Simple Custom CSS Plugin vs SyntaxHighlighter Evolved (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Simple Custom CSS Plugin
100K+ active installs
Free
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
20K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Simple Custom CSS Plugin has a higher user rating (4.7/5 from 159 reviews) and leads in active installations (100K+ vs 20K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Simple Custom CSS Plugin has accumulated 3.1M+ total downloads while SyntaxHighlighter Evolved has 1.1M+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Simple Custom CSS Plugin | SyntaxHighlighter Evolved | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | ◄ | 4.3/5 |
| Total Reviews | 159 | ◄ | 86 |
| Active Installs | 100K+ | ◄ | 20K+ |
| Total Downloads | 3.1M+ | ◄ | 1.1M+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 year ago | ◄ | 1 year ago |
| First Released | 2013 | 2007 | |
| Age | 13 years | 19 years | |
| WP Requires | 3.0.1+ | 5.7+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | 7.0+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 4.0.7 | 3.7.2 |
Rating Breakdown
Simple Custom CSS Plugin
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Simple Custom CSS Plugin averaged approximately 261 daily downloads while SyntaxHighlighter Evolved averaged 76.
Recent Reviews
Simple Custom CSS Plugin Reviews
Blocks Media view
This plugin block me from viewing my media files when I am, for instance, trying to add an image block to a page. Except for this I think it is an excellent plugin. My work-around will be to disable t
So simple yet works perfect!
İt’s so easy to use and does the job as described.
Useful but doesn’t know modern properties
Simple and useful, but modern CSS properties like clamp(), repeat(), margin-inline, or less common units like dvh throw syntax errors. For beginners, this can be really confusing.
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved Reviews
Works Great! But….
Thank you for this plugin. It works perfect for pure C and C#, but unfortunately, it doesn’t highlight most code for the Unity game engine: C# scripts and Shaders. Please add support for this.
Dont work
не работает. строки php просто закомментирует, в визуальном редакторе не отображается
Works, But if you copy code and wan to to use it show error
It works and show code beautifully on pages, But if you copied that code and want to use it, the it shows errors, Looks like it add some spaces, I tried it with php shorcode, and when i copied the
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.