Why So Slow? vs Speed Optimizer

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

Why So Slow?

by bettersecurity

Health C55

Speed Optimizer

by SiteGround

Health A86

Active-install trajectory

Why So Slow?Speed Optimizer

Active installs, each indexed to 100 at the start of the window. A line above 100 is growing its install base, below 100 is shrinking.

Metric	Why So Slow?	Speed Optimizer
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	80–90	1M–2M ✓
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	-20%	0% ✓
Overall health	C · 55	A · 86 ✓
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	23/100	100/100 ✓
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	80/100 ✓	79/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	75/100 ✓
Rating (adjusted)	4.17★ ✓	4.15★
Reviews	4	641 ✓
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	67/100	92/100 ✓
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	Elevated	Low ✓
Last updated	2.1y ago	12d ago ✓
Downloads · 30d	76	2.6M ✓
Install conversion Active installs over lifetime downloads. Downloads include every update, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower.	1.9% ✓	0.9%
Category	Performance	Performance

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

Why So Slow?Speed Optimizer

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.