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Your WordPress site
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An MCP plugin opens the door
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Claude does the work you approve
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The best WordPress MCP plugin depends on what you want Claude to do once it's connected. If you want the most tools for free and you're happy telling the AI exactly what to do, pick Easy MCP AI. If you want the AI to ask before it changes anything, Royal MCP is the careful free choice. If you want the work done for you and only want to approve it, that's what I built HowToAI School Connector for.
By Veena Prashanth, creator of HowToAI School · Last updated October 15, 2026 · Checked that day on Easy MCP AI, AI Engine, Royal MCP, IATO MCP and iato.ai
US$20
a month for Claude Pro, which none of them include
you pay for it yourself, whichever plugin you pick
The short answer
Every "best of" list on page one for this search is written by a company that puts its own plugin first. So is this one, and I'd rather say that up front. I built HowToAI School Connector. Below you'll see where each of the others is the better pick, and who should choose it over mine.
- Most tools, free: Easy MCP AI.
- Also want a chatbot and AI forms: AI Engine.
- Free and asks before it changes things: Royal MCP.
- Site crawls and SEO data: IATO MCP.
- Want the work done, and just approve it: HowToAI School Connector.
What's on this page
The five side by side
| Plugin | Price | Tools | Does it ask before changing your site? | Best for |
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| Easy MCP AI | Free | 280+ | You approve access once when you connect. A "Force Draft on Create" setting exists but is off by default. | Hands-on owners who want the widest free toolbox |
| AI Engine | Free, with a paid Pro version | Core MCP tools free; extra MCP tools need Pro | Not described as a per-change approval | Sites that also want a chatbot, AI forms or content tools |
| Royal MCP | Free, with a paid Pro version | 245 | Yes. Your AI app asks you to approve each change that deletes or overwrites, and there's a Drafts only access level. | Careful do-it-yourself owners |
| IATO MCP | Free plugin; IATO crawls free up to 500 pages, then from $49 a month | 45, plus 12 with an IATO account | Changes apply straight away, with a receipt and a rollback | SEO people and agencies who want site crawls |
| HowToAI School Connector | Part of HowToAI School, from $299 a year | Fewer tools, plus ready-made AI employees | Yes. New posts and pages are always drafts, and you publish. | Course, coaching and membership owners who want the work done and approve it |
Prices, install counts and tool counts are from each plugin's own page, checked October 15, 2026. They change often, so check before you install.
What a WordPress MCP plugin does
MCP (the Model Context Protocol) is the standard Claude and ChatGPT use to talk to other software. A WordPress MCP plugin gives your site an address the AI can reach, plus a list of things it's allowed to do there: read posts, edit SEO fields, create drafts, and so on. Claude calls this a custom connector.
All five plugins below do that part. Where they differ is in three things that matter far more to you than the setup:
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What the AI may change And whether it asks you first. |
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Who decides what to do A toolbox waits for your instructions. A team arrives with a job. |
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What it costs Including your own Claude or ChatGPT plan, which none of them include. |
Bottom line
The setup is the same everywhere. Choose on what the AI may change and who does the planning.
Easy MCP AI
Easy MCP AI is a free plugin from Themeisle, the company behind several popular WordPress themes. It's on 20,000+ sites with 14 reviews, all five stars, and it has the biggest tool list I found: 280+ tools covering WordPress itself, other plugins and SEO services (WordPress.org, checked October 15, 2026). It works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and a long list of other AI apps.
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Where it's strong Free, one sign-in, well reviewed It connects in one sign-in, and the reviews praise how easy it is once it works. It also publishes separate how-to pages for each AI app, which is why it owns the "connect Claude to WordPress" search. |
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Where it falls short You steer every step You approve access once, when you connect, and after that the AI acts on what you ask. The setting that saves AI-written content as a draft is off until you turn it on. And 280 tools is a lot to aim: you still have to know what to ask for. |
Bottom line
Pick it if you're comfortable giving the AI clear instructions, you want everything for free, and you'll turn on Force Draft on Create before you start.
AI Engine
AI Engine by Jordy Meow is the biggest name here: 90,000+ sites and a 4.9 rating from 871 reviews (WordPress.org, checked October 15, 2026). MCP is one feature among many. It also adds chatbots, AI forms, content generation and knowledge bases to your site.
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Where it's strong Mature and widely used Its core MCP server is free with no usage cap, and it has setup guides for Claude, ChatGPT and Claude Code. |
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Where it falls short A lot of plugin for a connection The extra MCP tools for plugins, themes, the database, WooCommerce and translation plugins need the Pro version, and the WordPress.org page doesn't list Pro pricing. If all you want is to connect Claude, you're installing a lot of plugin for it. |
Bottom line
Pick it if you'd use the chatbot or AI forms too, or you already run AI Engine on your site.
Royal MCP
Royal MCP by Royal Plugins is on 10,000+ sites with 7 reviews, all five stars, and offers 245 tools: 109 for WordPress itself and 136 for other plugins (WordPress.org, checked October 15, 2026). It works with Claude, ChatGPT and most other AI apps.
