WordPress Plugin Intel: Abandoned Risk, Growth & Change Alerts

Get WordPress.org plugin data you can act on: active installs, ratings, support resolution, update recency, WordPress compatibility and download trends, from the official WordPress.org plugin API. Every plugin gets an abandoned-risk score and a growth signal, each with plain-language reasons. Closed plugins are flagged with their closure date and reason. Turn on only changes and schedule it to get alerts when a competitor ships a version, gains installs or loses rating.

• Look up plugins by slug or URL, search the directory, list a tag, list an author account's plugins, or browse popular, new and recently updated plugins
• Full plugin facts: installs, rating and 1–5 star distribution, support threads resolved, last updated, added, tested-up-to vs the current WordPress version, required PHP and WordPress, total downloads, version, tags, contributors (WordPress.org usernames), homepage, paid/pro version where the plugin states one
• Download trend from WordPress.org's official stats: 7- and 30-day downloads and the change in median daily downloads
• abandonedRisk (0–100 + reasons): not updated for years, not tested with recent WordPress, unanswered support threads, closed
• growthSignal: growing, stable, declining or new, with the numbers behind it
• Monitor mode: remembers plugins between runs and outputs only what changed (version, installs, rating, number of ratings, tested-up-to), new plugins in your searches, and plugins that were closed

Price: $0.003 per plugin ($3 per 1,000). Slugs that don't exist are listed free. The prefilled example (5 slugs + one search, 15 plugins) finishes in about 10 seconds.

Use this when…

• you're a plugin developer tracking competitors: watch their versions, installs, ratings and WordPress compatibility, with a weekly "what changed" list
• you're an agency vetting plugins before putting them on client sites: is it maintained, tested with current WordPress, answering support, closed for a security issue?
• you're buying abandoned plugins: find plugins with many installs that haven't been updated in years (filter on abandonedRisk.score and activeInstalls)
• you run WordPress hosting or security: check the plugins your customers use for closures, stale compatibility and dead support
• you want market research on a plugin niche (forms, backup, SEO…): who leads, who's growing, who's fading

How to use it

1. Add plugin slugs (e.g. contact-form-7, or paste the plugin URL), and/or search terms, tags, authors (WordPress.org usernames such as automattic) or a browse list.
2. Set Max plugins per search (default 10, up to 1,000 per search, tag, author or list).
3. Optional filters for searches: Minimum active installs and Minimum abandoned-risk score. Slugs you list are always output.
4. For alerts: turn on Only changes, give the watch list a Monitor ID, and schedule the run. The first run is a baseline and outputs everything.

Recipe: abandoned plugins worth acquiring. Browse popular with Max plugins 1,000 and Minimum abandoned-risk score 60, and set Download history to 0 for speed. In our test (November 2026), this returned 39 plugins from the 1,000 most popular in about 6 seconds, each with 30,000+ active installs. Add Minimum active installs to narrow it down.

Recipe: competitor watch. Your competitors' slugs plus your niche's search term, Only changes on, Monitor ID competitors, scheduled weekly. Each run lists version bumps, install-bracket moves, rating changes and new plugins in your niche.

Output

One record per plugin. Real examples from a run with the prefilled input:

{
  "slug": "backuply",
  "name": "Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone",
  "url": "https://wordpress.org/plugins/backuply/",
  "status": "open",
  "closedOrRemoved": false,
  "version": "1.6.0",
  "activeInstalls": 600000,
  "downloaded": 7607723,
  "rating": 90,
  "ratingStars": 4.5,
  "numRatings": 135,
  "ratingDistribution": { "1": 13, "2": 3, "3": 0, "4": 1, "5": 118 },
  "supportThreads": 3,
  "supportThreadsResolved": 3,
  "supportResolvedPct": 100,
  "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22T13:19:00Z",
  "daysSinceUpdate": 21,
  "added": "2022-07-22",
  "testedUpTo": "7.1.4",
  "currentWpVersion": "7.1.4",
  "testedMajorsBehind": 0,
  "requiresWp": "4.7",
  "requiresPhp": "5.5",
  "requiresPlugins": [],
  "tags": ["backup", "cloud-backup", "database-backup", "restore", "wordpress-backup"],
  "authorUsername": "softaculous",
  "contributors": ["softaculous", "backuply"],
  "homepage": "http://wordpress.org/plugins/backuply/",
  "supportUrl": "https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/backuply/",
  "businessModel": null,
  "hasPaidVersion": true,
  "paidVersionBasis": "Description mentions \"Premium Features\"",
  "commercialSupportUrl": null,
  "shortDescription": "Backup, restores, and migration with Backuply are fairly simple with a wide range of storage options from Local Backups, FTP to cloud options like AWS …",
  "downloadsLast7Days": 14900,
  "downloadsLast30Days": 197730,
  "medianDailyDownloads": 2853,
  "downloadsTrendPct": -27.2,
  "abandonedRisk": { "score": 0, "level": "low", "reasons": [] },
  "growthSignal": {
    "label": "declining",
    "downloadsTrendPct": -27.2,
    "reasons": [
      "Median daily downloads, last 28 days: 2,852.5 vs 3,918.5 the 28 days before (-27.2%)",
      "Downloads include updates by existing sites, so this tracks activity of the install base as well as new installs"
    ]
  },
  "foundBy": ["search:backup"],
  "checkedAt": "2026-11-13T00:48:49.970Z"
}

An abandoned plugin from the same run (some fields left out here):

