# What are CellProfiler Plugins?

Plugins advance the capabilities of CellProfiler but are not officially supported in the same way as modules.
A module may be in CellProfiler-plugins instead of CellProfiler itself because:
- it is under active development
- it has a niche audience
- it is not documented to CellProfiler's standards
- it only works with certain version of CellProfiler
- it requires extra libraries or other dependencies we are unable or unwilling to require for CellProfiler
- it has been contributed by a community member

## How do I use CellProfiler Plugins?

See our [Using Plugins](using_plugins.md) page for information on how to install and use plugins.

## What plugins are available?

See our [Supported Plugins](supported_plugins.md) page for information on all currently supported plugins.

## How do I contribute a plugin?

See our [Contributing Plugins](contributing_plugins.md) page for information on contributing a plugin to CellPainting-plugins.

## Who made this?

CellProfiler and CellProfiler-plugins are maintained and developed in the [Cimini Lab](https://cimini-lab.broadinstitute.org) in the Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA, USA.