Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters

76 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

With only 10,000 active installs, Subscribe2 sits far below category leaders like Hostinger Reach (1 million installs) and WP Mail SMTP (4 million), suggesting niche rather than mainstream adoption.

Update Freshness

25/25

A late-December 2025 update and confirmation against WordPress 6.9.4 indicate the developer is actively maintaining the plugin despite its small user base.

User Rating

11/15

The 70 out of 100 rating from 116 users is middling, hinting that while it gets the job done, users have noticed rough edges or missing features.

Support Health

8/15

Zero out of three support threads resolved is a significant red flag, meaning you may wait a long time or get no answer if you hit a problem.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Tested with WordPress 6.9.4 and requiring only PHP 5.4, the plugin has excellent backward compatibility and will run on virtually any hosting environment.

Scores higher than 46% of indexed plugins

About

Sends a list of subscribers an email notification when you publish new posts.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★½ 3.5/5

Last Updated 2026-09-23 2:56pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.7+

Tested Up To 7.0.6

Requires PHP 5.4+

Security History

12 known vulnerabilities, all patched

4 High 8 Medium

Most recent: August 17, 2026

View details ▸

Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters <= 10.47 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting High

August 17, 2026 Patched in ["10.48"] CVE-2026-73393

Subscribe2 <= 10.45 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting Medium

August 3, 2026 Patched in ["10.46"] CVE-2026-14331

Subscribe2 <= 10.44 - Missing Authorization Medium

February 3, 2026 Patched in ["10.45"] CVE-2026-24944

Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters <= 10.43 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via IP Parameter High

February 18, 2025 Patched in ["10.44"] CVE-2024-11582

Appsero <= 2.0.0 - Missing Authorization via handle_optin_optout Medium

April 11, 2024 Patched in ["10.43"] CVE-2024-32110

Subscribe2 <= 10.40 - Cross-Site Request Forgery Medium

June 26, 2023 Patched in ["10.41"] CVE-2023-3407

Subscribe2 <= 10.40 - Missing Authorization Medium

June 26, 2023 Patched in ["10.41"] CVE-2023-1844

Subscribe2 <= 10.37 - Cross-Site Request Forgery High

December 22, 2022 Patched in ["10.38"] CVE-2022-4309

Appsero <= 1.2.1 - Missing Authorization Medium

December 16, 2022 Patched in ["10.38"]

Appsero <= 1.2.0 - Cross-Site Request Forgery Medium

December 14, 2022 Patched in ["10.38"] CVE-2022-47150

Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters <= 10.15 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting Medium

October 1, 2014 Patched in ["10.16"] CVE-2014-6604

Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters < 8.1 - Multiple Cross-Site Scripting High

August 1, 2014 Patched in ["8.1"]

What It Does

Subscribe2 sends a notification email to a list of registered subscribers each time you publish a new post on your WordPress site. It also provides a subscription form widget so visitors can sign up and unsubscribe at will. It functions as a lightweight, built-in newsletter tool rather than a full marketing automation suite.

Who It's For

This plugin suits bloggers and small publishers who want a no-frills way to keep regular readers informed about new content without paying for a service like Mailchimp or ConvertKit. It works well for sites with modest subscriber counts and straightforward notification needs, such as hobby blogs, community sites, and small news outlets.

Who Should Skip It

If you need segmentation, drip campaigns, visual email builders, analytics, or any kind of monetized list management, Subscribe2 is too basic and you should look at Hostinger Reach or a dedicated ESP. Sites expecting high deliverability or transactional-grade reliability will also want a dedicated SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP instead.

The Bottom Line

Subscribe2 is a competent, actively maintained plugin for one specific job: emailing your readers when you publish. Its zero resolved support threads and modest install base keep it from scoring higher, and the feature set is too thin for anyone running a serious newsletter or marketing operation. Treat it as a tidy default for small sites, not a long-term solution for growing audiences.

Related Plugins

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms 97/100

Pick this if your real problem is email deliverability and getting WordPress mail to reach inboxes, not list management.

Post SMTP 91/100

Choose Post SMTP over Subscribe2 when you need email logging, fallback SMTP servers, and mobile alerts for failed deliveries.

WP Popular Posts 89/100

This is a content discovery tool rather than a newsletter, so choose it when you want to surface popular posts on-site instead of emailing subscribers.

Hostinger Reach 89/100

Reach is the better pick if you want AI-assisted email marketing, segmentation, and a more modern subscription workflow than Subscribe2 offers.

User Registration & Membership 89/100

Go with this plugin when your subscribers need full user accounts, gated content, or paid memberships rather than a simple mailing list.