WordPress Plugin Developer Leads Scraper

Find plugin companies, solo developers, agencies, and maintainers in the public WordPress.org plugin ecosystem.

This Apify Actor extracts plugin metadata from WordPress.org, turns it into prospecting-ready lead records, and can optionally enrich public vendor homepages for emails and social links.

Use it for partnership outreach, agency prospecting, WordPress tooling sales, security research, hosting/vendor intelligence, and ecosystem monitoring.

---

What does WordPress Plugin Developer Leads Scraper do?

The actor collects public plugin records from the WordPress.org Plugin Directory.

It can:

• 🔎 Search plugins by keyword
• 📂 Browse popular plugins
• 🆕 Browse new plugins
• ♻️ Browse recently updated plugins
• 🎯 Target exact plugin slugs or URLs
• ✉️ Optionally scan public homepages for contact signals
• ⭐ Score each plugin lead by install base, contactability, support activity, and ratings

---

Who is it for?

This scraper is built for teams that sell, partner, or research inside the WordPress ecosystem.

• 🧑‍💼 Agencies finding plugin developers for partnerships
• 🛡️ Security vendors mapping plugin authors and maintenance signals
• ☁️ Hosting companies prospecting high-install plugin vendors
• 🧰 SaaS teams selling developer tools to WordPress plugin makers
• 📈 Market researchers tracking plugin categories and install traction
• 🤝 BD teams building lists of WordPress ecosystem companies

---

Why use it?

WordPress.org exposes tens of thousands of public plugin records, but the directory is designed for browsing, not structured lead generation.

This actor converts those records into a clean dataset with URLs, install signals, ratings, support activity, vendor homepages, optional public emails, social links, and a lead score.

---

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
pluginSlug	WordPress.org plugin slug
pluginName	Public plugin name
pluginUrl	WordPress.org plugin page
shortDescription	Short plugin summary
author	Public author text
authorProfileUrl	WordPress.org author profile
homepageUrl	Plugin/vendor homepage
activeInstalls	Active install count reported by WordPress.org
downloaded	Download count when available
ratingStars	Rating converted to 0-5 stars
ratingCount	Number of ratings
version	Current plugin version
lastUpdated	Last update date
testedWordPress	Tested WordPress version
tags	Public plugin tags
supportThreads	Support thread count
supportResolutionRate	Resolved support share
publicEmails	Optional public emails from enrichment
socialLinks	Optional public social/profile links
leadScore	0-100 lead score
leadReason	Explanation for the score

---

How much does it cost to scrape WordPress plugin developer leads?

The default pricing target is pay per result.

Core WordPress.org plugin records are designed to be inexpensive because they use a public JSON API and do not require a browser.

Homepage enrichment makes extra third-party requests, so runs with enrichment enabled may cost more compute time and should use smaller test batches first.

---

Input options

Search term

Use searchTerm with Browse mode set to search.

Example:

{
  "browseMode": "search",
  "searchTerm": "seo",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Browse mode

Choose one of:

• popular
• new
• updated
• search

Maximum plugins

Set maxResults to control dataset size.

Start small for testing, then increase when the output matches your workflow.

Direct plugin targeting

Use pluginSlugs or pluginUrls when you already know the plugins to inspect.

{
  "pluginSlugs": ["elementor", "wordpress-seo", "woocommerce"],
  "maxResults": 3
}

Contact enrichment

Set enrichHomepages to true to scan public plugin homepages and WordPress.org author profiles for emails and social links.

This is best-effort. The actor skips pages that are blocked, private, non-HTML, or too slow.

---

Output example

{
  "pluginSlug": "elementor",
  "pluginName": "Elementor Website Builder",
  "pluginUrl": "https://wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/",
  "author": "Elementor.com",
  "homepageUrl": "https://elementor.com/",
  "activeInstalls": 10000000,
  "ratingStars": 4.6,
  "ratingCount": 7000,
  "version": "3.x",
  "testedWordPress": "6.x",
  "publicEmails": [],
  "socialLinks": [],
  "leadScore": 75,
  "leadReason": "large install base; many ratings; public vendor homepage"
}

---

How to scrape popular WordPress plugins

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Set Browse mode to popular.
3. Set Maximum plugins to the number you need.
4. Leave enrichment off for the fastest run.
5. Start the actor.
6. Export the dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or via API.

---

How to find plugin vendors by keyword

1. Set Browse mode to search.
2. Enter a keyword such as seo, security, forms, backup, or woocommerce.
3. Choose the maximum number of plugin leads.
4. Enable support stats if you want maintenance signals.
5. Enable enrichment only if you need public emails/social links.

---

Tips for better results

• Use specific keywords for niche vendor lists.
• Use popular to find mature commercial plugin companies.
• Use updated to find active maintainers.
• Use exact slugs when refreshing a known account list.
• Keep enrichment off for bulk ecosystem monitoring.
• Turn enrichment on for smaller outbound prospecting lists.

---

Integrations

You can connect results to:

• CRM lead import workflows
• Google Sheets monitoring dashboards
• HubSpot or Salesforce enrichment pipelines
• Clay or Airtable prospecting tables
• Security/vendor intelligence databases
• Slack alerts for newly updated plugins

---

API usage

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper').call({
  browseMode: 'search',
  searchTerm: 'seo',
  maxResults: 25,
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('MY-APIFY-TOKEN')
run = client.actor('automation-lab/wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper').call(run_input={
    'browseMode': 'popular',
    'maxResults': 25,
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper/runs?token=MY-APIFY-TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"browseMode":"updated","maxResults":25}'

---

MCP usage

Use this actor from Claude Desktop or Claude Code through Apify MCP.

MCP tool URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add apify-wordpress-plugin-leads https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper

Claude Desktop JSON config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-wordpress-plugin-leads": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/wordpress-plugin-developer-leads-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• “Find 50 popular WordPress security plugin vendors and rank them by lead score.”
• “Search WordPress plugins for backup tools and return vendor homepages.”
• “Monitor recently updated WordPress plugins and summarize high-install vendors.”

---

Data quality notes

The core dataset comes from WordPress.org public API responses.

Homepage enrichment is best-effort because each plugin can link to a different third-party website with different blocking, redirects, markup, or contact policy.

The actor does not log in, bypass CAPTCHAs, or access private pages.

---

Legality

This actor extracts public information from WordPress.org and optional public websites linked from plugin records.

You are responsible for using the data in compliance with applicable laws, website terms, and outreach regulations such as CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and PECR.

Avoid sending unsolicited bulk messages without a lawful basis.

---

FAQ

Does it need a WordPress.org account?

No. The core plugin data is public.

Does it scrape private emails?

No. Optional enrichment only extracts emails visible in public HTML.

Why did enrichment return no emails?

Many vendors use contact forms, image obfuscation, or no public email. The actor still returns homepage and social links when found.

Why are active installs rounded?

WordPress.org reports install counts as public directory signals, often rounded into bands.

Can I scrape all plugins?

Yes, but start with smaller batches and scale gradually. The public directory has a large number of records.

---

Related scrapers

Explore related Apify actors by automation-lab:

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/google-maps-lead-finder
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/website-contact-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/technology-lookup-scraper

---

Changelog

0.1

Initial version with WordPress.org plugin search, browse modes, exact slug/URL targeting, support signals, optional homepage contact enrichment, and lead scoring.

---

Support

If a run does not return expected data, check:

• Browse mode and search term
• Maximum plugins limit
• Whether exact plugin slugs are valid
• Whether enrichment is enabled for contact fields
• The run log for skipped third-party pages

---

Responsible use

Use this actor to understand and contact organizations responsibly.

Respect opt-outs.

Do not overload third-party plugin homepages.

Keep enrichment batches reasonable.

---

Export formats

Apify datasets can be exported as:

• JSON
• CSV
• Excel
• XML
• RSS
• HTML table

---

Operational notes

Core scraping is HTTP-only and uses the WordPress.org JSON API.

No browser automation is required.

No proxy is configured by default.

This keeps runs fast and cost-efficient.