Lightweight Social Icons vs The Social Links (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Lightweight Social Icons
30K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Lightweight Social Icons has a higher user rating (4.7/5 from 63 reviews) and leads in active installations (30K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Lightweight Social Icons has accumulated 464K+ total downloads while The Social Links has 138K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Lightweight Social Icons | The Social Links | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | ◄ | 4.4/5 |
| Total Reviews | 63 | ◄ | 7 |
| Active Installs | 30K+ | ◄ | 2.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 464K+ | ◄ | 138K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 6 years ago | ► | 4 years ago |
| First Released | 2014 | 2011 | |
| Age | 12 years | 15 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.5+ | 4.2+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | 5.6+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 1.1 | 2.0.5 |
Rating Breakdown
Lightweight Social Icons
The Social Links
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Lightweight Social Icons averaged approximately 15 daily downloads while The Social Links averaged 4.
Recent Reviews
Lightweight Social Icons Reviews
Affects Core Web Vitals creating Ensure Text Remains Visible During Webfont Load
I don’t recommend this plugin at all. It signs a useless font which is not displayed in the front end to the users but creates core web vitals issues on the back end. The font name is fontello.woff an
It’s Light!
Hasn’t been updated but super light and solid!
Fantastic Social Icons Plugin
Tom never fails to make amazing plugins and this social icons plugin is no different. I just hope that there are plans to add a discord icon in the near future. 5/5 plugin!
The Social Links Reviews
Very good plugin
Thank you guys
i am happy for this plugin
ok,thank
Never got it working
Followed the outlined instructions but never did get it to work. Maybe I’m just impatient but I gave up after about 20mins This topic was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by Matt Crawford.
More Social Networking Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Lightweight Social Icons and The Social Links
This plugin provides two ways to display social icons: a traditional widget (available on all WordPress versions) and block variations for the core So …
The Socials Ignited plugin gives you a widget, allowing you to display and link icons on your website of more than 50 social networks.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.