Actual News vs blogwaves
Two WordPress themes head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
At a glance
Actual News leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #621, ahead of blogwaves at #3,397. Over the last 7 days Actual News slipped 21 places and blogwaves climbed 36 places. blogwaves has the largest install base, roughly 1.5× the next: 300+ active installs against 200+ for Actual News. Downloads this week: Actual News 18 and blogwaves 11.
| Metric | Actual News | blogwaves |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #621 ▼ 21 | #3,397 ▲ 36 |
| Active installs | 200+ | 300+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 18 | 11 |
| Rating | no ratings | no ratings |
| Type | Classic theme | Classic theme |
| Last updated | Aug 19, 2026 | Jan 26, 2025 |
| Current version | 1.0.0 | 1.0.21 |
| Best rank on record | #241 | #3,376 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Mar 2026 | Mar 2021 |
Highlighted cells mark the strongest figure in each row. Rank and installs are from the latest WordPress.org capture; downloads are the last seven captured days.
Ranking history Lower is better
Active installs
Downloads per day
More comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Actual News or blogwaves?
By active installs, blogwaves: 300+ sites run it against 200+ for Actual News, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 26, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Actual News or blogwaves?
Actual News, at #621 on the WordPress.org popular themes list today, with blogwaves at #3,397. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Is Actual News a block theme or a classic theme? And blogwaves?
Actual News is a classic theme, blogwaves is a classic theme. Block themes are built for the Site Editor; classic themes use the Customizer and widget areas.
Where do these numbers come from?
WordPress.org publishes each theme’s active install count and its position on the popular list. This site records both every day, along with per-day downloads and ratings, so the charts above show how the themes have moved over time rather than a single day.