WordPress plugin comparison
Essential Widgets vs Recent Posts with Excerpts
Essential Widgets
by Catch Themes
10K+ installs3.5
Recent Posts with Excerpts
by Stephanie Leary
700+ installs5.0
At a glance
- Essential Widgets has more active installs: 10K+, against 700+ for Recent Posts with Excerpts.
- On a typical day, Essential Widgets is downloaded about 75 times, Recent Posts with Excerpts about 6.
- Recent Posts with Excerpts is rated higher: 5.0 out of 5 from 5 reviews, against 3.5 from 2 reviews.
- Essential Widgets was updated more recently: Jun 18, 2026, against Jun 30, 2016 for Recent Posts with Excerpts.
- Essential Widgets is tested with a newer WordPress: 7.0.8, against 4.8.34 for Recent Posts with Excerpts.
- Recent Posts with Excerpts has been around longer: since 2009, against 2017 for Essential Widgets.
Line by line
Essential Widgets leads on 6 of 7 comparable lines.
| Metric | Essential Widgets | Recent Posts with Excerpts |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank | #1,809 | #8,011 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 700+ |
| Downloads, last 30 days | 1.7K | 91 |
| Rating | 3.5(2) | 5.0(5) |
| Support threads resolved | 100% | – |
| Tested up to | 7.0.8 | 4.8.34 |
| Search multiplier | ×0.86 | ×0.00 |
| Last release | 4 months ago | 10 years ago |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | – |
From WordPress.org's public data, refreshed every night. Downloads are WordPress.org's official daily figures for the last 30 days.
Tags they share
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