At a glance
AMP
An easier path to great Page Experience for everyone. Powered by AMP.
Featherweight
Speed up WordPress by disabling unused features — emojis, embeds, query strings, XML-RPC, RSS and more — for fewer requests and faster pages.
Full Comparison
Technical Specs
| Metric | AMP | Featherweight |
|---|---|---|
| Requires WP | 6.5+ | 6.4+ |
| Requires PHP | 7.4+ | 7.4+ |
| Tested up to WP | 6.8.5 | 7.0.1 |
| Plugin age | 11 yrs | 9 yrs |
Quick Verdict
Featherweight wins this comparison for most WordPress sites. AMP has 40x more installs than Featherweight, but Featherweight earns a 76% five-star rating versus AMP's 61% five-star share. For a plugin that removes bloat without forcing a separate mobile framework, Featherweight delivers better user satisfaction. Pick Featherweight if you want faster admin and front-end pages without restructuring your theme. AMP only makes sense if you need Google's framework for news or content sites.
Feature Comparison: AMP vs Featherweight
| Feature | AMP | Featherweight |
|---|---|---|
| Primary approach | Renders pages using the AMP framework for mobile | Disables unused WordPress features to reduce bloat |
| Disables emojis | No built-in option | Yes, one-click disable |
| Disables embeds | No built-in option | Yes, one-click disable |
| Removes query strings | No built-in option | Yes, removes query strings from static assets |
| Disables XML-RPC | No built-in option | Yes, one-click disable |
| Disables RSS feeds | No built-in option | Yes, one-click disable |
| Page Experience optimization | Built around Google's Page Experience signals | Indirect improvement by reducing HTTP requests |
| Theme compatibility | Requires AMP-compatible theme or validation | Works with any theme, no changes needed |
Who Should Use AMP
- News and media sites that rely on Google's Top Stories carousel, AMP is the only path to that placement, and the plugin handles validation for you.
- Developers building content-heavy sites who want a structured framework for mobile performance, backed by the official WordPress AMP plugin with 400K+ installs.
- Teams who prioritize Google's Page Experience metrics as a core KPI, the plugin was built specifically for that goal, and 61% of reviewers gave it 5 stars.
Who Should Use Featherweight
- Site owners who want to disable embeds in WordPress without editing code, Featherweight does it with one toggle, and 76% of reviewers gave it 5 stars.
- Performance-minded users who need to remove query strings from WordPress assets to improve caching, Featherweight handles that in a single checkbox.
- Anyone running a shared hosting environment who needs to disable emoji in WordPress to reduce database and HTTP overhead, Featherweight removes the emoji script entirely with zero configuration.
Community & Support
AMP's rating distribution shows a clear split: 61% of reviewers gave it 5 stars, while 21% gave it 1 star. That 40-point gap between top and bottom ratings suggests the plugin works well for some setups but fails for others. Featherweight shows a healthier profile with 76% five-star and 20% one-star ratings, a 56-point gap favoring the positive side. Both plugins had only 1 open support thread in the last 2 months, which is too small a sample to draw conclusions about response quality.
Verdict: AMP or Featherweight for WordPress sites?
Pick AMP if you run a news site, media outlet, or blog that needs Google's Top Stories carousel access. The plugin has 400K+ active installs and is the official route to AMP compliance. You accept the trade-off of theme restrictions and a 61% five-star rating.
Pick Featherweight if you want a faster WordPress site without changing your theme. It disables embeds, emojis, query strings, XML-RPC, and RSS feeds, all common bloat sources. With a 76% five-star rating and zero theme compatibility issues, Featherweight delivers better satisfaction for general WordPress optimization. It's the data-driven winner for most site owners.
This comparison is AI-generated from live WordPress.org data. Install counts, ratings, versions and support statistics sync weekly, so the numbers on this page stay current. Content passes automated quality checks before publishing, and pages below our quality threshold are held for human review.
Read our full methodologyFrequently Asked Questions
Q How many people use AMP compared to Featherweight?
AMP has 400K+ active installs while Featherweight has 10K+, meaning AMP is used on more sites.
Q Which has better user ratings — AMP or Featherweight?
Featherweight averages 4.1/5 from 45 reviews, while AMP averages 3.8/5 from 367 reviews — Featherweight has the higher average rating.
Q Which is more actively maintained — AMP or Featherweight?
Featherweight was last updated on Jun 13, 2026 and AMP on Apr 10, 2025, so Featherweight received the more recent update.
Q Are AMP and Featherweight both free?
Yes — both AMP and Featherweight are free to install from the official WordPress.org plugin directory. Some features may require a paid upgrade offered by the plugin author.
Q Is AMP or Featherweight better for WordPress sites?
AMP is better if your goal is to serve cached, stripped-down mobile pages that can appear in Google's Top Stories carousel. Featherweight is better if you just want to speed up your existing site by removing bloat like emojis and query strings without changing how your theme looks.
Q Which is easier to set up for a WordPress beginner — AMP or Featherweight?
Featherweight is easier for a beginner because it works immediately after activation with no configuration required. AMP requires you to choose between transitional and reader modes, and you may need to test your theme for compatibility.
Q What is the biggest feature difference between AMP and Featherweight?
AMP completely transforms your pages into a restricted, lightweight framework designed for Google's page experience standards. Featherweight simply disables specific performance-killing WordPress features like embeds and emoji while leaving your theme and content untouched.
Q Can you switch from AMP to Featherweight (or the other way) without losing data?
Yes, you can deactivate one and activate the other without losing your posts or settings because neither plugin stores data in your database tables. You will, however, need to reconfigure any AMP-specific settings if you switch back to AMP later.
Q Which type of site should choose AMP, and which should choose Featherweight?
Choose AMP if you run a news blog or content site that relies on Google traffic and needs to pass Core Web Vitals on mobile. Choose Featherweight if you run a standard business site or personal blog and just want a cleaner, faster backend without changing how your pages look.
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