Subscribe to Comments
by Mark Jaquith · Email & Marketing
Also makes 28 other plugins · 165.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Subscribe to Comments allows commenters on an entry to subscribe to e-mail notifications for subsequent comments.
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
B 76/100
Open vulnerability
Active installs
10K+
≈16K estimated
Momentum
+236%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “comment”, “e mails” and “e mail” to your wp.org tags. You rank #20, #21 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
76 health vs 66 average across 2,127 Email & Marketing plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.7%
of downloads still active
At least 10K of 590.8K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Email & Marketing plugin keeps 0.9%, across 1,295 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 2 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 27 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.9★ over 14 reviews, smoothed to 4.06★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 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.
36
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 24d
14%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 24d
-0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| subscribe to comments | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| subscribe | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| comments subscribe | #1 | #2 | — |
| commenters | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| subscribe email | #2 | #7 | up 1 |
| subscribe form | #6 | #15 | up 1 |
| comments your tag | #11 | #18 | 0 |
| email subscribe | #5 | #10 | — |
| email commenters | #7 | #11 | 0 |
| e mail | #23 | #20 | down 5 |
| comment | #20 | #19 | down 1 |
| no comments | #12 | #20 | down 1 |
| e mails | #21 | #20 | down 3 |
| new page comments | #15 | #24 | down 1 |
| comments plugin | #15 | #23 | 0 |
| page comments | #17 | #23 | down 1 |
| post comments | #22 | #22 | 0 |
| wordpress comments | #24 | #23 | down 3 |
| email your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| subscription your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
66 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 18 listed. 48 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
- Add “comment”, “e mails” and “e mail” to your wp.org tags. You rank #20, #21 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
- One page off on “comments”. #11 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 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 26.5K · 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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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.
2
releases in the last 12 months
27d ago
latest release · v2.3.3 · 6 Oct 2026
16
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 95% 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 “10K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 5 months ago; the previous band took 15 months to cross, which places it about 64% of the way through.
Install history since 22 Jul 2021
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.3.3 Security: Verify email changes through the destination inbox before transferring subscriptions or revealing its management key. Confirmation links are purpose-bound, expire after one day, and cannot be replayed after use 2.3.3
- — Version 2.3.2 Security: Stop using unsigned comment-email cookies to identify subscribers or disclose their management keys, and prevent key disclosure when subscribing without commenting. Security: Validate and escape subscription-ma 2.3.2
Security history
via Wordfence Intelligence1 open vulnerability affects the current version (2.3.3). 6 of 7 disclosed are patched.
- 2026-10-13 CVE-2026-91830 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Affects <= 2.3.2 Patched in 2.3.3
- 2026-10-09 CVE-2026-91829 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.3.2 Patched in 2.3.3
- Open Medium · 5.4 Subscribe to Comments <= 2.3.1 - Authenticated (Author+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2026-08-06 CVE-2026-66706 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.3.1 No patch available
- 2024-10-29 CVE-2024-8792 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.3 Patched in 2.3.1
- 2015-07-15 CVE-2015-10133 Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program Affects <= 2.1.2 Patched in 2.3
- 2006-09-17 CVE-2006-10001 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.0.7 Patched in 2.0.8
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.
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 54 languages, 0 at 90% or more
Plus 30 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
4 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Subscribe to Comments allows commenters on an entry to subscribe to e-mail notifications for subsequent com..."
- ✓ 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 Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 316 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "email" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-28 20K+ → 10K+ down after 436 days in tier
- 2025-03-18 30K+ → 20K+ down after 420 days in tier
- 2024-01-23 40K+ → 30K+ down after 279 days in tier
- 2023-04-19 50K+ → 40K+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2023-04-12 40K+ → 50K+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2023-04-08 50K+ → 40K+ down after 372 days in tier
- 2022-04-01 60K+ → 50K+ down after 31 days in tier
- 2022-03-01 50K+ → 60K+ up after 59 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).
-
Disqus Comment System 30K+ installs · 2.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters 10K+ installs · 3.5★ · 2 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Disable Comments 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Subscribe to Comments into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/subscribe-to-comments" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Subscribe to Comments — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Subscribe to Comments: 10K+ active installs, 3.9★ (14 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/subscribe-to-comments
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