Ultimate Posts Widget vs Smart Recent Posts Widget (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Smart Recent Posts Widget
9.0K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Smart Recent Posts Widget has a higher user rating (4.8/5 from 30 reviews) while Ultimate Posts Widget leads in active installations (10K+ vs 9.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Ultimate Posts Widget has accumulated 492K+ total downloads while Smart Recent Posts Widget has 132K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Ultimate Posts Widget | Smart Recent Posts Widget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5/5 | ► | 4.8/5 |
| Total Reviews | 55 | ◄ | 30 |
| Active Installs | 10K+ | ◄ | 9.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 492K+ | ◄ | 132K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 year ago | ► | 1 year ago |
| First Released | 2012 | 2016 | |
| Age | 14 years | 10 years | |
| WP Requires | 3.5+ | 5.8+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | 5.6+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 2.3.2 | 1.0.4 |
Rating Breakdown
Ultimate Posts Widget
Smart Recent Posts Widget
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Ultimate Posts Widget averaged approximately 15 daily downloads while Smart Recent Posts Widget averaged 16.
Recent Reviews
Ultimate Posts Widget Reviews
Spam address harvester
This plugin recently became a spam address harvester, sending automated emails to registered users asking them to ‘confirm their address’. Don’t install.
Great stuff, output looks stellar, minor saving glitch
Really love this widget, looks great on my sidebar, once it’s configured. However, that configuration is a bit of a gotcha, as the visibility settings keep reverting to defaults with everything enable
Didn’t work for me.
This didn’t work at all for me. The Display, Filter, and Order tabs were not clickable, leaving no way to tell it which post(s) to use.
Smart Recent Posts Widget Reviews
Excellent
Excellent plugin
Just perfect
works like a charm!
exactly what I need
very complete and with custom CSS avaliable
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.