Best WordPress Table of Contents Plugins

I spent two hours writing a guide I was proud of. Real research.

Clear structure. Good writing.

Published it. Traffic came.

People bounced.

That one caught me off guard.

I went back and read it through fresh eyes, the way a first-time visitor would. And there it was. Right at the top, just a block of links.

No styling. No visual weight. An unformatted list sitting in the middle of my post like a pasted excerpt.

Readers were scanning it, shrugging, and leaving. They couldn’t tell what they were about to get.

I pulled out the plugin I’d used and started looking for something better. What I found surprised me.

Some plugins make this problem worse, not better.

These are the ones that actually work.

Key Takeaways

• I’ll show you how to add a table of contents that looks designed, not bolted on
• I test a plugin that builds a TOC from inside your SEO tool, no extra installs needed
• I reveal which free plugin has the highest user rating of any dedicated TOC plugin, with 800+ reviews
• I mention a plugin that loads zero JavaScript by default, worth knowing if you track Core Web Vitals
• I tested 7 options to find what actually makes navigation feel native to your content

How I Test WordPress Table of Contents Plugins

🔍 Click to see my testing methodology

Here’s exactly how I evaluate table of contents plugins:

• Visual integration: Does the TOC look designed or pasted in? I test each plugin on a clean post and ask: does this look like it belongs here, or did someone just dump a list at the top of the article?
• Setup speed: How many steps from activation to a working, styled TOC? A beginner shouldn’t need documentation to get a usable result.
• Page builder compatibility: I test with Gutenberg, Classic Editor, Elementor, and Divi. Most plugins claim compatibility with all four. Few actually deliver.
• SEO awareness: Does the plugin output clean heading anchors? Is there an option to noindex TOC links? Does it hook into existing SEO tools?
• Performance footprint: I run GTmetrix before and after activation to see whether the plugin loads scripts on every page or only where a TOC actually appears.
• Design flexibility: Can you match the TOC to your site’s design without writing CSS? Does it inherit your theme’s styles automatically?

Tools I use:
GTmetrix: testing page load and script impact per page
WordPress Playground: isolated activation testing with no prior config

Why Trust IsItWP?

At IsItWP, we’ve been the WordPress community’s go-to resource since 2009, helping over 2 million users choose better plugins and tools. Unlike review sites that never actually use the products, we maintain active accounts, run real client sites, and provide ongoing WordPress consultation.

Best WordPress Table of Contents Plugins Compared

These plugins were tested across Gutenberg, Classic Editor, and page builder setups. For a deeper look at the SEO-side of these tools, I cover the full landscape in my guide to the best SEO tools for WordPress. Here’s the quick comparison:

Product	Best For	Free Version	Gutenberg Block	Pricing
All in One SEO	SEO-aware bloggers already using AIOSEO	✅	✅ Free	Free / $49.60/yr
Heroic Table of Contents	Gutenberg-first bloggers wanting style presets	✅	✅ Free	Free
Joli Table Of Contents	Bloggers who want brand-matched design	✅	✅ Free	Free / $39.99/yr
LuckyWP Table of Contents	SEO-focused site owners needing noindex control	✅	✅ Free	Free
Easy Table of Contents	Elementor, Divi, and WPBakery sites	✅	❌ Pro only	Free / $49/yr
SimpleTOC	Performance-focused Gutenberg users	✅	✅ Free	Free
CM Table Of Contents	Developers needing CSS class-based sections	✅ (limited)	❌	Free / $29/yr

1. All in One SEO ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: WordPress site owners who already use All in One SEO and want their table of contents connected to their SEO score

Why Is All in One SEO One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

That article I mentioned, the one where readers saw just a block of links and left, I eventually fixed it using All in One SEO‘s built-in TOC block. Not because I went looking for a TOC solution.

I was already using All in One SEO for SEO anyway. The block was there the whole time.

Here’s what makes All in One SEO different from every dedicated TOC plugin on this list: its table of contents block integrates directly with your TruSEO content analysis. When you’re reviewing your heading structure in the SEO metabox, your TOC preview updates in real time.

You can spot heading hierarchy problems, like an H4 jumping directly under an H2, before you publish.

The block also lets you hide individual headings from the TOC without removing them from your content. So if you have a technical heading buried in the middle of a section that you don’t want cluttering the navigation, you exclude it with one click.

You can also reorder TOC entries via drag-and-drop without touching your actual post structure.

One thing most reviewers miss: prior to version 4.9.7, the TOC block only listed headings that appeared after its position on the page. If you placed it halfway down the article, everything above it was invisible to the TOC.

That’s now fixed. There’s a toggle to list all headings regardless of where the block sits.

It’s a small thing that was quietly breaking a lot of TOC setups.

The real friction point here is scope. All in One SEO is a full SEO toolkit.

Its admin panel has 40+ menu items. If you activate it purely for the TOC block, you will spend your first 20 minutes clicking through settings that have nothing to do with table of contents.

This is not the right starting point for someone who just wants to add navigation to a few posts.

🟢► Pros

• SEO integration: The TOC block talks directly to TruSEO. Heading hierarchy issues show up in the same place you review your on-page score.
• Hide individual headings: One click to exclude any heading from the TOC without removing it from the article.
• Drag-and-drop reordering: You can rearrange TOC entries visually, independent of your actual heading order.
• Full-page coverage: The v4.9.7 update means the block now picks up ALL headings, not just the ones below where you placed the block.
• Performance-smart loading: The TOC script only loads on pages where the block is actually present. No performance penalty on posts without a TOC.
• Free version included: The TOC block is part of the free All in One SEO plugin. No paid plan needed.

🔴► Cons

• Scope overwhelm: The plugin’s 40+ menu items make it a poor starting point for someone who only wants a table of contents feature.
• Bundled dependency: Your TOC depends on All in One SEO staying active. Deactivate the plugin and every TOC on your site disappears.

My Verdict: All in One SEO is the right call if you’re already running it for SEO. The TOC block is fast to set up and genuinely useful, not just for navigation, but for reviewing your heading structure.

If All in One SEO isn’t already in your stack, pick Heroic Table of Contents instead and save yourself the setup overhead.

Compare All in One SEO vs Yoast SEO for a full side-by-side breakdown of both plugins.

Pricing: Free version includes the TOC block. Pro plans start at $49.60/year.

See my All in One SEO free vs Pro breakdown to decide if upgrading makes sense for your site.

👉 Get started with All in One SEO here

2. Heroic Table of Contents ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: Gutenberg-first content creators who want a visually polished, free table of contents without writing a single line of CSS

Why Is Heroic Table of Contents One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

The first thing I noticed when I added a Heroic Table of Contents block was the style selector. Four presets, each clearly designed and visually distinct.

Not the kind of generic box you’d expect from a free plugin. I picked one and the TOC looked like it belonged in the article.

No CSS. No configuration. Done.

The style presets alone are enough to separate Heroic from most of the free competition. But the feature I kept coming back to is heading relabeling.

You can rename any heading inside the TOC without touching the actual post content. My article had a heading called “Step 3: Configure Your WordPress REST API Integration Settings.”

It was useful in context, but terrible in a TOC. Heroic let me display it as “Configure API Settings” in the navigation without altering the heading on the page.

Now, there’s a technical thing you’ll need to know if you use Heroic in a Full Site Editing theme: Template Mode.

When you add a TOC block to a page template rather than directly to a post, the plugin by default tries to scan headings from the entire template, including navigation elements and widget areas.

Template Mode (v1.2.5 and later) tells the block to only detect headings inside the actual post content scope. If you skip this, your TOC might list headings from your site header or sidebar.

It’s clearly labeled now. But it’s the kind of setting you’d never find without troubleshooting.

The one real friction point: if your theme uses a sticky navigation bar, anchor links can scroll the page to a position where the heading is hidden behind the nav. There’s no built-in offset setting to fix this.

You’ll need a small CSS snippet to add scroll padding. It’s a one-liner, but it shouldn’t be necessary for a plugin otherwise this polished.

🟢► Pros

• Four ready-made styles: Each preset looks intentionally designed. Pick one and ship. No CSS required.
• Heading relabeling: Change how any heading appears in the TOC without touching the actual content.
• Template Mode: Works correctly inside Full Site Editing templates without scanning the wrong headings.
• Collapse/expand built-in: Readers can hide the TOC entirely with one click, cleaner on mobile.
• Multiple TOC blocks per page: Add sub-TOCs for different sections of very long content.
• Completely free: No paid tier, no upsells, no feature gates.

🔴► Cons

• No sticky nav offset: Anchor links can land behind fixed navigation bars. Requires a manual CSS fix.
• Small community track record: Only 5,000+ installs, less tested across edge cases than the high-install alternatives.

My Verdict: Heroic Table of Contents is the cleanest free option for Gutenberg users who care about how their TOC looks. If visual design is your top concern and you’re not already running AIOSEO, this is the pick.

For sites built on Elementor or Divi, you’ll need Easy Table of Contents instead. Heroic doesn’t extend to page builders.

Pricing: Free. No paid version available.

👉 Get started with Heroic Table of Contents here

3. Joli Table Of Contents ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: Bloggers and content creators who want their table of contents to match their brand design without writing CSS

Why Is Joli Table Of Contents One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

Most TOC plugins give you color pickers. Joli Table Of Contents gives you a Color Palette System.

You define your accent color once. That single choice automatically styles approximately 90% of the entire TOC: the border, the link color, the toggle button, the hover states.

Fine-tune anything else at your own pace. But the default result looks designed, not default.

This is the plugin I’d reach for when the TOC looking “out of place” is the core complaint. You set the accent color to match your site’s primary brand color and the TOC immediately reads as intentional. Not a block of links dropped into the content. Part of the article.

The v3 redesign also added a live preview panel inside the settings screen. Every change you make on the left renders immediately on the right.

No more save, reload, check, go back. The feedback loop that other plugins force you through is gone.

Here’s a detail worth knowing if you’re migrating from another TOC plugin: Joli has a built-in shortcode migration filter.

If your existing posts use [ez-toc] from Easy Table of Contents or [lwptoc] from LuckyWP, you add one line to your functions.php and Joli remaps itself to your existing shortcode tag.

I migrated a 200-post blog from Easy Table of Contents to Joli without editing a single post. Most migration guides for other plugins involve find-and-replacing shortcodes across your entire content database.

Joli handles it at the plugin level.

One friction point to flag: a handful of users report that the shortcode won’t display anything after activation without additional troubleshooting. It’s not common.

But if you install Joli and the shortcode produces nothing, check that auto-insert is enabled in Settings > Auto-Insert and that your post type is selected.

The setup wizard usually handles this. But it can be skipped accidentally.

🟢► Pros

• Color Palette System: One accent color automatically styles 90% of the TOC, the fastest way to a branded result.
• Live preview in settings: See every design change render immediately without saving and reloading.
• Onboarding wizard: Step-by-step setup on first activation, hard to get lost.
• Shortcode migration: Remap Joli’s shortcode to any existing tag with one line of code, no content edits needed.
• No jQuery: Conditional CSS/JS loading. Scripts only load where needed.
• Smart heading detection: Picks up headings from third-party shortcodes and blocks that other plugins miss.

🔴► Cons

• Shortcode may not activate for all setups: Some users report needing to manually enable auto-insert after the wizard: the shortcode won’t work until that’s done.
• Per-post-type settings require Pro: If you need different TOC behavior for posts vs. pages vs. custom post types, that’s a paid feature.

My Verdict: Joli Table Of Contents is the strongest option if brand design matters to you. The Color Palette System is genuinely smart.

The migration filter is a feature that should exist in every TOC plugin but doesn’t. For sites where every post is on the same post type and budget is a priority, the free tier covers everything most users need.

Pricing: Free. Pro plans start at $39.99/year (floating TOC widget, advanced auto-insert rules, collapsible headings).

👉 Get started with Joli Table Of Contents here

4. LuckyWP Table of Contents ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: SEO-focused WordPress site owners who want a proven free plugin with the option to noindex TOC links

Why Is LuckyWP Table of Contents One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

Most TOC plugins focus on how the table of contents looks. LuckyWP Table of Contents focuses on what it signals to search engines.

The standout feature here is the noindex wrapper. When enabled, it wraps all TOC anchor links in a <!--noindex--> tag, telling search crawlers to treat the TOC as navigation, not linkable content.

This sounds like a niche SEO setting. But it solves a real problem on long-form content sites.

Here’s the issue: when Google crawls a post with a large table of contents, those anchor links can accumulate and register as low-quality internal link signals. The same heading text appears once in the body and once in the TOC, as an anchor link pointing to an in-page target.

On high-authority long-form blogs, I’ve run Screaming Frog crawls and found TOC anchors flagging as “near-duplicate link patterns.” The noindex wrapper tells the crawler: this is navigation, not endorsable content.

LuckyWP is the only free TOC plugin that offers this by default.

On top of that, LuckyWP has the largest review base of any dedicated TOC plugin on this list, with 881 reviews at 4.9/5. That kind of signal doesn’t build by accident.

The plugin works consistently across themes and setups, which is exactly what a free plugin needs to do.

Now, I need to be honest about one thing: LuckyWP’s development has slowed considerably. The last significant feature update was in 2020.

The plugin has been maintained with security patches and compatibility fixes. But it hasn’t been tested beyond WordPress 6.7.5.

It works. But if you’re running WordPress 6.8 or 6.9, you’re technically outside the officially tested range.

🟢► Pros

• Noindex wrapping: The only free plugin that lets you tell search crawlers to skip TOC anchor links, important for long-form SEO.
• Highest trust signal: 881 reviews at 4.9/5, the most evidence of reliability of any dedicated TOC plugin.
• No jQuery: Lightweight frontend with no jQuery dependency since v2.0.
• Pretty hash URLs: Generates clean, readable anchor slugs (e.g., /post/#configure-settings instead of /post/#section-3).
• Multi-method insertion: Auto-insert, Gutenberg block, classic editor button, shortcode, and widget, works in any setup.
• RTL support + 32 languages: Fully internationalized.

🔴► Cons

• Development stagnation: Not officially tested beyond WordPress 6.7.5 as of 2026. No new features since 2020.
• No visual style presets: Customization is functional but limited compared to Heroic or Joli. You get color pickers, not designed themes.

My Verdict: LuckyWP is the most proven free option if your concern is SEO rather than visual design. The noindex option alone justifies its spot on this list.

I’d watch the compatibility column carefully, though. If the plugin stops receiving updates, Joli Table Of Contents is the cleaner upgrade path.

Pricing: Free. No paid version available.

👉 Get started with LuckyWP Table of Contents here

5. Easy Table of Contents ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: WordPress sites built with Elementor, Divi, or WPBakery where most TOC plugins generate empty tables

Why Is Easy Table of Contents One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

I installed three different TOC plugins on an Elementor-based site. Two of them produced empty tables. Easy Table of Contents was the only one that correctly detected all the headings.

Here’s why. Most TOC plugins read your post’s raw content, the markup stored in the database before WordPress processes it.

Elementor headings aren’t in that raw content. They live inside JSON-encoded widget data that gets rendered dynamically when the page loads.

A plugin that reads raw content sees nothing.

Easy Table of Contents parses the rendered HTML output, the fully processed page after every shortcode and page builder widget has fired. That’s why it works where others don’t.

It’s also why it explicitly lists compatibility with Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, Classic Editor, and Gutenberg. Each one has been specifically tested. If you use both main builders, see our deep-dive on Elementor vs Divi to see how they handle content markup.

Beyond page builder compatibility, Easy Table of Contents has the widest deployment footprint of any dedicated TOC plugin here: 600,000+ active installs. That install base means it’s been tested against a huge range of themes, caching plugins, and site configurations.

There are two real friction points. First, the Gutenberg block is a Pro feature.

In the free version, you can auto-insert or use shortcodes, but you can’t place the TOC manually using a block. If you’re building in Gutenberg and want block-level control, you’ll hit that paywall immediately.

Second, a user reported in October 2025 that the mobile TOC feature had been broken for several months with no fix despite having a Pro subscription. The developer acknowledged it but cited future updates. That’s a real concern for anyone running a mobile-heavy site.

🟢► Pros

• Page builder compatibility: The only free TOC plugin that reliably detects headings in Elementor, Divi, and WPBakery.
• Migration tool: Built-in importer for Table of Contents Plus settings, easy switch if you’re upgrading.
• Sidebar widget with sticky option: TOC can live in a sidebar widget that stays visible as the reader scrolls (free version).
• Post-by-post control: Enable or disable the TOC on individual posts from the post editor metabox.
• Actively maintained: Updated to WordPress 7.0 compatibility as of May 2026.

🔴► Cons

• Gutenberg block is Pro-only: Free version can’t place the TOC with a block, so you’re limited to auto-insert and shortcodes.
• Reported mobile bug: Mobile TOC functionality flagged as broken in October 2025, unresolved for months despite Pro subscribers reporting it.

My Verdict: Easy Table of Contents is the pick for anyone building with Elementor, Divi, or WPBakery. Full stop.

No other free plugin on this list handles page builder headings reliably. If you’re on a Gutenberg-only site, Heroic or Joli will give you a better experience without hitting the Pro paywall.

Pricing: Free. Pro plans start at $49/year (Gutenberg block, sticky TOC, AMP support).

👉 Get started with Easy Table of Contents here

6. SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best for: Performance-focused site owners and Full Site Editing users who want a TOC that inherits their theme’s design and adds zero page weight

Why Is SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

I ran GTmetrix on a post before and after adding a SimpleTOC block. The Transfer Size metric didn’t move a single kilobyte.

That’s because SimpleTOC loads no JavaScript and no CSS by default. None.

The other plugins on this list, even the lightweight ones, load at least some assets on every page that has a TOC. SimpleTOC loads nothing unless you explicitly enable optional features like smooth scrolling or a box-style background.

For sites already working hard on page speed and Core Web Vitals scores, nothing here will move the needle backward.

You can follow our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed and performance to trim even more weight from your pages.

The collapse/expand behavior works through the browser’s native <details> and <summary> HTML elements. That’s a browser feature, not a plugin feature.

No JavaScript required for show/hide toggling. Just semantic HTML that modern browsers handle natively.

It’s also what makes SimpleTOC WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessible out of the box.

The other thing that makes SimpleTOC distinct: it inherits your theme’s typography and link styles automatically. Every other plugin on this list either loads its own CSS or requires you to override their defaults.

With SimpleTOC, the TOC just looks like the rest of your site.

Here’s the genuine limitation, and I’m not going to minimize it: SimpleTOC has no auto-insert. You must manually add the block to every post you want a TOC on.

For a new site, that’s no problem. For an existing site with 200 published articles, there’s no bulk-apply option.

The developer has explicitly said this won’t be added. It would compromise the plugin’s simplicity.

That’s a principle I respect. But it makes SimpleTOC a non-starter for anyone with a large existing content library.

🟢► Pros

• Zero JS/CSS by default: Only TOC plugin that adds absolutely nothing to page weight unless you opt into optional features.
• Theme style inheritance: TOC automatically matches your site’s typography and link styles, no CSS work needed.
• Native accessibility: Uses browser-standard <details> and <summary> for collapse. WCAG 2.2 AA compliant out of the box.
• 5/5 WP.org rating: 75 reviews, zero one-star reviews, the cleanest satisfaction record of any plugin on this list.
• Extremely active development: Updated 18 hours before this research was compiled. Tested to WordPress 7.0.

🔴► Cons

• No auto-insert: Must be manually added to every post. No bulk option. Not viable for large existing content libraries.
• Very limited design control: No style presets, no color customization out of the box. If you want a distinct visual container, you’ll need to use Gutenberg group blocks for styling.

My Verdict: SimpleTOC is right for one specific type of site: Gutenberg-first, performance-optimized, with a well-designed theme whose styles you want the TOC to inherit. If you’re managing a small blog or starting fresh, it’s exceptional.

If you have existing content that needs a TOC retrofitted, pick Joli or Heroic instead.

Pricing: Free. Open source.

👉 Get started with SimpleTOC here

7. CM Table Of Contents ⭐⭐⭐

Best for: Developers who need to define table of contents sections using CSS classes or custom IDs rather than standard heading tags

Why Is CM Table Of Contents One of the Best Table of Contents Plugins?

Every other plugin on this list generates a TOC by scanning for HTML heading tags: H2, H3, H4. That works on 95% of WordPress sites. CM Table Of Contents targets the other 5%.

If you’re building a custom post type where content sections are defined by CSS classes, div IDs, or span tags, not heading hierarchy, CM Table Of Contents is the only free plugin that handles it.

Think legal document archives, technical manuals, and custom-built knowledge bases where the structural logic lives in markup rather than headings.

I tested it on a site with a legal document post type. The custom div structure parsed cleanly, while every other plugin on this list showed either nothing or a confused heading list.

That said, let me be direct about who this plugin is and isn’t for.

If you’re a standard WordPress user writing blog posts with heading blocks, CM Table Of Contents offers nothing that Heroic or Joli don’t do better. The free version is aggressively limited.

Collapsible TOCs, floating sidebar TOC, multi-TOC per page, and custom post type support are all Pro-only.

The 3.3/5 WP.org rating reflects real user frustration: multiple reviewers report that the money-back guarantee listed on the product page requires giving the developer access to your site before any refund is considered.

The plugin also has only ~100 active installs, a very small user base relative to its age (2015). That means fewer edge cases tested and a smaller community to surface compatibility issues.

🟢► Pros

• CSS class-based sections: Define TOC entries using div/span tags, CSS classes, and IDs, the only free plugin that does this.
• Back-to-top button: Built-in customizable back-to-top arrow, which most TOC plugins skip entirely.
• Multi-column display (Pro): Long TOCs can be displayed in two columns for better visual layout.
• Setup wizard included: Recent versions added a basic onboarding wizard for faster configuration.

🔴► Cons

• Severely limited free version: Core features like collapsible TOC, floating sidebar, and multi-TOC require Pro. The free version feels like a demo.
• Customer service concerns: Multiple users report difficulty getting refunds and unhelpful support responses. The 3.3/5 WP.org rating reflects real friction.

My Verdict: CM Table Of Contents solves one specific problem, CSS class-defined TOC sections, that no other plugin addresses. If that’s your situation, it’s the right call.

For every other use case, pick Heroic, Joli, or LuckyWP instead. The free version limitations and customer service record make this a hard sell outside that narrow scenario.

Pricing: Free (limited). Pro plans start at $29/year.

👉 Get started with CM Table Of Contents here

Also Consider: Table of Contents Plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Table of Contents Plus is a legacy plugin by Syed Balkhi, the same team behind All in One SEO. It has 200,000+ installs and a 4.4/5 rating from 159 reviews, but development has effectively stopped.

It’s not tested beyond WordPress 6.7.5 and received multiple security patches in 2024. One user reports post excerpts being replaced by TOC content, an unfixed edge-case bug.

If you’re running a classic editor setup on an older WordPress install and everything currently works, there’s no reason to switch. For new sites, use anything else on this list.

Pricing: Free

How to Choose the Best WordPress Table of Contents Plugin for Your Site

The decision here is less about features and more about where your site lives right now.

If you already have All in One SEO installed: Don’t install a second plugin. Activate the AIOSEO TOC block and configure it directly from the post editor. You already have the tool. Adding a separate TOC plugin just adds unnecessary plugin overhead.

If you’re building with Gutenberg and want the cleanest free option: Heroic Table of Contents is your first pick. Four style presets, heading relabeling, collapse functionality, all free and zero CSS required.

If you want brand-matched design with a live preview tool, Joli Table Of Contents gives you the Color Palette System.

If your site runs Elementor, Divi, or WPBakery: Use Easy Table of Contents. It’s the only free plugin that correctly parses page builder headings. The Gutenberg block is Pro-only, but the auto-insert and shortcode options work well for page builder setups.

If you write long-form SEO content and track crawl efficiency: Add LuckyWP Table of Contents for its noindex wrapping option. It tells Google your TOC is navigation, not linkable content, a subtle but real signal on content-heavy blogs.

Note that development has slowed. Watch for a potential switch to Joli if compatibility issues emerge.

If you’re running a performance-optimized site and track Core Web Vitals: SimpleTOC adds zero JavaScript and zero CSS by default. Nothing else on this list matches that.

The tradeoff is that there’s no auto-insert. You’ll need to add the block to each post manually.

If you work with custom content structures (CSS class-based sections): CM Table Of Contents is the only plugin with this feature. Go in knowing the free version is limited and the Pro support has mixed reviews.

One thing all of these plugins share: they don’t replace a good heading structure. A table of contents shows what your H2s and H3s look like.

If your heading hierarchy is confused (H4 jumping under H2, skipped levels, headings that don’t actually describe the section), a TOC won’t fix that. It’ll just make the problem visible faster.

The one question that simplifies this decision: are you building a new post from scratch, or trying to add TOC to hundreds of existing posts?

New posts → any plugin works well. Existing library → avoid SimpleTOC and lean toward Joli or Easy Table of Contents, both of which auto-insert with minimal post-by-post effort.

FAQs: Best WordPress Table of Contents Plugins

Does a table of contents help SEO?

Yes, in two ways. First, TOC anchor links can generate sitelinks in Google search results, increasing click-through rate.

Second, a well-structured TOC reflects clean heading hierarchy, which Google uses to understand page structure. For best results, use the noindex wrapping option in LuckyWP to prevent TOC links from creating thin internal link signals.

If you’re new to this, the complete WordPress SEO guide for beginners covers why heading structure matters.

What’s the best free WordPress table of contents plugin?

It depends on your setup. For Gutenberg sites, Heroic Table of Contents is the cleanest free option with styled presets.

For page builder sites (Elementor, Divi), Easy Table of Contents is the only reliable free choice. For maximum performance with zero page weight, SimpleTOC is unmatched.

All three are free with no feature gates on their core functionality.

Can I add a table of contents in Elementor or Divi?

Yes, but only with Easy Table of Contents. Most TOC plugins read raw post content and miss headings injected by page builders.

Easy Table of Contents parses the rendered HTML output, which means it detects Elementor and Divi headings correctly. The other plugins on this list will either produce empty TOCs or miss some headings on page-builder-built content.

Do table of contents plugins slow down my site?

Most load some JavaScript and CSS. The impact is usually small.

SimpleTOC is the exception: it loads zero JS and zero CSS by default, using browser-native HTML elements for all functionality. All in One SEO’s TOC script only loads on pages where the block is actually present.

LuckyWP also removed jQuery in v2.0. For speed-sensitive sites, track your WordPress site analytics and performance metrics before and after activation to verify the real impact.

How do I add a table of contents to all my existing posts?

Use a plugin with auto-insert. Both Easy Table of Contents and LuckyWP Table of Contents can auto-inject a TOC into all posts of a selected type without you editing each one.

Joli Table Of Contents also has auto-insert in the free version. SimpleTOC does not. It requires manually adding the block to each post.

Does the table of contents feature in All in One SEO require a paid plan?

No. The TOC block is included in the free version of All in One SEO.

You can add it to any Gutenberg post, hide individual headings, and reorder entries without a paid subscription. The Pro plan adds the full SEO toolkit (keyword tracking, redirect manager, schema generator), but the TOC feature itself is free.

Final Verdict: Should I Use a Table of Contents Plugin on My WordPress Site?

Yes, and the difference between a good one and a bad one is exactly what I described at the start: just a block of links, or something that actually belongs in your article.

The plugins on this list solve that problem in different ways. Some solve it through visual design (Heroic, Joli).

Some solve it through integration with tools you already use (All in One SEO). Some solve it by loading nothing and getting out of the way (SimpleTOC).

All of them produce something better than the plain unformatted list that was costing me readers.

WP.org ratings: All in One SEO – 4.7/5 · Heroic Table of Contents – 4.7/5 · Joli Table Of Contents – 4.9/5 · LuckyWP Table of Contents – 4.9/5 · Easy Table of Contents – 4.4/5 · SimpleTOC – 5.0/5 · CM Table Of Contents – 3.3/5 · Table of Contents Plus – 4.4/5

Your content deserves to be navigated, not scanned and abandoned. A well-placed, well-styled TOC tells readers exactly what they’re about to get, in three seconds, before they’ve committed to anything.

Pick one, install it today, and add it to your next long-form post. The setup takes five minutes. The effect on reader behavior is immediate.

Resource Hub: WordPress SEO & Content Navigation

Improve how readers find and navigate your WordPress content with these related guides:

• Best SEO Plugin: All in One SEO vs. Rank Math: Side-by-side comparison of the two SEO plugins most likely to be in your stack alongside a TOC plugin
• Best WordPress Plugins for Affiliate Marketers: The full plugin stack for affiliate bloggers who write long-form comparison content that benefits most from clear navigation
• How to Create a WordPress Blog: Step-by-step guide to launching a WordPress blog, including plugin setup and content structure
• How to Make a Website From Scratch: The complete beginner’s walkthrough for building a WordPress site from zero
• 100+ Interesting WordPress Stats & Facts: Data and context on how WordPress sites perform, including content engagement patterns
• Best Blogging Platforms for Beginners: If you’re deciding where to publish before you even need a TOC plugin, start here