Category Posts Widget vs Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy
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
Category Posts Widget leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #880, ahead of Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy at #3,676. Over the last 7 days Category Posts Widget slipped 1 place and Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy climbed 5 places. Category Posts Widget has the largest install base, roughly 13× the next: 40K+ active installs against 3K+ for Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy. Downloads this week: Category Posts Widget 1,479 and Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy 135. Ratings: Category Posts Widget 4.5★ from 79 and Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy 5★ from 25 reviews.
| Metric | Category Posts Widget | Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #880 ▼ 1 | #3,676 ▲ 5 |
| Active installs | 40K+ | 3K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 1,479 | 135 |
| Rating | 4.5★ (79) | 5★ (25) |
| Last updated | Oct 19, 2026 | Dec 29, 2025 |
| Current version | 5.1.2 | 1.5.1 |
| Best rank on record | #867 | #3,673 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Oct 2007 | Jan 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
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- Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy vs Product Slider, Product Carousel and Product Grid Gallery for WooCommerce – Reno Product Slider (formerly Product Slider for WooCommerce)
- Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy vs Social LikeBox & Feed
- Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy vs Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Category Posts Widget or Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy?
By active installs, Category Posts Widget: 40K+ sites run it against 3K+ for Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 19, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Category Posts Widget or Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy?
Category Posts Widget, at #880 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy at #3,676. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Category Posts Widget or Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy 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.