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Best WordPress Plugins for Syntax Highlighting

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Syntax Highlighting

All Free only 15 Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for syntax highlighting 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. Code Block Pro Best overall 85/100
  2. 2. Highlighting Code Block 83/100
  3. 3. Enlighter 82/100
  4. 4. Advance Custom HTML 81/100
  5. 5. CodeColorer 81/100
  6. 6. Syntax-highlighting Code Block 80/100
  7. 7. PrettyCode • Code syntax highlighting with CodeMirror 73/100
  8. 8. SyntaxHighlighter Evolved 71/100
  9. 9. Code Block 69/100
  10. 10. HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 61/100
  11. 11. Code Block Syntax Highlighter for Elementor 56/100
  12. 12. Contact Form 7 Syntax Highlighting 50/100
  13. 13. Kindeditor For WordPress 49/100
  14. 14. Better File Editor 48/100
  15. 15. Syntax Highlight 48/100
1 Code Block Pro
Best overall Free by Kevin Batdorf

Code Block Pro

Code highlighting powered by the VS Code engine. Performance focused. No bloat.

4.8★
from 50 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
85

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
3 Enlighter
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
4 Advance Custom HTML
Free by bPlugins

Advance Custom HTML

Display HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP & Python code snippets in WordPress with live preview, syntax highlighting, and a copy button.

2.5★
from 4 ratings
10k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
5 CodeColorer
Free by Dmytro Shteflyuk

CodeColorer

Syntax highlighting for code snippets in posts, comments, and RSS, with inline code, themes, and line numbers.

4.9★
from 11 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
81

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
6 Syntax-highlighting Code Block
Free by Weston Ruter

Syntax-highlighting Code Block

Extending the Code block with syntax highlighting rendered on the server, thus being AMP-compatible and having faster frontend performance.

5★
from 26 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
May 2026
Tested to
WP 7.0.4
80

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
8 SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
Free by Alex Mills

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

Easily post syntax-highlighted code to your site without having to modify the code at all. As seen on WordPress.com.

4.3★
from 86 ratings
20k+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2025
Tested to
WP 6.7.7
71

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 Code Block
Free by bPlugins

Code Block

Create beautiful, highlighted, copy-ready code snippets in WordPress. Lightweight Gutenberg code snippets block plugin.

200+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
69

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
14 Better File Editor
Free by Bryan Petty

Better File Editor

Adds line numbers, syntax highlighting, code folding, and lots more to the theme and plugin editors in the admin panel.

4.7★
from 17 ratings
300+
active installs
Updated
Oct 2015
Tested to
WP 4.3.34
48

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org