Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… vs Essential Widgets (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager…
50K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… has a higher user rating (4.6/5 from 188 reviews) and leads in active installations (50K+ vs 10K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… has accumulated 5.8M+ total downloads while Essential Widgets has 489K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… | Essential Widgets | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6/5 | ◄ | 3.5/5 |
| Total Reviews | 188 | ◄ | 2 |
| Active Installs | 50K+ | ◄ | 10K+ |
| Total Downloads | 5.8M+ | ◄ | 489K+ |
| Support Resolution | 50% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 month ago | ◄ | 2 months ago |
| First Released | 2007 | 2017 | |
| Age | 19 years | 9 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.0+ | 5.9+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 3.44.0 | 3.0.1 |
Rating Breakdown
Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager…
Essential Widgets
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… averaged approximately 633 daily downloads while Essential Widgets averaged 66.
Recent Reviews
Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… Reviews
Very good
Very good plugin
Excellent
plugins really help us
A plugin for a brilliant intuition
Having the ability to categorize site pages into logical groups of project categories has finally made it much easier for me to create multilingual projects.
Essential Widgets Reviews
alot of useful widgets but in the paid version
A lot of useful widgets but in the paid version. The free one is limited. This topic was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by KJA4U.
Excellent
Excellent
More Categories Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… and Essential Widgets
Very customizable plugin to list posts by category (or tag, author and more) in a post, page or widget. Uses the [catlist] shortcode to select posts.
Enhances the Media Library; powerful gallery and list shortcodes, full taxonomy support, IPTC/EXIF/XMP/PDF processing, bulk/quick edit.
Adds a widget that shows the most recent posts from a single category.
Adds the built in WordPress categories and tags to your pages.
Replaces the plain-text category and tag description editor with a visual editor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… or Essential Widgets more popular?
Which has better ratings — Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… or Essential Widgets?
Are Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… and Essential Widgets free?
Which plugin has better support — Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager… or Essential Widgets?
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.