Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash
by Bill Zimmerman · Media
Also makes 2 other plugins · 290+ installs across the portfolio →
Host, protect and embed your videos on WordPress with encryption, DRM, and per-viewer analytics. Perfect for courses, LearnDash, and marketing.
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 86/100
Few reviews
Active installs
200+
≈290 estimated
Momentum
+7%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “video analytics” and “video player” for “drm” and “courses”. “video analytics” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “drm” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “video player” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “courses” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
86 health vs 62 average across 3,279 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.0%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 9.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,317 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media 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 1 release 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 68 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
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.
38
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
17%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| learndash hosting | #2 | #16 | 0 |
| video hosting your tag | #8 | #22 | up 1 |
| secure video your tag | #10 | #21 | 0 |
| learndash your tag | #13 | #21 | up 1 |
| drm | #10 | #12 | 0 |
| video drm | #4 | #7 | 0 |
| hosting | #18 | #24 | up 2 |
| courses | #24 | #23 | down 5 |
| video analytics your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| video player your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
28 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 20 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 “video analytics” and “video player” for “drm” and “courses”. “video analytics” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “drm” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “video player” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “courses” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “learndash”. #13 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 754 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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.
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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v0.1.14 · 24 Aug 2026
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 13 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 4 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ bobbybrown0073.4y ago
Hey guys! Your team is lode of cool ideas. You’ve created a very important little plugin helping to add video content on Learndash screens. As they say, good things come in small packages. Thanks a lot, and I wish a prosperity to your business!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ alex1109153.4y ago
As the owner of a WordPress site and of an account on Spotlightr video hosting, I see only the advantages of the Spotlightr plugin for people like me: free plugin which works like a Swiss watch easy to install and use saves time when working with videos on a WordPress site (bye-bye, manual code generation on Spotlightr video hosting) This topic was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by alex110915.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (0.1.14). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 6.4 Spotlightr <= 0.1.11 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2024-12-19 CVE-2024-11411 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 0.1.11 Patched in 0.1.12
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 6.7.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 1 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
8 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Host, protect and embed your videos on WordPress with encryption, DRM, and per-viewer analytics. Perfect fo..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you sell", "built for", "ideal for").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions LearnDash, YouTube, Vimeo.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,858 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "video analytics", "video player" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-09-28 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-09-27 200+ → 100+ down after 202 days in tier
- 2025-03-09 100+ → 200+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2025-02-28 200+ → 100+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2025-02-24 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-02-23 200+ → 100+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-02-22 100+ → 200+ up after 32 days in tier
- 2025-01-21 200+ → 100+ down after 9 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).
-
FastPix – Video Hosting, Player and Analytics for WordPress — installs · 4.0★ · 4 shared tags B -
Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
SmartVideo – Video Player and CDN 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Mux Video Uploader 90+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B -
Pellio — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Presto Player 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/spotlightr" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Spotlightr – Secure Video Hosting for WordPress, Courses & LearnDash: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/spotlightr
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.