The Plugins Team has opened a call for new contributors and organizational sponsors as it faces a rapid rise in plugin submissions. With plugin submissions increasing sharply and continuing to grow, the team is looking to expand to handle the workload and reduce the review time.
Plugin Submissions Surge in 2026
Francisco Torres noted that the team managed roughly twice as many plugins in 2025 compared to 2024, “ In 2025, we were excited to manage twice as many plugins as in 2024 with approximately the same number of volunteers. This was possible thanks to improved processes and tools, as well as the higher quality of the plugins you submitted.”
He highlighted the continued rise in submissions in 2026, stating, “You’ve quadrupled the number of weekly submissions compared to 2024, and the pace keeps accelerating.” He added that the volume of submissions received in just two days now matches what was submitted in an entire week in 2024.
Torres also stated how weekly submission volumes have increased over time, noting that they previously averaged 100–150 submissions per week, rose to over 300 by the end of 2025, and have exceeded 500 per week by March 2026.
The team had earlier hit a rough patch when Mika Epstein left in 2023 and at one time had 1,260 plugins awaiting review.
Role of AI in Plugin Submissions and Review
David Perez (one of the team reps of Plugins Team) highlighted that last year, new plugin submissions nearly doubled, showing an 87% increase compared to 2024. He noted that part of this growth has been driven by the rising use of AI tools, which are helping developers work faster. Also, last year, the team incorporated AI into the review process to detect duplicates or plugins with similar names.
Earlier this year, on Reddit, there was a discussion centered on AI-curated reviews for plugin submissions. David Perez clarified that reviews are not fully automated. AI-assisted tools are used only during the initial stage to detect issues like duplicate plugin names or potential trademark conflicts, but all plugin reviews are ultimately carried out by human reviewers. This was also highlighted by Perez in the Plugin Team’s 2025 recap.
How to Join and Support the Plugins Team
In response to this, the Plugins Team is inviting both individual contributors and organizations to get involved in supporting its efforts.
The volunteer role focuses on reviewing plugins for the directory, responding to authors, handling questions from the mailbox, and helping improve team processes. The new volunteers will be guided and trained by current team members over a two-month period.
Torres also outlined that volunteers who wish to join the team must meet three essential requirements. They need to demonstrate trust, given the level of access: possess both technical knowledge of WordPress as well as soft skills; and commit a significant amount of time consistently to support the team’s work effectively.
In 2025, organizational sponsorship played a key role in supporting the team’s work. Various sponsors helped with thousands of plugin reviews, handled tens of thousands of email responses to authors and users, and contributed to the development of tools. Automattic’s sponsorship helps fund the infrastructure that hosts the plugin directory.
Now, organizations can support the team by providing contributors from their team or by backing existing (or potential) volunteers. If they don’t have someone to sponsor, the team can assist in finding suitable volunteers.
Interested volunteers and organizations can apply by March 27. As per the timeline, the first group of selected cohort will begin training in April, and the new members will be announced in June.
Torres also said that if needed, a second round of applications will open in June, with new members selected in July and announced in September.