List of Banned Plugins on Kinsta (2025) – What’s Not Allowed?

Kinsta enforces a strict policy on banned and incompatible plugins to maintain an optimised hosting environment. These restrictions may seem limiting initially, but they are in place to ensure your website runs smoothly without unnecessary slowdowns, security risks, or conflicts with Kinsta’s built-in features.

In this article, we’ll explore the list of banned plugins on Kinsta and why they are restricted. Whether you’re a site owner, developer, or WordPress enthusiast, understanding these plugin restrictions will help you make informed decisions while managing your website on Kinsta.

Let’s dive in!

Why Does Kinsta Ban Certain Plugins?

Kinsta enforces strict plugin restrictions to ensure websites hosted on its platform run efficiently, securely, and without conflicts. While WordPress allows virtually any plugin, some can negatively impact performance, security, or compatibility with Kinsta’s infrastructure.

Below are the main reasons why Kinsta bans certain plugins.

1. Performance Issues

Some plugins consume excessive server resources, leading to slow website performance. Kinsta’s hosting environment is optimized for speed, and plugins that add unnecessary database queries, increase CPU usage, or run inefficient background processes can slow down sites significantly.

2. Caching Conflicts

Kinsta provides built-in server-level caching, eliminating the need for third-party caching plugins. Using additional caching plugins can cause conflicts, redundant caching layers, and potential errors. To maintain an optimized caching system, Kinsta bans most caching plugins.

3. Security Risks

Certain plugins have known security vulnerabilities that can expose websites to hacking attempts, malware, and data breaches. Kinsta proactively bans plugins with weak security or those that execute unsafe PHP code to protect sites from potential threats.

4. Redundant Functionality

Some plugins replicate functionality already provided by Kinsta’s platform. For example, backup plugins are unnecessary since Kinsta offers automatic daily backups. Similarly, many security plugins are banned because Kinsta has robust security measures in place.

5. High Resource Usage

Plugins that require significant server resources—such as image optimization, video conversion, and database optimization—can put a strain on the hosting environment. To prevent performance degradation, Kinsta restricts plugins that demand excessive processing power or memory.

6. PHP Execution Plugins

Plugins that allow direct PHP execution, such as Exec-PHP, are banned due to security concerns. These plugins can introduce vulnerabilities by enabling unauthorized execution of code on the server.

7. Incompatible Plugins

Certain plugins conflict with Kinsta’s server setup, such as those requiring disabled PHP functions (e.g., proc_open). These plugins are either incompatible with Kinsta’s architecture or pose a security risk.

By enforcing these plugin restrictions, Kinsta ensures that websites remain fast, secure, and highly optimized without unnecessary risks or performance bottlenecks.

List of Banned Plugins on Kinsta

Kinsta has categorized the banned plugins based on the reason for their restriction. Below is a breakdown of the plugin types that are not allowed on Kinsta’s platform.

1. Caching Plugins

Kinsta provides built-in, server-level caching, making third-party caching plugins redundant and potentially conflicting. These plugins attempt to override Kinsta’s caching system, leading to errors and performance issues.

Banned caching plugins:

• Cache Enabler
• LiteSpeed Cache
• WP Rocket (version below 3.0) (version 3.0 and higher is supported)

2. Backup Plugins

Kinsta already offers automatic daily backups and manual backup options. Certain backup plugins store large files on the server or generate high CPU loads, which can affect site performance.

Banned backup plugins:

• All-in-One WP Migration
• BackupBuddy
• BackWPup
• Duplicator Pro
• Snapshot
• UpdraftPlus (banned for existing sites but allowed for new sites with some limitations)
• WP DB Backup
• WP DB Backup Made

3. Image Optimization Plugins

Server-based image optimization plugins are not allowed due to performance impacts. Amy plugin that uses third-party cloud servers for image compression is allowed.

Allowed recommended image optimization plugins that you can use on Kinsta.

• Imagify Image Optimizer (allowed plugin)
• Optimole (allowed plugin)
• Optimus Image Optimizer (allowed plugin)
• WP Smush (allowed plugin)
• TinyPNG (also compressed JPGs) (allowed plugin)
• ImageRecycle (allowed plugin)
• EWWW Image Optimizer (allowed plugin)

4. Performance Optimization Plugins

Ironically, some plugins that claim to improve performance actually slow down WordPress sites. These plugins either make excessive database queries or run unnecessary background tasks.

Banned performance plugins:

• Better WordPress Minify
• P3 Profiler
• Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions
• WordPress GZIP Compression: GZIP is already enabled on all Kinsta servers.
• JCH Optimize

5. Security Plugins

Kinsta has built-in security features, including firewalls, malware scanning, and DDoS protection. Many security plugins cause conflicts or introduce unnecessary processing overhead.

Allowed security plugins:

• Wordfence (without traffic logging feature)

6. Social media plugins

Banned social media plugins:

• Facebook Instant Articles & Google AMP Pages by PageFrog
• Facebook Open Graph, Google+ and Twitter Card Tags

7. Miscellaneous Banned Plugins

Some plugins are banned due to security risks, outdated code, or known vulnerabilities.

Banned miscellaneous plugins:

• Allow PHP Execute
• Dynamic Widgets
• Exec-PHP
• Inactive User Deleter
• Pipdig Power Pack (P3)
• WP RSS Multi Importer
• WordPress Popular Posts

8. Incompatible Plugins

Some plugins require server configurations that Kinsta does not support (e.g., needing proc_open PHP function).

Example of incompatible plugins:

• WooCommerce Amazon & eBay Integration

9. Nulled Plugins (Strictly Banned)

Nulled plugins refer to pirated or cracked versions of premium WordPress plugins. These plugins are obtained illegally and often contain malware, backdoors, or security vulnerabilities that can compromise your website.

Kinsta strictly prohibits the use of nulled plugins.

What Happens If You Use a Nulled Plugin on Kinsta?

Kinsta offers a free hack-fix guarantee, meaning they will fix your site for free if it gets hacked. However, this guarantee does not apply if you’re using a nulled plugin. This means you are fully responsible for any security breaches caused by unauthorized plugins.

Conclusion

Kinsta enforces a strict banned plugins policy to ensure optimal performance, security, and stability for all websites hosted on its platform. Many of the banned plugins, such as caching, backup, and security plugins, are unnecessary because Kinsta already provides built-in solutions for these functionalities.

If a plugin you use is banned, you should:

• Check if Kinsta already provides the same functionality (e.g., built-in caching and security).
• Look for alternative plugins that comply with Kinsta’s hosting environment.
• Contact Kinsta support if you need clarification about a specific plugin’s compatibility.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your website remains fast, secure, and fully optimized while staying compliant with Kinsta’s hosting policies.