Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally vs Variable Font Sampler (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally
400K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally has a higher user rating (4.3/5 from 62 reviews) and leads in active installations (400K+ vs 10). Both are free WordPress plugins. Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally has accumulated 6.3M+ total downloads while Variable Font Sampler has 315.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally | Variable Font Sampler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | ◄ | N/A |
| Total Reviews | 62 | ◄ | 0 |
| Active Installs | 400K+ | ◄ | 10 |
| Total Downloads | 6.3M+ | ◄ | 315 |
| Support Resolution | 100% | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 2 months ago | ◄ | 8 months ago |
| First Released | 2017 | 2025 | |
| Age | 9 years | 1 year | |
| WP Requires | 5.0+ | 5.7+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | 7.0+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 2.1.17 | 1.0.4 |
Rating Breakdown
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally
Variable Font Sampler
Download Trends
Recent Reviews
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally Reviews
It seems simple enough, but doesn’t seem to do as advertised.
The fonts were easy to upload and define, but I was unable to see the new fonts afterwards. After trying different themes, different options and different settings for an hour, I was unable to make i
Gave up on this one now using another one.
Had the same problem as others on the forum: selected Google fonts aren’t visible in the elementor dropdown box. I disabled all other plugins except Elementor. No joy. The administrators say it works
Italics mess up the entire font and must be uploaded as a a separate font
Italics are not working. As soon as they are added as a font variant all variants are shown as italics. Thus you need to set-up the italics as a separate font which makes it really cumbersome to use.T
Variable Font Sampler Reviews
No reviews yet
More Plugins Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally and Variable Font Sampler
OMGF automagically caches the Google Fonts used by your theme/plugins locally. No configuration (or brains) required!
Host your used Google fonts on your server and make your site more GDPR compliant 💯.
Customify is a theme Customizer booster to easily customize Fonts, Colors, and other options for a certain WordPress theme.
Add Japanese font to Gutenberg and TinyMCE Advanced plugin's font family selections.
Integrate the Adobe Fonts service into your WordPress website or blog to use a range of over 25,000 high-quality fonts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally or Variable Font Sampler more popular?
Which has better ratings — Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally or Variable Font Sampler?
Are Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally and Variable Font Sampler free?
Which plugin has better support — Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally or Variable Font Sampler?
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.