Best syntax highlighter plugins for WordPress
The most popular syntax highlighter plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter leads with 60K+ active installs, ahead of Enlighter (10K+) and Urvanov Syntax Highlighter (3K+). All 29 plugins tagged “syntax highlighter” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 syntax highlighter plugins
- 1.
HTML Editor Syntax HighlighterThe most installed syntax highlighter plugin, with 60K+ active installs. Rated 4.4 from 110 reviews, updated 21 hours ago.
- 2.
Enlighter10K+ active installs. Rated 4.8 from 65 reviews, updated 6 months ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.9.11.
- 3.
Urvanov Syntax Highlighter3K+ active installs. Rated 4.5 from 19 reviews, updated 1 month ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.9.11.
- 4.
CodeMirror Blocks1K+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 41 reviews, last updated 2 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.5.14.
- 5.
WP-Markdown300+ active installs. Rated 4.5 from 28 reviews, last updated 8 years ago.
- 6.
Gist GitHub Shortcode200+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 6 reviews, last updated 6 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.5.24.
- 7.
APH Prism Syntax Highlighter90+ active installs. Rated 3.9 from 7 reviews, last updated 3 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.1.16.
- 8.
AH Code Highlighter60+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 8 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.0.0.
- 9.
Easy Syntax Highlighter30+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 7 months ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.9.11.
- 10.
iG:Syntax Hiliter30+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, updated 2 months ago.
All 29 plugins tagged “syntax highlighter”
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter
Up in the last 7 days:4#687by Peter Mukhortovtoday
Syntax highlighting for the Classic editor's Text tab and the block editor's Code Editor, shortcodes included, using CodeMirror.
- Installs
- 60K+
- Rating
- 4.4(110)
- Downloads
- 474/day
Enlighter
Down in the last 7 days:6#1,787by Andi Dittrich7 months ago
All-in-one Syntax Highlighting solution. Full Gutenberg and Classic Editor integration. Graphical theme customizer. Based on EnlighterJS.
- Installs
- 10K+
- Rating
- 4.8(65)
- Downloads
- 68/day
Urvanov Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:10#4,101by urvanov1 month ago
Reincarnation of Crayon Syntax Highlighter. Syntax Highlighter supporting multiple languages, themes, fonts, highlighting from a URL, or post text.
- Installs
- 3K+
- Rating
- 4.5(19)
- Downloads
- 67/day
CodeMirror Blocks
Down in the last 7 days:15#5,378by Vicky Agravat2 years ago
CodeMirror Blocks is useful for tutorial site where display formatted (highlighted) code block. With support of 100+ Language/Mode and 56 Themes.
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 5.0(41)
- Downloads
- 12/day
WP-Markdown
Down in the last 7 days:40#10,235by Stephen Harris8 years ago
Allows Markdown to be enabled in posts, comments and bbPress forums.
- Installs
- 300+
- Rating
- 4.5(28)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Gist GitHub Shortcode
Down in the last 7 days:29#12,665by Claudio Sanches6 years ago
Adds Github Gists in your posts via shortcode
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 5.0(6)
- Downloads
- 0/day
APH Prism Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:114#17,328by Agus Prawoto Hadi3 years ago
Bringing Prism into WordPress easily. User-friendly GUI, support both classic editor and block editor. Support tab & back-tab in the code editor.
- Installs
- 90+
- Rating
- 3.9(7)
- Downloads
- 0/day
AH Code Highlighter
#20,052by Andreas Hecht8 years ago
The easiest to use code highlighting ever. Choose between 8 different color themes to highlight your code snippets. Many programming languages are sup …
- Installs
- 60+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Easy Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:46#23,736by tiptinker7 months ago
Modern, lightweight syntax highlighter for WordPress using Highlight.js
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
iG:Syntax Hiliter
Down in the last 7 days:347#24,180by Amit Gupta2 months ago
A plugin to easily present source code on your site with syntax highlighting and formatting (as seen in code editors, IDEs).
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Prettify GC Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:70#25,831by lexn14 years ago
Your code will look exactly like it does on google-code.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 4.3(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved
Down in the last 7 days:216#28,644by Carlos Ramos11 years ago
Adds support for the VHDL and Verilog languages to the SyntaxHighlighter Evolved plugin. Also, includes basic syntax coloring for Xilinx UCF files.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Vaaky Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:189#29,574by WebHat5 months ago
Lightweight syntax highlighter with code blocks, line numbers, copy-to-clipboard, and 35+ themes. A fast, free alternative to Prism for WordPress.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 4.5(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Lite Syntax Highlighting
#30,825by z-177 years ago
Lite Syntax Highlighting: PHP, HTML, CSS, JS, C
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Smart Syntax
Up in the last 7 days:368#32,439by Smartpixels10 years ago
Automatic google prettify syntax highlighting for jetpack markdown fenced code blocks
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Markdown Highlighter
#32,870by sohelamin10 years ago
A plugin to parse the markdown content from post then highlight it as syntax highlight.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Alkane Code
Down in the last 7 days:1,616#34,781by alkanesolutions4 years ago
A TinyMCE code editor with Prism syntax highlighting.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 11/day
APH Syntax Highlighter
Up in the last 7 days:4,976#41,246by Agus Prawoto Hadi9 years ago
Bringing SyntaxHighlighter 4 by Alex Gorbatchev into Wordpress easily. Easy to use with user-friendly GUI. Write-edit code in place
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
LumiCode Syntax Highlighter
#44,696by cr8vstacks1 month ago
Beautiful syntax highlighting for WordPress: 40+ languages, copy buttons, line numbers, line wrapping, collapse and a dark or light theme.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
wp-syntax-highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:303#45,468by Darshan Sawardekar12 years ago
Syntax Highlighter for WordPress using Highlight.js.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
rtSyntax
Down in the last 7 days:1,393#45,944by rtCamp11 years ago
A no-fuss, lightweight, fast and optimised syntax highlighter for WordPress
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 3.8(4)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Simpler Syntax Highlighter
#59,060by Derick Payne8 years ago
Lightweight code snippet syntax highlighter.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Syntax Highlighter with PrismJS
#61,212by mohamad wael4 years ago
A syntax highlighter using PrismJs.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Code Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:12,475#68,681by kartikaykanojia8 years ago
A simple dynamic loading syntax highlighter.Supports 172 languages, 172 shortcodes and 55 themes.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
FrameBlocks
Down in the last 7 days:3,120#70,333by Eduardo Sanchez Hidalgo5 months ago
Decorative UI frame blocks for the Gutenberg editor — browser windows, device mockups, VS Code shell, social posts, and more.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Lazy Syntax Highlighter
Down in the last 7 days:17,280#71,333by Rudy Mens1 month ago
The lazy way to highlight code — rendered on the server, cached, and zero front-end JavaScript. Renders your existing Enlighter blocks as they are.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day