WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub)

85 Quality Score

Active Installs

23/30

With 100,000 active installs this plugin has a substantial user base, though its niche nature keeps it well below the most popular feed plugins.

Update Freshness

25/25

Updated June 2026 and tested against WordPress 7.0, so the codebase is clearly being kept current with the latest core releases.

User Rating

15/15

A perfect 100/100 from 6 ratings is encouraging but the sample size is too small to draw firm conclusions about long-term reliability.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened in the data set means users are either self-sufficient or not hitting issues, and there is no public track record of responsive help.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Requires only PHP 7.4 and WordPress 4.5, giving it broad compatibility with older and current hosting environments.

Scores higher than 95% of indexed plugins

About

A WebSub plugin for WordPress that enables real-time publishing and subscription capabilities.

Active Installs 100k+

Rating ★★★★★ 5/5

Last Updated 2026-08-21 2:15pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.5+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

Security History

1 known vulnerability, all patched

1 Medium

Most recent: January 24, 2024

View details ▸

What It Does

WebSub (formerly PubSubHubbub) is a WordPress plugin that pushes your site's RSS feed updates to WebSub hubs in real time, so subscribers and aggregators receive new posts almost immediately rather than waiting for their next scheduled poll. It also handles incoming pings so your site can react to content published elsewhere. In practice, this means faster indexing of your content by services that support the WebSub protocol.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for publishers who rely on speed of content delivery, including breaking news outlets, podcast distributors, and indieweb or decentralized publishing networks where latency matters. It is also worth considering for multi-author blogs and content syndication platforms that feed into third-party aggregators consuming WebSub-compatible endpoints.

Who Should Skip It

If your site runs on a basic blog where readers simply visit your RSS feed occasionally, or if you do not publish frequently, the real-time push makes little practical difference and adds an extra moving piece to maintain. Sites whose primary distribution channels are social platforms or email newsletters, rather than RSS-based aggregation, will get minimal benefit.

The Bottom Line

WebSub earns a solid overall quality score of 84.89/100, with standout marks for active maintenance and modern compatibility. The narrow support history and tiny rating pool are the main caveats, so self-reliant publishers comfortable with the protocol will get the most value. For real-time RSS push on WordPress it remains the most established option at 100,000 installs.

Pick this instead if your main goal is meeting Google News content policies rather than real-time push delivery.

WP Telegram Widget and Join Link 78/100

Pick this instead if you want to distribute posts to a Telegram channel or grow a Telegram audience rather than push RSS updates.

Podcast Importer SecondLine 78/100

Pick this instead if you need to pull external podcast episodes into your site rather than push your own feed out quickly.

FeedWordPress 78/100

Pick this instead if you want to aggregate and republish content from other feeds onto your own site.

Super RSS Reader 77/100

Pick this instead if you want to display external RSS feeds as widgets on your site rather than push your own updates faster.