PDF.js Viewer

80 Quality Score

Active Installs

19/30

At 20,000 active installs this is a mid-sized, niche plugin rather than a market leader, and the 64 score reflects that modest reach.

Update Freshness

25/25

A perfect maintenance score is earned by a recent update (April 2026), confirmed WordPress 7.0 compatibility, and a modern PHP 7.4 baseline.

User Rating

13/15

The 88 out of 100 rating from 53 reviewers is strong, showing consistent user satisfaction even with a small sample.

Support Health

8/15

Support health is the weak link at 50, driven by 2 open threads and a 0% resolution rate, so be prepared to troubleshoot on your own.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Full marks for compatibility, with WordPress 7.0 tested and PHP 7.4 as the floor, which keeps it future-proof.

Scores higher than 79% of indexed plugins

About

Embed a beautiful PDF viewer into pages.

Active Installs 20k+

Rating ★★★★ 4.4/5

Last Updated 2026-04-21 2:56am GMT

Requires WordPress 5.0+

Tested Up To 7.0.4

Requires PHP 7.4+

Security History

3 known vulnerabilities, all patched

3 Medium

Most recent: May 20, 2024

View details ▸

What It Does

PDF.js Viewer lets you drop a shortcode into any page or post to embed a Mozilla-based PDF reader directly on your WordPress site. Visitors can scroll, zoom, and navigate multi-page PDFs without leaving the page or downloading the file. It uses Mozilla's PDF.js library, so rendering happens client-side in the browser.

Who It's For

This plugin is a fit for sites that publish static PDF content such as manuals, syllabi, white papers, brochures, or technical documentation where you just need a clean inline reader. It suits small organizations that want a no-fuss embed without configuring a full document management system.

Who Should Skip It

Skip this if you need WooCommerce invoice generation, fillable PDF forms, or DRM-protected document delivery, since PDF.js Viewer is a display-only shortcode with no commerce hooks. Large libraries with thousands of PDFs may also outgrow its lightweight, single-file approach.

The Bottom Line

PDF.js Viewer does one thing and does it well, scoring 79.96 overall thanks to excellent maintenance and compatibility despite weak support volume. It is a smart pick for bloggers and small teams embedding a handful of PDFs, but anyone needing advanced features like form filling, downloads, or analytics should look at PDF Embedder or EmbedPress instead.

Pick this if you run a WooCommerce store and need to auto-generate branded order invoices and packing slips attached to emails.

PDF Embedder 86/100

Pick this if you want a more established embedder with 300,000 installs, a downloadable toolbar, and mobile-friendly fallbacks.

EmbedPress 84/100

Pick this if you want one plugin to embed PDFs alongside YouTube, Google Docs, 3D flipbooks, reviews, and dozens of other source types.

Insert Pages 83/100

Pick this if your real goal is wrapping or reusing content already stored as WordPress pages rather than rendering PDF files.

iframe 82/100

Pick this for a one-line iframe wrapper when you only need to point at an externally hosted PDF and do not want a dedicated viewer.