61
HTML5 Video Player – Embed and Play Videos in Custom Player
This player plays your MP4s but mostly just plays the Pro upsell.
Healthy
61/100
The plugin offers basic playback but uses heavy admin clutter and limited free features to drive Pro upgrades.
Active installs
~22,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 20k+
Rating
4.6★
193 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-1%
Holding steady
211 → 209 installs/day
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Holding steady · -1% in the last year
211/day a year ago→209/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayHTML5 Video Player is a basic free video player plugin that works for simple use cases, but is widely criticized for aggressive Pro upsells, limited free-tier functionality that borders on deceptive, and unreliable or slow support.
What people like
- +Works well for basic video playback needs with simple configuration×2
- +Free version allows basic customization such as video size and loop settings
- +Support has resolved issues satisfactorily for some users×3
Common complaints
- −Excessive Pro upsell notices and advertisements cluttering the WordPress admin area×4
- −Free version has significant functional restrictions that are not clearly disclosed upfront, such as no external video hosting or non-functional YouTube playback×3
- −Plugin caused site breakage and compatibility issues (since 2.8)×2
- −Support is slow or unresponsive for free users×3
- −Plugin adds an unnecessary top-level admin menu item
- −S3 integration does not work
- −Reviews suspected to be fake by at least one user
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.17★Verified rating — drops from 4.60★ once one-shot reviewers are removed
- 20%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-09-182025-02-092026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 193 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-05-23★★★★★Disappointmentselgive1
- 2026-04-29★★★★★Disastertheivo
- 2026-03-05★★★★★version 2.8.0 bugsalbator13
- 2025-09-02★★★★★Scamhappywbyorg
- 2025-01-19★★★★★I can change the size of the video and the support answersBrisch
- 2024-11-01★★★★★Don't waste your timeseabasstin1-shot
- 2024-08-24★★★★★Please keep up your great work!!Aba
- 2024-04-06★★★★★Ticks all boxesJuergenH
- 2024-03-01★★★★★the support does not responddavidoffsky
- 2024-02-29★★★★★Very convenient tooltakeoy
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to HTML5 Video Player
Top Media plugins, ranked by score.For developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
248
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
200
Prior 7-day baseline
207
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
3,597
Mean release-day peak (30d)
209
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
+24.0%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
20%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.47
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
78%
5★ share in analyzed sample
20%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.28 → 4.17★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered