The state of WordPress plugins
Who is winning, who is fading, which markets are already lost, and where there is still an opening. Rebuilt from our own daily data on 9,874 plugins. Comparing 2026-07-14 against 2026-06-14.
The read
- Page Builders is the directory's largest market by download volume, with 450 tracked plugins competing for 19,819,964 downloads a month.
- Search is growing fastest, up 32.6% on the previous window.
- Analytics is contracting, down 39.7%.
- AI plugins now number 146 of the 9,874 tracked, taking 4.2% of all downloads. The median AI plugin is 39 months old.
- The clearest opening is Backup: 122,154 monthly downloads per competing plugin, no dominant incumbent, and an average health of only 79.
Winning
Biggest download gains, real plugins only (10+ reviews, no integrity flags)
SiteGuard WP Plugin Security · 500K+ 45.9K → 981.3K +2038% Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin Security · 1M+ 95.2K → 1.8M +1836.9% WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam Security · 400K+ 17.9K → 344.3K +1819% Gwolle Guestbook Uncategorized · 20K+ 2.2K → 40.0K +1683.7% Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin Performance · 1M+ 104.7K → 1.6M +1393.9% 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 404 Error Logs & Notifications Uncategorized · 100K+ 6.5K → 96.5K +1379.5% Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) Uncategorized · 100K+ 3.7K → 50.6K +1261.1% MaxButtons – Create buttons Social · 70K+ 3.2K → 41.2K +1202.5% SumUp Payment Gateway For WooCommerce eCommerce · 10K+ 2.3K → 26.8K +1046.6% Redirection Uncategorized · 2M+ 282.4K → 3.2M +1033.7% WP Responsive Menu Admin & Utilities · 30K+ 2.3K → 24.5K +973.3% IndexNow Plugin SEO · 100K+ 8.4K → 87.4K +945.6%Losing
Steepest download declines over the same window
Hotfix Uncategorized · 4K+ 10.5K → 443 -95.8% Bricks Navigator Admin & Utilities · 8K+ 16.6K → 1.4K -91.8% Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor Page Builders · 50K+ 34.0K → 2.9K -91.4% Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid Backup · 50K+ 28.6K → 2.6K -90.7% BlogVault Backup & Staging Backup · 80K+ 132.6K → 13.1K -90.1% The WP Remote WordPress Plugin Backup · 30K+ 64.3K → 6.8K -89.4% MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) Analytics · 2M+ 5.8M → 613.9K -89.3% Cyr-To-Lat Multilingual · 300K+ 184.1K → 22.5K -87.8% WP LinkedIn Auto Publish Login & Users · 8K+ 11.4K → 1.4K -87.4% Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements Blocks · 400K+ 673.2K → 86.2K -87.2% Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order Uncategorized · 500K+ 458.2K → 60.9K -86.7% RS WP Book Showcase – A Complete Book Catalogue & Library System Uncategorized · 1K+ 6.8K → 948 -86.2%How much of the directory is AI now
146
AI-tagged plugins tracked
5.3M+
active installs
4.2%
of all downloads we track
39 mo
median age
Fastest-growing AI plugins
Jotform – AI Chatbot 5K+ +344.4% Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 700+ +299.3% Block AI Crawlers 1K+ +216.9% WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress. Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini & Cursor 3K+ +212.3% GeekyBot — AI Copilot, Chatbot, WooCommerce Lead Gen & Zero-Prompt Content 6K+ +186.5% Link in Bio Creator – Social 2K+ +157.4%
Where there is still room to build
Categories with real download demand per competing plugin, no incumbent owning the room, and mediocre average health. That combination is an opening; a crowded category with a dominant leader is not.
