Category Posts Widget vs Essential Widgets
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 #874, ahead of Essential Widgets at #1,794. Over the last 7 days Category Posts Widget held its place and Essential Widgets climbed 2 places. Category Posts Widget has the largest install base, roughly 4× the next: 40K+ active installs against 10K+ for Essential Widgets. Downloads this week: Category Posts Widget 1,391 and Essential Widgets 570. Ratings: Category Posts Widget 4.5★ from 79 and Essential Widgets 3.5★ from 2 reviews.
| Metric | Category Posts Widget | Essential Widgets |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #874 ▬ | #1,794 ▲ 2 |
| Active installs | 40K+ | 10K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 1,391 | 570 |
| Rating | 4.5★ (79) | 3.5★ (2) |
| Last updated | Sep 12, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 |
| Current version | 5.1.0 | 3.2.1 |
| Best rank on record | #867 | #1,767 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Oct 2007 | Nov 2017 |
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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- Essential Widgets vs Post Tags and Categories for Pages
- Essential Widgets vs Tag Pages
- Essential Widgets vs Media Library Assistant
- Essential Widgets vs Visual Term Description Editor
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Category Posts Widget or Essential Widgets?
By active installs, Category Posts Widget: 40K+ sites run it against 10K+ for Essential Widgets, according to WordPress.org figures captured on September 13, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Category Posts Widget or Essential Widgets?
Category Posts Widget, at #874 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Essential Widgets at #1,794. 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 Essential Widgets 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.