Preloader

78 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

With 10,000 active installs it has a middling footprint, clearly behind the dominant alternative LoftLoader at 70,000 installs, which signals limited but real adoption.

Update Freshness

25/25

A perfect maintenance score reflects a recent update (May 2026) and clearly defined minimum requirements for WordPress (5.8) and PHP (7.4), which shows the developer is actively keeping the plugin current.

User Rating

12/15

An 82 out of 100 user rating across 41 reviews is solid and suggests most users get the result they expected, though the small sample size keeps it from being a runaway favourite.

Support Health

8/15

Support health is weak because the developer has zero tracked threads in the repository and a 0% resolution rate, which means there is no observable track record of helping users with problems.

WP Compatibility

15/15

The perfect compatibility score reflects that it has been tested against WordPress 7.0 and supports modern PHP, making it safe to run on current stacks.

Scores higher than 62% of indexed plugins

About

The ultimate Preloader plugin for WordPress. Smart, flexible, and made for easy control. Add a preloader to your website easily in only 3 steps.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★★ 4.1/5

Last Updated 2026-08-21 8:23pm GMT

Requires WordPress 5.8+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

The Preloader plugin adds a loading animation or splash screen that displays on your WordPress site before the main content appears. It is built around a simple three-step setup wizard that lets you choose a loader style and insert it sitewide with minimal configuration. In practice, it mainly serves a cosmetic purpose by hiding page load delay behind a branded or animated overlay.

Who It's For

This plugin fits site owners who want a quick visual loader added without touching code, especially portfolios, creative agencies, and small stores where the loading animation itself becomes part of the brand experience. It is best suited for sites where perceived load time matters more than actual performance metrics, and where the owner values an easy setup over deep customization.

Who Should Skip It

If your goal is genuine page speed improvement rather than a cosmetic overlay, you should skip this plugin because a CSS or image preloader adds DOM weight and does not address caching, image optimization, or Core Web Vitals. Sites focused on accessibility, performance scores, or SEO-first design will get no real benefit from it.

The Bottom Line

The Preloader is a decent, well-maintained option if your only goal is adding a simple branded loading screen in three clicks, and it scores 77.71 overall on PluginCheck. Its biggest practical weakness is lack of visible support activity, so if you hit a problem you may be on your own. Treat it as a cosmetic add-on, not a performance tool.

Related Plugins

LoftLoader 83/100

Pick LoftLoader instead if you want far broader adoption (70,000 installs) and a more mature feature set such as custom logo integration and per-page loader control.

Safelayout Cute Preloader 80/100

Pick Safelayout if you prefer a pure CSS3 approach with no JavaScript overhead and a library of cute, ready-made loader animations.

WP Performance Score Booster 79/100

Pick WP Performance Score Booster instead if you actually need to improve Core Web Vitals and page speed rather than just hiding load time behind an animation.

Disable Lazy Load 79/100

Pick Disable Lazy Load if your issue is WordPress's built-in lazy loading hurting image-heavy layouts, which is a real performance fix rather than a visual one.

Preload LCP Image 78/100

Pick Preload LCP Image if you want to directly improve your Largest Contentful Paint score, which delivers measurable speed gains instead of a cosmetic loader.