Tidy Table of Contents vs Easy TOC: WordPress TOC Plugin Comparison
A table of contents improves readability on long-form content and can earn you Google sitelinks. Two popular WordPress plugins handle this job: Easy Table of Contents (Easy TOC) and Tidy Table of Contents. They solve the same problem but take fundamentally different approaches.
Easy TOC relies on shortcodes and auto-insertion via PHP filters. Tidy Table of Contents is built as a native Gutenberg block with server-side rendering and a two-tier caching system. This architectural difference affects performance, usability, and how well each plugin integrates with the modern WordPress editor.
Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | Tidy Table of Contents | Easy Table of Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Editor integration | Native Gutenberg block with live preview | Shortcode or auto-insert via content filter |
| Caching | 2-tier: object cache + transient fallback | No caching — headings parsed on every page load |
| Rendering | Server-side (SSR) via render.php | PHP content filter on the_content |
| Themes | 6 built-in themes with customizer | Basic styling with color options |
| Schema.org markup | Automatic SiteNavigationElement | Not included |
| Dark mode | Automatic detection + manual toggle | Not supported |
| Heading filtering | Per-block include/exclude in sidebar | Global settings only |
| Smooth scrolling | CSS-based (no JavaScript required) | JavaScript-based with jQuery dependency |
| Placement control | Place block anywhere in content | Auto-insert before first heading or shortcode |
| JavaScript footprint | Minimal — toggle only (~1 KB) | jQuery + custom JS (~30 KB+) |
Gutenberg Native vs. Shortcode
Easy TOC was built before the block editor existed. Its primary integration method is auto-insertion: a PHP filter hooks into the_content and injects the TOC before the first heading. You can also use a shortcode for manual placement. Neither approach gives you a visual preview in the editor — you have to save and preview to see the result.
Tidy Table of Contents is a Gutenberg block. You insert it where you want it, and the editor renders a live preview showing the actual headings from your content. You can adjust settings (which heading levels to include, whether to show numbering, which theme to use) in the block sidebar and see changes in real time. This is a significantly better authoring experience.
Performance: Caching and Asset Loading
Easy TOC parses your content's headings on every single page load. For a post with 15 headings, the plugin runs regex matching against the full post content, builds the heading tree, generates HTML, and injects it into the output — every time someone visits the page. On high-traffic sites, this adds up.
Tidy Table of Contents implements a two-tier caching system. The first tier uses the WordPress object cache (Redis, Memcached) if available. The second tier falls back to transients stored in the database. Once headings are parsed and the TOC HTML is generated, the result is cached and served directly on subsequent page loads. The cache invalidates automatically when the post content changes.
On the front-end asset side, Easy TOC loads jQuery as a dependency along with its own JavaScript and CSS. Tidy Table of Contents uses CSS-based smooth scrolling (via scroll-behavior: smooth) and a minimal toggle script of approximately 1 KB. No jQuery dependency.
Themes and Visual Customization
Easy TOC offers basic color customization: background color, border, link color, and hover color. The result is functional but visually plain. Making a TOC that looks polished requires custom CSS.
Tidy Table of Contents ships with six pre-designed themes that match common WordPress design patterns: minimal, bordered, shadowed, magazine, sidebar, and compact. Each theme looks professional out of the box. You can further customize colors and spacing through the block sidebar without writing CSS.
Schema.org and SEO
Tidy Table of Contents automatically outputs SiteNavigationElement structured data for the TOC. This helps search engines understand your page structure and can contribute to earning sitelinks in search results — those indented sub-links under your main result that let users jump directly to specific sections.
Easy TOC does not output any structured data. You would need a separate SEO plugin or custom code to add Schema.org markup for your table of contents.
Dark Mode Support
More WordPress themes now support dark mode, either through system preference detection or a manual toggle. Tidy Table of Contents detects the user's color scheme preference via prefers-color-scheme and adjusts its styling automatically. All six themes include dark mode variants.
Easy TOC has no dark mode support. If your theme switches to a dark background, the TOC retains its light-mode colors, which can result in poor contrast and readability issues.
When Easy TOC Might Still Work
If you are running a Classic Editor site with no plans to migrate to Gutenberg, Easy TOC's shortcode approach is familiar and functional. It also supports several page builders (Divi, Elementor) through dedicated integrations. If your site has very low traffic and performance is not a concern, the lack of caching may not matter in practice.
Our Recommendation
For any site using the block editor (which is the default WordPress experience since 2018), Tidy Table of Contents is the better choice. The native block integration provides a dramatically better editing experience. The two-tier cache eliminates redundant heading parsing on every page load. Automatic Schema.org markup improves SEO without extra configuration. And dark mode support means the TOC looks correct regardless of the visitor's color scheme preference.
Easy TOC served WordPress well in the shortcode era. Tidy Table of Contents is built for how WordPress works today.