REST API access and endpoint control
REST-related tags are prominent, and several leading plugin names point to access control as one strand of the API category.
The rest-api tag appears on 76 plugins and rest on 66. Disable REST API, Disable WP REST API, and WP REST API Controller signal an access-control focus by name, distinct from the category’s broader API plugins; their names alone do not establish specific features.
External services and automation connections
Integration and automation tags, alongside connection-oriented plugin names, mark another strand of this category.
- Mailgun for WordPress: One of the leading plugins by active installs, with a name that points to an external service connection.
- Make Connector: Also among the leading plugins, its name signals a connection-oriented role.
- Related tags: integration appears on 34 plugins, automation on 22, and woocommerce on 54, showing the range of contexts associated with these connections.
Content, data formats, and API output
Several leading names and related tags point to plugins concerned with working with or serving data through APIs.
- WPGraphQL for ACF and WPGet API are among the leading plugins, with names that indicate distinct API approaches.
- WP REST Cache and WordPress REST API (Version 2) are additional prominent names within the REST-related group.
- JSON appears as a related tag on 53 plugins, while content appears on 16, linking data formats and content to this category’s API focus.
A fragmented category with uneven maintenance
The category is broad, but high install counts are concentrated in a small number of plugins and update histories vary substantially.
There are 474 plugins, but only one has at least 100,000 active installs and nine have at least 10,000. Just 43% were updated in the last year. Among leading examples, update timing ranges from this month to 108 months ago; their ratings are based on few reviews.
That spread makes it useful to compare adoption, update recency, and rating context separately. A high install count or rating alone does not capture the variation across this category.