WPThumbs
Themes Plugins By purpose By industry Best-of lists Fix it guides

Best Free WordPress Plugins for Shortcodes

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Shortcodes

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for shortcodes comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.

We ranked 15 plugins using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.

How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.

At a glance

  1. 1. Shortcoder Best overall 90/100
  2. 2. The Post Grid 89/100
  3. 3. Content Views 89/100
  4. 4. DTX 88/100
  5. 5. List category posts 88/100
  6. 6. Shortcodes Ultimate 87/100
  7. 7. eRecht24 Legal Texts 86/100
  8. 8. Blog Designer Pack 86/100
  9. 9. Post Snippets 86/100
  10. 10. Meta Field Block 86/100
  11. 11. Lightweight Accordion 86/100
  12. 12. Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar 86/100
  13. 13. WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 85/100
  14. 14. HTML5 Video Player 85/100
  15. 15. Related Posts by Taxonomy 85/100
1 Shortcoder
Best overall Free by vaakash

Shortcoder

Create custom "Shortcodes" easily for HTML, JavaScript, CSS code snippets and use the shortcodes within posts, pages & widgets

4.9★
from 227 ratings
100k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
90

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 The Post Grid
Free by RadiusTheme

The Post Grid

Display WordPress posts in beautiful grid, list, slider, and filter layouts. Works with Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, and Shortcodes.

4.8★
from 265 ratings
100k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
89

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 Content Views
Free by Content Views

Content Views

Easy to show posts, pages, custom posts in customizable grid, list, slider, accordion... Available as Widgets (for Elementor), Shortcode, and Blocks.

4.8★
from 333 ratings
100k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
89

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 DTX
Free by sevenspark

DTX

Extends Contact Form 7 by adding dynamic form fields that accepts shortcodes to prepopulate form fields with default values and dynamic placeholders.

4.7★
from 99 ratings
100k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
88

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 List category posts
Free by Fernando Briano

List category posts

Very customizable plugin to list posts by category (or tag, author and more) in a post, page or widget. Uses the [catlist] shortcode to select posts.

4.7★
from 254 ratings
80k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
88

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 Shortcodes Ultimate
Free by Vova

Shortcodes Ultimate

Add 50+ shortcodes with live preview for tabs, accordions, buttons, FAQs, sliders and boxes. Works in Block Editor and Classic Editor.

4.9★
from 5,924 ratings
400k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
87

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
7 eRecht24 Legal Texts
Free by erecht24

eRecht24 Legal Texts

Outputs legal texts via shortcode and Gutenberg block — manually entered or synchronised from the eRecht24 API.

5★
from 1 ratings
50k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Blog Designer Pack
Free by InfornWeb

Blog Designer Pack

News & Blog plugin for post grid, post slider, post carousel, post filter, masonry, ticker & list category posts using shortcode, Elementor & Divi.

4.7★
from 79 ratings
30k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Post Snippets
Free by Saad Iqbal

Post Snippets

Create WordPress custom snippets shortcodes and reusable content and insert them in into your posts and pages.

4.6★
from 93 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
10 Meta Field Block
Free by Phi Phan

Meta Field Block

A single block to display custom fields in the Block Editor. It supports ACF, MetaBox, WooCommerce, meta, rest field, shortcode and more.

5★
from 57 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 Lightweight Accordion
Free by Andy Feliciotti

Lightweight Accordion

Simple accordion for adding collapse elements to pages without affecting page load time. Includes Gutenberg block and shortcode for classic editor.

5★
from 60 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Jul 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
86

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
13 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block
Free by WPZOOM

WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block

Instagram feed plugin for WordPress: Display your Instagram photos, videos & reels. Easy setup with Gutenberg block, widget, shortcode & Elementor

4.3★
from 50 ratings
50k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
14 HTML5 Video Player
Free by bPlugins

HTML5 Video Player

Responsive HTML5 video player for WordPress. Embed MP4, WebM, OGG, YouTube & Vimeo with shortcodes or blocks – customizable, fast, SEO-friendly.

4.6★
from 195 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
15 Related Posts by Taxonomy
Free by keesiemeijer

Related Posts by Taxonomy

Display a list of related posts on your site based on the most terms in common. Supports thumbnails, shortcodes, a widget and more.

4.8★
from 77 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org