7 Advanced Custom Fields Alternative Plugins for 2023

Are you looking for the best Advanced Custom Fields alternative plugins for your WordPress website? If that’s the case, then you’ve landed on the right page.

Advanced Custom Field is a popular WordPress plugin that allows its user to create custom fields. You can use it to create a dynamic WordPress site that requires custom fields or other types of custom content.

However, before deciding on going with this toolkit, it’s always a good idea to check out numerous alternatives to Advanced Custom Field. So, in this article, we’ve hand-picked some of the most popular alternatives to Advanced Custom Field. 

Let’s get started!

Advanced Custom Fields – Introduction

Advanced Custom Fields (often shortened as ACF) is a popular comprehensive toolkit suite to create custom fields. It allows you to turn your WordPress sites into a fully-fledged CMS by providing advanced tools to do more with your data.

Similarly, it gives you full control of your WordPress edit screens & custom field data. It comes with a field builder that allows you to quickly and easily add fields to WordPress edit screens. 

Additionally, ACF allows you to add custom fields all over WordPress including posts, users, taxonomy terms, media, comments, and more. Also, you can load and display your custom field values in any theme template file without any hassle.

Key Features:

• It lets you create a set of sub-fields that can be repeated, and again, and again.
• Offers ACF Blocks for developing custom block types for the WordPress Block Editor (aka Gutenberg).
• Besides, you can define, create, and manage content with the Flexible Content Field.
• ACF allows you to create fully customizable image galleries with the Gallery Field for managing a collection of images.
• Also, you can add custom admin pages to edit ACF fields via the Options Page.

Pricing:

Advanced Custom Fields is a freemium WordPress plugin that comes with both free and paid versions. You can download the free version from WordPress.org. Or, directly install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard. 

However, for the premium version, there are 3 different pricing plans: 

• Personal – $49/year; for one website.
• Freelancer – $149/year, for 10 websites.
• Agency – $249/year, for unlimited websites.

Why Do You Need Advanced Custom Fields Alternatives?

Advanced Custom Fields is, without a doubt, one of the most popular toolkits available in the market. Talking about which, users of WordPress.org rate 4.8 stars out of 5 to Advanced Custom Fields. The genuine reviews are given by 1,164 real users. 

Although Advanced Custom Fields is a reliable toolkit for creating custom fields, it still comes with its flaws.

On the contrary, there are many better alternatives to pick from. And, some can be better than Advanced Custom Fields in terms of meeting your demands.

So, let’s take a look at some of the reasons you might want to switch to one of Advanced Custom Fields’ alternatives. 

• Poor customer support.
• Competitively expensive pricing.
• Not so user-friendly user interface.

However, you don’t need to worry! You can find several other alternatives that can fit your needs. So, let’s explore the Advanced Custom Fields alternatives and check how they stack up against Advanced Custom Fields. 

Summary of Best Advanced Custom Fields Alternative Plugins

7 Best Advanced Custom Fields Alternative Plugins for 2023

Now, you can go through the list of the best Advanced Custom Fields alternative plugins. In this list, we’ve included their descriptions and features to see which is ideal for you!

1. Pods

Pods is an ideal Advanced Custom Fields alternative that makes it into the list. With this, you can manage all your custom content needs in one place. Indeed, it helps you grow your site-building skills to manage content beyond the standard WordPress Posts & Pages.

Additionally, it allows you to create new custom post types, custom taxonomies, or settings screens. In fact, you can even create advanced content types completely in their database tables. Also, you can define your groups of fields. Hence, you have complete control over what your content should be.

Key Features:

• You can find files for every kind of information that can be added to any content type.
• Pods come with Pods Blocks and shortcodes that make it easier to display your content anywhere.
• Provides free Pods add-ons to extend the functionality of your site such as Pods SEO, Gravity Forms Add-On, AJAX Views Add-On, etc.
• Indeed, you can create entirely custom content types that have their database table.
• Also, it comes with a Pods Template to create templates that can be handed off to clients for care-free management.

Cons:

• Offers basic features in its base plan.
• Limited customer support.

