Is Caldera Forms still maintained?
Not through WordPress.org, and the directory cannot tell you more than that. It closed the Caldera Forms listing on 5 April 2022, 4 years and 6 months ago, and gives the reason as "Author Request": the author asked for it to be withdrawn. Some authors do that when a plugin ends and some when they move it to their own site and carry on, so the listing alone does not say which. What is certain is that WordPress can no longer install or update it from the directory.
The evidence
Every figure below is read from the WordPress.org plugin directory. Nothing here is our assessment of the code.
| Directory status | Withdrawn at the author's request, not available from WordPress.org |
|---|---|
| Closed on | 5 April 2022 (4 years and 6 months ago) |
| Reason given | “Author Request” |
| Closure | Stated as permanent in the directory's notice |
| Read from the directory | 12 October 2026 |
Once a listing is closed the directory stops publishing its release date, tested-up-to version, install count and support figures, so the release details below come from the plugin's code archive instead.
What its code archive shows
| Last release | Version 1.9.7 (tagged 22 March 2022) |
|---|---|
| Tested up to | WordPress 5.4.2 |
| Requires | WordPress 5.2, PHP 5.6 |
| Releases in the archive | 81 |
| Read from | plugins.svn.wordpress.org/caldera-forms, 12 October 2026 |
The directory keeps a closed plugin's code readable, and the last release tagged in Caldera Forms's archive is version 1.9.7, tagged on 22 March 2022. That is within a month of the listing being closed: it was still being released, and the closure is what stopped the updates. A site still running it has a copy at least 4 years and 6 months old.
That release declared itself tested up to WordPress 5.4.2, 17 releases behind the current WordPress 7.1.3. It asked for WordPress 5.2 and PHP 5.6 or later. Every WordPress release since has run against code its author never re-tested, and no fix for it can arrive through the directory now.
The archive holds 81 tagged releases, the oldest still there tagged on 7 June 2014. Its last release described the plugin in one line as: “Responsive form builder for contact forms, user registration and login forms, Mailchimp, PayPal Express and more.” That is the job something else has to take over on any site still running it.
Tag dates, almost always the day a release shipped. The count is the tags left, not every release ever made.
What these signals mean
A closed plugin is not a quiet one. A quiet plugin is still listed, and its author could ship a fix tomorrow. A closed one gets no update however long you wait, and the dashboard shows no sign of that: a plugin with no update available looks exactly like one that is up to date.
An author asking for a listing to be closed is not a verdict on the code, and it is not the plugin team acting against the plugin. Authors withdraw plugins when they stop maintaining them, when a product is discontinued, and sometimes when they move distribution somewhere else. The reason alone does not say which of those happened, and the author's own site is the place to find out.
The directory's closure notice says the closure is permanent, so the listing is not expected to return. It has been closed for 4 years and 6 months, so a copy still installed has gone at least that long without an update through WordPress.
What to do about it
Start with the author's own website. A withdrawn listing sometimes means the plugin carries on elsewhere, sold or distributed directly, and sometimes means it has ended. Which of those is true decides whether you are changing where updates come from or replacing the plugin, and only the author can tell you.
Do not start by deleting it. Find out what depends on it, back up the database as well as the files, and test the replacement on a staging copy first, because deleting a plugin can run an uninstall routine that drops its tables.
The directory stops publishing a closed plugin's category, so this page does not suggest alternatives. Any replacement has to do the job that Caldera Forms's last release, version 1.9.7, describes above. That release was tested against WordPress 5.4.2; one worth moving to is tested against 7.1.3 and still listed in the directory.
Is a site you look after running Caldera Forms?
Our free WordPress plugin checker reads any public site and lists the plugins it loads, with the same maintenance signals as the table above for each one. No login and no signup, so it works on a client’s site before you have access to it.
Related plugin checks
- Is Contact Form 7 still maintained? Updated 11 October 2026, current against recent WordPress. Nothing of concern.
- Is Page Builder Sandwich still maintained? Listing closed on 1 March 2024 with the reason "Security Issue". Deal with it first; no fix can arrive through WordPress.
- Is Slider by Supsystic still maintained? Withdrawn from WordPress.org on 1 March 2024 at the author's request. May continue elsewhere; no updates through the directory.
- Is Paid Memberships Pro still maintained? Left WordPress.org at the author's request and still released by its author: version 3.8.6, released on 8 September 2026.
- Is qTranslate X still maintained? Listing closed on 31 August 2021 with the reason "Security Issue". Deal with it first; no fix can arrive through WordPress.
Questions
Why was Caldera Forms removed from the WordPress plugin directory?
The directory gives the reason as "Author Request", quoted as it appears. That means the author asked for the listing to be closed, not that the plugin team acted against it. It does not say why they asked, so the author is the only source for that.
Will Caldera Forms keep working if it is already installed?
Usually, for a while. Closing a listing removes the plugin from the directory; it does not reach into sites and switch anything off. What stops is updates, and they stopped on 5 April 2022: WordPress cannot offer an update for a plugin that is not listed, so the installed copy is frozen at whatever version it reached, which can be no later than 1.9.7, the last release in its archive. The dashboard gives no sign of that, because a plugin with no available update looks exactly like one that is up to date.
Could Caldera Forms come back to the directory?
Not on the directory's own account: its closure notice says the closure is permanent. If the plugin carries on anywhere, it will be outside WordPress.org, and updates from there do not arrive through the normal dashboard route unless the author supplies their own updater.
Is Caldera Forms a security risk?
We do not know, and nothing on this page is a security finding. Vulnerability data for WordPress plugins sits behind paid commercial APIs, and guessing at it from a version number either alarms people about plugins that are fine or implies that everything unflagged has been checked and is safe. Both are worse than saying nothing. What this page reports is maintenance: when the plugin last shipped, which WordPress version its author last tested against, and whether the directory still lists it. Those are facts the directory publishes, and they are what predicts whether a plugin will still work after the next core release.
Read from the WordPress.org plugin directory on 12 October 2026. We report maintenance signals only, and never claim a plugin is insecure. All plugins we cover.