Friends
by Alex Kirk · Content & Feeds
Also makes 10 other plugins · 1.4K+ installs across the portfolio →
A self-hosted social reader for WordPress: follow people via RSS and ActivityPub, with multiple themes and a plugin ecosystem.
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
A 88/100
Few reviews
Active installs
900+
≈980 estimated
Momentum
-15%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “rss” and “social network” for “mastodon” and “rss reader”. “rss” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mastodon” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “social network” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “rss reader” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
88 health vs 64 average across 1,193 Content & Feeds plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 97.3K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Content & Feeds plugin keeps 0.8%, across 864 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Content & Feeds plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 15 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 17 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 7 reviews, smoothed to 4.21★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 2 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
40
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
+0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
21%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| friends your tag | #1 | #4 | 0 |
| decentralized your tag | #2 | #2 | up 1 |
| activitypub | #4 | #3 | 0 |
| own your data your tag | #6 | #19 | up 3 |
| mastodon | #11 | #18 | up 1 |
| rss reader | #16 | #16 | 0 |
| blogroll | #19 | #10 | 0 |
| google reader | #24 | #22 | 0 |
| own | #19 | #22 | down 3 |
| rss your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social network your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
59 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 50 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “rss” and “social network” for “mastodon” and “rss reader”. “rss” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mastodon” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “social network” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “rss reader” sits at #16 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 7.9K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
15
releases in the last 12 months
17d ago
latest release · v4.4.0 · 14 Oct 2026
88
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 1K.
Install history since 4 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Peter Roe6mo ago
Seems to do what it says well. Have been scrolling it for weeks and cant be happier with what you can find on the Fediverse. This one WP plugin and Activitypub ofc, has taken a lot of my social media use, it just does it good enough. This way of being on the Fediverse is so slick. If you know WP you need to try it. For some reason the /friends page is overriding my theme header but that it probably my fault. Doesn’t stop me from going there like every day!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Vondelphia.com10mo ago
Perhaps something like this should be enabled by default on all WordPress plugins, it really hits home… the idea is brilliant!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ vuorijoki1.7y ago
This is really an excellent app. It’s possible to bridge to Bluesky with it and it’s really easy to reblog etc. I really like the email alerts. The only difficulty is finding sites to follow. A list of sites would be nice.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ solarbird1.9y ago
I decided to try to use this to bridge my self-hosted ActivityPub-enabled WordPress blog to BlueSky as well, using the opt-in BridgyFed service which connects BlueSky to the Federation. I found a problem and went to both Friends and BridgyFed to see if we could get it working – and over a weekend(!), got it sorted out and now people are following my blog from BlueSky via Friends and it’s pretty dang seamless! Federation is amazing, this plugin is great, and thanks devs getting this whole fleet of connectors working this quickly was awesome. 😀
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kennethrg2.5y ago
I started using this plugin in combination with the ActivityPub plugin. ActivityPub broadcasts my posts to Mastodon and other services across the Fediverse; the Friends plugin allows my followers to interact with my posts. Together the result is that my WordPress site acts (sort of) as a Fediverse instance. Very cool!After seeing the possibilities here, I am working on creating a small network of WordPress sites using the Friends plugin. Each of the sites represents an organization working on related community advocacy projects, and I am excited about the possibilities for connecting and sharing information in this way.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ lordmatt3.0y ago
I’ve got a few blogs running friends and I love it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Matthias Pfefferle4.0y ago
A federated network based on RSS!
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (4.4.0). Sites still on an older version should update.
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 9 languages, 0 at 90% or more
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
4 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,180 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("decentralized", "own-your-data", "social network" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-01 1K+ → 900+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-07-31 900+ → 1K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-07-29 1K+ → 900+ down after 958 days in tier
- 2023-12-14 900+ → 1K+ up after 55 days in tier
- 2023-10-20 800+ → 900+ up after 11 days in tier
- 2023-10-09 700+ → 800+ up after 24 days in tier
- 2023-09-15 600+ → 700+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2023-09-14 700+ → 600+ down after 1 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).
-
Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
RSS for Yandex Turbo 20K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag B -
RSS Importer 20K+ installs · 3.0★ · 1 shared tag D - D Disable Feeds 20K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag D
-
WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Friends into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/friends" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Friends — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Friends: 900+ active installs, 5.0★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/friends
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