Pricing:

Pods come with both free and paid versions. You can download the free version from WordPress.org. Or, directly install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard. 

However, for the premium version, there are 4 different pricing plans: 

• Basic Pack Single – $49 per year; for one site, includes list table add-on, advanced permalinks add-on, etc.
• Pro Pack Single – $79 per year; for one site, includes page builder toolkit add-on, advanced relationship storage add-on, advanced permalinks add-on, etc.
• Basic Pack Unlimited – $89 per year; for unlimited sites, includes list table add-on, advanced permalinks add-on, etc.
• Pro Pack Unlimited – $119 per year; for unlimited sites, includes page builder toolkit add-on, advanced relationship storage add-on, advanced permalinks add-on, etc.

Customer Support:

Regarding Pods’, you can check out their Documentation and Support Forums for customer support. For more, you can use their Live Community Slack Chat for assistance in building your site.

User Ratings and Reviews:

• WordPress.org Rating for Pods: 4.9 out of 5 stars (380 Reviews)
• Check more recent reviews.

Final Verdict:

To sum off, Pods is a free solution to create custom fields in WordPress. Besides, it’s completely free to use and lets you add custom fields to the WordPress default post types and default taxonomies. Thus, it’s a worthy alternative to Advanced Custom Fields that functions flawlessly.

2. JetEngine

JetEngine is another simple-to-use toolkit and one of the best Advanced Custom Fields alternative plugins. With this, you can create custom fields and other custom content types like custom post types, taxonomies, forms, galleries, and so on.

Moreover, this tool is compatible with both Gutenberg and Elementor. This means that you can add and edit dynamic content with both the Gutenberg editor and the Elementor plugin. 

Key Features:

• You can create complex custom query lists that can be combined on the backend and used to query any data on the front end.
• It offers 18+ WordPress custom field types that include a gallery, date, posts, radio, switch, etc.
• Indeed, you can expand the custom fields functionality with additional operations – calculated callback and dynamic data addon.
• Allows you to add a dynamic tag to the fields to show the results count.
• Also, you can adjust the post-edit page area by applying a tab or accordion view to the post-edit page or customizing the field’s width.

Cons:

• Doesn’t come with a free plan.
• Also, it doesn’t provide any dedicated customer support.

Pricing:

JetEngine is a premium toolkit that costs $43 for both Elementary and Gutenberg individually.

Customer Support:

You should check out a dedicated help center for JetEngine. You can find all the docs, tutorials, and guides related to this product. Meanwhile, you can also join their community forum for better understanding and help support.

Final Verdict:

JetEngine is an awesome toolkit for creating custom fields. It provides amazing features along with 18 WordPress custom field types. Hence, we can say that JetEngine is an excellent alternative to Advanced Custom Fields.

3. Meta Box

Meta Box is one of the comprehensive tools that make up the list of Advanced Custom Fields alternative plugins. It’s a powerful and lightweight toolkit to create custom meta boxes and custom fields for any custom post type in WordPress.

Moreover, it supports 40+ built-in WordPress custom field types for all your needs including text, image, checkbox, taxonomy, and more. Likewise, it’s completely compatible with Gutenberg and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Key Features:

• It allows you to replicate WordPress custom fields with the clone feature to save time and effort.
• Includes an all-in-one Toolkit Bundle that lets you build custom fields & custom data for your WordPress websites.
• Meta Box is completely compatible and works with both individual and multisite installations.
• Additionally, it’s fully compatible with WordPress import and export functionality, making migration to new sites quicker.
• Also, you can utilize WordPress’ powerful action and filter system to build or change a site’s appearance and behavior in the plugin.

Cons:

• Competitively expensive pricing.

Pricing:

Meta Box is available in both the free and paid versions. You’ll get the free version from the WordPress.org theme’s directory. 

Talking of the paid version, Meta Box Pro comes up in 3 different pricing plans:

• Basic – $49 per year; for one site, includes 12 pro extensions, composer support, etc.
• Ultimate – $99 per year; for three sites, includes all pro extensions, all future pro extensions, and more.
• Lifetime – $299 per one-time; for three sites, includes all pro extensions, lifetime updates, lifetime support, and more.