Backup 122.2K downloads / plugin 73 competitors leader holds 30% avg health 79 Security 70.8K downloads / plugin 211 competitors leader holds 23% avg health 71 Performance 44.8K downloads / plugin 275 competitors leader holds 29% avg health 74 Page Builders 44.0K downloads / plugin 450 competitors leader holds 39% avg health 73 Analytics 40.2K downloads / plugin 220 competitors leader holds 39% avg health 70
The competitive landscape
Every tracked category, by monthly download volume. "Consolidated" means one plugin holds 60%+ of a mature category's installs and it isn't growing; a leader in a still-growing category isn't counted.
| Category | Plugins | Downloads · 30d | Per plugin | Leader share | Growth | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page Builders | 450 | 19.8M | 44.0K | 39% | -33.9% | Open |
| SEO | 240 | 15.8M | 65.9K | 51% | -11.4% | Open |
| Security | 211 | 14.9M | 70.8K | 23% | +27.9% | Open |
| eCommerce | 1172 | 14.3M | 12.2K | 33% | +4.9% | Crowded |
| Performance | 275 | 12.3M | 44.8K | 29% | +3.9% | Open |
| Forms | 437 | 11.6M | 26.5K | 41% | -13.6% | Thin |
| Backup | 73 | 8.9M | 122.2K | 30% | +1.4% | Open |
| Analytics | 220 | 8.9M | 40.2K | 39% | -39.7% | Open |
| AI | 130 | 7.1M | 54.7K | 60% | +2.6% | Open |
| Email & Marketing | 301 | 6.8M | 22.4K | 31% | +24.8% | Thin |
| Blocks | 487 | 6.5M | 13.4K | 41% | -37.5% | Crowded |
| Admin & Utilities | 716 | 4.9M | 6.8K | 19% | +6.8% | Crowded |
| Media | 526 | 3.5M | 6.7K | 12% | -7% | Crowded |
| Privacy & Consent | 138 | 3.5M | 25.6K | 18% | -17.5% | Thin |
| Booking & Events | 211 | 3.2M | 15.1K | 27% | +32.3% | Crowded |
| Payments | 216 | 2.5M | 11.6K | 29% | +7.9% | Crowded |
| Social | 221 | 2.5M | 11.1K | 19% | -20.9% | Crowded |
| Chat & Support | 114 | 1.7M | 14.8K | 21% | -25.3% | Crowded |
| Multilingual | 63 | 1.7M | 26.5K | 26% | -23% | Thin |
| Login & Users | 280 | 1.2M | 4.2K | 37% | -15.6% | Crowded |
| Search | 126 | 1.2M | 9.4K | 38% | +32.6% | Crowded |
| Content & Feeds | 200 | 1.2M | 5.9K | 30% | -15.5% | Crowded |
| Membership | 44 | 486.3K | 11.1K | 36% | +19.8% | Crowded |
| Education | 44 | 366.5K | 8.3K | 28% | +19.8% | Crowded |
Breaking out
Crossed into a bigger install band in the last 30 days
JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 2026-06-30 100K+ → 200K+ ووکامرس فارسی 2026-06-19 80K+ → 90K+ Angie – Agentic AI 2026-07-10 80K+ → 90K+ Angie – Agentic AI 2026-06-26 70K+ → 80K+ GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 2026-07-12 70K+ → 80K+ Angie – Agentic AI 2026-06-16 60K+ → 70K+ Reddit for WooCommerce 2026-07-10 60K+ → 70K+ Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 2026-07-12 60K+ → 70K+ Wordfence Login Security 2026-07-11 60K+ → 70K+ FormLayer 2026-07-12 60K+ → 70K+Rotting in place
Big install bases running on code untouched for over two years
Limit Login Attempts 300K+ 3y stale PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ 3y stale Layout Grid Block 200K+ 3y stale WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ 3y stale AddQuicktag 100K+ 5y stale WooSidebars 100K+ 2y stale Easy Google Fonts 100K+ 5y stale BackUpWordPress 90K+ 2y stale Facebook Chat Plugin – Live Chat Plugin for WordPress 80K+ 4y stale PHP Code Widget 80K+ 4y staleBuilt from Plugin Pulse's own daily crawl of the top 9,874 plugins. Momentum figures compare 30-day download totals between the two dates above. Plugins carrying an integrity flag are excluded from the winners board, since manufactured installs are not growth. How this works.