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Attachments icon
Maintained Tested up to 6.9.9 #5 in attachment

Attachments

Attachments allows you to simply append any number of items from your WordPress Media Library to Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types

Active installs8K+5K+ tier
Downloads · 30d924▼ -0.6% vs prev. 30d
Rating4.8/553 reviews
Health score64/100Good
All-time downloads287.5KSince Nov 2009
Support resolved1 / 1100% in last 2 months
RequiresWP 3.0PHP any
Downloads · 7d227▼ -14% week over week
Our verdict

Solid choice

Attachments is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 8K+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 9 months ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.

  • Loved by users — 4.8/5 from 53 reviews
  • Only tested up to WordPress 6.9 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

122538Jun 28Aug 11Sep 25
Yesterday35
Daily average (1y)36
Peak day874Dec 30, 2025
Last 12 months13.2K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Attachments stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
attachment #5 3,430 Best attachment plugins →
page >100 10,000 Best page plugins →
pdf >100 3,284 Best pdf plugins →
picture #30 1,765 Best picture plugins →
post >100 10,000 Best post plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 3.599.1%
  • 1.60.90%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 from 53 reviews

  • 5★92.5%
  • 4★3.8%
  • 3★1.9%
  • 2★0.00%
  • 1★1.9%

About Attachments

From the official readme · v3.5.11

Description

Extensive usage instructions are available on GitHub

Attachments allows you to simply append any number of items from your WordPress Media Library to Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types.

Associate Media items with posts

The idea behind Attachments is to give developers the ability to directly associate Media items with any post. This is accomplished by adding a meta box to post edit screens as determined by the developer. Once Media items have been associated with a post, you’re able to retrieve those Attachments and include them directly within your template files using any specific markup you wish.

Integrate Attachments within your theme with fine grained control

Attachments does not automatically integrate itself with your theme. Since the idea behind Attachments is to allow integration of Media within posts using developer-crafted, unique markup, it’s up to you to integrate with your theme. The most basic integration includes editing the appropriate template file and adding your call(s) to Attachments. For example, if you have set up Attachments to be used with your Posts entries, edit single.php to include the following within The Loop:

<?php $attachments = new Attachments( 'attachments' ); /* pass the instance name */ ?>
<?php if( $attachments->exist() ) : ?>
  <h3>Attachments</h3>
  <p>Total Attachments: <?php echo $attachments->total(); ?></p>
  <ul>
    <?php while( $attachments->get() ) : ?>
      <li>
        ID: <?php echo $attachments->id(); ?><br />
        Type: <?php echo $attachments->type(); ?><br />
        Subtype: <?php echo $attachments->subtype(); ?><br />
        URL: <?php echo $attachments->url(); ?><br />
        Image: <?php echo $attachments->image( 'thumbnail' ); ?><br />
        Source: <?php echo $attachments->src( 'full' ); ?><br />
        Size: <?php echo $attachments->filesize(); ?><br />
        Title Field: <?php echo $attachments->field( 'title' ); ?><br />
        Caption Field: <?php echo $attachments->field( 'caption' ); ?>
      </li>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
  </ul>
<?php endif; ?>

That snippet will request all of the existing Attachments defined for the current Post within The Loop, and retrieve each itemized property for that Attachment. Using the provided details you’re able to integrate the attached Media items in any way you please.

There is a lot more information on Attachments’ GitHub page. Please contribute!

Roadmap

Please see Attachments on GitHub

Usage

Extensive usage instructions are available on GitHub

Installation

  1. Download the plugin and extract the files
  2. Upload attachments to your ~/wp-content/plugins/ directory
  3. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
  4. Implement Attachments in your theme’s functions.php or your own plugin (see Other Notes > Usage)
  5. Update your templates where applicable (see Other Notes > Usage)

Upgrading from version 1.x

You will need to update your theme files that use Attachments 3.0. Version 1.x of Attachments has been fully deprecated but is still available and included with Attachments 3.x. If you would like to continue to use the (no longer supported) 1.x version you may add the following to your wp-config.php:

define( 'ATTACHMENTS_LEGACY', true ); // force the legacy version of Attachments

Version 3 is a major rewrite. While I’ve taken precautions in ensuring you won’t lose any saved data it is important to back up your database prior to upgrading in case something goes wrong. This version is a complete rewrite so all legacy data will be left in place, but a migration must take place to match the new data storage model and workflow.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see Issues on GitHub

