XML Sitemap & Google News vs Head Meta Data (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
XML Sitemap & Google News
100K+ active installs
Free + Premium
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Head Meta Data has a higher user rating (4.8/5 from 19 reviews) while XML Sitemap & Google News leads in active installations (100K+ vs 10K+). Both are free + premium WordPress plugins. XML Sitemap & Google News has accumulated 4.5M+ total downloads while Head Meta Data has 469K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | XML Sitemap & Google News | Head Meta Data | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4/5 | ► | 4.8/5 |
| Total Reviews | 83 | ◄ | 19 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | ◄ | 10K+ |
| Total Downloads | 4.5M+ | ◄ | 469K+ |
| Support Resolution | 100% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 2 months ago | ► | 1 week ago |
| First Released | 2009 | 2012 | |
| Age | 17 years | 14 years | |
| WP Requires | 4.4+ | 4.7+ | |
| PHP Requires | 5.6+ | 5.6.20+ | |
| Business Model | Free + Premium | Free | |
| Latest Version | 5.7.2 | 20260209 |
Rating Breakdown
XML Sitemap & Google News
Head Meta Data
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, XML Sitemap & Google News averaged approximately 629 daily downloads while Head Meta Data averaged 94.
Recent Reviews
XML Sitemap & Google News Reviews
perfect plugin with great support!
Didn’t work at first, the support offered to help and reinstalled it and it works. it has automatically submit to Google and Bing, that’s awesome feature. works perfectly now I guess. This top
Finally!
Finally! A sitemap plugin that allows me to edit my sitemap with ease. This is the 6th sitemap plugin I’ve tried and my favourite by far. Very easy to exclude certain pages, posts, tags or categories
Google Error, # Auffindbarkeit Sitemaps Vorübergehender Verarbeitungsfehler
Google Error, # vorübergehender Fehler bei der Verarbeitung Ihrer Sitemap.Dieser Fehler tritt leider erst seid kurzem auf.Meine Website wurde seid dem nicht mehr von Google crawling aktualisiert. V
Head Meta Data Reviews
Very helpful!
It helped me handling all meta data in an easy way.
Top
You did a great job
page title for home page?
Hi there just installed your plugin and wonder if someone can help me. I’m running the wp 2021 theme and it won’t let me create a header for my home page. I don’t mean the site title, I mean header fo
More Robots Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as XML Sitemap & Google News and Head Meta Data
Virtual Robots.txt automatically creates a robots.txt file for your site. Your robots.txt file can be easily edited from the plugin settings page.
Create clean, complete, and up-to-date sitemaps for your WordPress website automatically.
Sends HTTP 410 (Gone) responses for deleted content, telling search engines the page is permanently removed.
Control search engine indexing with robots directives using HTML meta tags or HTTP headers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is XML Sitemap & Google News or Head Meta Data more popular?
Which has better ratings — XML Sitemap & Google News or Head Meta Data?
Are XML Sitemap & Google News and Head Meta Data free?
Which plugin has better support — XML Sitemap & Google News or Head Meta Data?
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.