the latest best practice.
In addition, Secure HTTP Headers offers fully configurable options, apply or skip any header directive as needed.
Install and activate Secure HTTP Headers with full confidence, the deactivation of this plugin will return your website header directives to their original state.
Main plugin functionality
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HTTP Strict Transport Security – helps to protect websites against man-in-the-middle attacks and cookie hijacking
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X-Frame-Options – helps to protect users against ClickJacking attacks
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X-Content-Type-Options – helps to prevent the browser from MIME-sniffing
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Referrer-Policy – helps to control how much referrer information should be included with requests
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Clear-Site-Data – helps to ensure that data is deleted from the browser if the user logs out
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X-Download-Options – helps to control how IE 8 will handle downloaded HTML files
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Access-Control-Allow-Origin – helps to ensure whether the response can be shared with requesting code from the given origin
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Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy – helps to prevent a document from loading any cross-origin resources that don’t explicitly grant the document permission
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Permissions-Policy – helps to allow and deny the use of browser features in its own frame, and in content within any iframe elements in the document
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Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy – helps to protect websites against a set of cross-origin attacks dubbed XS-Leaks
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Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy – helps to protect websites against speculative side-channel attacks, like Spectre, as well as Cross-Site Script Inclusion attacks
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X-Permitted-Cross-Domain-Policies – helps to control how cross-domain requests from Flash and PDF documents are handled
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Cookie Http-Only flag – helps to protect websites against Cross-Site Scripting, or XSS attacks
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Cookie Secure flag – helps to ensure that cookie is sent over a secure connection
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Cookie Samesite Lax flag – helps to protect websites against CSRF and XSSI attacks
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Expect-CT – helps to prevent the use of misissued certificates for a website. Note: The Expect-CT will likely become obsolete in June 2021
What are the optional extras?
Magnisec is offering “Secure HTTP Headers enhanced”
A plugin that contains, in addition, an engine that watches and builds in any website changes a CSP – Content Security Policy that is best practice and recommended by all professional securities experts, that mitigate XSS -Cross site Scripting, one of the most common and destructive attacks.
Price: 50$ /year for a domain.
More details and installation here
Installation
- Upload plugin files to your plugins folder, or install using WordPress built-in Add New Plugin installer
- Activate the plugin
- Choose a custom configuration or select recommended one.
Frequently asked questions
What will happen if I deactivate Secure HTTP Headers?
Your initial configuration will restore with no change.
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.
Best Secure HTTP Headers alternatives
All cookies plugins →FAQ
Secure HTTP Headers: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 9, 2026
Is Secure HTTP Headers free?
Yes. Secure HTTP Headers is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Secure HTTP Headers safe to use in 2026?
Secure HTTP Headers shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 3/5 and was last updated 5 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Secure HTTP Headers?
Secure HTTP Headers is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 2,915 times since it launched in April 2021. It was downloaded 90 times in the last 30 days.
Does Secure HTTP Headers work with WordPress 7.1?
Secure HTTP Headers is officially tested up to WordPress 5.7.20, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Secure HTTP Headers need?
Secure HTTP Headers requires PHP 7.2 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Secure HTTP Headers last updated?
The latest version, 1.0, was released on April 13, 2021 (5 years ago).
Who makes Secure HTTP Headers?
Secure HTTP Headers is developed and maintained by shasha310.
What are the best alternatives to Secure HTTP Headers?
The most popular alternatives to Secure HTTP Headers are Cookie Compliance for WordP… (800K+ installs), WP Consent API (200K+ installs) and Adapta RGPD (40K+ installs).
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