News Rift vs Nirvana
Two WordPress themes head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
At a glance
Nirvana leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #280, ahead of News Rift at #456. Over the last 7 days Nirvana slipped 6 places and News Rift slipped 21 places. Nirvana has the largest install base, roughly 20× the next: 10K+ active installs against 500+ for News Rift. Downloads this week: Nirvana 268 and News Rift 14.
| Metric | News Rift | Nirvana |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #456 ▼ 21 | #280 ▼ 6 |
| Active installs | 500+ | 10K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 14 | 268 |
| Rating | no ratings | 4.3★ (69) |
| Type | Classic theme | Classic theme |
| Last updated | Sep 26, 2025 | Jan 26, 2026 |
| Current version | 0.5 | 1.6.5 |
| Best rank on record | #47 | #271 |
| Days in the top 50 | 7 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Sep 2025 | Sep 2014 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 0 | 1 |
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, News Rift or Nirvana?
By active installs, Nirvana: 10K+ sites run it against 500+ for News Rift, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 25, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, News Rift or Nirvana?
Nirvana, at #280 on the WordPress.org popular themes list today, with News Rift at #456. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Is News Rift a block theme or a classic theme? And Nirvana?
News Rift is a classic theme, Nirvana 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.