Font Awesome vs Icon Element
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
Font Awesome leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #142, ahead of Icon Element at #865. Over the last 7 days Font Awesome climbed 1 place and Icon Element held its place. Font Awesome has the largest install base, roughly 10× the next: 400K+ active installs against 40K+ for Icon Element. Downloads this week: Font Awesome 9,994 and Icon Element 477. Ratings: Font Awesome 3.6★ from 61 and Icon Element 4.4★ from 7 reviews.
| Metric | Font Awesome | Icon Element |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #142 ▲ 1 | #865 ▬ |
| Active installs | 400K+ | 40K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 9,994 | 477 |
| Rating | 3.6★ (61) | 4.4★ (7) |
| Last updated | Aug 13, 2026 | Apr 24, 2026 |
| Current version | 5.2.1 | 2.0.8 |
| Best rank on record | #142 | #862 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Sep 2012 | Apr 2020 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 0 | 1 |
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
- Font Awesome vs Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome
- Font Awesome vs Seed Fonts
- Font Awesome vs Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator
- Font Awesome vs Favicon Rotator
- Icon Element vs Better Font Awesome
- Icon Element vs Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator
- Icon Element vs Favicon Rotator
- Icon Element vs The Icon Block
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Font Awesome or Icon Element?
By active installs, Font Awesome: 400K+ sites run it against 40K+ for Icon Element, according to WordPress.org figures captured on September 12, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Font Awesome or Icon Element?
Font Awesome, at #142 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Icon Element at #865. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Font Awesome or Icon Element 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.