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Free directory plugin
Build a directory people search, and businesses trust.
Listings with map and radius search on their own index, front-end submission that owners finish, reviews, and a claim process that hands a business its own entry. Free, with no licence key.
listora.org / austin 247 listings
Open now
$$ price
Wi-Fi
4+ ★
12 3 new listings approved this week · 12 categories · 247 total
- 4.8/5 on Trustpilot
- Free, No License Key
- Leaflet Maps Built In
- Works With Block Themes
- GPL Licensed
Why directories go stale
A directory is easy to install.
Keeping it useful is the hard part.
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Visitors cannot find what is near them
Keyword-only search ignores distance and categories, so people leave for a map app.
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Owners give up on the listing form
One long form or a wp-admin login loses the businesses you most want listed.
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Nobody can tell which listings are real
Without reviews and owner claims, a stale listing looks the same as a good one.
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Spam fills the moderation queue
Bots submit listings and reviews faster than one admin can reject them.
Listora handles all four in the free plugin, before you spend anything on Pro.
Search
Search by what, where and how far, on its own index
Listora keeps a dedicated search index table, so full-text, facet and distance queries do not lean on slow post meta lookups. Every filter is kept in the URL.
Near me and radius
Visitors share their location or type a place, set a distance, and sort results by how close they are.
Search this area
Drag or zoom the map, then refresh the results for the area on screen.
Filters people expect
Listing type, category, location, features, tags and minimum rating, with suggestions as people type.
/directory/search
Showing 1,204 places near Austin, TX
Sort: Distance
0.4 mi
0.8 mi
1.2 mi
3.7 mi
1.9 mi
Searching 4,522 indexed listings
Claiming a listing
Letting a business take over its own entry, without taking a risk with their ID
A directory grows when owners maintain their own listings. Getting there means asking a stranger to upload a document that proves who they are, which is a responsibility worth being specific about.
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Someone says it is theirs
A member opens the claim form on a listing and uploads what proves it: an ID, a utility bill, a letter on company paper.
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The obvious mistakes bounce
Claiming a listing you already own, one that is already claimed, or one you have a claim open on is refused with a reason rather than filed as a duplicate.
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You read it and decide
Claims queue on their own admin screen with approve and reject, and the proof opens only for staff who hold the capability.
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They take the listing over
An approved claim hands them the listing and its front-end management, so the business keeps its own hours, photos and details current instead of emailing you.
Where the document goes
Unguessable is not the same as private
A proof used to land in the ordinary uploads folder, which your web server hands to anyone who knows the path. Giving it a random 32-character filename hides the path; it does not make the file private. And the path was being handed out, because the admin screen and the REST response both printed the attachment URL, which then lived in browser history, in Referer headers, and in any screenshot of that page.
Two changes close it, and both are needed. Proofs now go to their own directory with server rules denying direct access and an index file so a mis-configured server cannot list it. And nothing prints the raw URL any more: the only way to a proof is an endpoint that checks the capability on every single request.
One note if you run nginx
The directory rules are .htaccess and web.config, which cover Apache, LiteSpeed and IIS. nginx reads neither, so add this block:
location ~* /uploads/listora-claim-proofs/ { deny all; return 403; }The capability-checked endpoint protects the file on any server, which is why it was built that way rather than trusting the directory rules alone.
SWITCHING DIRECTORY PLUGINS
Already running a directory? Bring the listings with you.
Listora includes WP-CLI migrators for Business Directory Plugin, Directorist, GeoDirectory, HivePress and ListingPro. Pro adds an admin screen for the same move.
- 01
Back up, then install Listora
Take a database backup and install Listora on the site that holds your current directory data.
- 02
Preview with a dry run
Run wp listora migrate with your source plugin and --dry-run to see what would come across.
- 03
Run the migration
Run it for real. Listings already migrated are skipped, so a second run does not create duplicates.
- 04
Reindex and check
Rebuild search with wp listora reindex, review a few listings, then point your menus at the Directory page.
Pick a directory type and launch with sample listings
1
Run the setup wizard
Choose your directory type, location, map and pages. The wizard creates Add Listing, My Listings and Directory pages with their blocks.
2
Load a demo pack
Nine packs cover restaurants, hotels, real estate, jobs, classifieds, education, healthcare, places and general businesses. Test your layout with one.
3
Open submissions
Members sign in, add a listing step by step and track it from their dashboard. You approve each one before it goes live.
What a working directory needs, in the free plugin
Eleven blocks, no page builder, and nothing to buy before your first listing.
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Listing types with their own fields
Restaurants, hotels, jobs or clinics each get their own fields, categories and allowed features.
