WP Popular Posts

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 35% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. The recent download trend is too spiky to read.

1. ★★★★★ WebHostPro

   2mo ago

   Once installed, the stats just need a little time to warm up. After that, it will display the top posts automatically. It looks great and stays clean and lightweight, just how I like it.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ xtrabytes

   8mo ago

   WordPress Popular Posts is fundamentally broken for cached sites. It defeats the entire purpose of Nginx/WP Rocket caching. There you spend all your energy optimizing to reduce every imaginable PHP FPM invocation, let alone the absurd DB query cascade of WP, and then this plugin comes and fires a XHR to the backend to load content that could have and should have come prerendered through the main page request.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ seegeist

   1.2y ago

   I’ve only been using the plugin for a few days. At first I had a problem, thanks to the good and fast support I was able to solve the problem quickly, it was not due to the plugin, but to my theme. Since then everything has been working as it should. They also respond to change requests. Just great.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ abre01

   1.3y ago

   Out of sheer frustration I would like to give only one star because the css style cannot be changed in the normal way. I have tried for hours. It is only possible with great effort, e.g. via changes in funcions.php. Since the plugin works otherwise, I still give it 3 stars. It’s a pity, but because of the missing css customization option I threw it down!

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Anonymous User

   1.8y ago

   A melhor e mais elegante maneira de exibir postagens populares em seu site. Simples e prático. Altamente recomendável.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ kspr

   1.8y ago

   Used it through the REST API to set it up with Elementor Pro, worked like a charm, good job.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ smkstoll

   1.9y ago

   Thanks for your support.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ Andrew P. Popov

   2.0y ago

   That’s it! It stopped working. They themselves decided to abandon it for some reason. Now it doesn’t work on regular sites. Don’t even waste your time. 2025: Removed from last news site. NOT suitable. ===Всё! Перестал работать. Они сами зачем-то решили от него отказаться. Теперь на обычных сайтах не работает. Даже время не теряйте.2025: Удалил с последнего новостного сайта. НЕ годится. This topic was modified 9 months ago by Andrew P. Popov.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 7.4.0 The Log Limit functionality is now enabled by default for new installs (see Log Limit for more details) New “Views” column in posts lists (see Views column for more) Fixed a bug affecting the Custom time range functional 7.4.0
2. — Version 7.3.8 Fixes a character encoding issue that can happen under some circumstances (props to qwe987299 for the report!) Release notes 7.3.8
3. — Version 7.3.7 Fixes shortcode rendering empty tags (props to NetzzJD for the report!) Renames filter hook pretiffy_numbers to prettify_numbers. Adds toggle to display the Y-axis in the Stats chart. Minor code improvements. Release not 7.3.7
4. — Version 7.3.6 If you’re updating from a previous version please clear your popular posts thumbnails cache via WP Dashboard > Settings > WP Popular Posts > Tools > Thumbnails > Empty image cache button. Improves security around thumbna 7.3.6
5. — Version 7.3.5 Fixes Elementor widget stuck in infinite loading animation. Fixes broken database query in get_views() (props to raphaelw!) Fixes an issue where config.json files from theme overrides would be ignored (thanks alexg904!) 7.3.5
6. — Version 7.3.4 New name! See the Rename announcement for more details. Minimum required WordPress version is now 6.2. Minor code improvements. Release notes 7.3.4

7 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

1. High · 7.3 WordPress Popular Posts <= 7.1.0 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution ↗
   2025-01-03 CVE-2024-11733 Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') Affects <= 7.1.0 Patched in 7.2.0
2. Medium · 6.4 WordPress Popular Posts <= 6.3.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Shortcode ↗
   2023-10-06 CVE-2023-45607 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 6.3.3 Patched in 6.3.3
3. Medium · 5.3 WordPress Popular Posts <= 6.0.5 - Unauthenticated Views Changes ↗
   2022-11-18 CVE-2022-43468 Improper Access Control Affects <= 6.0.5 Patched in 6.1.0
4. Medium · 6.1 WordPress Popular Posts <= 5.5.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2022-06-29 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 5.5.1 Patched in 6.0.0
5. High · 8.8 WordPress Popular Posts <= 5.3.2 - Authenticated Arbitrary File Upload ↗
   2021-11-12 CVE-2021-42362 Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type Affects <= 5.3.2 Patched in 5.3.3
6. Medium · 5.5 WordPress Popular Posts <= 5.3.3 - Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2021-07-04 CVE-2021-36872 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 5.3.3 Patched in 5.3.4
7. Medium · 6.4 WordPress Popular Posts <= 5.3.2 - Authenticated Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2021-06-23 CVE-2021-20746 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 5.3.3 Patched in 5.3.3

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0

Translated into 68 languages, 9 at 90% or more

Plus 44 more locales with partial translations.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2024-12-27 200K+ → 100K+ down

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).

• W WP To Top 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
• Popular Posts by Webline 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags C
• P Popular Posts 900+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
• GenerateBlocks 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag B
• Post Duplicator 200K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A
• YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag C

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for WP Popular Posts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

WP Popular Posts: 100K+ active installs, 4.5★ (249 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-25. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wordpress-popular-posts