PluginSift

Native Emoji vs Emoji Toolbar (2026)

Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.

Native Emoji

Native Emoji

3.7(19)

5.0K+ active installs

Free

Updated 7 years ago
View Native Emoji
VS
Emoji Toolbar

Emoji Toolbar

4(3)

2.0K+ active installs

Free

Updated 1 month ago
View Emoji Toolbar

Quick Verdict

As of April 2026, Emoji Toolbar has a higher user rating (4/5 from 3 reviews) while Native Emoji leads in active installations (5.0K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Native Emoji has accumulated 61K+ total downloads while Emoji Toolbar has 27K+.

Detailed Comparison

Rating
3.7/5Native Emoji
►
Emoji Toolbar4/5
Total Reviews
19Native Emoji
◄
Emoji Toolbar3
Active Installs
5.0K+Native Emoji
◄
Emoji Toolbar2.0K+
Total Downloads
61K+Native Emoji
◄
Emoji Toolbar27K+
Support Resolution
N/ANative Emoji
Emoji ToolbarN/A
Last Updated
7 years agoNative Emoji
►
Emoji Toolbar1 month ago
First Released
2015Native Emoji
Emoji Toolbar2021
Age
11 yearsNative Emoji
Emoji Toolbar5 years
WP Requires
4.2+Native Emoji
Emoji Toolbar5.6+
PHP Requires
false+Native Emoji
Emoji Toolbar7.2+
Business Model
FreeNative Emoji
Emoji ToolbarFree
Latest Version
3.0.1Native Emoji
Emoji Toolbar1.2.9

Rating Breakdown

Native Emoji

3.7/5(19 reviews)
5
53%
4
16%
3
0%
2
11%
1
21%

Emoji Toolbar

4/5(3 reviews)
5
67%
4
0%
3
0%
2
33%
1
0%

Recent Reviews

Native Emoji Reviews

by Back to Front

Great idea 💡 No longer works 😫

I really love it, great emoji picker loads on the back end, but doesn’t allow me to pick anything, and messes up the TinyMCE editor display. On the front end bbpress forms it gives ‘failed to initiali

by Lancifer

No longer works!

Clicking on the emoji icon opens the window, but emojis never load. Hasn’t been updated in 2 years. Author most likely abandoned this plugin. Deserves 0 stars.

by Vic

Хороший плагин но староват

Эй, ребят. Посоветуйте мне такой же плагин, но с SVG. Он очень хороший, но есть подводные камни.

Emoji Toolbar Reviews

by joseyaz

Great Plugin with Smooth Integration

Thank you for the plugin; it integrates very well with the block editor. It has an icon search feature, which I find essential, and I haven’t noticed any load on the website. PD. I would prefer

by Pavel Leontiev

No country flags

great plugin, but no country flags for some weird reason( This topic was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Pavel Leontiev.

by Pat K

Wow – works great! Plug & play!

I was looking for an easy way to add an emoji tool to the block editor for a client and came across this. Installed & activated in seconds. Works great! Will definitely use this again. Thanks to the d

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Native Emoji or Emoji Toolbar more popular?
Native Emoji has 5.0K+ active installations while Emoji Toolbar has 2.0K+. Native Emoji is the more widely-used plugin as of April 2026.
Which has better ratings — Native Emoji or Emoji Toolbar?
Native Emoji has a 3.7/5 rating from 19 reviews, while Emoji Toolbar has a 4/5 rating from 3 reviews.
Are Native Emoji and Emoji Toolbar free?
Native Emoji is free and Emoji Toolbar is free. Both can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Which plugin has better support — Native Emoji or Emoji Toolbar?
Support resolution data is not available for all plugins. Check each plugin's WordPress.org support forum for current response quality.
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Native Emoji was last updated 7 years ago and Emoji Toolbar was last updated 1 month ago.

Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.