NS Category Widget vs Simple Event Planner (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, NS Category Widget has a higher user rating (4.8/5 from 34 reviews) and leads in active installations (1.0K+ vs 1.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. NS Category Widget has accumulated 42K+ total downloads while Simple Event Planner has 57K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | NS Category Widget | Simple Event Planner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.8/5 | ◄ | 4.3/5 |
| Total Reviews | 34 | ◄ | 23 |
| Active Installs | 1.0K+ | 1.0K+ | |
| Total Downloads | 42K+ | ► | 57K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | 0% | |
| Last Updated | 6 months ago | ► | 2 months ago |
| First Released | 2013 | 2015 | |
| Age | 13 years | 11 years | |
| WP Requires | 6.0+ | 4.5+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.2.24+ | 7.4+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.1.6 | 1.5.7 |
Rating Breakdown
NS Category Widget
Simple Event Planner
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, NS Category Widget averaged approximately 6 daily downloads while Simple Event Planner averaged 10.
Recent Reviews
NS Category Widget Reviews
Pefect
Exactly what I was looking for. Simple and follows the site css.
Works great!
It’s the only working alternative for collapsing categories, which stopped working some time ago. NS saved me. Thank you 🙂
Great plugin
Makes my website look great!
Simple Event Planner Reviews
Excelent
Lovely, simple, Event plugin, excellent support, well written code. Just what I was looking for.Cant say better than that.
Can’t sort the displayed list by date
I would have thought a plugin designed to display events would at least be able to sort them either in ascending or descending order. Instead it displays them based on the date the event post was ente
It does exactly what it says
Fantastic, simple but effective plugin for your event calendar. I have paired it with forminator to add a booking form capability, and the two together form a rock solid solution.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.