Best WordPress Accordion Plugins

Making the most efficient use of your website’s real estate can be tricky at times. This is especially true if you need to fit a lot of content into a small space without overwhelming your visitors. 

Fortunately, accordions can easily be added to WordPress using a variety of plugins. An accordion is a web design technique that creates collapsible sections of content, which can be opened and closed at will. That makes it an excellent option for including a lot of text on your posts and pages in a dynamic and elegant way. 

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the use cases for accordions. Then we’ll review the best free and premium accordion plugins for WordPress. If you’re ready, let’s get started! 

Why Use Accordion Plugins?

Accordions are used to display text-heavy content items. Some plugins can help you create these handy web design elements on your own site in vertical, horizontal, or tabbed styles.

In fact, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) portion of a website is often displayed in accordion style. Questions are presented in a concise list, with the answer text for each hidden in the accordion’s panels. This makes it easier for users to find the questions they want, without having to scroll endlessly through content they don’t need.

Fortunately, you can add this dynamic element to your WordPress site with a plugin, even if you don’t have extensive coding knowledge. Additionally, many of the tools on offer provide an interface that makes it easy to design accordions with text formatting, images, and other media.

Depending on the plugin you choose, you’ll also likely have access to plenty of customization options. That way, you can create accordions that match your site’s theme and enhance your brand. 

Best Free Accordion Plugins

Free plugins often have a lot to offer. When it comes to accordions, there are several excellent options to consider. What follows are the most highly-rated and easy-to-use free accordion plugins.

1. Accordion

First up, the Accordion plugin offers unlimited accordion creation for free. You’ll also have the option to customize colors, icons, font sizes, and more. Accordion content is added to your site with shortcodes, which can be placed in posts, pages, footers, sidebars, and more. 

Plus, Accordion is built to help you create responsive elements. That means your tabbed or accordion content should be easily viewable on any size screen. 

2. Tabs

The Tabs plugin really shines when it comes to responsive design. Vertical and horizontal tabbed content can be created easily with this tool’s back-end user interface. You are also not limited by how many tabbed content pieces you can add to your site. 

Additionally, you can include media content within the tab frames for even more user engagement opportunities. What’s more, the Tabs plugin is compatible with all major web browsers, so it should work smoothly for your visitors.

3. Accordion FAQ

Accordion FAQ is built and maintained by the creators of Tabs. This means you’ll have the same great user experience we discussed above. Adding accordion content is easy from your website’s admin dashboard, and you can choose from unlimited color options as well.

Accordion FAQ is a nice entry-level plugin that will get these elements up and running on your site quickly. Plus, you can add unlimited accordions anywhere on your site using simple shortcodes.  

4. Max Mega Menu

Max Mega Menu works with your current WordPress menu content. You can think of this plugin as a personal trainer for your menu. This fully-responsive solution turns your menus into exciting, dynamic elements that are viewable on any mobile device.

It also comes with automatic support for native touch elements. That means your menus won’t just look good; they’ll work great as well. You can choose from countless customization options to style your menus, and even include widgets. 

5. Ultimate Blocks

Ultimate Blocks is a newer but popular plugin, which is designed to extend the WordPress Block Editor. You’ll gain 18 extra blocks for WordPress, including both a tabbed content block and one that creates a content toggle option. 

This enables you to  easily insert an accordion effect or tabbed content option into your posts and pages. You’ll be able to use the WordPress editor you’re already familiar with, and customize your accordions without leaving the page you’re working on.  

Best Paid Accordion Plugins

While free plugins can sometimes do the job, other times you’ll want a few more options when creating your accordion content. Fortunately, there are a lot of premium plugins out there as well.

To help you cut through the clutter, we’ve selected three of the best premium accordion plugins you can find. We’ve chosen these options based on each plugin’s feature set, active downloads, positive reviews, and developer support.

1. Accordion Tables

The Accordion Tables plugin enables you to design content in a live, front-end preview of your website. For $15, you’ll get 30 pre-set styles that you can easily customize to fit your site. Plus, this plugin is simple to use and doesn’t require any coding know-how.

Another benefit Accordion Tables offers is that you can add as many columns and rows as you need to display your content. Additionally, you can browse and add Font Awesome icons to your accordions right from the editing panel.

2. Accordion Slider

Fully responsive and touch-enabled, the Accordion Slider plugin combines the space-saving convenience of an accordion with the elegance of a slider. It also offers mouse and keyboard compatibility, providing a lot of flexibility for your site’s users.

For $22, you’ll get a plugin with plenty of useful features and six months of support from the developer. You also won’t need to worry about whether your accordion content is visible to search engines, as Accordion Slider is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)-friendly. 

3. WooCommerce Category Accordion

Last but not least, this plugin provides a useful extension for WooCommerce users. WooCommerce Category Accordion enables you to add WooCommerce category information to your accordion panels, in order to create a more dynamic display.

You can create stacks of your store’s content, for example, with certain categories open by default. For $22 you’ll get the plugin, six months of support, and future plugin updates. You’ll also be able to choose from nine color schemes, in addition to adding ‘click’ and ‘hover’ effects to your accordions.

Find Great Resources With WP Engine

Your site’s content matters, but so does the way it’s presented and organized. Now that you’re more familiar with the plugin options that are available, you can take your site’s content to the next level with dynamic accordion content.

Here at WP Engine, we strive to help WordPress users create an incredible digital experience for their customers. Not only do we want you to have access to the best developer resources available, we also offer WordPress osting plans and site solutions for all user levels and needs!