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Where it's strong The most careful free one By default your AI app asks you to approve or deny each change that deletes or overwrites something, and you can set access to Full, Read-only or Drafts only. That's a sensible start for an owner who isn't technical. |
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Where it falls short Still a toolbox It does what you ask, so the planning is still yours. There's a Pro version, and its price isn't on the WordPress.org page. |
Bottom line
Pick it if you want a free connector that asks before it changes things, and you're happy to drive it yourself.
IATO MCP
IATO MCP by iatoai is the newest and smallest: 100+ sites and no reviews yet (WordPress.org, checked October 15, 2026). It gives Claude 45 WordPress tools on its own. Connect a free IATO account and you get 12 more, for site crawls, SEO audits, broken links and pages nothing links to.
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Where it's strong Crawl and audit data IATO's free plan covers 500 pages a crawl and 10 crawls a month. Professional is $49 a month for 5,000 pages, and Team is $129 a month (iato.ai, checked October 15, 2026). Every change it tracks gets a receipt you can roll back. |
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Where it falls short Changes go live first The undo comes after. It speaks to SEO professionals, content strategists and agencies, so expect their vocabulary. |
Bottom line
Pick it if you work in SEO, or you look after several sites and want crawl data inside Claude.
HowToAI School Connector
HowToAI School Connector is the one I built, for WordPress owners who sell courses, coaching and memberships. It isn't sold on its own. It comes with a HowToAI School membership, from $299 a year for one site.
It has far fewer tools than Easy MCP AI or Royal MCP, on purpose. What you're paying for is what sits on top of them: AI employees, each one a ready-made job.
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SEO Auditor Checks every page and writes up what to fix in plain English. |
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Competitor Analyst Watches the businesses your buyers compare you to. |
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Content Planner and Content Writer Suggest posts, then draft the ones you pick, in your voice. |
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Where it's strong You give a job and say yes You don't write prompts or choose tools. You review what comes back and approve it. New posts and pages are always saved as drafts, so nothing is published until you publish it. There's a workshop for each employee as it's released. |
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Where it falls short It costs money It only works while your membership is active, and it's for your own sites, not client sites. You still need your own Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus plan, from US$20 a month. If you're a developer who wants raw access to everything, a free connector will suit you better. |
Bottom line
Pick it if you'd rather approve finished work than learn which of 280 tools to ask for.
Free connector or a team that does the work?
This is the real choice, more than which plugin. Here's how I'd decide:
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Free connector You enjoy steering You like working in the chat, you know what you want done, and an hour of trial and error doesn't bother you. Turn on drafts-only or approval settings before you start. |
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HowToAI School You're short of time, not tools You want an SEO audit, a competitor report or a blog draft to arrive finished, and your job is to read it and approve it. |
Whichever you pick, keep a backup of your site, and start with a request that only reads, like "list my five most recent posts", before you let the AI change anything. My guide to connect Claude to WordPress walks through that first test.
How I compared them
I read each plugin's WordPress.org page, its FAQ and its changelog on October 15, 2026, plus IATO's pricing page. I counted tools the way each plugin counts them, and I only called something "asks before changing" when the plugin's own page says so. Easy MCP AI, IATO MCP and Royal MCP were picked because they show up for the searches owners use to find a connector. AI Engine is here because it's the most installed. If I've got something wrong about any of them, tell me and I'll fix it.
Questions owners ask
Do I need an MCP plugin to use Claude with WordPress?
Yes, if you want Claude to read and change your site directly. Without one, you copy and paste between Claude and WordPress by hand.
Are WordPress MCP plugins safe?
They give an AI app real access to your site, so treat them like any plugin with admin rights. Choose one that saves new content as drafts or asks before changes, keep a backup, and start with read-only requests.
Do these plugins work with ChatGPT as well as Claude?
All five work with Claude. Easy MCP AI, AI Engine, Royal MCP and HowToAI School Connector say on their own pages that they work with ChatGPT too. IATO MCP's page talks about Claude and other MCP apps without naming ChatGPT. ChatGPT needs a paid plan to add a custom connector.
Can I install more than one MCP plugin?
You can, but I wouldn't. Two connectors give the AI two ways to change the same thing, which makes it harder to tell what changed and why. Pick one.
What does it cost to use Claude with WordPress?
The connector can be free, but Claude isn't always. Claude Pro is US$20 a month, and none of these plugins include it.
My verdict
If a free connector fits you, install Royal MCP or Easy MCP AI today and turn on its drafts-only setting first. If you'd rather your AI team did the work and you approved it, start with HowToAI School Essentials, then follow my guide to connect Claude to WordPress and run your first SEO audit the same day.
Want the work done, not just the tools?
HowToAI School Essentials gives you the Connector, your AI employees and a workshop for each one. From $299 a year.
Disclaimer: HowToAI School Connector is my own product. Facts about the other plugins come from their own pages on the date shown, and I don't earn anything from them. See everything HowToAI School includes on the home page.