Advanced Woo Search vs Name Directory
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Advanced Woo Search v3.73 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details | Name Directory v1.34.3 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.9/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 70,000+ | 2,000+ |
| Last updated | October 20, 2026 | October 1, 2026 |
| Editions | Advanced Woo Search · Advanced Woo Search PRO ($) | Name Directory |
| Pros | Live AJAX search across product fields with a dedicated index table; Gutenberg blocks, a widget and an Elementor widget for placing the form; Did-you-mean suggestions and search terms display | Several independent directories per site; CSV import and export of entries; Optional visitor suggestions with reCAPTCHA v2 |
| Cons | The readme lists several search sources and layouts as PRO-only; Index rebuilds run as background jobs, which need cron to run on time | No built-in access control on directories; Relies on the developer for custom work; The reCAPTCHA check needs Google keys set up by the admin |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | AJAX live search results, Background search index table kept in sync with products, Search results page replacement, Did-you-mean and similar-term suggestions, Gutenberg search blocks, Elementor search widget, WP-CLI command to rebuild the index | Multiple directories with their own shortcodes, CSV import and export of directory entries, Visitor suggestion form with approval, Google reCAPTCHA v2 on the suggestion form, Pagination option for the admin list, Random and single-entry shortcodes |
| Integrations | ||
| E-commerce | WooCommerce | — |
| Plugins | Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, WPML | — |
| Other | — | Google reCAPTCHA |
| Requires WordPress | 4.0 | 3.0.1 |
| Requires PHP | 7.0 | 5.3 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| Blocks | 3 | — |
| Shortcodes | 6 | 3 |