Preloader vs WP Smart Preloader (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, WP Smart Preloader has a higher user rating (4.4/5 from 25 reviews) while Preloader leads in active installations (10K+ vs 6.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Preloader has accumulated 285K+ total downloads while WP Smart Preloader has 205K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Preloader | WP Smart Preloader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1/5 | ► | 4.4/5 |
| Total Reviews | 41 | ◄ | 25 |
| Active Installs | 10K+ | ◄ | 6.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 285K+ | ◄ | 205K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 4 months ago | ◄ | 1 year ago |
| First Released | 2015 | 2015 | |
| Age | 11 years | 11 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.8+ | 2.8+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 2.0.2 | 1.15.3 |
Rating Breakdown
Preloader
WP Smart Preloader
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Preloader averaged approximately 62 daily downloads while WP Smart Preloader averaged 20.
Recent Reviews
Preloader Reviews
So many affiliate spam
such simple thing as preloader, didn’t expect so many affiliate links This topic was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by Mohaymenul Islam.
Got stuck on preloading screen
Preloader got stuck and never disappeared to display the website. Also you are limited to 128x128px
Terrible, Don’t Waste Your Time.
Couldn’t get it to work on a very basic WP install. Better preloader plugins to choose from. Sadly it seems a quickly built plugin just designed to generate some ad revenue and waste people’s time. Ve
WP Smart Preloader Reviews
Clever but limited
Did work out of the install…but, it is on a timer, vs watching for when the actual heavy loading page completes. I also needed it to run on a particular page and not the whole site.
Good preloader!
Once I added the code below to my functions.php file and adjusted the timing it works great. I also like the included loading image #1 better than other preloaders. add_action('wp_footer', function
It is not a CSS Only Preloader (as advertised)
It will cause a blank page to be displayed if Javascript is turned off.
More Preload Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Preloader and WP Smart Preloader
Easily add a pure CSS animated preloader to your WordPress website.
Make website faster, speed up page load time and improve performance scores in tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, Pingdom, and more.
Take advantage of browser resource hints and plug-and-play features to improve page load time.
Allows you to specify on individual pages or posts the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) Image on that page to preload, making the page load quicker.
Page Loader is a free Wordpress plugin to show a loader animation while page is being loaded.
Preload Featured Images automatically in posts to increase the PageSpeed Score.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.