Muut – Commenting and Forums Re-Imagined
by Paul · Social
Muut represents a complete re-imagination of what internet discussion forums and commenting should be. It’s a modern, fast, highly scalable discussion …
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 44/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
50+
≈51 estimated
Momentum
+107%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “commenting”, “comments” and “forum” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
44 health vs 58 average across 1,835 Social plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 50 of 32.9K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Social plugin keeps 0.5%, across 1,276 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Social 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 4.8.0, 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 4017 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.8.0; the current branch is 6.8
3.9★ over 19 reviews, smoothed to 4.04★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4017 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.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| commenting your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| forum your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| realtime your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “commenting”, “comments” and “forum” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 93 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #20,100 to #21,200, alongside the other plugins at 50+ 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
9.2y ago
latest release · v3.0.6 · 9 Aug 2017
15
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 “50+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 30 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 50.
Install history since 27 May 2015
Reviewer account pattern
from wp.org reviewer profiles10 of the last 13 four- and five-star reviews came from accounts created within a month of posting the review.
Registering a wp.org account just to leave a review is common and often entirely legitimate. The share here is unusually high for the sample, so it's worth keeping in mind while reading the reviews.
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ linkomatic9.7y ago
As others have related, I did not notice that I had to SIGN UP for an external service — the Muut “Community” — in order to use this plugin. Okay, well, I went along with the game for a moment. But then AFTER I created an account, I was informed by email that my “14-day trial account” would have all these great PREMIUM features!!! Wow, guess that should make me feel so lucky. It didn’t. I only wanted the most basic features, as the site is for a non-profit org with NO MONEY to spend on bells and whistles. I contacted Muut’s support person and asked them to turn OFF the premium features. Answer: “NO, impossible to turn off the premium features. You’ll have to wait until the trial period expires.” Really??? My response: “okay, please CANCEL my account”. Their reply: “NO, can’t do that”, and I quote, “Here at Muut (emphasis added) we have a core principle of permanence for content and discussion’s sake” It’s impossible for the account to be canceled, EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN’T VERIFIED THE ACCOUNT YET!. But, hey — and this part is so cool — “you can go into your account and HIDE your IDENTITY”! Voila! Really??? THAT’s the solution???? For all I know the software may work quite well in other respects, but I have zero interest in enabling any vendor who has such a low regard for customers’ perfectly legitimate requests, and builds their software that emprisons the customer in their system. Good luck to those who are undaunted by that. This topic was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by linkomatic.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Bizstudio10.6y ago
Your install instructions don’t mention that it requires a forum on your site. Wasted my time as I am NOT going to signup on your site.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User 1429344710.7y ago
I’m gonna test this though it says it’s not compatible with latest WP. Will update and review accordingly.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Carlo Rizzante11.2y ago
I’ve been very curious about Muut as a full JS alternative to Disqus. However, Disqus works like a charm, and Muut simply isn’t working at all. Perhaps Muut is more about forums than comments. But if that’s the case it is plain wrong to promote it as an alternative to Disqus — because it isn’t! For the moment I’ll stay with Disqus. I’ll take a second look at Muut in future if they’ll go further than early alpha.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ steveneynon11.3y ago
This is what I have been searching for! So good on so many levels.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Xenique11.5y ago
Hi. I signed up for muut. So far it looks very clean and promising. I have a few questions. I have embedded it on my blog that contains many categories and posts. My question is how much will this slow your site down after many members have joined and many topics have been created and many replies have accumulated? Also can this be configured with User Pro or Users Ultra to enable more detailed profiles of the members? Lastly, how do you “clean up the forum”? Do you have an automation tool designed to delete topics and posts that are greater than 1 year old. Many Thanks.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ begliar11.5y ago
This plugin is completely free however you are automatically given a 14 trial to use some of the ‘premium functions’. Here is what you get for free (not premium): Free: Users can login with facebook, or google+ or with muut acct Unlimited traffic Unlimited users Unlimited posts Real embedding Style look & feel Spam protected 28+ languages Search engine optimized No ads Yeah so plenty of funtionality for free -for us broke people lol. I think the premium you get twitter, and mail chimp support so if you have alot of traffic that would be ideal. I got this plugin for the forum because bbpress is aweful in my theme and I just really don’t like it.. especially how it adds a slug at the end of your intended url e.g. yournameofsite.com/forum <—- forum should post here but instead with bbpress it adds slug to it /forum/forumname etc Anyways I dont have this problem with muut forums. I’m sure there’s some work around to the bbpress probably, but I spent over an hour scratching my head lol and muut was simple to install and unique. Okay now I am using just the forum part of this plugin and this is what I can say about that aspect of it: -The forum loads up very fast. -Automatically gets crawled every hour (this is good SEO) -Easily customizable: -Inviting and simple interface. -Easy to set up With a couple clicks you can change the color of different things, round the boxes, add shadows to boxes etc and themes (for premium). And finally.. my biggest impression is that this to me is what disqus would be like if it were a forum; but superior in load time and features. Simple, crawlable by search engines and integrated with other social networks. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gringolette11.6y ago
Muut is the simplest discussion forum I have ever seen. Quick installation, and easy integration. My readers love it!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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
6 of 8 pass · checked 1 Nov 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 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("built for", "if you want").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 4 headings and 4 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,096 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "realtime", "social" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-02 40+ → 50+ up after 17 days in tier
- 2026-09-15 50+ → 40+ down after 15 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 40+ → 50+ up after 24 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 50+ → 40+ down after 204 days in tier
- 2026-01-15 60+ → 50+ down after 89 days in tier
- 2025-10-18 70+ → 60+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-10-17 60+ → 70+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-10-16 70+ → 60+ down after 23 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).
-
WP Discourse 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A - P Post Comments as bbPress Topics 300+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A
-
VKontakte 200+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Disable Comments 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Antispam Bee 700K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Muut – Commenting and Forums Re-Imagined into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/muut" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Muut – Commenting and Forums Re-Imagined — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Muut – Commenting and Forums Re-Imagined: 50+ active installs, 3.9★ (19 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/muut
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