A privacy-first WP Activity Log alternative
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Haychdev Audit is a privacy-first WordPress activity log and a lighter, more affordable alternative to WP Activity Log. It records what changed on your site, who changed it, and when — across posts, users, plugins, themes, settings, and taxonomy — entirely in your own database, with no outbound calls from the free build.
WP Activity Log (by Melapress) is a mature, widely-used plugin with very broad free event coverage. Haychdev Audit doesn't try to match every one of its enterprise features; instead it focuses on the change-tracking most sites actually need, and puts the genuinely useful extras — full before/after diffs, email and webhook alerts, and CSV/JSON export — into a single Pro tier at a flat $29.99 per year for unlimited sites.
Why people switch
The most common reasons are price and simplicity. WP Activity Log's reporting, alerting, external-storage, and session features live in paid Premium/Enterprise tiers priced per site; Haychdev Audit Pro is one flat price for unlimited sites, and its diff viewer shows the exact old and new values for every tracked change. The free core is also lighter, with a single log table and no outbound calls.
When WP Activity Log is the better choice
If you need file-integrity or database-schema monitoring, mirroring logs to an external store or SIEM (AWS CloudWatch, Loggly, Papertrail), SMS alerts, or the reassurance of the most battle-tested option (300,000+ installs), WP Activity Log is the stronger fit — its free event coverage is genuinely broader, and its Premium tier targets enterprise and multisite needs that Haychdev Audit does not aim to serve.
| Feature | Haychdev Audit | WP Activity Log |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free core + Pro at $29.99/yr for unlimited sites | Free core + paid Premium/Enterprise tiers (priced per site at melapress.com) |
| Where activity is stored | Your own database — the free build makes no outbound calls | Your own database; mirroring to an external DB / AWS CloudWatch / Loggly / Papertrail is a Premium feature |
| Before/after detail | Changed-field summary in free; full old→new value diffs in Pro | Logs changes with metadata; fully-configurable HTML/CSV reporting is Premium |
| Event coverage | Posts, users, plugins/themes, settings, taxonomy terms, logins | Broader — also file-integrity, database-schema, multisite-network and third-party-plugin changes |
| Alerts | Email + generic webhook (Slack/Discord/Zapier) in Pro | Email, SMS and Slack notifications in Premium |
| Export | CSV / JSON export in Pro | HTML / CSV reports in Premium |
| Login insights | Read-only failed-login tally and last-login per user in Pro | See who is logged in and force log-off in Premium |
| Default retention | 90 days (filterable); unlimited in Pro | 3 months by default (configurable; indefinite in free and Premium) |
| Maturity | New in 2026 | Established — 300,000+ active installs, 4.7★ |
Haychdev Audit
A privacy-first activity log: see what changed and who did it — stored in your own database, nothing phoned home.
FAQ
- Is Haychdev Audit a drop-in replacement for WP Activity Log?
- For everyday change tracking — posts, users, plugins, settings, and taxonomy — yes. WP Activity Log covers more ground (file-integrity and database-schema monitoring, SIEM mirroring); if you rely on those, it remains the better fit.
- What does Haychdev Audit do better?
- Affordability and simplicity: full before/after diffs, webhook alerts, and CSV/JSON export at a flat $29.99/yr for unlimited sites, in a lighter plugin that keeps everything in your own database.
- Do I have to pay to use Haychdev Audit?
- No. The free core on WordPress.org logs every standard change with a changed-field summary and is fully functional on its own. Pro adds diffs, alerts, export, extended retention, and login insights.