Best widget-only plugins for WordPress
The most popular widget-only plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Restrict Widgets leads with 4K+ active installs, ahead of Widget Icon (700+) and Display Authors Widget (100+). All 10 plugins tagged “widget-only” 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 widget-only plugins
- 1.
Restrict WidgetsThe most installed widget-only plugin, with 4K+ active installs. Rated 4.8 from 36 reviews, last updated 8 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39.
- 2.Widget Icon
700+ active installs. Rated 4.9 from 13 reviews, last updated 12 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.7.41.
- 3.Display Authors Widget
100+ active installs. Rated 4.4 from 5 reviews, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.3.34.
- 4.Optimized Dropdown Menus
70+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 12 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.7.41.
- 5.
Halloween Countdown Widget10+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.7.11.
- 6.BNS Site Data
10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.33.
- 7.BNS Chess.com Badge
10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.33.
- 8.Unlimited Lists Widget
10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.3.34.
- 9.BNS Support
10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 7 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.2.30.
- 10.GitHub User Repo Widget
10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 14 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.5.2.
All 10 plugins tagged “widget-only”

Restrict Widgets
Down in the last 7 days:4#3,505by dFactory9 years ago
All in one widgets and sidebars management in WordPress. Allows you to hide or display widgets on specified pages and restrict access for users.
- Installs
- 4K+
- Rating
- 4.8(36)
- Downloads
- 21/day
Widget Icon
Down in the last 7 days:25#8,004by dFactory13 years ago
Enhance your website with 640+ icons designed for Twitter Bootstrap. Just select an icon and display it in any widget on your WordPress site.
- Installs
- 700+
- Rating
- 4.9(13)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Display Authors Widget
Down in the last 7 days:161#15,437by Sami Keijonen11 years ago
Display authors by role.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 4.4(5)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Optimized Dropdown Menus
Down in the last 7 days:35#18,898by Maor Chasen12 years ago
Create "spiderable" drop-down menus that every search engine will scan!
- Installs
- 70+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Halloween Countdown Widget
Down in the last 7 days:1,225#30,616by Monica Haught1 year ago
Get into the Halloween spirit with a cute countdown widget for your sidebar!
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
BNS Site Data
Up in the last 7 days:5,458#36,428by Edward Caissie10 years ago
Display various toggleable site statistics.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
BNS Chess.com Badge
#40,565by Edward Caissie10 years ago
Dynamically displays a Chess.com user's current rating.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Unlimited Lists Widget
Down in the last 7 days:2,896#46,580by Austin11 years ago
A widget to show HTML list elements.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 1/day
BNS Support
#47,740by Edward Caissie7 years ago
Widget to display and share common helpful support details.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
GitHub User Repo Widget
#48,498by Jared Atchison14 years ago
A simple widget that will show a list of repos for a specified GitHub user.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 1/day