Featured Image from YouTube
Quickly add a featured image to posts that include YouTube videos by retrieving the featured image from the YouTube service.
Solid choice
Featured Image from YouTube is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 100+ sites and was last updated 1 month ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.
- Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Featured Image from YouTube
From the official readme · v1.7Description
When a post, page, or other WordPress document includes an embedded YouTube video, this plugin will let you fetch the thumbnail or preview image of the video from the YouTube service and install it as the featured image.
If the post includes multiple video clips, you can choose which one should be featured. Several resolutions are supported, from Max Resolution (looks best on themes that feature a large version of the image) to smaller thumbnails that are fine for post listings.
This can be useful for improving the display of blog posts in listings that display the featured image, whether as a thumbnail or a larger image.
The plugin was created partly for the purpose of improving the recent post listings as they are displayed in MailPoet newsletters.
If you do a lot of posts built around YouTube videos, this plugin saves time compared with downloading the preview image and adding it to your post, or adding an alternate featured image.
You retain the option of adding a different featured image if the version from YouTube is not ideal.
Credits
RSVPMaker
Copyright (C) 2021 David F. Carr
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
See the GNU General Public License at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html>.
Changelog
1.7
- Shows a count of YouTube preview images found, with a button the user can click to display the choices (rather than showing them right away). Makes for a less cluttered sidebar, while making the choices instantly available.
1.5
- Fixed error on post save
1.4
- Better featured Image display in sidebar
1.3
- Featured Image widget now updates to show the new selected image, if it was successfully added.
1.2
-
Switched from trying to automatically add the featured image when the post is saved to prompting the user to choose which image to add, if any.
-
Support for fetching alternate versions of the YouTube thumbnail or thumbnails from different videos included in the same post.
1.0
First public release
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.
FAQ
Featured Image from YouTube: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 9, 2026
Is Featured Image from YouTube free?
Yes. Featured Image from YouTube is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Featured Image from YouTube safe to use in 2026?
Featured Image from YouTube is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 100+ sites and was last updated 1 month ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Featured Image from YouTube?
Featured Image from YouTube is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 9,807 times since it launched in March 2021. It was downloaded 271 times in the last 30 days.
Does Featured Image from YouTube work with WordPress 7.1?
Yes. The developer has tested Featured Image from YouTube up to WordPress 7.1.3, the latest release. It requires WordPress 5.0 or newer.
What PHP version does Featured Image from YouTube need?
Featured Image from YouTube requires PHP 5.6 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Featured Image from YouTube last updated?
The latest version, 1.7, was released on September 5, 2026 (1 month ago).
Who makes Featured Image from YouTube?
Featured Image from YouTube is developed and maintained by davidfcarr.
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
