82
Inline Related Posts
Simple engagement booster with a side of database bloat.
HealthyGrowing
82/100
Users love the simplicity but some report database bloat and limited matching logic.
Active installs
~159,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
4.3★
77 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+26%
Growing fast
178 → 223 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORreviews unevenly distributed over time
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
Growing fast · +26% in the last year
178/day a year ago→223/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayInline Related Posts is generally well-regarded as a simple, easy-to-set-up plugin that does its core job reliably, but it has meaningful limitations around post-matching logic and a few technical concerns that can affect certain sites.
What people like
- +Easy to set up and use, described as simple and low-maintenance×5
- +Works reliably for displaying inline related posts as advertised×5
- +Offers multiple display themes
- +Free version considered useful enough on its own, with paid upgrade seen as worthwhile×2
Common complaints
- −Related post matching relies only on tags and categories, not indexed content — making it ineffective for sites that don't use tags or have most posts under a single broad category
- −Can cause WordPress site crashes by bloating the WP_OPTIONS table with IRP_POST entries
- −Does not show all posts and pages in the Gutenberg editor
- −No custom color/hex code support for styling in the free version
- −The related post block lacks a unique ID or attribute on its style tag, making it difficult to target for ad exclusion or custom CSS
- −No thumbnail support noted as a missing feature
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.33★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.30★
- 9%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 · 77 total
Latest reviews · 77 analyzed
- 2026-01-11★★★★★Very nice but expensiveDavid
- 2025-06-12★★★★★Security IssuesLuca
- 2024-11-10★★★★★set and forgetdatto510
- 2024-10-26★★★★★div classnikkinick
- 2024-08-28★★★★★Grew my wp_options table to 1MbLorna Timbah
- 2024-08-25★★★★★PerfectMaxime_13
- 2024-07-05★★★★★Easy to use.ptervbu
- 2024-01-29★★★★★Super wtyczkaDanishsard
- 2023-09-21★★★★★Doesn't work in Gutenbergpooorisa6969
- 2023-09-13★★★★★incredible plugin!JCV
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNFor 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.
214
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
221
Prior 7-day baseline
221
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
19,248
Mean release-day peak (30d)
1,048
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
-3.2%
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
1.94
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
77%
5★ share in analyzed sample
9%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.34 → 4.33★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered