Font Awesome vs Category Icon (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Font Awesome has a higher user rating (3.6/5 from 61 reviews) and leads in active installations (400K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Font Awesome has accumulated 5.8M+ total downloads while Category Icon has 89K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Font Awesome | Category Icon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.6/5 | ◄ | 1/5 |
| Total Reviews | 61 | ◄ | 3 |
| Active Installs | 400K+ | ◄ | 2.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 5.8M+ | ◄ | 89K+ |
| Support Resolution | 33% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 3 days ago | ◄ | 3 months ago |
| First Released | 2012 | 2015 | |
| Age | 14 years | 11 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.8+ | 4.9.19+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | 5.6.40+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 5.1.4 | 1.0.3 |
Rating Breakdown
Font Awesome
Category Icon
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Font Awesome averaged approximately 5,037 daily downloads while Category Icon averaged 11.
Recent Reviews
Font Awesome Reviews
It works
It’s a normal plugin, I don’t understand why its rating is so low.
It does exactly what it says in the tin
It worked flawlessly to add social icons onto wp navbar / top menu.
Dangerous, written by clowns
My Pro license expired on the 5-July. On 25th July my sites went down due to PHP Fatal error: Uncaught FortAwesome\ApiTokenInvalidException: Whoops, it looks like that API Token is not valid. Try anot
Category Icon Reviews
No documentation
How would someone implement your plugin if there is no documentation? The idea is good but the delivery is poor taste.
not working anymore on wp 5.4.2 anymore
It is causing errors for my other plugins without showing any errors on screen or in error_log file or chrome console in latest wp update 5.4.2. so I removed it. This topic was modified 5 year
Absolutely useless
This plugin is absolutely useless without any instructions on how to actually fetch the icon after it has been assigned to a taxonomy term. No support what’s so ever, support questions unanswered, fig
More Plugins Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Font Awesome and Category Icon
Create and install your favicon for all platforms: PC/Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android devices, Windows 8 tablets...
The Better Font Awesome plugin for WordPress. Shortcodes, HTML, TinyMCE, various Font Awesome versions, backwards compatibility, CDN speeds, and more.
The ultimate icon-packs for elementor page builder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Font Awesome or Category Icon more popular?
Which has better ratings — Font Awesome or Category Icon?
Are Font Awesome and Category Icon free?
Which plugin has better support — Font Awesome or Category Icon?
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.