Best realtime plugins for WordPress

The most popular realtime plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. heatmap for WordPress leads with 1K+ active installs, ahead of BuddyPress Favorite Notification (70+) and Muut (50+). All 29 plugins tagged “realtime” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.

Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.

Research this niche or see all plugins.

Top 10 realtime plugins

1.
heatmap for WordPress
The most installed realtime plugin, with 1K+ active installs. Rated 4.1 from 19 reviews, last updated 7 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.1.28.
2.
BuddyPress Favorite Notification
70+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 5 reviews, updated 5 days ago.
3.
Muut
50+ active installs. Rated 3.9 from 19 reviews, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.8.0.
4.
Init Chat Engine
40+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 1 month ago.
5.
GW Live Visitors
40+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.8.12.
6.
WDOnline Live Visitor Monitor
30+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 2 weeks ago.
7.
Realtime analytics for the web
20+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.3.34.
8.
OrderPulse
20+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 2 months ago.
9.
MQTT-Plug
20+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 9 months ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.9.11.
10.
WS40
10+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 2 days ago.