{
  "slug": "limit-login-attempts",
  "name": "Limit Login Attempts",
  "status": "open",
  "version": "1.7.2",
  "activeInstalls": 200000,
  "ratingStars": 4.6,
  "numRatings": 202,
  "lastUpdated": "2023-04-04T19:15:00Z",
  "daysSinceUpdate": 1318,
  "testedUpTo": "6.2.15",
  "currentWpVersion": "7.1.4",
  "testedMajorsBehind": 9,
  "hasPaidVersion": null,
  "medianDailyDownloads": 266,
  "abandonedRisk": {
    "score": 70,
    "level": "high",
    "reasons": [
      "Not updated for 3+ years (last update 2023-04-04)",
      "Tested up to WordPress 6.2.15, 9 major releases behind 7.1.4"
    ]
  }
}

A closed plugin from the same run:

{
  "slug": "display-widgets",
  "name": "Display Widgets",
  "url": "https://wordpress.org/plugins/display-widgets/",
  "status": "closed",
  "closedOrRemoved": true,
  "closedDate": "2021-01-30",
  "closedReason": "security-issue",
  "closedReasonText": "Security Issue",
  "closedNote": "This plugin has been closed as of January 30, 2021 and is not available for download. This closure is permanent. Reason: Security Issue.",
  "downloadsLast7Days": 65,
  "downloadsLast30Days": 225,
  "abandonedRisk": { "score": 100, "level": "high", "reasons": ["Closed on WordPress.org on 2021-01-30 (Security Issue)"] },
  "growthSignal": { "label": "closed", "downloadsTrendPct": null, "reasons": ["Closed on WordPress.org: not available for new installs"] },
  "foundBy": ["slug"],
  "checkedAt": "2026-11-13T00:48:49.970Z"
}

Field notes

• activeInstalls is WordPress.org's rounded bracket: 200000 means "200,000+".
• rating is 0–100 as the API gives it; ratingStars is the same on a 0–5 scale.
• supportThreads and supportThreadsResolved cover the last two months, as on the plugin's page.
• testedMajorsBehind: how many major WordPress releases (6.9 → 7.0 → 7.1…) separate the plugin's "tested up to" from the current version, read live from WordPress.org's version check. WordPress.org shows its own warning at 3.
• hasPaidVersion is true only where the plugin states it: marked commercial on WordPress.org, a commercial support link, or its description mentions a Pro/Premium version or plan (paidVersionBasis says which). null means "not stated", not "no".
• status: open, closed (with closedDate, closedReason, closedReasonText) or not_found (unknown or removed slug; listed free).
• foundBy: which input found the plugin (slug, search:backup, tag:seo, author:automattic, browse:popular).
• With a Monitor ID: changeType is NEW, CHANGED, CLOSED, REOPENED or REMOVED, and changes lists { field, from, to }.
• downloadsDaily (day-by-day counts) is added when Include the daily download series is on.

Scores

• abandonedRisk.score: not updated for 2+ years 45 points (1+ year 25, 6+ months 10); tested 3+ major releases behind 25 (no "tested up to" 10); support with 10+ threads and none resolved 20 (3+ threads, under 30% resolved 15); median downloads falling 20%+ while not updated for a year 10. Capped at 99; 100 means closed. Level: high 60+, medium 30+, low below.
• growthSignal: change in median daily downloads, last 28 days vs the 28 days before: +20% or more growing, −20% or less declining, otherwise stable. Medians are used because each release causes a few days of update downloads that would swamp a plain sum. Plugins added in the last 180 days without enough history are new, and others without enough history are unknown.

A run summary (current WordPress version, each query's status, not-found slugs, closed plugins, time) is saved as OUTPUT in the run's key-value store.

Pricing

• $0.003 per plugin in the results (open or closed)
• Slugs that WordPress.org doesn't know are listed free
• In monitor mode you pay only for the plugins output (the changes), not for every plugin checked

Data sources

Source	What we use	Access
WordPress.org Plugin API api.wordpress.org/plugins/info/1.2/	plugin_information (one plugin) and query_plugins (search, tag, author, browse)	Official public API, listed in the WordPress.org API documentation; no key or login. It's the same API every WordPress site uses for its plugin screens.
WordPress.org stats API api.wordpress.org/stats/plugin/1.0/downloads.php	Daily downloads per plugin	Official, listed in the same documentation; no key
WordPress.org version check api.wordpress.org/core/version-check/1.7/	The current WordPress version	Official, listed in the same documentation; no key

Undocumented endpoints: none. The Codex page lists all three endpoints. Two details come from the API's own responses rather than from written docs: the fields[…] switches used to leave out heavy fields, and the closed-plugin answer (HTTP 404 with closed: true).

Data handling and politeness

• Only public WordPress.org directory data. No login, no CAPTCHA, no website scraping.
• Requests are paced (about 3 a second at most), run 2 at a time, and back off on errors (Retry-After respected). Heavy fields (screenshots, banners, version lists) are switched off.
• People: contributors and authors are output as WordPress.org usernames only. Display names, avatars, reviews and reviewer names from the API are never output. It's meant for researching plugins and the companies or developers behind them, not for profiling people.

Limitations

• Installs are WordPress.org's rounded brackets, so small changes don't show until a plugin crosses a bracket.
• Downloads include automatic updates by existing sites, so the trend reflects install-base activity, not only new installs.
• Support figures cover only the last two months of the WordPress.org forum. Plugins supported elsewhere can look quiet.
• hasPaidVersion relies on what the plugin states on WordPress.org. Many plugins sell a Pro version without saying so there.
• Only plugins hosted on WordPress.org (not commercial-only plugins).
• Searches follow WordPress.org's own relevance order. The API returns at most 100 per page, and this tool reads at most 1,000 per query. Max plugins per search counts plugins before the install and risk filters.

Feedback

Missing a field or a plugin directory feature? Open an issue on the Issues tab.