Most Popular Categories
This is just a small WordPress plugin that lists the most popular categories by post count in a widget. Includes several options.
Consider an alternative
Most Popular Categories shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 600+ sites and was last updated 15 years ago, and scores 27/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (600+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 15 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.1 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Most Popular Categories stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| categories | >100 |
| category list | >100 |
| popular categories | >100 |
| top categories | >100 |
| widget | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Most Popular Categories
From the official readme · v1.1.1Description
This is just a small WordPress plugin that lists the most popular categories by post count in a widget. Includes several options.
Useful for blogs with many categories and just want to list the most popular.
For Themes that do not support Widgets, you can now put this code anywhere in your template:
Support and Feature requests are on my forums at http://justmyecho.com/forums/
Installation
- Download and extract most-popular-categories.zip file.
- Upload the folder containing the Plugin files to your WordPress Plugins folder (usually ../wp-content/plugins/ folder).
- Activate the Plugin via the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Go to Widgets section to add the widget to sidebar.
Changelog
1.1.1
- Fixed bug with incorrect category permalinks
1.1
- Added function for themes that don’t support widgets
- Option to exclude categories with 0 posts
1.0
- Initial release
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Most Popular Categories alternatives
All categories plugins →
FAQ
Most Popular Categories: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 27, 2026
Is Most Popular Categories free?
Yes. Most Popular Categories is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Most Popular Categories safe to use in 2026?
Most Popular Categories shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 600+ sites and was last updated 15 years ago, and scores 27/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Most Popular Categories?
Most Popular Categories is active on 600+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 5,947 times since it launched in November 2010. It was downloaded 89 times in the last 30 days.
Does Most Popular Categories work with WordPress 7.1?
Most Popular Categories is officially tested up to WordPress 3.1.4, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Most Popular Categories last updated?
The latest version, 1.1.1, was released on April 7, 2011 (15 years ago).
Who makes Most Popular Categories?
Most Popular Categories is developed and maintained by blueinstyle.
What are the best alternatives to Most Popular Categories?
The most popular alternatives to Most Popular Categories are List category posts (80K+ installs), Media Library Assistant (70K+ installs) and Tag, Category, and Taxonomy… (40K+ installs).
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