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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Syntax Highlighter

12 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Syntax Highlighter

All 12 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for syntax highlighter 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 12 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. 12 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. Enlighter Best overall 82/100
  2. 2. Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 78/100
  3. 3. HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 61/100
  4. 4. CodeMirror Blocks 58/100
  5. 5. Code Block Syntax Highlighter for Elementor 56/100
  6. 6. WP-Markdown 52/100
  7. 7. WP SyntaxHighlighter 48/100
  8. 8. Syntax Highlighter Compress 46/100
  9. 9. APH Prism Syntax Highlighter 45/100
  10. 10. Prettify Code Syntax 45/100
  11. 11. Google Syntax Highlighter for WordPress 38/100
  12. 12. Syntax Highlighter MT 38/100
1 Enlighter
Best overall Free by Andi Dittrich

Enlighter

All-in-one Syntax Highlighting solution. Full Gutenberg and Classic Editor integration. Graphical theme customizer. Based on EnlighterJS.

4.8★
from 65 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Apr 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
82

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
2 Urvanov Syntax Highlighter
Free by urvanov

Urvanov Syntax Highlighter

Reincarnation of Crayon Syntax Highlighter. Syntax Highlighter supporting multiple languages, themes, fonts, highlighting from a URL, or post text.

4.5★
from 19 ratings
3k+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2026
Tested to
WP 6.9.7
78

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
4 CodeMirror Blocks
Free by Vicky Agravat

CodeMirror Blocks

CodeMirror Blocks is useful for tutorial site where display formatted (highlighted) code block. With support of 100+ Language/Mode and 56 Themes.

5★
from 41 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Apr 2024
Tested to
WP 6.5.10
58

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 Syntax Highlighter Compress
Free by agmorpheus

Syntax Highlighter Compress

Syntax Highlighter ComPress is a plugin for code syntax highlighting. It loads fast on the website and code can pasted easily into Wordpress.

4.8★
from 5 ratings
80+
active installs
Updated
Nov 2011
Tested to
WP 3.2.1
46

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 APH Prism Syntax Highlighter
Free by Agus Prawoto Hadi

APH Prism Syntax Highlighter

Bringing Prism into WordPress easily. User-friendly GUI, support both classic editor and block editor. Support tab & back-tab in the code editor.

3.9★
from 7 ratings
90+
active installs
Updated
Feb 2023
Tested to
WP 6.1.12
45

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
10 Prettify Code Syntax
Free by jesucarr

Prettify Code Syntax

Code syntax highlighter using Google Prettify, supporting the HTML5 recommendation, and caching plugins.

4.2★
from 12 ratings
80+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2013
Tested to
WP 3.5.2
45

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org