10 Best Essential Content Types Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Essential Content Types has 20,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 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 10 closest alternatives to Essential Content Types
- 1
Custom Post Type UI
Closest match4.6 (276) 1 million+ active installsAdmin UI for creating custom content types like post types and taxonomies
Shares the content types, custom post types, taxonomy tags on WordPress.org. About 50 times the installs, last updated July 14, 2026.
- 2
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
4.8 (418) 100,000+ active installsPods is a framework for creating, managing, and deploying customized content types and fields for any project.
Shares the content types, custom post types tags on WordPress.org. About 5 times the installs, last updated 7 days ago.
- 3
4.4 (46) 10,000+ active installsMap your Gravity-Forms-generated posts to a custom post type and/or custom taxonomies.
Shares the custom post types, taxonomy tags on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated August 4, 2026.
- 4
4.4 (86) 10,000+ active installsEasily add one or more posts to any page using simple shortcodes.
Shares the custom post types, taxonomy tags on WordPress.org. About half the installs, no update since May 13, 2019.
- 5
Advanced Views for Custom Fields and Posts
Paid version available4.8 (36) 3,000+ active installsDisplay content with full control over selection and layout. Lightweight and compatible with any theme or page builder.
Shares the custom post types, taxonomy tags on WordPress.org. 3,000+ installs against 20,000+, last updated 16 days ago.
- 6
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders
5.0 (26) 7,000+ active installsDisplay list of posts, pages or any custom post types anywhere using block and widget. Show as grid, list or posts slider.
Shares the post types tag on WordPress.org. About a third of the installs, last updated 15 days ago.
- 7
CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree
4.9 (365) 50,000+ active installsSee every page as a drag-and-drop tree. Reorder your site structure in seconds — then edit, add and search right there.
Shares the custom post types tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, last updated 12 days ago.
- 8
5.0 (22) 10,000+ active installsAn admin interface to control the default comment and trackback settings on new posts, pages and custom post types.
Shares the custom post types tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated November 17, 2025.
- 9
4.5 (55) 10,000+ active installsThe ultimate widget for displaying posts, custom post types or sticky posts with an array of options.
Shares the custom post types tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, no update since July 17, 2024.
- 10
Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK
4.7 (97) 10,000+ active installsA must have tool for creating custom fields, custom post types and taxonomies, fast and without any programming knowledge.
Shares the custom post types tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated July 15, 2026.
Switching from Essential Content Types: common questions
What is the best alternative to Essential Content Types?
Custom Post Type UI is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 1 million+ active installs with a 4.6 out of 5 rating.
Which Essential Content Types alternative has the most users?
Custom Post Type UI, with 1 million+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Essential Content Types alternative is rated highest?
CMS Tree Page View, rated 4.9 out of 5 by 365 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Essential Content Types 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 Essential Content Types 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 Essential Content Types 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 Post Type UI is the closest match to Essential Content Types by the data we track, and Custom Post Type UI has the widest reach with 1 million+ active installs. Pods shipped the most recent release, on August 31, 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.