Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) vs Smart Custom Fields (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®)
2.0M+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Smart Custom Fields has a higher user rating (4.9/5 from 20 reviews) while Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) leads in active installations (2.0M+ vs 50K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) has accumulated 69M+ total downloads while Smart Custom Fields has 346K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) | Smart Custom Fields | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5/5 | ► | 4.9/5 |
| Total Reviews | 1,428 | ◄ | 20 |
| Active Installs | 2.0M+ | ◄ | 50K+ |
| Total Downloads | 69M+ | ◄ | 346K+ |
| Support Resolution | 43% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 5 days ago | ◄ | 2 weeks ago |
| First Released | 2011 | 2014 | |
| Age | 15 years | 12 years | |
| WP Requires | 6.2+ | 6.4+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.4+ | 7.4+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 6.8.0 | 5.0.7 |
Rating Breakdown
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®)
Smart Custom Fields
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) averaged approximately 56,756 daily downloads while Smart Custom Fields averaged 451.
Recent Reviews
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) Reviews
Must Have Tool
One of the best plugins I’ve used. Makes custom fields super easy to manage. Works smoothly and is very flexible. tnx to devs, really helped in my projects 👍
Flexible Fields Tool
ACF really helps when adding custom fields to posts n pages. Setup is pretty simple and very flexible. Took a little time to learn at first, but works great once you get used to it. Tnkz devs.
I just want to display the content
The back-end set up is great and clearly this is a powerful plugin. However, this plugin requires either the paid version or custom PHP theme to display the content on the front end! There are no bloc
Smart Custom Fields Reviews
very simple and great
very simple and great
Great simple product but needs update
This is a great, simple product, but it hasn’t been updated for four months. At this time it has a critical vulnerability and needs to be updated.
image
How can we display image field, like ACF: <?php $image = get_field(‘hero_image’); ?> ” alt=”<?php echo $image[‘alt’]; ?>” /> SCF: <?php echo SCF::get(‘img’)[0]; ?> isn’t work.
More Meta Worth Comparing
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) or Smart Custom Fields more popular?
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Are Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) and Smart Custom Fields free?
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.