Customer Support:

To support its customer, Meta Box comes with comprehensive documentation that not only includes tutorials on adding custom fields to WordPress but also in-depth technical topics. Likewise, they’ve dedicated customer support that is available anytime to look into your problems.

User Ratings and Reviews:

• WordPress.org Rating for Meta Box: 4.8 out of 5 stars (138 Reviews)
• Check more recent reviews.

Final Verdict:

Meta Box is a great lightweight toolkit to add custom fields and details on your website such as pages, posts, custom post types, etc. It gives you complete customization and control just a few clicks away.

Thus, you can choose Meta Box over Advanced Custom Fields as its alternative if it meets your requirements.

4. Carbon Fields

Next in our list, we’ve got Carbon Fields as one of the alternatives to Advanced Custom Fields. It makes it easy to create custom fields for post types, taxonomies, users, comments, and custom widgets.

Not just that, it lets you even define dynamic Gutenberg blocks without touching JavaScript. In addition, you can create groups of fields and allow your users to repeat them while editing content. You can nest groups as well. 

Key Features:

• Completely free-to-use plugin.
• You can create complex fields with multiple sets of fields.
• With Carbon Fields, changes in your custom field definitions are part of your GIT history.
• It even, lets you create custom fields in your navigation menus.
• Also, lets you create custom options pages and subpages, as well as custom widgets with your preferred fields. 

Cons:

• Lacks advanced features like front-end filtering.

Pricing:

Carbon Fields is a completely free-to-use WordPress plugin that can be easily downloaded from its official website. 

Customer Support:

Carbon Fields provides basic customer support. You can check out their docs and guide for any further support. Meanwhile, they don’t provide any dedicated premium support to their users.

Final Verdict:

The best part about this toolkit is that it’s free to use and completely beginner-friendly. However, it somehow lacks advanced features which other plugins in this list seem to offer. Nevertheless, Carbon Fields is one of the Advanced Custom Fields alternative plugins. 

5. WordPress Creation Kit

Yet another toolkit that allows you to quickly create custom post types and custom fields is WordPress Creation Kit (WCK). It consists of three tools that help you create and maintain custom post types, custom taxonomies, and meta boxes for your posts and pages.

Similarly, you can easily display registered custom post types, custom fields, and taxonomies in your theme. It also lets you create archive listings for your custom post types including pages or posts. And, you can modify the single custom post types page template to include all your custom fields and meta boxes.

Key Features:

• It offers a UI for setting up custom meta boxes with custom fields for your posts, pages, or custom post types.
• Allows you to create custom post types by providing a UI for most of the arguments of the register_post_type() function.
• You can overwrite the default listing for your all single custom post types with the one defined above
• WCK lets you create repeat custom fields, custom post types, and taxonomies.
• Also, gives you the possibility to target only certain page templates, target certain custom post types, and even unique IDs.

Cons:

• Limited customer support.
• Overwhelming to use for beginners.

Pricing:

WCK is a freemium plugin, available in both free and premium versions. Indeed, you can easily download its free version from the official repository of WordPress.org. 

However, you need to get the premium version to use some of the features mentioned above. And the premium version is available on 2 pricing plans. 

• Hobbyist – Cost €49; use on one site, includes custom fields creator, custom post type creator, options page creator, and more.
• Pro – Cost €139; use on unlimited sites, includes custom fields creator, custom post type creator, Swift templates, front-end posting, and more.

Customer Support:​​

To support its customers, WCK comes with a help and support center that contains plenty of articles, guidelines, resources, documentation, etc. You can also join their community forum to look into some of the common issues.

User Ratings and Reviews:

• WordPress.org Rating for WordPress Creation Kit: 4.7 out of 5 stars (97 Reviews)
• Check more recent reviews.

Final Verdict:

Overall WCK is a customizable and easy-to-use custom fields creator for your project. It helps you develop intuitive WordPress sites which are easily manageable by your clients without writing a single code. Hence, WCK is undoubtedly one of the best Advanced Custom Fields alternatives. 

