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Best WordPress Plugins for Genesis

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Genesis

All Free only 15 Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for genesis comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.

We ranked 15 plugins using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.

How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.

At a glance

  1. 1. Genesis eNews Extended Best overall 86/100
  2. 2. Genesis Blocks 83/100
  3. 3. Genesis Simple Hooks 83/100
  4. 4. Genesis Simple Share 83/100
  5. 5. Genesis Simple Sidebars 83/100
  6. 6. Genesis Custom Blocks 82/100
  7. 7. Genesis Connect for WooCommerce 82/100
  8. 8. Genesis Simple Menus 81/100
  9. 9. Genesis Portfolio Pro 80/100
  10. 10. SEO Data Transporter 80/100
  11. 11. Osom Author Pro 79/100
  12. 12. Genesis Beta Tester 76/100
  13. 13. Genesis Widget Column Classes 65/100
  14. 14. Ads for Genesis 65/100
  15. 15. Genesis Columns Advanced 58/100
1 Genesis eNews Extended
Best overall Free by Brandon Kraft

Genesis eNews Extended

Genesis widget to add newsletter signup forms for MailChimp, AWeber, FeedBlitz, ConvertKit, and other mailing lists.

4.7★
from 28 ratings
40k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 Genesis Blocks
Free by StudioPress

Genesis Blocks

A collection of content blocks, sections, & full-page layouts for the block editor.

3.7★
from 24 ratings
40k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 Genesis Simple Hooks
Free by Nathan Rice

Genesis Simple Hooks

This plugin creates a new Genesis settings page that allows you to insert code (HTML, Shortcodes, and PHP), and attach it to any of the 50+ action hoo …

4.6★
from 22 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 Genesis Simple Share
Free by OsomPress

Genesis Simple Share

Genesis Simple Share allows you to easily add beautiful share buttons to your site using a Genesis child theme

4.4★
from 33 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 Genesis Simple Sidebars
Free by StudioPress

Genesis Simple Sidebars

This plugin allows you to create multiple, dynamic widget areas, and assign those widget areas to sidebar locations within the Genesis Framework on a …

4.4★
from 27 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
83

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Genesis Simple Menus
Free by StudioPress

Genesis Simple Menus

With Genesis, Simple Menus allows you to select a WP menu for secondary navigation on posts, pages, categories, tags or custom taxonomies.

4.8★
from 11 ratings
2k+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 Osom Author Pro
Free by OsomPress

Osom Author Pro

The Osom Author Pro plugin creates a library which allows you to add books to any WordPress theme.

4.9★
from 10 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
79

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
12 Genesis Beta Tester
Free by StudioPress

Genesis Beta Tester

This plugin lets you one-click update to the latest Genesis release, even if it's still in beta.

5★
from 2 ratings
100+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
76

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
14 Ads for Genesis
Free by monetizemore

Ads for Genesis

Ads for Genesis allows you to display any kind of ads without coding in your Genesis theme.

5★
from 3 ratings
300+
active installs
Updated
Jun 2025
Tested to
WP 6.7.7
65

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org