SyntaxHighlighter Evolved vs ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… (2026)

Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

4.3(86)

20K+ active installs

Free

Updated 1 year ago
View SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
VS
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…

ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…

5(42)

10K+ active installs

Free + Premium

Updated 2 years ago
View ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…

Quick Verdict

As of April 2026, ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… has a higher user rating (5/5 from 42 reviews) while SyntaxHighlighter Evolved leads in active installations (20K+ vs 10K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. SyntaxHighlighter Evolved has accumulated 1.1M+ total downloads while ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… has 150K+.

Detailed Comparison

Rating
4.3/5SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…5/5
Total Reviews
86SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…42
Active Installs
20K+SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…10K+
Total Downloads
1.1M+SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…150K+
Support Resolution
N/ASyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…N/A
Last Updated
1 year agoSyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…2 years ago
First Released
2007SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…2016
Age
19 yearsSyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…10 years
WP Requires
5.7+SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…4.9.0+
PHP Requires
7.0+SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…5.6+
Business Model
FreeSyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…Free + Premium
Latest Version
3.7.2SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…2.5.6

Rating Breakdown

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

4.3/5(86 reviews)
5
76%
4
6%
3
3%
2
5%
1
10%

ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…

5/5(42 reviews)
5
98%
4
2%
3
0%
2
0%
1
0%

Recent Reviews

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved Reviews

by Andrey Sirota

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.

by versuri

Dont work

не работает. строки php просто закомментирует, в визуальном редакторе не отображается

by janothemes

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

ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… Reviews

by charlie67p

Nice, thank you

Simple but helpful ! Thank you

by wightspace

Works Great!

I really like this plugin it is very helpful. This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by wightspace.

by Alicia St Rose

Makes creating custom Blocks a breeze!!!

Yes, there’s the awesome code for each custom field, but where this really shines for me is the ease at creating the code to register my custom ACF blocks! I recommend this plugin to other developers

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SyntaxHighlighter Evolved or ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… more popular?
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved has 20K+ active installations while ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… has 10K+. SyntaxHighlighter Evolved is the more widely-used plugin as of April 2026.
Which has better ratings — SyntaxHighlighter Evolved or ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…?
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved has a 4.3/5 rating from 86 reviews, while ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… has a 5/5 rating from 42 reviews.
Are SyntaxHighlighter Evolved and ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… free?
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved is free and ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… is free + premium. Both can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Which plugin has better support — SyntaxHighlighter Evolved or ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom…?
Support resolution data is not available for all plugins. Check each plugin's WordPress.org support forum for current response quality.
Which plugin is updated more frequently?
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved was last updated 1 year ago and ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom… was last updated 2 years ago.

Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.