Advanced Sidebar Menu vs Faster Appearance – Menus
Two WordPress plugins head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
These aren’t all alternatives to each other — they do different jobs — so this page compares popularity only, not features.
At a glance
Advanced Sidebar Menu leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #1,664, ahead of Faster Appearance – Menus at #11,672. Over the last 7 days Advanced Sidebar Menu slipped 1 place and Faster Appearance – Menus slipped 5 places. Advanced Sidebar Menu has the largest install base, roughly 50× the next: 10K+ active installs against 200+ for Faster Appearance – Menus. Downloads this week: Advanced Sidebar Menu 464 and Faster Appearance – Menus 15. Ratings: Advanced Sidebar Menu 4.5★ from 37 and Faster Appearance – Menus 4.9★ from 29 reviews.
| Metric | Advanced Sidebar Menu | Faster Appearance – Menus |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #1,664 ▼ 1 | #11,672 ▼ 5 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 200+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 464 | 15 |
| Rating | 4.5★ (37) | 4.9★ (29) |
| Last updated | Aug 24, 2026 | Aug 20, 2013 |
| Current version | 9.8.6 | 0.1.1 |
| Best rank on record | #1,657 | #11,332 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Oct 2011 | Aug 2013 |
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
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- Advanced Sidebar Menu vs Nav Menu Roles
- Advanced Sidebar Menu vs Admin Menu Tree Page View
- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Shortcode in Menus
- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Nav Menu Roles
- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Advanced Sidebar Menu or Faster Appearance – Menus?
By active installs, Advanced Sidebar Menu: 10K+ sites run it against 200+ for Faster Appearance – Menus, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 18, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Advanced Sidebar Menu or Faster Appearance – Menus?
Advanced Sidebar Menu, at #1,664 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Faster Appearance – Menus at #11,672. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Advanced Sidebar Menu or Faster Appearance – Menus alternatives to each other?
Not all of them. Some of these plugins do different jobs and many sites run more than one. This page compares their popularity, not their features.
Where do these numbers come from?
WordPress.org publishes each plugin’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 plugins have moved over time rather than a single day.