Nav Menu Roles vs Simple Menu
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 #606, ahead of Simple Menu at #23,506. Over the last 7 days Nav Menu Roles slipped 3 places and Simple Menu climbed 358 places. Nav Menu Roles has the largest install base, roughly 2333× the next: 70K+ active installs against 30+ for Simple Menu. Downloads this week: Nav Menu Roles 1,816 and Simple Menu 21.
| Metric | Nav Menu Roles | Simple Menu |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #606 ▼ 3 | #23,506 ▲ 358 |
| Active installs | 70K+ | 30+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 1,816 | 21 |
| Rating | 4.9★ (219) | no ratings |
| Last updated | Oct 21, 2026 | Jan 28, 2018 |
| Current version | 2.1.3 | 1.0 |
| Best rank on record | #599 | #23,506 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Sep 2012 | Jan 2018 |
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
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Nav Menu Roles or Simple Menu?
By active installs, Nav Menu Roles: 70K+ sites run it against 30+ for Simple Menu, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 26, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Nav Menu Roles or Simple Menu?
Nav Menu Roles, at #606 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Simple Menu at #23,506. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Nav Menu Roles or Simple Menu 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.