6. Custom Field Suite

Custom Field Suite (CFS) is an open-source tool that lets you add custom fields to your posts. It’s a completely free and lightweight tool.

Unlike other alternatives in the list, it doesn’t have much to offer. As a result, many users might find it hard to implement this tool on their own. Indeed, you can assign the custom fields group to posts, pages, custom post types, and so on.

Key Features:

• Completely free to use the tool.
• It includes 14 field types. Such as text, text area, date, color, WYSIWYG, relationship, loop, hyperlink, etc.
• Also, you can create a Field Group containing one or more custom fields.
• It lets you choose where the Field Group should appear, using the Placement Rules box.

Cons:

• No dedicated support.
• Also, it includes basic and limited features.

Pricing:

A completely free-to-use WordPress plugin that can be easily downloaded from the official plugin repository of WordPress.org.  

Customer Support:

The plugin themselves have given you a disclaimer that they aren’t going to provide any dedicated support. Hence, due to a lack of technical support, you need to solve every issue yourself. 

User Ratings and Reviews:

• WordPress.org Rating for Custom Field Suite: 4.8 out of 5 stars (137 Reviews)
• Check more recent reviews.

Final Verdict:

Although CFS is a free and lightweight plugin, it somehow lacks many essential features that it needs to offer. Moreover, it also doesn’t provide any dedicated support so many beginners find it hard to use it in the first place.

Therefore, this plugin can only be recommended to developers who can solve the issues by themselves. Nevertheless. Custom Field Suite is one of the best Advanced Custom Field alternative plugins. 

7. Kirki Customizer Framework

Kirki Customizer Framework is a popular customizer toolkit for WordPress theme developers. It provides you with a collection of tools & controls that allow developers to build rich user experiences in the WordPress customizer.

Indeed, it provides over 30 custom controls ranging from simple sliders to complex typography controls. Furthermore, it can automatically create the necessary CSS based on the controls that are configured in the WordPress Customizer.

Key Features:

• It can automatically generate postMessage scripts for you for an instant live preview.
• Also, seamlessly supports the WordPress Customizer’s partial refresh feature.
• Allows you to add an optimization layer that is not built into WordPress. As a result, Kirki only loads the controls once you interact with them.
• Additionally, you can apply conditional logic to show and hide Customizer controls conditionally.

Cons:

• Perfect toolkit only for developers and experts.
• Also, it has expensive pricing.

Pricing:

This plugin is available in both free and paid versions. You can get the free version from WordPress.org’s official plugin directory. 

However, you can purchase its pro version which includes all the exclusive extension bundles. This premium expansion bundle costs $248/year that comes with unlimited themes, all Kirki pro extensions, and more.

Customer Support:

Kirki has excellent customer support that indeed provides a comprehensive documentation library. Further, free users can visit its forum community and post their queries, and report bugs. In addition, it also provides a support ticketing system that you can rely on in case of severe issues.

User Ratings and Reviews:

• WordPress.org Rating for Kirki Customizer Framework: 4.7 out of 5 stars (71 Reviews)
• Check more recent reviews.

Final Verdict:

Although Kirki is a free plugin, you must check out its premium version. As it guarantees to include all the pro extensions that you need for your website. In fact, it’s a perfect toolkit for developers. Thus, due to its robust features, Kirki is on the list of the best Advanced Custom Field alternative plugins. 

Conclusion

That’s all folks. These are some of the best Advanced Custom Field alternative plugins for your WordPress site. We genuinely hope that you found our article helpful

Lastly, if you’re looking for comprehensive Advanced Custom Field alternatives, then we’d like to suggest Pods. Meanwhile, Meta Box is another preferred ACF replacement if you’ve got a good budget and want extensive features.

Please feel free to comment below if you have any further queries about the best Advanced Custom Field alternatives. We’ll do our best to respond as soon as we can.

Also, let us know which Advanced Custom Field alternative you are going to choose from the list. You can share your top favorite pick in the comments section below. 

You may also like our article on how to customize your WordPress dashboard. Be sure to go through it once. Also, check out the article’s best drag-and-drop WordPress page plugins.

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