Simple Custom CSS and JS

Reviewers are overwhelmingly positive right now, praising reliability and support, with just a few older gripes about paywalled features and an install-time permalink flush.

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.

wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.

230 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 171 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 5 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 56% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ tomcudworth84

   7mo ago

   This plugin really helped speed up my development workflow. I revisited it some time later and did a static code analysis. From this I had some questions for Andrew. He explained exactly why certain functions were used and their lack of risk. I am very happy to use this plugin and I recommend it to anyone looking for a plugin that just works like it should.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ ishraqued

   7mo ago

   Great Plugin This topic was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by ishraqued.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ michaelmatzkin

   10mo ago

   I appreciate you addressing what had been an incompatibility with another plugin. This fix helps me make better use of your product.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Heath Woodward

   1.2y ago

   Works perfectly. Great plugin.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Zayadur

   1.4y ago

   There is no other plugin that allows you to control settings like WP conditional location rules, stores versioned copies of the files in a directory making local development easier, and is a simple UX to deploy rapid updates cutting down on development time. On top of that, the support team has gone above and beyond to address and fix limitations to allow my business and developers’ workflows to continue without a hitch. I highly recommend this plugin to anyone that’s looking for a definitive solution to deploy HTML, CSS, JS snippets on a per-post basis.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ joseeneveu

   1.7y ago

   Thanks to this plugin, I was able to make modifications to parts of my own website that had been eluding me for WEEKS through other CSS plugins that I had been trying to use.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ michalrama

   1.8y ago

   This plugin is basically a must. When using a free theme, I am quite limited in editing the appearance. And some functions cannot be solved using plugins. There are three things that I have been missing for a long time. Insufficient highlighting of the wrong number of brackets. It does turn red when I click on it, but it would be better if it was red permanently or turned red after saving. Basic ability to undo changes. Ability to automatically format code However, this does not change the fact that I give it five stars.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ Bjarne Oldrup

   1.8y ago

   Simple Custom CSS and JS does exactly what it says on the box. I’ve been using it for many years on non-profit websites, and it has proven rock solid. Here’s what I especially appreciated: CSS, JS, and HTML syntax highlighting. Code can be inline or loaded externally (and thus cached). Code can be loaded in the header, body, or footer. Code can be loaded on the front end, in the block editor and/or admin pages. Code can easily be enabled or disabled with a single click. That is a lot of features for a free plugin, and I’m perfectly content with that. There is a reasonably priced premium version with advanced features like CSS preprocessors and code revisions if these are important features to you, but the free version is a great start and enough for many projects.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 3.53 05/20/2026 Fix: the “list_table_primary_column” filter should affect only the Custom Code table 3.53
2. — Version 3.52 03/06/2026 Fix: don’t load block_css.css or block_js.js on the frontend Add option “Remove comment from externally linked custom codes” 3.52
3. — Version 3.51.3 01/09/2026 Fix https://wordpress.org/support/topic/recent-update-crashes-admin-panel/ 3.51.3
4. — Version 3.51.2 12/21/2025 Compatibility WP6.9 Tweak: add translators’ notes to translatable strings Tweak: use wp_delete_file function, which allows a filter before deleting a file 3.51.2
5. — Version 3.51.1 10/14/2025 Fix: add the drag icon that makes the editor expandable Fix: the syntax highlighting was missing for HTML custom codes due to an array id overridding 3.51.1
6. — Version 3.51 09/06/2025 Tweak: update the CodeMirror library to the 5.65.20 version Fix: change the loading method in the Block editor to the recommended “enqueue_block_assets” 3.51

The 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (3.54.3). Sites still on an older version should update.

1. Patched Medium · 6.1 Simple Custom CSS and JS <= 3.3 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2017-07-24 CVE-2017-2285 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 3.3 Patched in 3.4

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

Translated into 26 languages, 17 at 90% or more

Plus 2 more locales with partial translations.

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2026-05-22 700K+ → 600K+ down after 2 days in tier
2. 2026-05-20 600K+ → 700K+ up after 2 days in tier
3. 2026-05-18 700K+ → 600K+ down after 238 days in tier
4. 2025-09-22 600K+ → 700K+ up after 710 days in tier
5. 2023-10-13 500K+ → 600K+ up after 379 days in tier
6. 2022-09-29 400K+ → 500K+ up after 376 days in tier
7. 2021-09-18 300K+ → 400K+ up after 360 days in tier
8. 2020-09-23 200K+ → 300K+ up after 530 days in tier

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

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Simple Custom CSS and JS: 600K+ active installs, 4.4★ (104 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/custom-css-js