43
Mailchimp List Subscribe Form
This plugin connects your list but might disconnect your sanity.
DecliningPoor rating
43/100
Frequent bugs and broken PHP compatibility make this abandoned plugin a major headache.
Active installs
~65,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 60k+
Rating
2.6★
77 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-63%
Declining fast
529 → 196 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MAJORverified rating is 2.55★
- MINORdownloads down 63% vs a year ago
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining fast · -63% in the last year
529/day a year ago→196/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayThe Mailchimp List Subscribe Form plugin has a poor reputation among users, widely criticized for neglect, bugs, and compatibility issues, with only a handful of users reporting it works adequately for basic use cases.
What people like
- +Works for basic single-list subscribe forms when set up correctly×3
- +Support was responsive and provided a fix when a specific bug was reported
Common complaints
- −Plugin widely perceived as abandoned or poorly maintained by Mailchimp×5
- −PHP 8.0+ compatibility broken when JavaScript option is disabled, causing silent form failures (since PHP 8.0)
- −Causes significant site slowdowns and high CPU usage due to non-standard CSS loading method×2
- −Injects problematic JavaScript that conflicts with other plugins, including breaking Yoast SEO sitemaps×2
- −Spam submissions increased after an update
- −Only supports a single Mailchimp list; no multiple form support
- −API key not accepted on some installs, making the plugin non-functional
- −Caused admin lockout on at least one install, requiring manual file deletion to recover
- −Outdated UI and missing modern features such as popups and page-level targeting×2
- −Does not display correctly in sidebars and lacks adequate setup instructions
Review trustReviews look organic
- 2.55★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 2.60★
- 5%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 77 total
Latest reviews · 81 analyzed
- 2025-04-27★★★★★Fixed Issues with Orders of FieldsCognisant_2000
- 2025-03-24★★★★★Spam profileskangei1-shot
- 2025-02-06★★★★★Abysmal implementation15kstudios
- 2023-09-05★★★★★Why has this been abandoned?LordLiverpool
- 2023-07-22★★★★★Zero Functionalitymysticza
- 2023-01-15★★★★★Almost worthless.wyverndryke
- 2022-11-17★★★★★Needs an update BADLY! It's not compatible with PHP 8+ericksonstudio
- 2018-05-04★★★★★Very unstable, not working properlyleotuorto
- 2018-02-18★★★★★Only one form supported! No way!Oleg
- 2017-08-11★★★★★Not recommended unlike Mailchimpdanba
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Mailchimp List Subscribe Form
Top Email plugins, ranked by score.For developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
205
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
192
Prior 7-day baseline
131
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
10,554
Mean release-day peak (30d)
20,425
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
+6.8%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
20%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.45
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
22%
5★ share in analyzed sample
5%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
2.57 → 2.55★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered