Epoch – A native Disqus alternative with a focus on speed and privacy
by Josh Pollock · Performance
Also makes 8 other plugins · 650+ installs across the portfolio →
Epoch - 100% realtime chat and commenting in a tiny little package that is fully CDN and cache compatible.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 47/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
60+
≈60 estimated
Momentum
+8%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “ajax comments” for “epoch”. “ajax comments” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “epoch” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
47 health vs 69 average across 1,807 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 60 of 33.4K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,100 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 10+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.4.34, well behind 6.8.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 3971 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.4.34; the current branch is 6.8
4.5★ over 21 reviews, smoothed to 4.22★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3971 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
33
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 7d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 7d
0.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| epoch | #23 | #10 | 0 |
| ajax comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| cache your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| cdn your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| lightweight commenting your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
9 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 8 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “ajax comments” for “epoch”. “ajax comments” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “epoch” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 329 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #19,100 to #20,000, alongside the other plugins at 60+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
10.9y ago
latest release · v1.0.14 · 17 Dec 2015
30
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “60+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 7 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 60.
Install history since 6 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ PhilippePierre7.7y ago
Great plugin, thanks! Unfortunately, no updates for too long : “Reply” link doesn’t work with WordPress version 5.1. Thank you for fixing it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Ronald8.6y ago
Good comment plugin but please update codes for lastest version of jquery. (It’s not compatible with latest versions of Jquery) .post .success are deprecated in jQuery 3.0
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cyann10.3y ago
I’ve tried the 3 settings, all display comments on password protected pages. Version 1.0.14
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ 0phir10.7y ago
This plugins seem to have a nice upgrade to the built-in WP comment system. However currently it does not work well on my website (in Hebrew). It seem that the Right-to-left languages is currently not supported. I hope it would be supported in the next version.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ George10.9y ago
A great plugin, simple and does what it says it does.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ CaveatLector10.9y ago
Limited use so far, but looks good and seems to work fine.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ boluajibs11.1y ago
This plugin is beautiful. WOW! It totally transforms the commenting experience on my website.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Patrick H11.1y ago
Pushed it to production about 2 weeks ago and perfectly handles more than 300 comments per day. No issues ! No spam ! Thanks a lot for this Excellent Plugin !!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 79 languages, 4 at 90% or more
Plus 55 more locales with partial translations.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Epoch - 100% realtime chat and commenting in a tiny little package that is fully CDN and cache compatible."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("built for", "use it").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 1 list.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,237 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "ajax comments", "lightweight commenting" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-24 50+ → 60+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-23 60+ → 50+ down after 77 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 70+ → 60+ down after 145 days in tier
- 2026-03-15 80+ → 70+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2026-03-08 70+ → 80+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-03-07 80+ → 70+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-03-05 70+ → 80+ up after 15 days in tier
- 2026-02-18 80+ → 70+ down after 3 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags B -
Breeze Cache 300K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Swift Performance Lite 6K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
Simple Comment Editing 2K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Epoch – A native Disqus alternative with a focus on speed and privacy into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/epoch" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Epoch – A native Disqus alternative with a focus on speed and privacy — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Epoch – A native Disqus alternative with a focus on speed and privacy: 60+ active installs, 4.5★ (21 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/epoch
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