Trusted WordPress tutorials, when you need them most.
Beginner’s Guide to WordPress
WPB Cup
25 Million+
Websites using our plugins
16+
Years of WordPress experience
3000+
WordPress tutorials
by experts

25 Most Useful WordPress Widgets for Your Site

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

Are you looking for useful WordPress widgets for your website?

Widgets allow you to add content, features, and other elements to your WordPress sidebar and other widget-ready areas.

WordPress comes with a handful of built-in widgets that you can use right away. WordPress plugins and themes can also add their own WordPress widgets as well.

In this article, we will share some of the most useful WordPress widgets for your site. These widgets will help you effectively use your website’s digital real estate to improve user experience and grow your business.

Most useful WordPress widgets for your website

1. WP Call Button

WP Call Button

As mobile internet traffic grows, most users find it convenient to just call a business for more information. WP Call Button allows you to easily add a click to call now button to your WordPress site.

You can use it to add a sticky button thats scrolls with the user or use the widget to display the call button in a sidebar.

It works with any landline or mobile phone number, but we recommend using a professional business phone service to make sure that you never miss a call.

For step by step instructions, see our article on how to easily add a click-to-call button in WordPress.

2. WPForms

WPForms

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market. It allows you to quickly create a contact form and add it anywhere on your website.

It comes with a drag and drop form builder, ready-to-use form templates, Gutenberg block, and sidebar widget. It is a premium plugin with a free version available as WPForms Lite.

For details, see our guide on how to create a contact form in WordPress with step by step instructions.

3. RafflePress

RafflePress

RafflePress is the best WordPress giveaway / contest plugin. It allows you to create viral giveaways and contests to instantly get a lot of traffic, new customers, and subscribers.

It allows you to run a giveaway and add it to a post, page, or sidebar widget. You can also create a standalone landing page for your giveaway and promote it across your social profiles.

RafflePress is a paid plugin with a free version called RafflePress Lite.

To learn more, see our guide on how to run a giveaway in WordPress with detailed instructions.

4. UserFeedback

UserFeedback WordPress plugin

UserFeedback is one of the best WordPress poll plugins on the market. It allows you to easily create popup widgets to collect feedback from your website visitors in real-time.

You can ask multiple-choice questions, free form questions, collect star ratings, capture emails, and more. You can quickly add the feedback widget anywhere on your WordPress site using shortcode or control when and where it appears with targeting rules.

UserFeedback is a paid plugin with a free version available as UserFeedback Lite.

For more details, see this tutorial on how to collect user feedback in WordPress.

5. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is the top WordPress analytics solution that also offers a Popular Posts widget. The Popular Posts widget allows you to display your top-performing articles anywhere on your WordPress site.

You can display popular posts based on comments, number of shares, or manually select the top posts. There are many customization options including multiple layouts, themes, and more.

Plus, if you have an online store, you can also display your most popular products to boost sales.

See our tutorial on how to display popular posts by views in WordPress for more information.

6. All in One SEO

All in One SEO

All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is the best SEO plugin for WordPress. Along with powerful SEO optimization features, the plugin offers a Table of Contents widget. This allows you to easily add a table of contents to your articles.

Adding a table of contents comes in handy if you often publish long-form articles and it helps users quickly jump to different sections.

The plugin identifies the headings on a page and automatically adds them to your table of contents. You can also customize the table of contents and hide certain elements so that it suits your needs.

For details, see our article on how to easily add table of contents in WordPress.

7. Smash Balloon

Smash Balloon social feeds plugins

Smash Balloon offers the most popular social media feeds plugins for WordPress. There are 5 different plugins for displaying beautiful social media feeds from Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter anywhere on your website.

Plus, they recently released the Reviews Feed plugin, which lets you display reviews from platforms like Google, Yelp, and more.

By adding social feed widgets to your site, you can boost social proof and keep your website automatically updated with fresh content.

There are also free versions of Smash Balloon available so you can try before you buy.

8. WP Simple Pay

WP Simple Pay Pro

WP Simple Pay is a popular Stripe payment plugin for WordPress. This plugin allows you to easily accept Stripe payments on your WordPress site, without setting up a shopping cart.

It comes with an easy drag and drop builder and ready-made payment form templates to get you started. You can add the payment forms anywhere on your WordPress site, including in sidebars, footers, checkout pages, within your posts, and more.

The premium version of WP Simple Pay offers advanced features like recurring payments, user-entered amounts, fee recovery, and more. There’s also a free version of WP Simple Pay you can test out.

9. Google Maps Widget

Google Maps Widget

An easier way to add a map to your site’s sidebar is by using Google Maps Widget. This simple widget allows you to display a Google map in a widget. When a user clicks on the map, a larger map opens in a lightbox popup.

This is one of the best WordPress widgets for businesses that want to display their address and location on their site. Check out our guide on how to add Google Maps in WordPress for more information.

