If you have been following the ManageWP blog for any length of time, you will have probably gathered that we are big supporters of theme and plugin developers of all shapes and sizes. But the fine folks who develop the kind of functionality that makes WordPress what it is often do not get enough recognition. This is especially true when it comes to free plugin developers. If you speak to any free plugin developer he or she will tell you that many users seem to have an attitude of entitlement when it comes to support – as if they had actually paid for the plugin. Of course, not all of us are like this. And with ManageWP users being a savvy bunch, I’m sure that you are far more likely to praise a plugin or theme developer than harass one. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be nice to take a moment today to show your appreciation to one or more of the huge number of free plugin developers out there who are working hard to keep WordPress on top of its game?
How this Works
We’ve spent rather a lot of time gathering and sorting data for the top 100 WordPress plugin developers, based upon total number of downloads. Unless you are brand new to WordPress, it is likely that you use at least one plugin created by the developers below. All you need to do is pick out one (or more) of your favorite developers, and take a moment to thank them. We’ve collected all of the Twitter accounts we could find, but we are sure you can find other ways of getting in touch if your chosen developer doesn’t have an account listed. Firing off a quick tweet to thank a developer for developing great free products will only take a moment, so why not do it? Furthermore, if you’re on the hunt for plugins to check out, you will find a comprehensive list below of the most popular plugins available for WordPress. Just remember to thank the developer if you start using one!
The List
| Rank |
Developer |
Downloads |
Most Popular Plugin |
Plugins |
|
| 1 |
Matt Mullenweg |
11,260,094 |
Akismet |
16 |
Twitter |
| 2 |
Michael Torbert |
11,241,563 |
All in One SEO Pack |
9 |
Twitter |
| 3 |
Takayuki Miyoshi |
8,096,475 |
Contact Form 7 |
8 |
Twitter |
| 4 |
Arne Brachhold |
7,841,342 |
Google XML Sitemaps |
4 |
|
| 5 |
Lester Chan |
7,201,064 |
WP-PageNavi |
18 |
Twitter |
| 6 |
Joost de Valk |
5,679,395 |
WordPress SEO |
29 |
Twitter |
| 7 |
Alex Rabe |
5,611,442 |
wordTube |
4 |
|
| 8 |
Mike Challis |
4,432,175 |
Fast Secure Contact Form |
3 |
Twitter |
| 9 |
Donncha O Caoimh |
3,867,013 |
WP Super Cache |
13 |
Twitter |
| 10 |
BraveNewCode Inc. |
3,710,984 |
WPtouch |
5 |
Twitter |
| 11 |
Vladimir Prelovac |
3,484,804 |
Smart YouTube PRO |
25 |
Twitter |
| 12 |
Brian Colinger |
3,345,349 |
WordPress.com Custom CSS |
17 |
Twitter |
| 13 |
Andy Skelton |
3,000,062 |
WordPress.com Stats |
5 |
|
| 14 |
Alex King |
2,690,825 |
ShareThis |
33 |
Twitter |
| 15 |
Michael D. Adams |
2,398,238 |
No Self Pings |
13 |
Twitter |
| 16 |
micropat |
2,287,399 |
Share Buttons |
1 |
Twitter |
| 17 |
John Godley |
2,190,101 |
Gravatar Widget |
22 |
Twitter |
| 18 |
Alex Mills |
2,021,868 |
Wphone |
37 |
Twitter |
| 19 |
Frank Bültge |
1,997,360 |
FeedStats |
36 |
Twitter |
| 20 |
