Is the WordPress Plugin Market Overcrowded in 2025?

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So you're thinking about building a WordPress plugin. Smart move, or is it? With over 70,000 plugins already out there and more coming every week, you're probably wondering if there's still room for you.

Let's cut through the noise and look at what's really happening in the WordPress Plugin Market right now.

We'll dig into actual data, not just opinions, to help you figure out if this is still a game worth playing.

And if you want an even deeper analysis of specific plugin categories and opportunities, check out our market clarity reports that get updated regularly with the latest market signals.

What Do People Say About the WordPress Plugin Market Online?

We constantly monitor what developers and entrepreneurs are saying across forums, Reddit, and Stack Overflow to gather real-world signals, something we do extensively for our market clarity reports.

Here's what the community is actually saying about whether the WordPress plugin market is too crowded:

• "The market is saturated but money can still be made" (extremely common opinion)

  The overwhelming consensus is that both the theme and plugin markets are saturated compared to the early days (2008-2010), but successful businesses can still be built by doing something different and better than what has come before. Many developers point out that heavy competition actually indicates money to be made in the space.

  Sources: Post Status, Scott Bolinger, IndieHackers, Hacker News
• "Marketing and branding matter more than coding now" (very common opinion)

  Many successful WordPress companies struggle with marketing, leaving opportunities for those with strong marketing skills even if their technical abilities are average. Developers argue that the #1 priority should be brand/awareness over coding, with some building awareness for 8 months before writing any code.

  Sources: Scott Bolinger, CM Minds, IndieHackers, Post Status
• "WordPress developers are oversupplied but quality ones are scarce" (very common opinion)

  Stack Overflow data shows WordPress is among the oversaturated fields with a surplus of developers relative to available positions. However, many note this includes people who self-identify as "developers" but are actually in the "site builder" segment without real coding skills.

  Sources: WP Tavern, Quora, Stack Overflow, Hacker News
• "Every plugin category already has dominant players" (common opinion)

  Product categories like backups, security, SEO, themes, page builders, forms, caching, and lead generation all have stiff competition with at least one dominant player and many new entrants at their heels. Pretty much everything you Google for WordPress will get you a list of 10+ plugins.

  Sources: Post Status, Quora, IndieHackers, Scott Bolinger
• "Opportunities exist in solving specific problems for niches" (common opinion)

  Successful developers report finding opportunities by scratching their own itch and building mini-ecosystems around specific problems. The elearning market alone is close to $300 billion where they only need a small piece, and some developers find success by being the first and only product in very specific niches.

  Sources: IndieHackers, IndieHackers, IndieHackers, IndieHackers
• "The barrier to entry has risen significantly" (somewhat common opinion)

  Companies may need to go for a year or two without making money while cranking out code and marketing, with content strategies taking six months to see solid organic traffic. The WordPress directory's newer search algorithms favor entrenched plugins, and what used to be a developer trying to figure out how to grow a company is now competing against established businesses with resources.

  Sources: Post Status, IndieHackers, Scott Bolinger, IndieHackers

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How Many WordPress Plugins Are There Today?

Right now, at the end of 2025, the WordPress Plugin Directory contains over 60,000 free plugins, with the total number of plugins (including third-party marketplaces) likely exceeding 70,000.

This represents massive growth from just five years ago. Back in 2020, there were only 38,896 active plugins (excluding those not updated in 5+ years), with a total of about 58,000 in the directory.

Between April 2016 and April 2019, there were 18,262 plugins published, averaging approximately 17 new plugins per week. While the growth rate has slowed compared to earlier years, the ecosystem continues expanding steadily.

The average WordPress site now runs 15-20 plugins, with approximately 246 million active installations across all plugins combined.

How Many New WordPress Plugins Are Added Every Week?

The WordPress plugin ecosystem is still adding new entries, though at a more measured pace than during its explosive growth years.

Currently, approximately 17 new plugins per week are being published to the WordPress Plugin Directory. This rate has remained relatively stable over recent years, down from the peak growth periods of the early 2010s.

Plugin submissions have grown by 87% compared to last year according to WordPress.org, with AI-related submissions having doubled in 2025. The categories seeing the most growth are Chatbots, Content Generators, and SEO tools.

This steady influx means developers face not just existing competition but also new entrants constantly joining the market.

What Is the Percentage of WordPress Plugins That Fail?

The failure rate for WordPress plugins is sobering, with 57% of all plugins never receiving any ratings or reviews.

