Vanilla PDF Embed
by Mike Doherty · Uncategorized
Embeds PDFs in your pages and posts, without using JS.
49 health vs 56 average across 16,376 Uncategorized plugins
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 9+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.0, well behind 6.8.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 3580 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,424 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
366
now · peak 378
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2015-05-16 · 1,445 observations
Estimated value
What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.
Est. annual revenue
Est. acquisition value
No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.
Details
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Martin Sauter6.7y ago
Converts the URL of a PDF document automatically in to an embedded PDF. Very easy to use, very nice result.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ indianplayschools8.1y ago
Just paste the link to pdf file on the same domain and you can view it just as pdf and not a link. This is what I was looking for. The best plugin to view the pdf. You can download and print too. Thank you very much
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ clasherplayer8.2y ago
There was no embedding; only the link to the PDF file was placed. I think that this plugin has not been updated as of the time of writing.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ joey404010.2y ago
Doesn’t work on Latest Chrome or Firefox
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ swampy10.4y ago
Doesn’t embed it all, just inserts a link to download the pdf
Read on wp.org ↗ - Read on wp.org ↗★★★★★ Zeshan Ahmed10.5y ago
- ★★★★★ jberk12410.5y ago
Best free PDF plugin you can get. Has exactly what you need: -inputtable pdf -easy navigation -download/save options -flawlessly embeds PDF, ***GET THIS, WORKED PERFECTLY FOR MY SITE***
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ alver10.6y ago
YEAH! Its work!
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 0.0.8 Add the ability to set PDF open params 0.0.8
- — Version 0.0.7 Fix a couple corner cases – thanks AngelinaBelle! 0.0.7
- — Version 0.0.6 Set a default height of 500em 0.0.6
- — Version 0.0.5 Fix a simple programming error; thanks to firedog341 for the report 0.0.5
- — Version 0.0.4 By default, use a 100% width embed frame Expanded readme 0.0.4
- — Version 0.0.3 Embed PDFs on attachment pages Fix a spacing issue for PDFs with no title Don’t use PDF open parameters for the fallback link 0.0.3
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-03-21 4K+ → 3K+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2026-03-14 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-03-13 4K+ → 3K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-03-12 3K+ → 4K+ up after 12 days in tier
- 2026-02-28 4K+ → 3K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-02-26 3K+ → 4K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-02-24 4K+ → 3K+ down after 424 days in tier
- 2024-12-27 5K+ → 4K+ down after 1 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
PDF.js Viewer 20K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
PDF viewer for Elementor & Gutenberg 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D -
Embedly 2K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B - R RV Embed PDF 800+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D
- S Scribd Doc Embedder 200+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Vanilla PDF Embed into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/vanilla-pdf-embed" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Vanilla PDF Embed — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Vanilla PDF Embed: 3K+ active installs, 4.6★ (32 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-28. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/vanilla-pdf-embed