Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin

74 Quality Score

Active Installs

14/30

With only about 1,000 active installs it is a niche plugin, well behind WP Dark Mode at 20,000 and ECS at 100,000, though it punches above its weight in ratings.

Update Freshness

25/25

Last updated April 2026 and tested against WordPress 6.9.4, so the codebase is clearly current and actively maintained.

User Rating

14/15

An 88 out of 100 from 42 reviewers is a strong score and suggests most users who try it end up happy.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened and zero resolved is technically a perfect response rate, but it more likely reflects the small user base than proven support quality.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Tested up to WordPress 6.9.4 and requiring PHP 7.4 and WordPress 6.5, it is fully compatible with modern stacks.

Scores higher than 36% of indexed plugins

About

Experience Darklup — Your WordPress ally for dark mode, dark themes, night mode and accessibility. Switch to an eye-friendly more inclusive web experi …

Active Installs 1k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.5/5

Last Updated 2026-08-17 11:15pm GMT

Requires WordPress 6.5+

Tested Up To 7.0.4

Requires PHP 7.4+

Security History

2 known vulnerabilities, all patched

2 Medium

Most recent: December 16, 2022

View details ▸

What It Does

Darklup adds a dark mode toggle to the front end of your WordPress site, letting visitors switch between light and dark colour schemes without refreshing the page. It also pushes a dark theme into the WordPress admin dashboard, reducing eye strain for editors working at night. The plugin includes accessibility-oriented widgets and scheduling options so the dark theme can activate automatically based on time of day or OS preferences.

Who It's For

Darklup fits site owners whose audiences browse at night or in low-light environments, such as readers of tech blogs, online course platforms, and media sites. It is also a good fit for editors and content teams who spend long hours in the wp-admin and want a less harsh interface. Small businesses that care about accessibility and want a low-friction dark mode without building a custom theme will get the most value here.

Who Should Skip It

If your site already ships with a dark variant of your theme or your audience almost exclusively browses during daytime, this plugin adds weight without much benefit. Sites with very tight performance budgets may also want to skip it, since a front-end toggle brings additional CSS and JavaScript.

The Bottom Line

Darklup is a quietly solid, well-maintained dark mode plugin with excellent ratings and modern compatibility, but its tiny install base means you are betting on a lesser-known developer. It is a sensible choice if you want both visitor dark mode and a dark wp-admin in one package, though larger sites may prefer WP Dark Mode for its bigger community and broader feature set.

Pick ECS if your site is built with Elementor and you want deep styling control rather than a simple dark mode toggle.

WP Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 80/100

Pick WP Dark Mode if you want a much larger user community, more frequent updates, and AI-driven image adjustments at the cost of a heavier plugin.

Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 77/100

Pick Dark Mode for WP Dashboard if you only care about darkening the admin interface and do not need any front-end visitor features.

Dark Mode Toggle 76/100

Pick Dark Mode Toggle if you want a minimal, lightweight toggle without the broader feature set Darklup offers.

Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) 69/100

Pick Markdown Editor if your priority is a dark writing environment for posts rather than visitor-facing dark mode.