Image Widget vs Simple Image Widget (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Image Widget has a higher user rating (4.9/5 from 287 reviews) and leads in active installations (100K+ vs 10K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Image Widget has accumulated 4.6M+ total downloads while Simple Image Widget has 854K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Image Widget | Simple Image Widget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.9/5 | ◄ | 4.5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 287 | ◄ | 39 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | ◄ | 10K+ |
| Total Downloads | 4.6M+ | ◄ | 854K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 year ago | ► | 8 months ago |
| First Released | 2008 | 2008 | |
| Age | 18 years | 18 years | |
| WP Requires | 3.5+ | 4.9+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.4.11 | 4.4.2 |
Rating Breakdown
Image Widget
Simple Image Widget
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Image Widget averaged approximately 131 daily downloads while Simple Image Widget averaged 8.
Recent Reviews
Image Widget Reviews
Perfect image widget
This is perfect image widget. Thank you very much for such helpful solution.
Very nice, working great
I like this image widget plugin, certainly better than the default one, also works with some external lightbox plugins, so that’s a bonus. Also, it works without a problem on WordPress v5.4.2.
Very nice plugin
This is very nice plugin! Thank you for your work! Everything work fast without any problems.
Simple Image Widget Reviews
Better than WP native image
Nice to be able to choose an appropriate grid size.
Customizable and simply great
Thanks for creating the simple image widget, it’s great! I was able to easily customize the template to finally display widgetized bootstrap cards the way I want.
Perfect image widget plugin
With the native image widget that has been introduced with WP 4.8 this plugin has become obsolete. Still, this plugin has served me very well, so 5 stars and thank you for that! This topic was
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.