72
Classic Editor
The ultimate escape hatch for those fleeing the block editor.
Declining
72/100
Users love this official plugin for providing a simple and familiar way to bypass Gutenberg.
Active installs
~11 million
our estimate · wp.org shows 9.0M+
Rating
4.9★
1,244 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-28%
Declining fast
20,015 → 14,503 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MAJORsudden recent review surge
- MINORdownloads down 28% vs a year ago
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining fast · -28% in the last year
20,015/day a year ago→14,503/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayClassic Editor is well-regarded as a lightweight, no-frills plugin that restores the pre-Gutenberg WordPress editing experience, though some users acknowledge it feels dated and lacks modern block-editing capabilities.
What people like
- +Restores a clean, simple writing interface that users find easier and faster than the block editor×10
- +Lightweight and doesn't add unnecessary features — does exactly what it promises×3
- +Works smoothly and reliably without layout issues×4
Common complaints
- −Feels outdated compared to modern WordPress editing standards×2
- −Lacks modern block-editing features and capabilities×3
Review trustMixed — some inflation
- 4.74★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.90★
- 6%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- recent spikeReview timing — up to 11% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2024-02-152025-04-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 1,244 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-06-04★★★★★Gutenberg Who?Jerrod
- 2026-06-03★★★★★Simple but limitedandrea51-shot
- 2026-06-01★★★★★My Whole Team Loves Itkendel79
- 2026-05-25★★★★★Saved My SanityReyna
- 2026-05-18★★★★★Gutenberg? No Tnkzsonja87
- 2026-05-15★★★★★Keep It Classicnaomi141-shot
- 2026-05-13★★★★★Old is Goldmodestfokine
- 2026-05-12★★★★★Still the easiestblaze30
- 2026-05-11★★★★★Back to basicsmitchelcune
- 2026-05-07★★★★★Simple is bettersheapurcell64
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNFor developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
13,599
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
14,811
Prior 7-day baseline
13,746
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
1,995,341
Mean release-day peak (30d)
88,631
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
-8.2%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
11%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
0.79
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
84%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
+400%
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.74 → 4.74★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered