Acquisition scout

Plugins worth approaching about a takeover, classified by deal rationale. An abandoned giant, a climbing indie and an out-resourced underdog are different purchases, so each candidate carries the archetype tags it earns and a fit score against its best one.

A high score isn't a verdict on the plugin, it's a signal that its users deserve a maintainer and its owner might welcome the conversation.

All · 317 Install-base grab · 31 Rising star · 39 Healthy and safe · 53 Underdog vs Goliath · 22 Niche monopoly · 1 Turnaround · 47 Orphaned by a company · 4 Sleeper · 137

Turnaround. Was bigger, now sliding, users still rate it. Salvageable with real maintenance.

Sort by 47 candidates

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA by Humanityco Turnaround

800K+ installs 4.8★ · 3,026 reviews 0y idle Privacy & Consent

Why: slipped 2 install tiers in a year · still 800K+ installs at 4.8★

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Limit Login Attempts Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA, Firewall & Login Security by WPChef (6 plugins) Turnaround

1M+ installs 4.8★ · 1,489 reviews 0y idle Security

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 1M+ installs at 4.8★

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MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress by Danny van Kooten (9 plugins) Turnaround

1M+ installs 4.8★ · 1,497 reviews 0.1y idle Email & Marketing

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 1M+ installs at 4.8★

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Smart Slider 3 by Nextendweb (3 plugins) Turnaround

800K+ installs 4.8★ · 1,125 reviews 0y idle Media

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 800K+ installs at 4.8★

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Autoptimize by Optimizing Matters Turnaround

800K+ installs 4.7★ · 1,428 reviews 0y idle Performance

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 800K+ installs at 4.7★

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Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder by Daniel Iser (9 plugins) Turnaround

600K+ installs 4.9★ · 4,515 reviews 0.1y idle Email & Marketing

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 600K+ installs at 4.9★

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Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates by Leap13 (4 plugins) Turnaround

600K+ installs 4.9★ · 1,680 reviews 0y idle AI

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 600K+ installs at 4.9★

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TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy by Tobias Bäthge Turnaround

600K+ installs 5.0★ · 4,625 reviews 0.1y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 600K+ installs at 5.0★

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Disable Gutenberg by Jeff Starr (31 plugins) Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.9★ · 735 reviews 0.3y idle Blocks

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.9★

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Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce by ThemeHigh (16 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.9★ · 1,056 reviews 0y idle Blocks

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.9★

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Page Builder by SiteOrigin by Greg - SiteOrigin (10 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.8★ · 1,005 reviews 0y idle Page Builders

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.8★

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Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements by Vova (6 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.9★ · 5,925 reviews 0y idle Blocks

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.9★

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Advanced Editor Tools by Andrew Ozz (7 plugins) Turnaround

1M+ installs 4.5★ · 354 reviews 0.2y idle Blocks

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 1M+ installs at 4.5★

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MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor by Roxnor (19 plugins) Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.7★ · 509 reviews 0y idle Forms

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.7★

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Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty by Premio (9 plugins) Turnaround

300K+ installs 5.0★ · 1,244 reviews 0y idle Chat & Support

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 300K+ installs at 5.0★

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Max Mega Menu by megamenu (2 plugins) Turnaround

300K+ installs 4.8★ · 882 reviews 0.1y idle Admin & Utilities

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 300K+ installs at 4.8★

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Hello Dolly by Matt Mullenweg (14 plugins) Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.4★ · 177 reviews 1y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 2 install tiers in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.4★

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Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider by MetaSlider (3 plugins) Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.6★ · 743 reviews 0y idle Media

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.6★

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W3 Total Cache by BoldGrid (14 plugins) Turnaround

900K+ installs 4.4★ · 5,420 reviews 0y idle Performance

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 900K+ installs at 4.4★

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Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites by Meta Box Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.8★ · 165 reviews 0y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.8★

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Click to Chat – HoliThemes by HoliThemes Turnaround

600K+ installs 4.8★ · 131 reviews 0y idle Chat & Support

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 600K+ installs at 4.8★

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Redux Framework by David Anderson / Team Updraft (16 plugins) Turnaround