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Hours, services and events
Business hours with up to three time ranges a day and an Open now badge, priced services, and a recurring events calendar.
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Reviews with owner replies
Star ratings, written reviews, helpful votes and public replies from the owner. Moderate first or auto-approve.
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Claim this business
Owners claim an existing listing with proof. You approve the claim and ownership moves to their account.
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Owner dashboard
Owners manage listings, reviews, favorites, claims and their profile, and can deactivate, reactivate or renew a listing.
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Spam protection in layers
Honeypot fields, rate limits, reCAPTCHA v3 or Turnstile, Akismet and a keyword blacklist guard public forms.
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SEO markup included
Schema.org data, Open Graph tags, breadcrumbs and sitemap entries, with a guard against duplicates from Yoast or Rank Math.
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CSV, JSON and GeoJSON import
Map columns to fields and run large imports in the background with a progress bar. Export to CSV any time.
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Emails you can edit
Lifecycle emails with a template editor, an email log, test sends and one-click unsubscribe links.
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Built for developers
A REST API, WP-CLI commands, theme template overrides and background jobs on Action Scheduler.
Real screens
From search results to the owner's dashboard
Directory search with listing type chips, a location box and results on the map
A listing page as its owner sees it, with Edit listing and a photo carousel
Add Listing, step one: choose the kind of listing to add
Claim This Business with proof of ownership and a document upload
My Listings in the owner dashboard with status and edit actions per listing
The categories block with a listing count on each category
Run the directory free. Add Pro when listings earn.
Pay once and own it forever, or pick the annual plan. All features included in every plan, no hidden add-ons.
Listora Free
Unlimited sites
Free
- Unlimited sites, no license key
- 11 blocks, no page builder needed
- Faceted, radius and map search
- Step-by-step listing submission
- Business claims with admin approval
- Reviews with owner replies
- Honeypot, CAPTCHA and Akismet checks
- 9 demo packs
- REST API and WP-CLI
- Free forever, no feature locks
Most popular
Pro Single
1 site
$199 one-time
or $69/year
- Everything in Free, plus:
- 1 site license for Listora Pro
- Paid listing plans and credit packs
- Stripe, PayPal and 5 plugin payment adapters
- Lead form and listing analytics
- Verification badges and per-aspect reviews
- Compare listings side by side
- Needs marketplace for buyer requests
- White-label branding
- Updates and priority support, annual or lifetime
Pro Developer
5 sites
$299 one-time
or $99/year
- Everything in Pro Single
- 5 site licenses
- Priority support
- Updates and support, annual or lifetime
Pro Unlimited
Unlimited sites
$499 one-time
or $199/year
- Everything in Pro Single, plus:
- Unlimited site licenses
- Priority support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
The plugin keeps working. Updates and support stop until you renew.
Free forever. Annual licenses include a year of updates and support and renew at 30% off. Lifetime licenses are a one-time payment and never expire.
Directory questions we hear first
Is the free plugin enough for a live directory?
Yes. Search, maps, listing pages, submissions, reviews, claims, the owner dashboard, imports and SEO markup are all free. Pro adds paid plans, lead forms, badges, comparison and the needs marketplace.
Can visitors submit a listing without an account?
No. Adding a listing needs an account, which keeps spam down. Visitors can still browse, search and use a listing's contact form without signing in.
Which maps does it use?
Leaflet with clustering is built in, drawing the tile source you set in Settings > Maps. Listora Pro adds Google Maps with Places address autocomplete.
Can I move from another directory plugin?
Yes. Run wp listora migrate with Business Directory Plugin, Directorist, GeoDirectory, HivePress or ListingPro as the source. Add --dry-run to preview first.
Will it work with my theme?
Listora is made of blocks you place on pages, so it works with themes that use the block editor for page content. You can override its templates from a wb-listora folder in your theme.
Can I charge businesses to be listed?
Not in the free plugin. Listora Pro adds credit packs, paid listing plans, featured placement and coupons, paid through Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce or a membership plugin.
What are the requirements?
WordPress 6.9 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. Background jobs run on the bundled Action Scheduler, so there is no extra service to set up.
Add these to a directory site
- Ready to charge for listings What Listora Pro adds Paid packages, Google maps, an import screen and the tools to run it as a business.
- Listing jobs, not businesses A job board instead Employers post roles and candidates apply, with its own dashboards.
- A directory inside a community The 26-plugin community bundle Profiles, groups and messaging around the people using your directory.
Start your directory with the free plugin today
Search, maps, submissions, reviews and claims are all in the free plugin, with no licence key to enter.