Best references plugins for WordPress
The most popular references plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Simple Footnotes leads with 600+ active installs, ahead of Endnotes (100+) and BibleUp (60+). All 19 plugins tagged “references” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 references plugins
- 1.
Simple FootnotesThe most installed references plugin, with 600+ active installs. Rated 4.7 from 15 reviews, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.1.42.
- 2.
Endnotes100+ active installs. Rated 4.8 from 5 reviews, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.33.
- 3.
BibleUp60+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 2 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.6.11.
- 4.
KCite40+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.4.34.
- 5.
Better Footnotes20+ active installs. Only 3 reviews so far, last updated 6 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.5.24.
- 6.
TheLaTeXLab10+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 4 months ago.
- 7.
Zotero Notes10+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 3 weeks ago.
- 8.
External Links to Footnotes10+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 4 weeks ago.
- 9.
WebKew WP References and Citations10+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 4 days ago.
- 10.
Advanced Footnotes10+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 8 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35.
All 19 plugins tagged “references”
Simple Footnotes
Down in the last 7 days:15#8,390by Andrew Nacin12 years ago
Create simple, elegant footnotes on your site. Use the [ref] shortcode and the plugin takes care of the rest.
- Installs
- 600+
- Rating
- 4.7(15)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Endnotes
Up in the last 7 days:40#14,830by Heavy Heavy10 years ago
Easily add footnotes to your posts and pages.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 4.8(5)
- Downloads
- 0/day
BibleUp
Up in the last 7 days:22#19,531by BibleUp2 years ago
BibleUp transforms Bible references on a webpage into links and makes the text accessible via a flexible and highly-customizable popover.
- Installs
- 60+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
KCite
Down in the last 7 days:177#22,369by knowledgeblog10 years ago
A tool for producing citations and bibliographies in Wordpress posts. Developed for the Knowledgeblog project (http://knowledgeblog.org).
- Installs
- 40+
- Rating
- 4.5(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Better Footnotes
Down in the last 7 days:155#25,756by Nashwan D6 years ago
A robust solution to provide a fast reference and link to additional information for your readers
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
TheLaTeXLab
#29,379by TheLaTeXLab4 months ago
WordPress citation & bibliography plugin. Paste a DOI, PubMed ID, ISBN, or arXiv ID to insert citations and generate a reference list.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Zotero Notes
Up in the last 7 days:78#32,892by janiko23 days ago
Add footnote citations from a Zotero library, with a secure API connection and resilient caching.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
External Links to Footnotes
#34,328by parisvega29 days ago
Turn external links into numbered Footnotes while keeping internal links inline and article content readable.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
WebKew WP References and Citations
#34,684by Peshmerge Morad4 days ago
A WordPress plugin that automatically generates a bibliography from citations added to a WP post/page/custom post type.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Advanced Footnotes
Down in the last 7 days:6,462#45,409by yutonet8 years ago
Advanced Footnotes lets you add footnotes on articles via shortcodes.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
TBS Scripture Tagger
Up in the last 7 days:9,301#55,229by thebiblesays9 months ago
Automatically converts plain-text Bible references into interactive links with hoverable verse previews from The Bible Says.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
DiFlowRin Bibliography Checker
Up in the last 7 days:9,880#57,185by diflowrin11 days ago
Let visitors check a bibliography: which sources exist, which have wrong details, which can't be found. No accounts, nothing stored.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 11/day
BibleAsk
#60,182by BibleAsk5 months ago
Turns Bible references in posts and pages into links to BibleAsk.org, with optional hover tooltips showing the verse.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
DiFlowRin Verified References
#67,117by diflowrin5 days ago
Citation checker for WordPress: catch invented and miscited sources before you publish, and show a formatted reference list with DOI links.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 67/day
Media Reference Inspector
Down in the last 7 days:11,443#68,227by codelith7 days ago
Find where Media Library items are referenced before you replace or remove them.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day