Better Core Video Embeds
A plugin which enhances the core embed block for Youtube, Daily Motion and Vimeo videos by not loading unnecessary scripts until they are needed.
5(11 reviews)
·300 active installs·Updated 10 months agoAs of April 2026, Better Core Video Embeds is a WordPress embed plugin with 300 active installations and a 5/5 rating from 11 reviews. It has been downloaded 15K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 6.0+ and PHP 7.0+. Available on WordPress.org since 2022. Top alternative: EmbedPress – PDF Embedder, Embed….
5/511 reviews
300active installs
15K+total downloads
4 yearssince 2022
Overview
This plugin provides page optimisations for pages and posts which have embedded Youtube, Vimeo or Daily Motion videos which have been added using the core embed block.
Without this plugin, when using the core embed block, when your page loads, lots of external scripts and styles are loaded from the embed service, regardless of whether a visitor actually interacts with the embedded video.
This plugin prevents these scripts and styles from loading until the user actually interacts with the video. It does this by replacing the video embed, on page load with the video thumbnail image (added on Youtube, Vimeo or Daily Motion). When a user clicks the thumbnail the embedded video, along with associated scripts and styles are loaded.
Screenshots
Ratings & Reviews
511 reviews
5 ★
11
4 ★
0
3 ★
0
2 ★
0
1 ★
0
Compatibility
| WordPress | 6.0+ requiredTested up to 6.8.5 |
| PHP | 7.0+ required |
Top Alternatives to Better Core Video Embeds
Frequently Asked Questions
Changelog
1.3.8 (02/06/2025)
- Remove the call to
wp_print_stylesdirectly before the block markup. This was adding a<link>element in the block with caused CSS stying issues for some. The CSS is still included in the<head>when the embed block is included on the page. Thanks to @markhowellsmead for reporting and helping understand this issue.
Contributors
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.