Plugin profile · observed daily since 02 Aug 2026
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security
Active installs5,000,000+ rounded
Current authorMark Maunder
Owner changesNone while we have been watching
Last release1 month ago 30 Sep 2026
Support155 / 183 resolved, last 2 months
Releases on record303
Rating4.7 /5 · 5,038
Added to directory21 Apr 2012
Requires WP4.7
Requires PHP7.0
Version lag0 up to date
Tested up toWP 7.1.4 up to date
PluginsPedia reports published data and observable changes. It does not rate plugin quality or safety, infer intent, or make recommendations. These are observations rather than a verdict. How this works
Ownership
Held by Mark Maunder throughout, with no change of ownership observed since daily tracking began on 02 Aug 2026.
Full observed history, including every field transition
Committing accounts
Read from the plugin’s public release log, so these predate this registry. A committing account is not an owner. Thirty accounts commit to WooCommerce and it has never changed hands.
| Account | Releases | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| mmaunder | 129 | 21 Apr 2012 | 08 Jun 2015 |
| wfmatt | 48 | 15 Jun 2015 | 27 Jan 2023 |
| wfryan | 98 | 11 Oct 2016 | 13 May 2026 |
| wfalexk | 25 | 10 May 2021 | 25 Aug 2025 |
This registry did not observe a transfer; it read these names off a public log. Whether that reflects a change of ownership is not something the directory publishes.
Adoption
How widely the plugin is installed, and what the people running it think of it. WordPress.org rounds install figures to one significant digit, so they describe an order of magnitude rather than a headcount.
Very widely adopted: 5,000,000+ active installs. In the top tier of the directory by install count.
38,962 downloads a day over the last 7 days, falling 22% against the 7 days before. Downloads are counted exactly and without a ceiling, so they show movement the rounded install figure cannot.
11 Sep 2026peak 2,506,146/day31 Oct 2026
66 ratings left in the last 82 days, averaging 4.9 out of 5 against a lifetime average of 4.7 (1 of them one or two stars). Recent ratings are in line with the lifetime figure.
From recent reviews
What reviewers wrote on wordpress.org between 12 Jul 2026 and 08 Oct 2026: 75 reviews, counted by theme. Every count links to the reviews behind it.
Across the last three months, 14 of 75 reviewers describe Wordfence actively blocking brute force attempts, suspicious logins, or outright hack attempts on their sites. Another 10 of 75 single out the free version itself, calling it generous or fully capable without a paid upgrade. Reviewers running multiple sites show up often too: 8 of 75 mention deploying Wordfence across several properties or for clients. 5 of 75 reviewers call installation or configuration straightforward. A smaller group, 3 of 75, name a specific drawback: mandatory registration, a post-update compatibility error, or an overload of email notifications.
- 14 of 75 mention it blocking attacks, brute-force attempts, or suspicious logins. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
- 10 of 75 praise the free version itself as generous or fully capable. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
- 8 of 75 describe running Wordfence across multiple sites or for clients. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
- 5 of 75 call setup or configuration easy or straightforward. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
- 3 of 75 report a specific drawback, such as forced registration, a post-update error, or heavy email notifications. [1] [2] [3]
Counted from the public review forum on 09 Oct 2026. The reviews are their authors’ own words and their own claims; the counts are ours.
Daily record
Every field we record, one column per observation. Fields that never moved are named once rather than repeated across every column. A row of identical numbers would be padding.
| Field | 18 Oct | 19 Oct | 20 Oct | 21 Oct | 22 Oct | 23 Oct | 24 Oct | 25 Oct | 26 Oct | 27 Oct | 28 Oct | 29 Oct | 30 Oct | 31 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads that day | — | 30,335 | 49,948 | 48,643 | 55,169 | 81,323 | 50,542 | 29,843 | 29,923 | 45,415 | 48,929 | 33,675 | 45,371 | 39,580 |
| Ratings total | 5,025 | 5,025 | 5,027 | 5,028 | 5,030 | 5,031 | 5,034 | 5,034 | 5,034 | 5,036 | 5,036 | 5,038 | 5,038 | 5,038 |
| Support threads | 175 | 175 | 175 | 175 | 175 | 177 | 179 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 173 | 178 | 179 | 183 |
| Threads resolved | 155 | 152 | 151 | 153 | 152 | 150 | 155 | 152 | 152 | 154 | 148 | 148 | 150 | 155 |
Unchanged throughout: active installs (5,000,000+) · version (9.0.2)
91 days of observation, most recent 14 shown.
