66
Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin
Beautifully customizable but the setup process is a bumpy ride.
DecliningPoor rating
66/100
Users enjoy the customization but struggle with outdated setup guides and Pro bugs.
Active installs
~94,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 50k+
Rating
3.8★
396 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-59%
Declining fast
346 → 143 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORverified rating is 3.89★
- MINORdownloads down 59% 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 · -59% in the last year
346/day a year ago→143/day today
Reviews
what people actually saySimple Calendar is a well-liked free plugin for embedding Google Calendars in WordPress, appreciated for its ease of use and CSS customizability, but let down by outdated Google API setup documentation and occasional reliability issues with the paid add-on.
What people like
- +Works reliably for basic Google Calendar embedding once set up×5
- +Straightforward setup and good out-of-the-box integration for the free version×4
- +Highly customizable via CSS, with support for different layouts per device×2
- +Support team is responsive and helpful×2
Common complaints
- −Google API setup documentation is outdated, making initial configuration confusing or impossible for some users×3
- −Setup is not truly plug-and-play; missing guidance on Google Console settings (e.g., OAuth not needed but not clarified) and per-event privacy requirements×2
- −Caching issues can delay calendar updates from appearing on the site
- −Paid Pro add-on has a recurring bug where the calendar integration resets weekly and stops displaying properly
Review trustReviews look organic
- 3.89★Verified rating — drops from 3.80★ once one-shot reviewers are removed
- 20%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-07-202025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 396 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-04-27★★★★★Simple Calendar indeedaltabor
- 2026-03-04★★★★★Awesome pluginkendal34
- 2026-01-16★★★★★Great Plug-in & Supportadelimakers1-shot
- 2026-01-12★★★★★Love This Pluginedgar3
- 2025-12-31★★★★★Excellentchronicsys
- 2025-11-17★★★★★Great plugin to connect with Google CalendarSantiago Leon
- 2025-11-10★★★★★Did not work on my sitedigihulpdienst
- 2025-10-31★★★★★gemakkelijk, netjes, prima helpdeskgoele1-shot
- 2025-10-29★★★★★Great plugin and excellent supportbookmarkmns01
- 2025-08-21★★★★★Absolutely EpicJeff Travilla
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.
152
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
138
Prior 7-day baseline
155
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
16,531
Mean release-day peak (30d)
610
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
+10.1%
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.
9%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
0.86
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
71%
5★ share in analyzed sample
20%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
-29%
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.01 → 3.89★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered