In short: Media Hygiene is a minimal free plugin that flags unused attachments so you can delete them. Mediapapa’s unused media detection covers the same ground — and adds the usage index that shows exactly where files are referenced, Deletion Warnings that block removal of files still in use, and a full governance layer. If cleanup is a one-time task on a simple site, Media Hygiene is lightweight and free. If you need to be certain nothing live breaks, Mediapapa’s approach is safer.
What Media Hygiene does
Media Hygiene scans the WordPress media library and identifies attachment records that do not appear to be referenced in any post content. Files flagged as unused can be deleted directly from the plugin’s list view. The plugin is free with no paid tier and no additional features beyond unused file detection and deletion.
Media Hygiene does not show where files are used, does not produce a health score, does not detect duplicates, has no compression and has no protection against deleting a file that is still referenced in a non-standard location — ACF fields, Elementor meta, serialised custom post type data.
How Mediapapa covers the same ground
Mediapapa’s usage index maps every file to every location where it appears — posts, pages, Gutenberg blocks, Classic Editor content, ACF fields, Elementor widget meta, widget areas, nav menus, theme options and the WordPress options table. Unused media detection in Mediapapa is based on that map: a file is flagged as unused only when the index confirms it has zero references across all of those contexts.
Deletion Warnings block removal of any file the index shows as still referenced. If the index is incomplete or a reference exists in a context not yet indexed, Mediapapa will prompt you to re-index before deleting. The governance layer also includes Library Health, Media Score, duplicate detection, Safe Replace, compression and metadata tools — none of which Media Hygiene touches.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Media Hygiene | Mediapapa (free) | Mediapapa Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unused media detection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ACF / Elementor / serialised data scanning | Partial | ✓ | ✓ |
| Usage map per file (where it is referenced) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deletion Warnings | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Library Health (library-wide score) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Media Score (per-file health) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Duplicate detection | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Safe Replace (sitewide) | — | — | ✓ |
| Image compression (WebP, AVIF) | — | — | ✓ |
| AI-assisted metadata | — | ✓ (credits) | ✓ (credits) |
| Pricing | from $24/yr | Free | from $49/yr |
Key differences
Media Hygiene’s scope is narrow by design: find unused files, delete them. For a simple WordPress site where files are only attached to standard posts and pages, it works. The plugin is lightweight and asks nothing of the user.
The limitation is the same as with other cleanup-only tools: it does not know about ACF fields, Elementor data, custom post type meta or serialised structures. On a site built with page builders or custom fields, a file that appears unused to Media Hygiene may still be actively referenced in content. Mediapapa’s usage index scans all of these explicitly.
Mediapapa Free already covers unused media detection at no cost, with the addition of the full usage map and Deletion Warnings. For a site where you want to clean up unused files without risk, Mediapapa Free is a direct upgrade from Media Hygiene — same cost, more coverage.
Who should choose what
Choose Media Hygiene if
You need the lightest possible tool for a one-time unused media cleanup on a simple site.
Your site does not use ACF, Elementor or custom field structures where usage detection can be incomplete.
You want zero configuration and a single-purpose plugin with no ongoing footprint.
Choose Mediapapa if
You want to know exactly where each file is referenced before deciding to delete it.
Your site uses ACF, Elementor or serialised data where Media Hygiene can miss live references.
You want ongoing governance — health scoring, duplicate detection, pre-publish checks — not just a cleanup tool.
Frequently asked questions
For most use cases, yes. Mediapapa Free includes unused media detection with a full usage map and Deletion Warnings at no cost. The main advantage Media Hygiene has is simplicity — it is a single-purpose tool with nothing else to configure. If you want more than cleanup, Mediapapa Free covers it.
Partially. Media Hygiene scans standard post content for attachment references but can miss references stored in ACF field values, Elementor widget meta and other serialised structures. Mediapapa’s usage index scans all of these contexts explicitly.
Yes. Deletion Warnings trigger automatically when you attempt to delete a file that the usage index shows as still referenced. Media Hygiene has no equivalent protection — it flags files as unused and allows deletion without a reference check.
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