10 Best Widgets in Menu Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Widgets in Menu has 8,000+ 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 Widgets in Menu
- 1
Shortcode in Menus
Closest match4.7 (82) 50,000+ active installsAllows you to add shortcodes in WordPress Navigation Menus.
Shares the custom link, menus tags on WordPress.org. About 6.3 times the installs, last updated February 10, 2026.
- 2
4.8 (24) 7,000+ active installsAllow and control Editor and Shop Manager access to the menus, widgets and appearance menu, plus other menus and adminbar items.
Shares the menus, widgets tags on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, no update since June 2, 2021.
- 3
Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars)
4.8 (38) 1,000+ active installsAdd off-canvas sidebars (Slidebars) containing widgets, menus or other content using the Slidebars jQuery plugin.
Shares the menus, widgets tags on WordPress.org. 1,000+ installs against 8,000+, last updated February 2, 2026.
- 4
4.9 (74) 2,000+ active installsAll admin links available in a neat horizontal drop down menu. Saves lots of screen real estate!
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. About a quarter of the installs, no update since June 9, 2020.
- 5
4.5 (37) 10,000+ active installsFully automatic sidebar menus.
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated 14 days ago.
- 6
4.9 (219) 70,000+ active installsHide custom menu items based on user roles.
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. About 8.8 times the installs, last updated March 26, 2026.
- 7
5.0 (20) 1,000+ active installsSeamlessly adds 3 new menu locations to the admin toolbar.
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. 1,000+ installs against 8,000+, no update since June 2, 2024.
- 8
User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility
5.0 (1,278) 80,000+ active installsShow/hide menu items to logged in users, logged out users or specific user roles. Display logged in user details in menu. Add a logout link to menu.
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, last updated May 23, 2026.
- 9
5.0 (20) 5,000+ active installsAdd navigation menu field type to Advanced Custom Fields
Shares the menus tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, no update since June 10, 2025.
- 10
4.2 (21) 80,000+ active installsCreate new sidebar areas and display them conditionally on certain pages. Works with all themes.
Shares the widgets tag on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, last updated 14 days ago.
Switching from Widgets in Menu: common questions
What is the best alternative to Widgets in Menu?
Shortcode in Menus is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 50,000+ active installs with a 4.7 out of 5 rating.
Which Widgets in Menu alternative has the most users?
User Menus, with 80,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Widgets in Menu alternative is rated highest?
User Menus, rated 5.0 out of 5 by 1,278 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Widgets in Menu 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 Widgets in Menu 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 Widgets in Menu 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
Shortcode in Menus is the closest match to Widgets in Menu by the data we track, and User Menus has the widest reach with 80,000+ active installs. Advanced Sidebar Menu shipped the most recent release, on August 24, 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.