Simple Author Box vs Smart Author Box Widget

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

Simple Author Box

by WebFactory

Health A86

Smart Author Box Widget

by vinethemes

Health C59

Active-install trajectory

Simple Author Box Smart Author Box Widget

Active installs, each indexed to 100 at the start of the window. A line above 100 is growing its install base, below 100 is shrinking.

Metric	Simple Author Box	Smart Author Box Widget
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	90K–100K ✓	60–70
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	+13% ✓	-14%
Overall health	A · 86 ✓	C · 59
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	100/100 ✓	46/100
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	82/100 ✓	65/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (adjusted)	4.25★ ✓	3.60★
Reviews	114 ✓	0
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	97/100 ✓	74/100
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	Low	Low
Last updated	9d ago ✓	1.4y ago
Downloads · 30d	25.1K ✓	75
Category	Login & Users	Login & Users

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

Simple Author Box Smart Author Box Widget

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.