PluginSift

Header Footer Code Manager vs Visual Link Preview (2026)

Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.

Header Footer Code Manager

Header Footer Code Manager

4.9(304)

600K+ active installs

Free

Updated 2 months ago
View Header Footer Code Manager
VS
Visual Link Preview

Visual Link Preview

4.5(36)

10K+ active installs

Free

Updated 2 months ago
View Visual Link Preview

Quick Verdict

As of April 2026, Header Footer Code Manager has a higher user rating (4.9/5 from 304 reviews) and leads in active installations (600K+ vs 10K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Header Footer Code Manager has accumulated 8.4M+ total downloads while Visual Link Preview has 159K+.

Detailed Comparison

Rating
4.9/5Header Footer Code Manager
◄
Visual Link Preview4.5/5
Total Reviews
304Header Footer Code Manager
◄
Visual Link Preview36
Active Installs
600K+Header Footer Code Manager
◄
Visual Link Preview10K+
Total Downloads
8.4M+Header Footer Code Manager
◄
Visual Link Preview159K+
Support Resolution
50%Header Footer Code Manager
Visual Link PreviewN/A
Last Updated
2 months agoHeader Footer Code Manager
◄
Visual Link Preview2 months ago
First Released
2016Header Footer Code Manager
Visual Link Preview2017
Age
10 yearsHeader Footer Code Manager
Visual Link Preview9 years
WP Requires
4.9+Header Footer Code Manager
Visual Link Preview4.4+
PHP Requires
5.6.20+Header Footer Code Manager
Visual Link Previewfalse+
Business Model
FreeHeader Footer Code Manager
Visual Link PreviewFree
Latest Version
1.1.44Header Footer Code Manager
Visual Link Preview2.3.0

Rating Breakdown

Header Footer Code Manager

4.9/5(304 reviews)
5
96%
4
1%
3
1%
2
1%
1
1%

Visual Link Preview

4.5/5(36 reviews)
5
83%
4
3%
3
3%
2
6%
1
6%

Recent Reviews

Header Footer Code Manager Reviews

by bostonstrippers

Love It!

It’s a great plugin, I have it on all my wp sites.

by butoru5

Extremely useful and convenient!

I am very happy with this plugin. It is easy to use and gives a chance to organize all your custom styles and scripts in the most efficient way. In the past I had one long stylesheet with my custom

by MickFrench

Very simple and useful

Thank you to keep it free !

Visual Link Preview Reviews

by redpandazine

Great plugin – exactly what I needed

As someone who curates content regularly, this plugin is really what I’ve been searching for. Thank you for it!

by michaelzfreeman

Terrible product design

Functionally this is good but no where are we told that the plugin uses Microlink API which has a limit of 50 requests per day. They don’t inform the user of this. Neither do they put up a message tel

by Dan Greene

This plugin is amazing!

I had been using a different plugin’s pro version (Inline Related Posts). But the site I was using it on is very large, 38 thousand posts and counting, and that plugin’s performance was becoming extre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Header Footer Code Manager or Visual Link Preview more popular?
Header Footer Code Manager has 600K+ active installations while Visual Link Preview has 10K+. Header Footer Code Manager is the more widely-used plugin as of April 2026.
Which has better ratings — Header Footer Code Manager or Visual Link Preview?
Header Footer Code Manager has a 4.9/5 rating from 304 reviews, while Visual Link Preview has a 4.5/5 rating from 36 reviews.
Are Header Footer Code Manager and Visual Link Preview free?
Header Footer Code Manager is free and Visual Link Preview is free. Both can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Which plugin has better support — Header Footer Code Manager or Visual Link Preview?
Support resolution data is not available for all plugins. Check each plugin's WordPress.org support forum for current response quality.
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Header Footer Code Manager was last updated 2 months ago and Visual Link Preview was last updated 2 months ago.

Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.