Simple Social Icons vs Social Media Share Buttons & Social… (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Social Media Share Buttons & Social…
100K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Social Media Share Buttons & Social… has a higher user rating (4.8/5 from 5,332 reviews) while Simple Social Icons leads in active installations (100K+ vs 100K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Simple Social Icons has accumulated 3.2M+ total downloads while Social Media Share Buttons & Social… has 12M+. Simple Social Icons has a higher support resolution rate (100% vs 57%).
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Simple Social Icons | Social Media Share Buttons & Social… | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | ► | 4.8/5 |
| Total Reviews | 92 | ► | 5,332 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | 100K+ | |
| Total Downloads | 3.2M+ | ► | 12M+ |
| Support Resolution | 100% | ◄ | 57% |
| Last Updated | 3 months ago | ► | 1 month ago |
| First Released | 2012 | 2014 | |
| Age | 14 years | 12 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.0+ | 3.5+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.0.0 | 2.9.7 |
Rating Breakdown
Simple Social Icons
Social Media Share Buttons & Social…
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Simple Social Icons averaged approximately 336 daily downloads while Social Media Share Buttons & Social… averaged 770.
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
Social Media Share Buttons & Social… Reviews
persistent they are.
I will give them a 5 star rating for now, I haven’t even got to setting it up on my site and they have these popups because I deactivated a icon., no big deal, but I usually don’t leave a rating until
I’ll change after experiencing.
se u soon
Will upgrade
Providing 5 stars for making the bulk of the plugin free to the community
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Simple Social Icons or Social Media Share Buttons & Social… more popular?
Which has better ratings — Simple Social Icons or Social Media Share Buttons & Social…?
Are Simple Social Icons and Social Media Share Buttons & Social… free?
Which plugin has better support — Simple Social Icons or Social Media Share Buttons & Social…?
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.