Only 30 plugins published in the last three years have achieved 100,000+ installations, highlighting how difficult it is to gain significant traction. Around 30% of security vulnerabilities reported in plugins won't get patched, and 15.7% of all vulnerable plugins are completely removed from the repository due to abandonment.

Plugins lacking updates for over six months often see a sharp decline in active installations, dropping up to 25%. Additionally, 40% of plugin failures stem from conflicts with core updates or other extensions, and plugins causing significant slowdowns can lead to a 30% drop in web traffic.

Yes, it's becoming increasingly difficult to succeed with new WordPress plugins given the market saturation, dominant players, low adoption rates, and the continuous maintenance burden required.

Is WordPress Still Growing in Terms of Traffic?

WordPress continues to dominate and grow, with 43.4% of all websites globally using WordPress as of September 2025.

This represents growth from 39% in 2021 to 43.7% in 2024, showing a remarkable 17.4% increase in website usage over just a decade. Over 564 million websites now use WordPress, with more than 500 sites built daily on the platform.

Monthly traffic is massive, with 409 million people viewing over 20 billion WordPress pages. The keyword "WordPress" itself is searched 2.4-2.6 million times globally each month.

WordPress powers 26.3% of the top 1 million websites globally as of 2025, and is growing faster than competitors; while Shopify grew from 0.1% to 4.6% market share, WordPress's growth has been much more substantial.

Which WordPress Plugin Categories Are Overcrowded?

Some plugin categories are absolutely saturated, making it nearly impossible for new entrants to gain traction. Here's our analysis of the most overcrowded segments:

Category	Overcrowding Score	Why This Score
SEO Plugins	95/100	The market has 11 plugins with over 5 million active installations. Yoast SEO leads with over 10 million installations, Rank Math has 10+ million, and AIOSEO gets 6.14 million visits. New entrants face established players with years of development and thousands of 5-star reviews.
Contact Form Plugins	90/100	WPForms alone has over 6 million websites using it, Contact Form 7 has been around since 2007. The market is saturated with Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, and dozens of alternatives all offering similar drag-and-drop functionality.
Security Plugins	85/100	Wordfence protects over 4 million websites, while Sucuri, Jetpack Security, Solid Security, and Shield Security compete for the same market. Most offer identical features: malware scanning, firewall, login protection, making differentiation nearly impossible.
Page Builders	85/100	Elementor has 10+ million active installations and dominates mindshare. Divi Builder, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, and Visual Composer have loyal user bases. The technical complexity and ecosystem requirements create insurmountable barriers for newcomers.
Backup Plugins	80/100	The backup plugin market is heavily saturated with established players offering similar features at various price points. Users rarely switch backup solutions once they find one that works, creating high customer retention for incumbents.
Social Media Plugins	75/100	The social media plugin space is crowded with Smash Balloon, Monarch, Social Snap, and numerous others offering social sharing and feed integration. Most functionality is commoditized and platforms' API changes make maintenance costly.

In our market clarity reports, you'll always find a sharp analysis of your competitors.

Which WordPress Plugin Categories Are Still Underserved?

While many categories are saturated, there are still significant gaps where merchant needs aren't being fully met. We analyze these opportunities more deeply with full data backing in our market clarity reports.

Category	What's Still Missing
AI-Powered Accessibility Tools	Most WordPress accessibility plugins only cover 20% of WCAG requirements. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) enforcement in June 2025, there's urgent need for comprehensive WCAG 2.2 compliance tools, real-time accessibility monitoring, and automated testing during development.
Privacy & Compliance Management	The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) requires compliance by 2026. WordPress needs CRA compliance automation tools, GDPR management beyond basic cookie consent, data residency management, and automated compliance reporting that most current plugins don't offer.
Advanced Vulnerability Management	In 2024, 33% of vulnerabilities weren't fixed in time for public disclosure. Needs include real-time vulnerability patching solutions, abandoned plugin detection and replacement tools, and supply chain security monitoring beyond basic malware scanning.
Performance & Sustainability	Carbon footprint tracking for websites, green hosting optimization, advanced Core Web Vitals optimization, and server resource efficiency tools are largely missing from the ecosystem despite growing environmental concerns.
Headless WordPress Support	The headless WordPress architecture is growing but tooling is limited. Missing are GraphQL optimization tools, API management solutions, frontend framework integrations, and static site generation helpers.
Industry-Specific AI Solutions	While AI plugins are growing (submissions doubled in 2025), there are gaps in healthcare, legal, and education verticals. AI-enhanced performance optimization and industry-specific AI solutions remain underserved.
B2B-Specific Tools	Advanced booking systems for specific industries, subscription management beyond basic membership, multi-vendor marketplace solutions, and B2B-specific e-commerce features are still lacking despite WooCommerce's 33.85% e-commerce market share.

