Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs SMK Sidebar Generator
Two WordPress plugins head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
These aren’t all alternatives to each other — they do different jobs — so this page compares popularity only, not features.
At a glance
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #346, ahead of SMK Sidebar Generator at #1,741. Over the last 7 days Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails climbed 1 place and SMK Sidebar Generator climbed 4 places. Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails has the largest install base, roughly 10× the next: 100K+ active installs against 10K+ for SMK Sidebar Generator. Ratings: Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 4.8★ from 212 and SMK Sidebar Generator 4.4★ from 5 reviews.
| Metric | Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails | SMK Sidebar Generator |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #346 ▲ 1 | #1,741 ▲ 4 |
| Active installs | 100K+ | 10K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 773 | — |
| Rating | 4.8★ (212) | 4.4★ (5) |
| Last updated | Sep 13, 2026 | Feb 17, 2026 |
| Current version | 7.2.0 | 3.6.0 |
| Best rank on record | #344 | #1,723 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Jun 2014 | Jan 2014 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 5 | 0 |
Highlighted cells mark the strongest figure in each row. Rank and installs are from the latest WordPress.org capture; downloads are the last seven captured days.
Ranking history Lower is better
Active installs
Downloads per day
More comparisons
- Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs Multiple Post Thumbnails
- Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs Auto Featured Image - Auto Post Thumbnail
- Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs Content Aware Sidebars
- Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs Custom Sidebars
- SMK Sidebar Generator vs Custom Sidebars
- SMK Sidebar Generator vs Content Aware Sidebars
- SMK Sidebar Generator vs Image Widget
- SMK Sidebar Generator vs Meks Simple Flickr Widget
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails or SMK Sidebar Generator?
By active installs, Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails: 100K+ sites run it against 10K+ for SMK Sidebar Generator, according to WordPress.org figures captured on September 13, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails or SMK Sidebar Generator?
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails, at #346 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with SMK Sidebar Generator at #1,741. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails or SMK Sidebar Generator alternatives to each other?
Not all of them. Some of these plugins do different jobs and many sites run more than one. This page compares their popularity, not their features.
Where do these numbers come from?
WordPress.org publishes each plugin’s active install count and its position on the popular list. This site records both every day, along with per-day downloads and ratings, so the charts above show how the plugins have moved over time rather than a single day.