Simple Social Icons vs The Social Links (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, The Social Links has a higher user rating (4.4/5 from 7 reviews) while Simple Social Icons leads in active installations (100K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Simple Social Icons has accumulated 3.2M+ total downloads while The Social Links has 138K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Simple Social Icons | The Social Links | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | ► | 4.4/5 |
| Total Reviews | 92 | ◄ | 7 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | ◄ | 2.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 3.2M+ | ◄ | 138K+ |
| Support Resolution | 100% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 3 months ago | ◄ | 4 years ago |
| First Released | 2012 | 2011 | |
| Age | 14 years | 15 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.0+ | 4.2+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | 5.6+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.0.0 | 2.0.5 |
Rating Breakdown
Simple Social Icons
The Social Links
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Simple Social Icons averaged approximately 336 daily downloads while The Social Links averaged 4.
Recent Reviews
Simple Social Icons Reviews
Great Support and a great Social Icons plugin
I had an issue with my Pixelfed icon not displaying as it needed a colour to be active, support where very helpful and quick to give me the support I needed, I love the way I can control all the socia
My theme didn’t support Bluesky & Mastodon—Simple Social Icon does…
Hallo together,want to include social icons like Bluesky and Mastodon. Kadence Virtuel Theme didn’t support this and would not be able to enter this feature since one year.I tried the plugin Simple So
A smart and effective solution and great support
The plugin is simple to use and very efficient. I had only one problem with the display of the icons and the support responded nearly immediately and solved the problem with one line of CSS-Code. Than
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 Simple Social Icons and The Social Links
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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.