900K+ installs 4.4★ · 273 reviews 0y idle Admin & Utilities

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 900K+ installs at 4.4★

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Head, Footer and Post Injections by Stefano Lissa (18 plugins) Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.9★ · 735 reviews 0.6y idle Analytics

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.9★

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PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links by Blair Williams (3 plugins) Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.8★ · 1,321 reviews 0y idle Analytics

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.8★

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Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App by Saad Iqbal (47 plugins) Turnaround

300K+ installs 4.7★ · 528 reviews 0.1y idle Email & Marketing

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 300K+ installs at 4.7★

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Breadcrumb NavXT by John Havlik (3 plugins) Turnaround

800K+ installs 4.5★ · 132 reviews 0.2y idle Blocks

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 800K+ installs at 4.5★

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Admin Menu Editor by Janis Elsts (8 plugins) Turnaround

300K+ installs 4.6★ · 312 reviews 0.2y idle Admin & Utilities

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 300K+ installs at 4.6★

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Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer by Themeum (13 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.4★ · 81 reviews 0y idle Forms

Why: slipped 2 install tiers in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.4★

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WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes by Devin Walker (2 plugins) Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.9★ · 215 reviews 0.1y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.9★

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WP Sitemap Page by Tony Archambeau Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.8★ · 205 reviews 0.2y idle SEO

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.8★

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Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder by Kevin Stover (5 plugins) Turnaround

500K+ installs 4.4★ · 1,397 reviews 0y idle Forms

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 500K+ installs at 4.4★

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WP-PageNavi by Lester Chan (19 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.6★ · 149 reviews 0.2y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.6★

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Post Views Counter by dFactory (11 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.9★ · 1,238 reviews 0y idle Analytics

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.9★

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Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution by Saad Iqbal (47 plugins) Turnaround Underdog vs Goliath

100K+ installs 4.8★ · 442 reviews 0.1y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.8★

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Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress by Stefano Lissa (18 plugins) Underdog vs Goliath Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.6★ · 1,205 reviews 0y idle Email & Marketing

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.6★

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Insert Headers And Footers by Adnan (11 plugins) Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.9★ · 135 reviews 0y idle Social

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.9★

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PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager by PixelYourSite (2 plugins) Turnaround

400K+ installs 4.3★ · 281 reviews 0y idle Analytics

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 400K+ installs at 4.3★

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Force Regenerate Thumbnails by Shane Bishop (5 plugins) Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.6★ · 186 reviews 0.7y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.6★

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Simple Custom CSS and JS by SilkyPress (5 plugins) Turnaround

600K+ installs 4.3★ · 104 reviews 0y idle Uncategorized

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 600K+ installs at 4.3★

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WebP Express by rosell.dk Turnaround

300K+ installs 4.4★ · 162 reviews 0y idle Performance

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 300K+ installs at 4.4★

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Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery by 10Web (8 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.5★ · 1,581 reviews 0.1y idle Media

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.5★

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HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat by HubSpot Turnaround

200K+ installs 4.3★ · 207 reviews 0.1y idle Analytics

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 200K+ installs at 4.3★

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Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder by Supreme Modules (2 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.7★ · 109 reviews 0y idle Page Builders

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.7★

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MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall by malcare Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.4★ · 559 reviews 0y idle Security

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.4★

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Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy by connekthq (3 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.6★ · 59 reviews 0.4y idle Media

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.6★

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Performance Lab by WordPress Performance Team (10 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.2★ · 51 reviews 0.2y idle Performance

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.2★

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Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend by Omnisend (8 plugins) Turnaround

100K+ installs 4.4★ · 17 reviews 0.1y idle Forms

Why: slipped 1 install tier in a year · still 100K+ installs at 4.4★

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Scored from the tracked catalog: active installs, install-tier momentum from our milestone history, time since the last release and WordPress-version lag, category demand, ratings, and the competitive picture from shared-tag rivals. Companies only appear under "Orphaned by a company"; flagged and closed plugins never appear.