Market reports
The state of each plugin market, read from our own data: who leads, who's slipping install tiers, how healthy the field is, and whether there's still room to build. Every claim in a report traces back to the signals shown alongside it.
Security 1771 plugins · 25.6M+ installs Security's summit is shared by well-maintained giants, so growth is going to specialists like Patchstack, which doubled to 100K+ installs this quarter. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Performance 1791 plugins · 24.2M+ installs LiteSpeed Cache holds 29% of Performance installs and keeps shipping, so the top is a moat even as category downloads rose 37%. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Forms 2494 plugins · 24M+ installs Contact Form 7 and WPForms have the top of the forms market locked up, so this quarter's real growth came from niche add-ons such as donation forms. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Blocks 2517 plugins · 21.3M+ installs The category's biggest plugins switch the block editor off, while the real competition sits among fast-shipping block libraries like Kadence and Spectra. Report from 26 Oct 2026 eCommerce 9713 plugins · 21.3M+ installs WooCommerce holds a third of all installs, yet two of its biggest official integrations are poorly rated, which leaves room for better payment and feed plugins. Report from 26 Oct 2026 SEO 2219 plugins · 19.4M+ installs Yoast and Rank Math have WordPress SEO locked up, so the only real growth is AI-branded newcomers like ThinkRank chipping at the mid-market. Report from 26 Oct 2026 AI 3382 plugins · 18.4M+ installs Growth in WordPress AI plugins is in MCP connectors that let outside agents run sites, while single-model content writers lose installs and close. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Backup 552 plugins · 14.9M+ installs Backup's leaders are healthy and ship often, so a 29% download surge hasn't opened the door; migration tools are the only newcomers moving. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Admin & Utilities 5876 plugins · 14.3M+ installs Hostinger Tools holds a fifth of all installs despite the weakest ratings at the top, and Google reviews widgets are where newcomers are breaking in. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Page Builders 1885 plugins · 13.3M+ installs Elementor add-ons hold eleven of the top twelve spots, and their fast-shipping leaders leave newcomers room only for narrow single-purpose widgets. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Email & Marketing 2106 plugins · 12.7M+ installs Email delivery plugins led by WP Mail SMTP form a moat; downloads doubled, but newcomers are still fighting for hundreds of installs. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Analytics 1825 plugins · 12.5M+ installs Google's Site Kit holds 40% of WordPress analytics installs, privacy-first rivals are holding steady, and the long tail keeps thinning out. Report from 26 Oct 2026 Media 3270 plugins · 9.2M+ installs Media has no dominant plugin and a well-kept top dozen, so the only visible growth is coming from small media-library cleanup tools. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Privacy & Consent 908 plugins · 5.7M+ installs Cookie consent has no dominant owner, and SureCookie's climb from 200 to 60K installs in 90 days shows a newcomer can still break in. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Login & Users 2185 plugins · 5.3M+ installs WPS Hide Login holds a well-kept moat, but second-placed Limit Login Attempts hasn't shipped a release in three and a half years. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Social 1820 plugins · 4.9M+ installs Smash Balloon's feeds dominate Social, while Meta's poorly rated official plugins on 400K+ sites each look like the category's real opening. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Multilingual 492 plugins · 4M+ installs Three well-maintained leaders hold the top of multilingual between them, so the growth is happening lower down, in AI translation tools like Universally. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Chat & Support 1176 plugins · 3.1M+ installs Click-to-chat buttons dominate and keep shipping, so the clearest opening is the Facebook Chat Plugin, unmaintained for four years on 70K+ sites. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Content & Feeds 1193 plugins · 3.1M+ installs Content & Feeds is really a migration and import market with a well-kept top, and the only real momentum sits with small social-feed plugins. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Payments 1662 plugins · 2.9M+ installs WooCommerce-branded plugins hold most Payments installs despite weak ratings, while better-rated independents and regional gateways grow at the edges. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Search 976 plugins · 2.6M+ installs Better Search Replace's database tool holds 37% of the category, while visitor-facing search is crowded, well maintained and only open at the niche edges. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Booking & Events 1832 plugins · 2.5M+ installs Events and appointment booking are held by well-maintained leaders; the opening is hospitality, where SimplyBook.me and Hotel Booking were closed. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Membership 297 plugins · 564.8K+ installs Ultimate Member's 38% share is well defended, so the real opening is the 40K+ sites Content Control left behind when it closed. Report from 12 Oct 2026 Education 276 plugins · 446K+ installs Tutor LMS and LearnPress control Education through their add-ons as much as their core plugins, and halved downloads leave newcomers little room. Report from 12 Oct 2026
Reports are written by a model reading Plugin Pulse's own measurements, never outside claims. The exact data behind each report is shown on its page. How this works.