Essential Widgets vs Widgets on 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
Widgets on Pages leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #1,366, ahead of Essential Widgets at #1,811. Over the last 7 days Widgets on Pages slipped 1 place and Essential Widgets slipped 2 places. Widgets on Pages has the largest install base, roughly 2× the next: 20K+ active installs against 10K+ for Essential Widgets. Downloads this week: Essential Widgets 433 and Widgets on Pages 214. Ratings: Essential Widgets 3.5★ from 2 and Widgets on Pages 4.7★ from 161 reviews.
| Metric | Essential Widgets | Widgets on Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #1,811 ▼ 2 | #1,366 ▼ 1 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 20K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 433 | 214 |
| Rating | 3.5★ (2) | 4.7★ (161) |
| Last updated | Jun 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2024 |
| Current version | 3.2.1 | 1.9.0 |
| Best rank on record | #1,767 | #1,357 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Nov 2017 | Apr 2010 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 0 | 2 |
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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- Widgets on Pages vs Blocksy Companion
- Widgets on Pages vs Tag Pages
- Widgets on Pages vs SMK Sidebar Generator
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Essential Widgets or Widgets on Pages?
By active installs, Widgets on Pages: 20K+ sites run it against 10K+ for Essential Widgets, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 16, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Essential Widgets or Widgets on Pages?
Widgets on Pages, at #1,366 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Essential Widgets at #1,811. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Essential Widgets or Widgets on 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.