Mufasa |
1,981,275 |
WordPress Wiki |
10 |
|
| 21 |
Ronald Heft |
1,931,038 |
Google Analyticator |
5 |
Twitter |
| 22 |
Andrew Ozz |
1,756,151 |
TinyMCE Advanced |
5 |
Twitter |
| 23 |
Mitcho |
1,667,339 |
Markdown |
22 |
Twitter |
| 24 |
Blogplay |
1,640,664 |
Sociable |
1 |
Twitter |
| 25 |
Shareaholic |
1,595,536 |
SexyBookmarks |
3 |
Twitter |
| 26 |
Janis Elsts |
1,594,898 |
Broken Link Checker |
9 |
Twitter |
| 27 |
Owen Winkler |
1,372,109 |
Geo Plugin |
5 |
Twitter |
| 28 |
Mark Jaquith |
1,336,252 |
Page Links To |
23 |
Twitter |
| 29 |
BuddyPress |
1,312,937 |
BuddyPress |
7 |
Twitter |
| 30 |
Amaury Balmer |
1,173,462 |
Simple Tags |
15 |
Twitter |
| 31 |
Frederick Townes |
1,167,505 |
W3 Total Cache |
2 |
Twitter |
| 32 |
Milan Petrovic |
1,129,027 |
GD Star Rating |
12 |
Twitter |
| 33 |
Andrew Charlton |
1,089,673 |
My Page Order |
3 |
Twitter |
| 34 |
Joseph Dolson |
1,081,696 |
WP to Twitter |
5 |
Twitter |
| 35 |
WebsiteDefender |
1,071,562 |
WP Security Scan |
6 |
Twitter |
| 36 |
Mike Jolley |
915,209 |
Sidebar Login |
3 |
Twitter |
| 37 |
Marcel Bokhorst |
914,097 |
Add Link to Facebook |
11 |
|
| 38 |
Otto |
892,282 |
Tumblr Importer |
14 |
Twitter |
| 39 |
Ozh |
878,319 |
Admin Drop Down Menu |
23 |
Twitter |
| 40 |
Satollo |
843,916 |
Newsletter |
25 |
|
| 41 |
Simon Wheatley |
840,491 |
Mediaburst |
23 |
Twitter |
| 42 |
weefselkweekje |
825,072 |
Tagnetic Poetry |
4 |
|
| 43 |
Michael Wöhrer |
817,428 |
Maintenance Mode |
7 |
|
| 44 |
Aaron Campbell |
817,341 |
Authenticate |
22 |
|
| 45 |
The AddThis Team |
816,695 |
AddThis |
1 |
|
| 46 |
Matthew Robinson |
802,175 |
Subscribe2 |
3 |
|
| 47 |
Dan Kuykendall |
793,616 |
podPress |
1 |
|
| 48 |
Gtranslate |
783,667 |
gtrans |
1 |
|
| 49 |
Rajesh |
768,183 |
Platinum SEO Pack |
4 |
Twitter |
| 50 |
Rob Marsh |
760,148 |
Post-Plugin Library |
10 |
|
| 51 |
primothemes |
755,095 |
s2Member® Framework |
7 |
|
| 52 |
NetCrunched |
737,022 |
All in One Webmaster |
6 |
|
| 53 |
Cincopa |
723,244 |
Cincopa |
1 |
|
| 54 |
BestWebSoft |
712,430 |
Captcha |
10 |
Twitter |
| 55 |
Disqus |
710,965 |
Disqus Comment System |
1 |
|
| 56 |
Hiroaki Miyashita |
700,138 |
Lightbox Gallery |
4 |
|
| 57 |
SEO Design Solutions |
690,332 |
SEO Ultimate |
1 |
|
| 58 |
Modern Tribe Inc. |
647,579 |
The Events Calendar |
8 |
Twitter |
| 59 |
Gopi R |
645,900 |
Announcement Ticker Highlighter Scroller |
56 |
Twitter |
| 60 |
TweetMeme |
641,981 |
TweetMeme Button |
2 |
|
| 61 |
Davide Pozza |
632,043 |
Global Translator |
3 |
|
| 62 |
DevPress |
630,577 |
Slideshow |
20 |
|
| 63 |
FlippingBook WP Team |
625,235 |
Page Flip Image Gallery |
1 |
|
| 64 |
John Havlik |
612,720 |
Breadcrumb NavXT |
2 |
Twitter |
| 65 |
Sergej Müller |
606,315 |
AntiVirus |
13 |
|
| 66 |
Blair Williams |
595,312 |
Mingle AWeber Signup |
5 |
Twitter |
| 67 |
Thaya Kareeson |
589,450 |
WP Greet Box |
8 |
Twitter |
| 68 |
Dave Ligthart |
579,810 |
WP-Stats-Dashboard |
9 |
|
| 69 |
Andy Bailey |
574,951 |
CommentLuv |
5 |
|
| 70 |
Charles Johnson |
571,568 |
FeedWordPress |
3 |
|
| 71 |
Xhanch Studio |
569,666 |
My Twitter |
4 |
|
| 72 |
Nathan Rice |
567,898 |
Genesis Simple Hooks |
15 |
Twitter |
| 73 |