Maintenance
When it was last released, and how far its declared compatibility has drifted from current WordPress.
Added to directory14 years ago 21 Apr 2012
Requires WP4.7
Requires PHP7.0
Version lagcurrent
Is anyone still maintaining this?
- Last released 30 Sep 2026, 39 days ago.
- Declares compatibility with WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- 155 of 183 support threads answered in the last two months.
- Mark Maunder publishes no other plugin in the directory, so there is no wider activity to compare against.
A plugin that does one thing correctly may need no changes for years; a long gap is not, by itself, evidence of neglect.
History
Everything dated that this registry holds about the plugin, most recent first. Releases carry the author’s own release date; everything else is dated to when it was observed.
Entries marked from the release log predate this registry, and daily observation began 02 Aug 2026. They were read from the plugin’s public SVN history after the fact, not watched as they happened. Everything else was observed directly.
- 30 Sep 20261 month agoVersion 9.0.2 released
- 08 Sep 20262 months agoVersion 9.0.1 released
- 10 Aug 20263 months agoVersion 9.0.0 released
- 02 Aug 20263 months agoFirst observed by PluginsPediaDaily snapshots of this plugin’s directory record begin here. Everything above this line is observed; anything before it comes from fields the API itself reports.
- 13 May 20266 months agoVersion 8.2.2 released
- 06 May 20266 months agoVersion 8.2.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 29 Apr 20266 months agoVersion 8.2.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 20 Dec 202511 months agoVersion 8.1.4 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 03 Dec 202511 months agoVersion 8.1.3 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 12 Nov 202512 months agoVersion 8.1.2 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 05 Nov 202512 months agoVersion 8.1.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 25 Aug 202514 months agoVersion 8.1.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfalexk.
- 08 Apr 202519 months agoVersion 8.0.5 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 19 Mar 202520 months agoVersion 8.0.4 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 15 Jan 202522 months agoVersion 8.0.3 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 02 Jan 202522 months agoVersion 8.0.2 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 14 Nov 20241.5 years agoVersion 8.0.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by wfryan.
- 21 Apr 201214 years ago287 earlier releasesfrom the release logBetween 21 Apr 2012 and 04 Nov 2024. Listed individually in the public release log rather than here.
- 21 Apr 201214 years agoAdded to the WordPress.org directoryReported by the plugin API as the date this plugin was added.
Media coverage
Writing about this plugin elsewhere, collected by this registry. The links go to the sources; what they claim is theirs.
- 10 Aug 2026 · Wordfence Security 9.0.0WordPress.org Plugin Directory
- 10 Aug 2026 · Wordfence Security 9.0.0 changelog: passkey authentication addedWordPress.org Plugin Directory
- 07 Sep 2022 · Wordfence < 7.6.1 – Admin+ Stored Cross-Site Scripting (CVE-2022-3144)WPScan
What we know, and what we don’t
Everything on this page in one place, including the gaps, so that nothing here is mistaken for a clean bill of health.
What we know
- It has been held by Mark Maunder for all 93 days we have observed it.
- It was last released 1 month ago (30 Sep 2026).
- Its author declares it tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- WordPress.org reports 5,000,000+ active installs.
- It carries 5,038 ratings, averaging 4.7 out of 5.
- 155 of 183 support threads in the last two months are marked resolved.
Every record on this site, this one included, works under the same limits. We read what WordPress.org publishes about a plugin, never the plugin’s own code, so nothing here says whether a plugin is well built or safe. Install counts reach us already rounded; a change smaller than a band step doesn’t show. We don’t track security advisories yet. For anything older than our first observation we rely on the plugin’s public release log, where one exists. What this registry can and cannot see
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Reach out about this record
Corrections, missing context, or anything else about Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security: a person reads every submission, and corrections get a reply within 5 business days.