Essential Widgets vs Tag Pages
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
Essential Widgets leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #1,794, ahead of Tag Pages at #1,898. Over the last 7 days Essential Widgets climbed 1 place and Tag Pages slipped 2 places. Essential Widgets has the largest install base: 10K+ active installs against 10K+ for Tag Pages. Ratings: Essential Widgets 3.5★ from 2 and Tag Pages 4.9★ from 18 reviews.
| Metric | Essential Widgets | Tag Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #1,794 ▲ 1 | #1,898 ▼ 2 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 10K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 570 | — |
| Rating | 3.5★ (2) | 4.9★ (18) |
| Last updated | Jun 18, 2026 | Jun 24, 2022 |
| Current version | 3.2.1 | 1.0.2 |
| Best rank on record | #1,767 | #1,887 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Nov 2017 | Jul 2012 |
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
- Essential Widgets vs Post Tags and Categories for Pages
- Essential Widgets vs Media Library Assistant
- Essential Widgets vs Visual Term Description Editor
- Essential Widgets vs List category posts
- Tag Pages vs Post Tags and Categories for Pages
- Tag Pages vs Insert Pages
- Tag Pages vs Media Library Assistant
- Tag Pages vs Meta Tag Manager
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Essential Widgets or Tag Pages?
By active installs, Essential Widgets: 10K+ sites run it against 10K+ for Tag Pages, according to WordPress.org figures captured on September 12, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Essential Widgets or Tag Pages?
Essential Widgets, at #1,794 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Tag Pages at #1,898. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Essential Widgets or Tag Pages 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.