What Are the New WordPress User Needs in 2025?

The WordPress landscape keeps shifting, creating new pain points that existing plugins haven't solved yet. Here are the most pressing needs users face right now:

• Slow performance from plugin and theme bloat

  WordPress sites become increasingly slow due to excessive plugins, with users struggling as the accumulation of CSS, JavaScript, and database queries creates a sluggish experience. Even with optimization efforts, this is particularly frustrating for non-technical users who don't understand why their site keeps getting slower despite following "best practices."

  Sources: WordPress.org, WordPress.org, Quora, IndieHackers
• Block Editor (Gutenberg) disrupts writing workflow

  Writers and bloggers find Gutenberg frustrating as simple tasks like inserting images, formatting text, or copying content from external sources have become needlessly complex. The editor treats writing and layout design as the same task, failing at both for many users who just want to create content efficiently.

  Sources: WordPress.com, GitHub, WordPress.org, Hacker News
• Plugin conflicts causing unexpected site failures

  With the average WordPress site running 15-20 plugins, users frequently experience conflicts that break functionality or cause the "white screen of death." These conflicts often appear after updates with no clear indication of which plugin is causing the problem, requiring time-consuming troubleshooting that frustrates site owners.

  Sources: WordPress.org, Stack Overflow, WordPress Stack Exchange, Servebolt
• Security vulnerabilities requiring constant vigilance

  WordPress's popularity makes it a prime target for hackers, with users expressing exhaustion from the continuous cycle of security patches. The fear of being hacked competes with the fear of updates breaking their site, creating a no-win situation where 92% of WordPress vulnerabilities stem from outdated plugins.

  Sources: Quora, Quora, Quora, IndieHackers
• Updates frequently breaking existing functionality

  About 30% of users experience complications after updating their site, with updates to WordPress core, themes, or plugins unexpectedly breaking layouts or functionality. This creates a damaging cycle where users avoid updates (creating security risks) or update and risk breaking their site, making maintenance a constant source of anxiety.

  Sources: WordPress.org, Quora, WordPress.org, AfterActive
• Hosting and resource management complexity

  Many WordPress users on budget hosting face constant resource limitations, slow server response times, and poor performance during traffic spikes. The gap between what WordPress needs to run well and what affordable hosting provides creates frustration, especially for small businesses and bloggers who can't afford premium hosting solutions.

  Sources: IndieHackers, IndieHackers, IndieHackers, ThemeIsle
• Technical maintenance overwhelming non-technical users

  Tasks like optimizing databases, configuring caching, managing PHP versions, and troubleshooting plugin conflicts require technical knowledge that most small business owners don't have. This creates dependence on expensive developers or agencies for basic maintenance, with what seems simple to developers being overwhelming for regular users.

  Sources: WP Tavern, IndieHackers, ManageWP, WordPress.org

Our market clarity reports contain between 100 and 300 insights about your market.

Is It Worth Entering the WordPress Plugin Market Then?

The WordPress plugin market is simultaneously oversaturated and full of opportunity, depending on your approach.

If you're planning to build another SEO tool or contact form plugin, you'll face 11 established competitors with millions of installations each. But if you're targeting underserved niches like AI-powered accessibility tools or compliance automation for the 2026 CRA requirements, you can still build a profitable business.

Success requires a serious business mindset and realistic expectations, including $5,000-10,000 minimum for development and initial marketing, plus 12-24 months before reaching break-even. The days of uploading a simple plugin and watching passive income roll in are over; 57% of plugins never receive a single review, and only 30 plugins published in the last three years have achieved 100,000+ installations.

The market dynamics favor those who combine marketing skills with technical ability.

As developers repeatedly emphasize, marketing and branding now matter more than coding quality alone. You need to build an audience before launching, solve a specific problem for a targeted niche, and deliver continuous value through a subscription model that generates $10,000-100,000+ monthly for successful plugins.

WordPress itself continues growing with 43.4% of all websites using the platform and 500+ new sites built daily, ensuring a massive potential customer base.

If you want to know more about whether building a WordPress plugin is worth it financially, read our detailed analysis of WordPress plugin profitability.