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Lean Redirects

The redirect plugin that does nothing else. One indexed DB query. Zero JavaScript. No bloat.

by Cristian Tala · github.com/ctala/lean-redirects · website

★ 0stars

Install

Download source zip No release zip yet

This is the repository archive. It installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow.

Install straight from GitHub with WP-CLI:

wp plugin install https://github.com/ctala/lean-redirects/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
No built-in updater. New versions won't appear under Dashboard → Updates. Install new releases yourself, or let Git Updater track the repository.
Readme github.com/ctala/lean-redirects ↗

The redirect plugin that does nothing else.

One indexed DB query. Zero JavaScript. No bloat.

Why?

Why a separate plugin?

Most SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO) include redirects as a built-in feature. The problem? You can't switch SEO plugins without losing all your redirects. That's vendor lock-in.

Lean Redirects keeps your redirects independent. Switch SEO plugins, switch themes, redesign your entire site — your redirects stay exactly where they are, in their own table, managed by ~475 lines of code that do nothing else.

This plugin is for people who care about what runs on every single page load. Every plugin you install adds weight. Most redirect plugins load admin classes, analytics collectors, and upsell banners on every request — even on the frontend. Lean Redirects loads one function, runs one indexed query, and gets out of the way.

What's LOC? Lines of Code — the total number of lines in the plugin's PHP files. Fewer lines = less complexity, fewer bugs, easier to audit. It's a rough but honest measure of how much a plugin is doing behind the scenes.

Plugin Storage LOC (est.) Extras
Redirection (2M+ installs) Custom table ~15,000+ 404 logging, analytics, Apache/Nginx export, groups, regex, 10 import formats
Safe Redirect Manager Custom Post Type ~3,000 Regex, wildcards, hook-heavy
Simple 301 Redirects wp_options ~500 Converted to BetterLinks upsell
WP 301 Redirects Custom table ~5,000 Freemium, licenses, 404 log
Lean Redirects Indexed custom table ~475 Nothing. Just redirects.

Features

  • ✅ 301, 302, 307 redirects
  • ✅ One indexed DB query per request (~0.5ms)
  • ✅ Hit counter
  • ✅ Search & pagination
  • ✅ Notes per redirect
  • ✅ Toggle on/off without deleting
  • ✅ CSV import/export
  • ✅ REST API (GET/POST/DELETE)
  • ✅ Clean uninstall
  • ✅ Zero JavaScript on frontend
  • ✅ No external dependencies
  • ✅ No premium version

What it doesn't do (on purpose)

  • ❌ No 404 error logging
  • ❌ No regex matching
  • ❌ No wildcard matching
  • ❌ No redirect chains detection
  • ❌ No upsells
  • ❌ No JavaScript frameworks
  • ❌ No custom CSS files

Installation

From WordPress.org (pending approval)

wp plugin install lean-redirects --activate

Or search "Lean Redirects" in Plugins → Add New.

Direct Download

  1. Download: lean-redirects.zip
  2. In wp-admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  3. Choose the zip, install, activate

From GitHub

  1. Go to Releases and download the latest .zip
  2. Upload via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin

Manual (FTP/SSH)

  1. Download and unzip lean-redirects.zip
  2. Upload lean-redirects/ to /wp-content/plugins/
  3. Activate in Plugins → Installed Plugins

Usage

Go to Settings → Redirects in your WordPress admin.

REST API

# List all redirects
curl -u user:app_password https://example.com/wp-json/lean-redirects/v1/redirects

# Add a redirect
curl -X POST -u user:app_password \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"from":"/old/","to":"/new/","code":301,"note":"Migration"}' \
  https://example.com/wp-json/lean-redirects/v1/redirects

# Delete a redirect
curl -X DELETE -u user:app_password \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"from":"/old/"}' \
  https://example.com/wp-json/lean-redirects/v1/redirects

CSV Import

Format: from,to,code (code is optional, defaults to 301)

/old-page/,/new-page/,301
/blog/old-post/,/blog/new-post/
/temp/,https://example.com/,302

Performance

With 1,000 redirects, Lean Redirects adds ~0.5ms per page load.

The query is a simple SELECT on an indexed VARCHAR(191) column. No deserialization, no CPT queries, no regex evaluation.

Requirements

  • WordPress 5.6+
  • PHP 7.4+

License

GPLv2 or later. See LICENSE.

Made with ❤️ from Chile by cristiantala.com