Regenerate Thumbnails vs Category Featured Images Extended (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Regenerate Thumbnails
1.0M+ active installs
Free
Category Featured Images Extended
500 active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Regenerate Thumbnails has a higher user rating (4.6/5 from 395 reviews) and leads in active installations (1.0M+ vs 500). Both are free WordPress plugins. Regenerate Thumbnails has accumulated 22M+ total downloads while Category Featured Images Extended has 9.8K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Regenerate Thumbnails | Category Featured Images Extended | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6/5 | ◄ | 4.4/5 |
| Total Reviews | 395 | ◄ | 7 |
| Active Installs | 1.0M+ | ◄ | 500 |
| Total Downloads | 22M+ | ◄ | 9.8K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 7 months ago | ◄ | 8 years ago |
| First Released | 2008 | 2016 | |
| Age | 18 years | 10 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.7+ | 3.5.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | 5.2.4+ | 5.6+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 3.1.6 | 1.52 |
Rating Breakdown
Regenerate Thumbnails
Category Featured Images Extended
Download Trends
Recent Reviews
Regenerate Thumbnails Reviews
Works Pretty Well
Used it to fix image sizes after changing my theme. Did the job without much hassle. Took some time but worked fine. Pretty useful plugin overall. tnx to the devs for keeping it simple.
Very, very, very happy with the results
For layout and design purposes, I opted to increase the size of all my featured image thumbnails moving forward, but you guessed it, I still had to resize the previous photos. Well, this plugin handle
Screwed all the references to images in a Portrait orientation
Yea, That was stupid. Foolishly used this, still don’t know why. Screwed up all my references to images in a Portrait orientation. Luckily I was able to figure it out and with Better Search Re
Category Featured Images Extended Reviews
No reviews yet
More Plugins Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Regenerate Thumbnails and Category Featured Images Extended
Automatically generate the featured image from the image of the post.
AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild allows you to rebuild all thumbnails at once without script timeouts on your server.
Easily control whether the featured image appears in the single post or page view (doesn't hide it in archive/list view).
Adds inline thumbnail image to admin columns on Post/post types view (where supported). Click to easily set/change the featured image.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.