Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed
Easily embed responsive lazy loading YouTube/twitch videos, playlists, and channels using shortcodes. Also add a secondary fallback video for when videos are unavailable/private
Consider an alternative
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 60+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (60+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 5 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.5 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Smart YouTube and Twitch Em… stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| embed | >100 |
| iframe | >100 |
| twitch | #95 |
| video | >100 |
| youtube | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
About Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed
From the official readme · v2.3.7Description
Easily embed responsive lazy loading YouTube/twitch videos, playlists, and channels using shortcodes. Also add a secondary fallback video for when videos are unavailable/private
Installation
- Upload plugin to the /wp-content/plugins
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Go to settings to see how shortcodes work and enjoy 😀
Frequently asked questions
is the size dynamic to the website size?
yes, you can set the width to anything you want, and the height can auto-adjust to a 16:9 ratio if not set. To make the width dynamic, set it to a %
can this embed my youtube channel?
the plugin can embed the uploads playlist from your channel.
can this embed twitch videos?
yes, the plugin also supports twitch embeds.
where do I get the video/playlist/channel id
the plugin supports multiple ways of inputing the id. you can get the id from the url where you would normaly find it when watching youtube videos, or going to playlists/channels. you can also copy the full url and use that as the id. this same method also works for twitch.
how can the plugin tell if I’m embedding a video, playlist, or channel?
youtube and twitch both use a different algorithm for generating there random url’s. this plugin uses thoes patterns to try and fix the url. the plugin then checks if the url returns a 404 or 403 header (meaning the video is either unavailable or private) if the video does not exist, it will run the same process on your fallback video, and won’t include the embed, if the url does not exist. note: simetimes twitch does not return a 404 header
Changelog
replaced youtube channel uploads embed with youtube popular uploads embed added option to disable youtube or twitch support, to improve performance if only one is needed added option to add alternate shortcode name added shortcode attribute "url" as an alias for "id"
2.3.7
replaced youtube popular uploads embed with youtube channel uploads embed (now that YouTube fixed that url)
2.3
replaced youtube channel uploads embed with youtube popular uploads embed
added option to disable youtube or twitch support, to improve performance if only one is needed
added option to add alternate shortcode name
added shortcode attribute “url” as an alias for “id”
2.2
added support for youtu.be urls
2.1
added a nice border radius around video iframes
made javascript functions wait for DOMContentLoaded to improve page loading speeds
2.0
Rebuilt Plugin
– old shortcodes are still supported
– “type” attribute is no longer needed (this is now auto detected)
– you can now use the full url of the video as you would normaly find it when watching a youtube/twitch video
– you can now choose to autoplay youtube videos
– you can now choose to mute youtube videos
– you can now set an exact height (if not set, a 16/9 ratio will be calculated)
– improved support for youtube and twitch videos
1.4
Added wordpress translation to title and description
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 8, 2026
Is Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed free?
Yes. Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed safe to use in 2026?
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 60+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed?
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed is active on 60+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 4,690 times since it launched in March 2019. It was downloaded 104 times in the last 30 days.
Does Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed work with WordPress 7.1?
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed is officially tested up to WordPress 5.5.23, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed need?
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed requires PHP 5.2.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed last updated?
The latest version, 2.3.7, was released on January 14, 2021 (6 years ago).
Who makes Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed?
Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed is developed and maintained by SwiftNinjaPro.
What are the best alternatives to Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed?
The most popular alternatives to Smart YouTube and Twitch Embed are EmbedPress (100K+ installs), iframe (60K+ installs) and Advanced iFrame (40K+ installs).
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