10. Social Count Plus

Social Count Plus

You may have seen that some popular websites show their social followers count in the sidebar. This adds to the credibility of your website by adding social proof.

Social Count Plus widget allows you to easily display your social media follower count in the sidebar. See our guide on how to display social media followers count in WordPress.

This widget only displays your follower count and not the number of times an article is shared on your website.

If you want to display share counts for individual posts, then we recommend using Shared Counts, which is one of the best social media plugins for WordPress. It will allow you to easily add social sharing buttons to your posts and pages with share count for each social media website.

11. Compact Archives

Compact Archives

The default monthly archives widget shows your blog archives in a long list of months. This can take up a lot of space. Compact Archives solves this problem by grouping your monthly archives into years and displaying them in a compact form.

It also comes with a Gutenberg block that you can add to in your posts and pages. It also includes a widget that you can use in your blog’s sidebar.

For more information, check out our tutorial on how to create compact archives in WordPress.

12. OptinMonster

OptinMonster

OptinMonster is the best WordPress lead generation software on the market. It allows you to easily convert website visitors into subscribers and customers.

It helps you grow your email list by adding sign up forms in sidebar widgets, lightbox popup, floating bars, and more.

OptinMonster is the best WordPress widget for eCommerce sites and businesses who want to boost their conversions.

13. AdSanity

AdSanity

AdSanity is the best ad management plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily display ads anywhere on your website and comes with a widget to automatically display ads in your blog’s sidebar.

If you are planning to support your website with Google AdSense, banner ads, or affiliate marketing, then AdSanity helps you maximize your ad space and generate more revenue.

14. Testimonials Rotator

Testimonial Rotator

An easy way to add social proof to your website is by adding customer testimonials to your website. Testimonials Rotator allows you to easily add customer testimonials to your website.

It is one of the best testimonial plugins for WordPress and comes with a nifty widget that allows you to display rotating testimonials in a sidebar. This takes less space and allows you to cleverly use sidebars to boost social trust.

For detailed instructions, see our article on how to add rotating testimonials in WordPress.

15. Feature a Page Widget

Feature a Page Widget

This neat plugin allows you to add a page as a featured page in your WordPress sidebar. You can choose to display a page title, featured image, and excerpt. See this article on how to feature a page in WordPress to learn more.

16. Widget Context

Widget Context

Widget Context plugin allows you to show and hide widgets based on context. For example, you can hide a widget if a user is viewing a specific page.

This comes in handy if you don’t want to display a widget on certain pages or only want to display it on specific sections. For details, see our article on how to show / hide widgets in WordPress.

17. Q2W3 Fixed Widget for WordPress

Q2W3 Fixed Widget for WordPress

The sidebar widgets usually disappear as a user scroll down your website. Q2W3 Fixed Widget for WordPress allows you to change any widget into a fixed widget that stays on the screen as users scroll down.

This comes in handy if you want to display a special offer, important content, or a newsletter sign up form. For details, see our guide on how to create a sticky floating widget in WordPress.

18. WP-PostRatings

WP-PostRatings

WP-PostRatings plugin allows you to easily add a post rating system to your WordPress website. Your users can then rate articles on your site and provide you with instant feedback.

The plugin also comes with a widget, which you can use to display your top-rated content in your blog’s sidebar.

19. Theme My Login

Theme My Login

Theme My Login is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to create a custom login page for your website visitors. It is highly useful if you allow user registration on your website or run a multi-author WordPress blog.

The plugin also comes with a sidebar login widget, which you can use to make it easier for users to log in to their accounts. For details, see our guide on how to create front-end / sidebar login form in WordPress.

20. Advanced AJAX Product Filters

Advanced AJAX Product Filters

Advanced AJAX Product Filters allows you to display an instant product filter for your WooCommerce store. You can allow your users to filter products by price, rating, or attributes by simply adding a filter widget to your sidebar.

21. Google Language Translator

Google Language Translator

Google Language Translator plugin allows you to easily add a language switcher widget to your WordPress site. It uses Google Translate to translate content on your website in any language.

Alternative: TranslatePress allows you to combine Google translate with manual translations to improve the overall quality of your translated content.

22. Widget Importer & Exporter

Widget Importer & Exporter

Now that you have set up your widgets and configured its settings, you may want to move them to another website. This is where Widget Importer & Exporter plugin comes in handy.

It allows you to download all your widgets as JSON file, which you can then import on any other WordPress site. If you are using the same theme and plugins, then all your widgets will be imported exactly as they were.

If you are using a different theme that does not have the same widget areas as the old theme, then those widgets will be imported as inactive widgets. You can then drag and drop them to any widget area you like.

23. The Events Calendar

The Events Calendar

The Events Calendar is one of the best WordPress calendar plugins on the market. It allows you to easily manage event listings on a WordPress website.

You can add new events with full details, display an events calendar in a WordPress post or page, or display upcoming events in a sidebar widget.

24. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) is the best WordPress related posts plugin on the market. It allows you to easily display related content for each article on your website.

It uses an advanced algorithm to match content which allows it to show more contextually related posts than other plugins. It also comes with a widget that you can use to display related posts in a sidebar.

25. Posts in Sidebar

Posts in Sidebar

Posts in Sidebar is a really simple but highly useful plugin. It allows you to show specific posts in a sidebar widget.

You can select which posts you want to show, display them with title, excerpt, and a thumbnail, or plain lists. You can also use it with the Widget Context plugin to show different posts on different areas of your website.

We hope this article helped you find some useful WordPress widgets for your website. You may also want to see our guide on the best WordPress plugins and the best Gutenberg block plugins for your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us. Here's our editorial process.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

Get FREE access to our toolkit - a collection of WordPress related products and resources that every professional should have!

Reader Interactions

35 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
    You can get more details about the contest from here.
    Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!

  2. Moinuddin Waheed says

    Most traffic sources for any kind of website or blog now a days is mobile devices.
    Adding widgets mainly serves the purpose of appearing on the side if the website is visited from desktop or larger screen sizes.
    But having said that, I think it is always a good idea to have essential aspect in the sidebar widgets.

  3. Neil says

    Very useful list, thanks.
    Im nervous about deleting because I am just as likely to delete a wrong one!

    • WPBeginner Support says

      Your widget area should tell you the titles of your current widgets to help make sure you don’t remove the wrong one :)

      Admin

  4. david says

    why so many widget plugins? they don’t show on mobiles anyway – they show after the content, they’re really not useful on mobile. and this is a mobile era. so move on to a better solution maybe?

    • WPBeginner Support says

      Not all themes have the design where widgets are moved to the bottom of the page if the viewing area isn’t wide enough :)

      Admin

  5. Sergio says

    I’m looking for a plugin (because I do not want to put my hand on functions.php) such that it is possible to inherit some text before the wordpress loop. In other words, I would like to include text on the static page of the blog before the list of articles, using the administration area.

    Thank you very much for helping! :-)

  6. Yukesh says

    How to make widget like i need help with section in this site & contents below with search ?

  7. Karen Moss says

    Aren’t a few of the widgets mentioned here out-of-date? Neat Skype hasn’t been updated in 2 years…

  8. Kensley says

    Berta, this is why it is so important to learn the WordPress API and build your own widgets. Don’t depend on others to always be there. There’s only a handfull of dedicated providers like that.

  9. cheesdown says

    If you want to download Showcase Video to MP4, WMV, AVI, etc,you may try use allavsoft ,it can high-quality output file and the highest to download.

  10. Gin says

    It would be nice to have ‘comments’ auto-post as ‘testimonials. Love your site n yes, subscribed too. Returned online n still working on my own site with help from your tuts, thank you!

  11. Bart van den Bosch says

    Thanks for this list, you guys are great. The only widget I’m missing is the Black Studio TinyMCE Widget. I’m using that one on every site I make.

  12. pankaj Negi says

    What are the best WordPress free theme with following feature…
    Easy to load..
    Seo friendly..
    Footer editing facility..
    Ideal for mobile…

  13. Jabr says

    Thank you! Really it is a very helpful website. I hope that you give us your detailed way of advertising on Facebook!

  14. Med Kabba says

    Thanks very much for such a wonderful updated list of WordPress plugins. However, i would like to recommend that you give much attention to the point being raised by Berta……about the update and compatibility issues on the various plugins. Thanks.

  15. Zenia says

    Hello! I was wondering, what plugin do you use for “tweet” “like” “google plus” share? Because for your site it doesn’t get cut off, for mine it does! :) Also do you have any recommendations for assistance in the wordpress dev world? Like who you’d recommend? :)

  16. Walter Hines says

    Please tell me which lead generator (pop up) widget is used on this page. I really would like to use it on my new website. Thank you so much, Syed!

  17. Berta says

    What’s with you guys contently recommending plugins that not only aren’t compatible with WP current version…many haven’t been updated in years? It’s sad. This article was just written last month and is recommending plugins, like the Whistles plugin, which is… Compatible up to: 3.7.1 and Last Updated: 2013-9-9

    Not good guys!

    • Netvor says

      Yes, you are right. Have the same opinion – many times I am looking for some new info, I target new articles – but many writers are only recycling old content. It is not bad – i am doing it too, but it is needed to spend few minutes to check, if plugin is still so good as it was 2 years ago.

      Many times I see a plugin which I need, I say hooray – and then I recognize that it has not been updated for a long time. Not good job guys, this page will not be bookmarked.

  18. Kristopher Hesson says

    This is a great post, guys! I’ve used a lot of widgets but several of these are new to me and look VERY useful! I’ll be tweeting and G+ this article now. Thanks for a very useful list!

Leave A Reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.