Faster Appearance – Menus vs Nav Menu Roles
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
Nav Menu Roles leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #603, ahead of Faster Appearance – Menus at #11,672. Over the last 7 days Nav Menu Roles held its place and Faster Appearance – Menus slipped 5 places. Nav Menu Roles has the largest install base, roughly 350× the next: 70K+ active installs against 200+ for Faster Appearance – Menus. Downloads this week: Nav Menu Roles 949 and Faster Appearance – Menus 15. Ratings: Faster Appearance – Menus 4.9★ from 29 and Nav Menu Roles 4.9★ from 219 reviews.
| Metric | Faster Appearance – Menus | Nav Menu Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #11,672 ▼ 5 | #603 ▬ |
| Active installs | 200+ | 70K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 15 | 949 |
| Rating | 4.9★ (29) | 4.9★ (219) |
| Last updated | Aug 20, 2013 | Mar 26, 2026 |
| Current version | 0.1.1 | 2.1.3 |
| Best rank on record | #11,332 | #599 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Aug 2013 | Sep 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
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- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience
- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Server-Side Cache AutoPurge
- Faster Appearance – Menus vs Advanced Sidebar Menu
- Nav Menu Roles vs User Menus
- Nav Menu Roles vs Menu Image
- Nav Menu Roles vs Shortcode in Menus
- Nav Menu Roles vs Advanced Sidebar Menu
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Faster Appearance – Menus or Nav Menu Roles?
By active installs, Nav Menu Roles: 70K+ 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, Faster Appearance – Menus or Nav Menu Roles?
Nav Menu Roles, at #603 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 Faster Appearance – Menus or Nav Menu Roles 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.