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Recent Comments icon
Possibly abandoned Tested up to 2.6.2

Recent Comments

Recent Comments displays a list of your blog’s newest comments. The output can be customised in many ways.

Active installs200+100+ tier
Downloads · 30d70▼ -34% vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score26/100At risk
All-time downloads40.6KSince Mar 2008
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 1.5PHP any
Downloads · 7d19• 0% week over week
Our verdict

Consider an alternative

Recent Comments shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (200+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far
  • No update in 18 years
  • Only tested up to WordPress 2.6 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

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

Daily downloads

71421Jul 2Aug 15Sep 29
Yesterday4
Daily average (1y)2
Peak day30Nov 10, 2025
Last 12 months887

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

Rankings

Where Recent Comments stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
comments >100 8,800 Best comments plugins →
latest >100 9,509 Best latest plugins →
newest >100 930 Best newest plugins →
posts >100 10,000 Best posts plugins →
recent >100 4,230 Best recent plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 2.6100.0%

About Recent Comments

From the official readme · v2.6.2.1

Description

Recent Comments displays a list of your blog’s newest comments. The output can be customised in many ways.

This plugin requires the latest version of the Post-Plugin Library: download it now.

Version History

  • 2.6.2.1
    • option (‘unique’) to only show one comment per post
  • 2.6.2.0
    • new {imagealt} output tag — rather like {imagesrc}
    • {excerpt} can now trim to whole sentences
    • content filter can now take parameter string
    • widget can now take parameter string
    • output can be appended to posts & feeds
  • 2.6.1.0
    • the current post can be marked manually
    • widgets now honour the option to show no output if list is empty
  • 2.6.0.1
    • bug fix: installation code was failing on some systems
  • 2.6.0.0
    • version bump to indicate compatibility with WP 2.6
    • fix to really include attachments
    • new parameter for {imagesrc} to append a suffix to the image name, e.g. to get the thumbnail for attachments
  • 2.5.0.11
    • new option to include attachments
    • {php} tag now accepts nested tags
    • new output tag {authorurl} — permalink to archive of author’s posts
  • 2.5.0.10
    • fix for page selection in old versions of WP
    • made omit current post try harder to find current post ID
  • 2.5.0.9
    • new option to match the current post’s author
    • extended options for snippet and excerpt output tags
  • 2.5.0.7
    • new option to show by status, i.e., published/private/draft/future
    • {categorynames} and {categorylinks} apply ‘single_cat_name’ filter
    • fixes bug in WP pre-2.2 causing installation to fail
  • 2.5.0.1
    • new option to only show comments for the current post
  • 2.5.0
    • {image} has new post, link, and default parameters
    • new {imagesrc} tag
    • fix to empty category bug
    • excluded posts bug fix
    • fix for intermittent bug with ‘omit current post’ option
  • 2.5b26
    • reverted thumbnail serving (speed)
    • fix current post after extra query
  • 2.5b25
    • option to sort output, group templates
    • removed ‘trim_before’ option added more logical ‘divider’
    • {date:raw}, {commentdate:raw}, etc.
    • fix for {image} resizing when and not
    • {image} now serves real thumbnails
  • 2.5b24
    • fix for recursive replacement by content filter
    • fix to {gravatar} to allow for ‘identicon’ etc.
    • fix to {commenter} to allow trimming
    • fix a warning in safe mode
  • 2.5b23
    • new option to filter on custom fields
    • nested braces in {if}; condition now taggable
    • improved bug report feature
    • better way to omit user comments
  • 2.5b22
    • fixes for tag bugs
    • show_pages option can now show only pages
    • omit registered user comments option added
  • 2.5b19
    • fix for content replacement filter
  • 2.5b18
    • fix output filter bug
    • add conditional tag {if:condition:yes:no}
  • 2.5b16
    • fix for {php}
  • 2.5b15
    • fix bugs, add ‘included posts’ setting
  • 2.5b14
    • fix file-encoding, installation error, etc.
  • 2.5b11
    • some widget fixes
  • 2.5b9

    • clarifying installation instructions
  • previous versions

Installation

  1. IMPORTANT! If you are upgrading from a previous version first deactivate the plugin, then delete the plugin folder from your server.

  2. Upload the plugin folder to your /wp-content/plugins/ folder. If you haven’t already you should also install the Post-Plugin Library>.

  3. Go to the Plugins page and activate the plugin.

  4. Put <?php recent_comments(); ?> at the place in your template where you want the list to appear or use the plugin as a widget.

  5. Use the Options/Settings page to adjust the behaviour of the plugin.

My web site has full instructions and information on customisation.

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 Recent Comments alternatives

All comments plugins →
Alternatives
Rank Plugin Active installs Rating Updated Health
1 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection The best anti-spam protection to block spam comments and spam in a contact form. The most… by Automattic 5M+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (1.2K) 1 month ago 94
2 Disable Comments – Remove Comments & Stop Spam [Multi-Site Support] Disable Comments Disable comments site-wide or by post type, delete existing comments in bulk, and block… by WPDeveloper 1M+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (281) 4 weeks ago 88
3 Antispam Bee Antispam Bee Sophisticated antispam plugin for effective daily comment and trackback spam-fighting… by pluginkollektiv 700K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 (226) 1 month ago 78
4 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy The official Gravatar plugin, featuring privacy-focused settings, easy profile updates, and… by Automattic 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (3) 7 months ago 54
5 Disable Comments Disable Comments Disable Comments - easy tool to disable comments for your blog posts, and pages. Admin can… by rbplugins 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 3.8 (25) 5 days ago 90
6 Disqus Comment System Disqus Comment System Disqus is the web's most popular comment system. Use Disqus to increase engagement, retain… by Disqus 30K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 2.7 (219) 7 days ago 68
7 Cookies for Comments Cookies for Comments Sets a cookie on a random URL that is then checked when a comment is posted. If the cookie… by Donncha O Caoimh (a11n) 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (18) 7 years ago 42
8 Throws SPAM Away Throws SPAM Away A powerful anti-spam plugin that silently discards spam comments without showing any error… by ウェブ屋のさとーさん 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (6) 1 month ago 81
9 Subscribe to Comments Subscribe to Comments Subscribe to Comments allows commenters on an entry to subscribe to e-mail notifications… by Mark Jaquith 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 3.9 (14) 2 years ago 41
10 Native PHP Sessions Native PHP Sessions Use native PHP sessions and stay horizontally scalable. Better living through superior… by Pantheon Systems 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (16) 10 months ago 46

FAQ

Recent Comments: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 30, 2026

Is Recent Comments free?

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

Is Recent Comments safe to use in 2026?

Recent Comments shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Recent Comments?

Recent Comments is active on 200+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 40,589 times since it launched in March 2008. It was downloaded 70 times in the last 30 days.

Does Recent Comments work with WordPress 7.1?

Recent Comments is officially tested up to WordPress 2.6.2, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Recent Comments last updated?

The latest version, 2.6.2.1, was released on September 17, 2008 (18 years ago).

Who makes Recent Comments?

Recent Comments is developed and maintained by RobMarsh.

What are the best alternatives to Recent Comments?

The most popular alternatives to Recent Comments are Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Pro… (5M+ installs), Disable Comments (1M+ installs) and Antispam Bee (700K+ installs).

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