Changelog

Now piggybacking the awesome Media workflow introduced in WordPress 3.5

Please see Attachments’ changelog on GitHub

3.5.11

  • Compatibility with WordPress 6.9
  • Fixes Fatal Error in some cases when deleting. Props m-hefti
  • Fixes field value population for non-English values. Props marcochiesi
  • Fixed bug in generated code for migration from Attachments Pro Props marcochiesi
  • Fix documentation links on WordPress plugins page. Props crgeary

3.5.9

  • Added link to collapse Attachments to make sorting easier
  • Fixes PHP Notice on installation
  • Fixes illegal offset error on PHP7
  • Added Dutch translation

3.5.8

  • Fixed a potential issue when migrating from Attachments Pro

3.5.7

  • Fixed a regression that prevented attaching multiple files at once

3.5.6

  • Fixed an issue where changing an Attachment on more than one Attachment would continually update the first Attachment
  • Media modal now includes filters (props marcochiesi)
  • Added German translation (props bessl)
  • Added filter to manipulate Attachments metadata before it’s saved: attachments_meta_before_save
  • Underscores are no longer enforced over hyphens
  • More entropy for Attachments uid’s to prevent collisions (props sketchpad)

3.5.5

  • Fixed an issue where field values were improperly overwritten when the instance was set to prepend in some cases

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

An Attachments meta box sitting below the content editor
An Attachments meta box sitting below the content editor
Direct integration with WordPress 3.5+ Media
Direct integration with WordPress 3.5+ Media
Attach multiple files at once
Attach multiple files at once
Custom fields for each Attachment
Custom fields for each Attachment
Drag and drop to sort
Drag and drop to sort

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best Attachments alternatives

All attachment plugins →
Alternatives
Rank Plugin Active installs Rating Updated Health
1 Fluent PDF Generator Fluent PDF Generator Generate PDF from Your Form Submissions and Download/Email Them by WPManageNinja 20K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (6) 1 week ago 74
2 Attachment Pages Redirect Attachment Pages Redirect Redirect attachment pages or return a 404 error for them based on the parent post status. by Samuel Aguilera 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (47) 8 months ago 62
3 Disable Media Pages Disable Media Pages Completely remove "attachment" pages for WordPress media. Improve SEO and prevent conflicts… by joppuyo 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (17) 1 week ago 85
4 Download Attachments Download Attachments Download Attachments is a new approach to managing downloads in WordPress. It allows you to… by dFactory 8K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (46) 4 months ago 76
6 Product Attachment for WooCommerce Product Attachment for WooCommerce Plugin lets you easily upload any file type (images, documents, videos, etc.) to customer… by Dotstore 6K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 (23) 2 weeks ago 91
7 DCO Comment Attachment DCO Comment Attachment Allows your visitors to attach files with their comments by Denis Yanchevskiy 5K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (10) 4 years ago 41
8 Media Search Enhanced Media Search Enhanced Search through all fields in Media Library. by Yoren Chang 5K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 (28) 2 weeks ago 78
9 DX Delete Attached Media DX Delete Attached Media Automatically deletes attached media from posts and custom post types added via the Media… by Mario Peshev 3K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (28) 3 years ago 45
10 Attachment Importer Attachment Importer Import attachments from another WordPress blog using a WXR file. by Spencer Piontkowski 3K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 (26) 12 years ago 42
11 Autoremove Attachments Autoremove Attachments Remove child attachments when parent post, page or custom post type is deleted. by Polygon Themes 3K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (15) 5 months ago 65

FAQ

Attachments: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 26, 2026

Is Attachments free?

Yes. Attachments is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Attachments safe to use in 2026?

Attachments is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 8K+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 9 months ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Attachments?

Attachments is active on 8K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 287,450 times since it launched in November 2009. It was downloaded 924 times in the last 30 days.

Does Attachments work with WordPress 7.1?

Attachments is officially tested up to WordPress 6.9.9, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Attachments last updated?

The latest version, 3.5.11, was released on December 30, 2025 (9 months ago).

Who makes Attachments?

Attachments is developed and maintained by Jon Christopher.

What are the best alternatives to Attachments?

The most popular alternatives to Attachments are Fluent PDF Generator (20K+ installs), Attachment Pages Redirect (10K+ installs) and Disable Media Pages (10K+ installs).

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