57
Modern Image Formats
Speedy image formats with a side of media library mayhem.
DecliningPoor ratingWordPress.org
57/100
The plugin offers efficient conversion but carries a high risk of breaking images.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
3.3★
23 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-32%
Declining fast
656 → 448 installs/day
Warnings
- Distributed from inside WordPress.org's main product — growth is partly captive.
What to watch out for
- MAJORverified rating is 3.29★
- MINORdownloads down 32% vs a year ago
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
Declining fast · -32% in the last year
656/day a year ago→448/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayModern Image Formats is a lightweight plugin appreciated for its clean, automatic AVIF/WebP conversion approach, but it carries a serious caveat: the conversion process can be irreversible and cause widespread broken images, particularly when used alongside thumbnail regeneration plugins.
What people like
- +Automatically converts uploaded images to AVIF or WebP without generating redundant copies in the original format, keeping the media library lean×3
- +Works out of the box with large image libraries, including WooCommerce sites×2
- +Considered a strong candidate for inclusion in WordPress core, which adds credibility×2
- +Runs cleanly on multiple sites simultaneously without reported performance issues×2
Common complaints
- −Regenerating thumbnails (e.g. via Force Regenerate Thumbnails) can break large numbers of frontend images, as the block editor still references old file extensions rather than AVIF/WebP×4
- −The conversion process can be effectively irreversible — deactivating the plugin does not restore original images, and there is no built-in rollback; users have had to restore from database backups×3
- −Incomplete or inconsistent conversion leaves some images unconverted while others are deleted, resulting in broken image references in posts×2
- −No option to adjust compression level through the UI; the default (reportedly ~82%) cannot be changed without custom scripting×2
- −No ability to exempt specific images or fields (e.g. Open Graph / social media images) from conversion, which is problematic as major social platforms don't support AVIF
- −Some users report the plugin simply does nothing — no conversion, no error messages, and minimal documentation to troubleshoot×2
- −Support is reported as unresponsive by at least one user
- −Saving a copy of the original file during regeneration prevents WebP generation entirely
Review trustReviews look organic
- 3.29★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 3.30★
- 9%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 23 total
Latest reviews · 23 analyzed
- 2026-03-21★★★★★Funktioniert wie beschrieben – Heimvorteil weil von WordPress entwickeltlacoste89
- 2025-12-15★★★★★Doesn't work, support not helpfulprimerpizza
- 2025-12-10★★★★★compression?pdjp
- 2025-10-15★★★★★causes an Irreversible damage to your Media library NEEDS and Explicit warningfaospark
- 2025-09-02★★★★★Good onenmask
- 2025-08-08★★★★★So far so good!Masoud Golchin
- 2025-06-25★★★★★Easiest way to get AVIF imagesClicknathan
- 2025-06-25★★★★★Have some rough edges still but largely successful in converting entire siteselxr
- 2025-04-27★★★★★Effective, but quite basicmasvil
- 2025-03-07★★★★★A lot of problemsjmaleman
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Modern Image Formats
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.
463
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
483
Prior 7-day baseline
320
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
593
Mean release-day peak (30d)
601
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-4.1%
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.
9%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.09
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
52%
5★ share in analyzed sample
9%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
-40%
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
3.26 → 3.29★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered