Software Alternatives & Startups

Dark Reader VS Admin Columns

Compare Dark Reader VS Admin Columns and see what are their differences

Dark Reader

Reduce eye strain in your browser with this extension that provides a dark theme for browsing.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Admin Columns

Admin Columns is a Wordpress plugin that lets users to create an editing environment in minutes.

Rating
0 reviews
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Dark Reader seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 199 times since March 2021.

social mentions
199 vs 0
Browser Extensions popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
125 vs 28

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Dark Reader
Admin Columns
Website darkreader.org admincolumns.com
Pricing
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Dark Reader 5 features
Admin Columns 5 features
  • Eye Strain Reduction
    Dark Reader converts bright websites to dark mode, which reduces eye strain and improves visual comfort, especially in low-light environments.
  • Customizable Settings
    The extension offers various customization options like brightness, contrast, and sepia filters, allowing users to adjust the appearance to their liking.
  • Improved Battery Life
    Using dark themes on OLED screens can help save battery life because pixels consume less power when displaying black.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Dark Reader allows for community contributions and transparency, ensuring better security and continuous improvements.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Dark Reader is available for multiple browser platforms such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, ensuring a consistent experience across different devices.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Impact
    The extension can sometimes slow down browser performance, particularly on resource-intensive websites or less powerful devices.
  • Inconsistent Behavior
    Not all websites are fully compatible with Dark Reader, leading to occasional rendering issues or incomplete dark mode implementations.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the range of settings and customization options overwhelming and might need some time to adjust the extension to suit their needs.
  • Limited Support for Dynamic Content
    Websites with dynamic content or frequent updates may not immediately reflect changes in dark mode, requiring manual adjustments or refreshes.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any browser extension, there are potential privacy concerns if the extension collects browsing data, though Dark Reader's open-source nature mitigates this risk to some extent.
  • Customization
    Admin Columns allows users to customize the WordPress admin columns extensively, providing the ability to add, remove, and rearrange columns within various admin screens. This boosts productivity by allowing users to organize information according to their needs.
  • Ease of Use
    The plugin offers a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality, which makes it accessible to users of all technical levels without requiring coding skills.
  • Compatibility
    Admin Columns is compatible with various custom post types and fields, ensuring that it works well with a wide range of themes and plugins, including popular ones like WooCommerce and Yoast SEO.
  • Enhances Search and Filtering
    The plugin enhances search and filtering capabilities within the admin area, making it easier to find specific entries and improving the overall efficiency of managing large sets of data.
  • Support and Documentation
    Admin Columns offers comprehensive documentation and responsive support, helping users to quickly resolve any issues and make the most of the plugin’s features.

Possible disadvantages

  • Premium Features
    While Admin Columns offers a free version, many of its most advanced features are only available in the premium version, which may not be feasible for users with a limited budget.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    For users who are not familiar with WordPress, the extensive customization options can feel overwhelming, and it may take some time to fully understand all the potential functionalities.
  • Potential for Conflicts
    As with any WordPress plugin, there is a potential for conflicts with other plugins or themes, which can cause unexpected behavior in the admin interface.
  • Performance Impact
    Adding numerous custom columns, especially with active filtering and sorting, can potentially impact the performance of the WordPress admin interface, particularly on sites with large databases.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Dark Reader
Admin Columns

Overall verdict

  • Dark Reader is generally well-reviewed and considered good by users who prefer browsing with a dark theme.

Why this product is good

  • Dark Reader is a popular browser extension designed to provide a dark mode for websites that do not natively support it. It helps reduce eye strain during prolonged browsing sessions, especially in low-light conditions, by inverting bright colors and creating a consistent dark theme across websites.

Recommended for

  • Users who experience eye strain from bright screens
  • Individuals who frequently browse in low-light environments
  • People who prefer a consistent dark theme across different websites
  • Users looking for customizable dark mode options for web pages

Overall verdict

  • Admin Columns is a solid, well-established WordPress plugin for customizing the admin list tables (posts, pages, users, custom post types). It's good if you need to manage and display more relevant data directly in your WP dashboard without digging into custom code.

Why this product is good

  • Allows adding, removing, and reordering columns in WordPress admin list views without coding
  • Supports custom fields from ACF, Pods, and other popular plugins out of the box
  • Enables inline editing of column values directly from the list view, saving time
  • Offers sorting and filtering by custom columns, improving content management efficiency
  • Has a mature track record with regular updates and compatibility with current WordPress versions
  • Provides both free and premium (Pro) versions, so you can start free and upgrade as needs grow
  • Good documentation and support for a plugin-focused business

Recommended for

  • WordPress site administrators managing large numbers of posts, pages, or custom post types
  • Agencies and developers building client sites that need customized, efficient admin dashboards
  • Site owners using ACF or Pods who want those custom fields visible in list tables
  • E-commerce or membership sites with WooCommerce or user-heavy data needing quick-glance admin views
  • Teams needing bulk inline editing to speed up content workflows without touching code

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Dark Reader 1 video + Add
Admin Columns 3 videos + Add

Dark Mode for Google Chrome — Dark Reader

Admin Columns Pro Review

More videos

  • - Admin Columns 4 - A Major Update of Admin Columns Pro
  • - Admin Columns Pro Review

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Dark Reader
Admin Columns
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Dark Reader and Admin Columns. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Dark Reader no reviews yet
Admin Columns no reviews yet
  • Top 10 Productivity Apps for MacOS 2025
    dev.to · Apr 2025

    I live for dark mode. Anyone who’s worked with me knows how much I reject working in light mode. Seriously, I don’t know how you light-moders stay relaxed with so much brightness. That said, when it comes to browsing...

  • 7 Best Dark Mode Extensions For Chrome
    thedroidguy.com · Feb 2023

    Using an on-demand dark styles theme generator, this eye-care extensions for google chrome turns on night mode for web pages. Bright color are turned into high contrast, easy-to-read hues at night thanks to Dark Reader.

  • The 10 best dark mode extensions for Google Chrome in 2022
    chromeready.com · Apr 2022

    Dark Reader also provides you with other controls that let you tweak your display however you want. They allow you to change any website’s brightness, contrast, font, and other display elements. You can also store the...

We have no reviews of Admin Columns yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Dark Reader 199 mentions
Admin Columns 0 mentions
  • iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 released
    Just a heads up, you can have dark mode on every website on iOS Safari with Dark Reader: https://darkreader.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 13 days ago
  • Ask HN: How can I browse HN in dark mode?
    Firefox desktop and mobile let you install addons like https://darkreader.org/ which work great. - Source: Hacker News / 14 days ago
  • Dark Mode Sucks
    Install Darkreader, enable Light mode https://darkreader.org/ I think most users are capable of that :). - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago

View more

Tracking Admin Columns since Mar 2021.

Alternatives to Dark Reader and Admin Columns

When comparing Dark Reader and Admin Columns, you can also consider the following products.