5 Best Classic Editor Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Classic Editor has 40,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 5 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 5 closest alternatives to Classic Editor
- 1
Custom Sidebars
Closest matchCustom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager
4.7 (1,028) 100,000+ active installsFlexible sidebars for custom classic widget configurations on any page or post. Create custom sidebars with ease!
Shares the classic widgets tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, last updated 22 days ago.
- 2
Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin
4.9 (724) 30,000+ active installsDisplay new sidebars on any post, page, category etc. Works with Classic Widgets, Block Widgets, and all themes!
Shares the classic widgets tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated December 9, 2025.
- 3
Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets
4.9 (1,516) 100,000+ active installsWidget Options gives you super powers to control your site’s sidebar widgets and all Gutenberg blocks on pages, posts & other custom post types.
Shares the classic widgets tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, last updated May 26, 2026.
- 4
Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter
4.8 (65) 10,000+ active installsAll-in-one Syntax Highlighting solution. Full Gutenberg and Classic Editor integration. Graphical theme customizer. Based on EnlighterJS.
Shares the classic editor tag on WordPress.org. About a quarter of the installs, last updated April 13, 2026.
- 5
Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor)
4.5 (23) 10,000+ active installsThe plugin adds a title and a rel="nofollow" checkbox to the insert link popup box. Only for Classic Editor, NOT Block Editor.
Shares the classic editor tag on WordPress.org. About a quarter of the installs, last updated July 30, 2026.
Switching from Classic Editor: common questions
What is the best alternative to Classic Editor?
Custom Sidebars is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 100,000+ active installs with a 4.7 out of 5 rating.
Which Classic Editor alternative has the most users?
Custom Sidebars, with 100,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Classic Editor alternative is rated highest?
Widget Options, rated 4.9 out of 5 by 1,516 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Classic Editor alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Classic Editor score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Classic Editor on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
Custom Sidebars is the closest match to Classic Editor by the data we track, and Custom Sidebars has the widest reach with 100,000+ active installs. Custom Sidebars shipped the most recent release, on August 16, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.