Matt Martz & Andy Stratton |
562,301 |
Page Restrict |
20 |
|
| 74 |
Daniel Cameron |
552,865 |
Search Everything |
11 |
Twitter |
| 75 |
Lee Chestnutt |
540,033 |
Slick Social Share Buttons |
10 |
|
| 76 |
Rattus |
531,290 |
GRAND Flash Album Gallery |
1 |
|
| 77 |
Oliver Schlöbe |
527,658 |
Reveal IDs |
12 |
Twitter |
| 78 |
Ricardo González Castro |
524,531 |
Dashboard: Recent Posts Extended |
13 |
Twitter |
| 79 |
Christopher Ross |
521,698 |
HTML5 Search |
32 |
|
| 80 |
Dan Zappone |
512,321 |
Lightbox Plus |
4 |
Twitter |
| 81 |
Luke Howell |
511,440 |
Events Calendar |
4 |
|
| 82 |
Michele Marcucci |
505,858 |
NoFollow Free |
4 |
Twitter |
| 83 |
Qian Qin |
505,088 |
qTranslate |
1 |
|
| 84 |
Nick Momrik |
494,972 |
Most Commented Widget |
15 |
Twitter |
| 85 |
Brian Freytag |
492,407 |
Social Media Widget |
1 |
Twitter |
| 86 |
Martin Laine |
485,092 |
Audio Player |
2 |
|
| 87 |
Buzzinate, Denis |
478,610 |
bShare 分享 |
10 |
|
| 88 |
Daniele Lippi |
473,403 |
StatPress |
2 |
|
| 89 |
wpBurn.com |
465,629 |
WP FollowMe |
1 |
|
| 90 |
Denis de Bernardy |
463,022 |
Dofollow |
18 |
|
| 91 |
Martin Fitzpatrick |
456,122 |
Quick SMS |
9 |
|
| 92 |
Stephanie Wells |
453,495 |
Contact Form 7 Widget |
5 |
Twitter |
| 93 |
Buffer |
451,944 |
Digg Digg |
2 |
|
| 94 |
Scott Reilly |
442,533 |
Configure SMTP |
62 |
Twitter |
| 95 |
Vivek Puri |
438,535 |
LinksAlpha.com |
6 |
|
| 96 |
Tobias Bäthge |
435,482 |
WP-Table Reloaded |
2 |
Twitter |
| 97 |
Purwedi Kurniawan |
431,686 |
SEO SearchTerms Tagging 2 |
5 |
|
| 98 |
Jeff Farthing |
427,376 |
Theme My Login |
4 |
|
| 99 |
Matt Harzewski |
418,716 |
WP125 |
4 |
|
| 100 |
Josh Lobe |
416,108 |
Ultimate TinyMCE |
5 |
|
That’s It!
The above list essentially symbolizes the heart of WordPress development. We hope you have found the time to express your gratitude to those who have helped you build your own blog(s). But what next? Perhaps you would like to join this illustrious group of developers. What better way to show your gratitude to the WordPress community than by contributing to it? Check out our interview with Eric Mann that we published yesterday to see how you can get started!
If you have been following the ManageWP blog for any length of time, you will have probably gathered that we are big supporters of theme and plugin developers of all shapes and sizes. But the fine folks who develop the kind of functionality that makes WordPress what it is often do not get enough recognition. This is especially true when it comes to free plugin developers. If you speak to any free plugin developer he or she will tell you that many users seem to have an attitude of entitlement when it comes to support – as if they had actually paid for the plugin. Of course, not all of us are like this. And with ManageWP users being a savvy bunch, I’m sure that you are far more likely to praise a plugin or theme developer than harass one. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be nice to take a moment today to show your appreciation to one or more of the huge number of free plugin developers out there who are working hard to keep WordPress on top of its game?
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