Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress
by Starfish Reviews · Email & Marketing
The best WordPress plugin for generating 5-star customer reviews on Google, Facebook, Tripadvisor, and many more platforms.
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 87/100
no flags
Active installs
100+
≈200 estimated
Momentum
+202%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “review marketing” for “generation”. “review marketing” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “generation” sits at #19 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
87 health vs 66 average across 2,121 Email & Marketing plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.3%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 32.9K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Email & Marketing plugin keeps 0.9%, across 1,296 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Email & Marketing 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 16 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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Support resolution
Updated 2 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.6★ over 25 reviews, smoothed to 4.27★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
0 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.
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.
36
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
19%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| review generation your tag | #7 | #15 | — |
| reputation management your tag | #12 | #19 | up 1 |
| generation | #19 | #18 | up 3 |
| 5 star reviews your tag | #19 | #23 | 0 |
| online reviews | #15 | #22 | up 1 |
| google reviews embed | #20 | #20 | up 1 |
| tripadvisor reviews | #19 | #17 | down 3 |
| star reviews | #24 | #23 | down 7 |
| review marketing your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| reviews your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
37 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 29 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 “review marketing” for “generation”. “review marketing” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “generation” sits at #19 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 “reputation management”. #12 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.5K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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
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.
16
releases in the last 12 months
2d ago
latest release · v3.1.33 · 29 Oct 2026
21
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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 11 days ago and the previous band took 3 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 200.
Install history since 1 Sep 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ billbergh1.7y ago
Plugin was used initially to gather more reviews. When we progressed to having TripAdvisor and Google reviews displayed on our site we had technical issues. These were resolved and it works great.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ leon coppola2.1y ago
Had a few issues with the plugin over the years (early adopter) but the support I recieved has always been great
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ craft373.2y ago
Shortcode [starfish testimonial=”display”] just don’t work for my WP site.Rich Reviews works as expected.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mps13.3y ago
Works great and does what it says. When issues arise, the team quickly jumps on things and gets them resolved in a timely manner. Highly recommended.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aheadair3.3y ago
This would be a great plugin if it didn’t break everything else. Broke things all over my site. Changed how posts are displayed, broke the display on my price tables, even broke the display on the Posts page in my dashboard.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ southernb4.8y ago
While working with Rich Reviews, now maintained by Starfish Reviews, I had the need to only show the star and review count snippet only if there actual reviews to show, otherwise show nothing. I put in a support request, and in a few days Starfish came through with a new feature on an old plugin to save the day. Way to go Matt at Starfish!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ fepromo5.1y ago
You would think that a plugin called “starfish reviews” would come with a five star based review system. No, it comes with thumbs up or thumbs down options only.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ seanturner5.9y ago
We’ve been using Starfish reviews and are getting a lot of reviews from clients. We’ve had a great experience with the Starfish support. Our issue was resolved within hours and an updated plugin was released quickly! Very impressed.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 5 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (3.1.33). Sites still on an older version should update.
- 2023-07-18 CVE-2023-33999 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects 2.1.0 - 3.0.36 Patched in 3.1.0
- 2019-02-25 Missing Authorization Affects < 2.0.1 Patched in 2.0.1
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 2 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 29 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 Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Facebook.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 1 list.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,113 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "5 Star Reviews", "reputation management" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-20 200+ → 100+ down after 1102 days in tier
- 2023-10-14 100+ → 200+ up after 5 days in tier
- 2023-10-09 200+ → 100+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2023-10-07 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2023-10-06 200+ → 100+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2023-10-01 100+ → 200+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2023-09-29 200+ → 100+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-09-28 100+ → 200+ up 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).
-
Business Reviews 10+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D -
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A -
Site Reviews 60K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A - W WP Customer Reviews 20K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag B
-
WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/starfish-reviews" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress: 100+ active installs, 4.6★ (25 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/starfish-reviews
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