Compact Archives vs Expanding Archives (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Compact Archives has a higher user rating (5/5 from 9 reviews) and leads in active installations (2.0K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Compact Archives has accumulated 54K+ total downloads while Expanding Archives has 22K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Compact Archives | Expanding Archives | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 5/5 | ◄ | 4.7/5 |
| Total Reviews | 9 | ◄ | 6 |
| Active Installs | 2.0K+ | 2.0K+ | |
| Total Downloads | 54K+ | ◄ | 22K+ |
| Support Resolution | 100% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 month ago | ◄ | 2 years ago |
| First Released | 2008 | 2015 | |
| Age | 18 years | 11 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.8+ | 3.0+ | |
| PHP Requires | 5.6+ | 7.4+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.1.1 | 2.1.0 |
Rating Breakdown
Compact Archives
Expanding Archives
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Compact Archives averaged approximately 15 daily downloads while Expanding Archives averaged 10.
Recent Reviews
Compact Archives Reviews
Great! But….
Very simple and works, however, the title attribute is stuck on 2001. I’d suggest the plugin author fix this officially by changing the hardcoded 2001 to $year on line 97 of inc/compact-archives.php.
The best archive plugin
Works fine. Can be easily adjusted. Love it!
Love this Archive Plugin
Does the job.
Expanding Archives Reviews
Great plugin, simple yet very flexible
Very useful, lightweight plugin, will go in every theme and is easily customizeable with a bit of CSS
Awesome plugin!
Easy to use and customize.
Nice but could be cleaner
It looks nice if you only have a few posts per month, but I wish you had the option to choose whether the month will appear expanded or collapsed as a default. If you do a post per day, opening the pa
More Archives Worth Comparing
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Simple Yearly Archive is a rather neat and simple Wordpress plugin that allows you to display your archives in a year-based list.
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Improves your blog's search engine optimization by "noindexing" pages you choose. Now also for page-based (as opposed to date-based) archives.
This plugin uses Javascript to dynamically expand or collapse the set of months for each year and posts for each month in the archive listing of your …
Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.