Featured Image from YouTube
Quickly add a featured image to posts that include YouTube videos by retrieving the featured image from the YouTube service.
The facts
- Active installs
- 100+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 2 Oct 2025
- Added
- Mar 2021
- Requires WP
- 5.0
- Tested up to
- WP 6.8.8
- Requires PHP
- 5.6
- Downloads
- 9,341
Our analysis
AI-assistedFeatured Image from YouTube is a WordPress plugin that allows you to fetch and set the thumbnail or preview image from embedded YouTube videos as the featured image for your posts or pages. You can select which video thumbnail to use if multiple videos are present, and it supports various resolutions to suit different display needs.
This plugin is particularly useful for bloggers who frequently create content around YouTube videos, as it streamlines the process of adding featured images without the need to download images manually. It can enhance the visual appeal of blog post listings, especially in newsletters created with MailPoet.
Best for: This plugin suits bloggers and content creators who frequently use YouTube videos in their posts.
What it does well
- ✓Fetches YouTube video thumbnails automatically
- ✓Supports multiple resolutions for featured images
- ✓Allows selection of thumbnails from multiple videos
- ✓Saves time compared to manual image handling
Where it falls short
- •No specific rating available
- •Limited information on compatibility and performance
Verdict
Featured Image from YouTube offers a straightforward solution for managing video thumbnails in WordPress, though more information on its performance and user feedback would be beneficial.
From the developer
davidfcarr's own description of Featured Image from YouTube, lightly tidied.
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>.