Head-to-head · September 2026
Boat Notes Lite vs Side Matter
Boat Notes Lite comes out ahead, winning 4 of 7 head-to-head checks against Side Matter.
Boat Notes Lite
Boat Notes Lite adds a beautiful floating sticky-notes widget to your WordPress posts and pages. Logged-in…
Side Matter
Side Matter turns footnotes into sidenotes, magically aligning each note in the sidebar next to its…
| Metric | Boat Notes Lite | Side Matter |
|---|---|---|
| Active installs | <10 | 100+ |
| Downloads (30 days) | 56 | 70 |
| Download trend | +43.6% | +11.1% |
| Rating | — | 4.6/5 |
| Reviews | 0 | 13 |
| Health score | 49/100 | 35/100 |
| Last updated | 4 months ago | 13 years ago |
| Tested up to | WP 7.0.6 | WP 3.7.41 |
| Support resolved | — | — |
| Requires PHP | 7.4+ | Any |
| First released | May 2026 | Jan 2013 |
Daily downloads, last 90 days
Boat Notes LiteSide Matter
Choose Boat Notes Lite if…
You care most about download trend, health score and last updated.
- Small user base (<10 active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
Choose Side Matter if…
You care most about active installs, downloads (30 days) and reviews.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- No update in 12 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.7 (latest is 7.1)
Both compete in: annotations
FAQ
Boat Notes Lite vs Side Matter: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 29, 2026
Which is better, Boat Notes Lite or Side Matter?
Boat Notes Lite comes out ahead, winning 4 of 7 head-to-head checks against Side Matter. Choose Boat Notes Lite if you care most about download trend, health score and last updated. Choose Side Matter if you care most about active installs, downloads (30 days) and reviews.
Is Boat Notes Lite more popular than Side Matter?
Side Matter is the more popular of the two with 100+ active installs, compared with <10 for Boat Notes Lite.
Can I use Boat Notes Lite and Side Matter together?
Both plugins cover annotations, so most sites only need one. Running two plugins that do the same job can cause conflicts and slow your site down — pick the one that fits best and remove the other.
Are Boat Notes Lite and Side Matter free?
Yes. Both are free to download from the official WordPress.org plugin directory. Either may also offer paid upgrades from its developer.
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