10 Best Custom Global Variables Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Custom Global Variables has 5,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Custom Global Variables
- 1
CMB2
Closest match5.0 (91) 300,000+ active installsCMB2 is a metabox, custom fields, and forms library for WordPress that will blow your mind.
Shares the options, settings tags on WordPress.org. About 60 times the installs, last updated May 31, 2026.
- 2
4.8 (27) 10,000+ active installsThe Options Framework Plugin makes it easy to include an options panel in any WordPress theme. It was built so developers can concentrate on making t …
Shares the options tag on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, no update since November 1, 2017.
- 3
5.0 (23) 1,000+ active installsClean expired transients from your options table. The original and best!
Shares the options tag on WordPress.org. About a quarter of the installs, last updated 18 days ago.
- 4
4.6 (25) 9,000+ active installsPlugin that tracks autoloaded options usage and allows the user to optimize them.
Shares the options tag on WordPress.org. About 1.8 times the installs, last updated March 11, 2026.
- 5
4.6 (24) 4,000+ active installsArconix Shortcodes provides a number of useful design elements like buttons, boxes, tabs and toggles to help compliment any website.
Shares the shortcodes tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated July 30, 2026.
- 6
5.0 (23) 4,000+ active installsWordpress plugin to add shortcodes for Twitter Bootstrap 3.3
Shares the shortcodes tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated March 10, 2026.
- 7
Shortcake (Shortcode UI)
4.1 (24) 10,000+ active installsShortcake makes using WordPress shortcodes a piece of cake.
Shares the shortcodes tag on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, no update since January 16, 2019.
- 8
4.9 (53) 4,000+ active installsShortcodes Finder helps you to find, test, clean and get informations about the shortcodes in your WordPress website posts, pages and custom contents.
Shares the shortcodes tag on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, last updated July 9, 2026.
- 9
4.9 (31) 10,000+ active installsShortcode to show any current, past, and future date or time. Display this, previous, or next year, month, day, etc.
Shares the shortcodes tag on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, last updated 13 days ago.
- 10
4.3 (79) 1 million+ active installsImport your demo content, widgets and theme settings with one click. Theme authors! Enable simple theme demo import for your users.
Shares the settings tag on WordPress.org. About 200 times the installs, last updated April 22, 2026.
Switching from Custom Global Variables: common questions
What is the best alternative to Custom Global Variables?
CMB2 is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 300,000+ active installs with a 5.0 out of 5 rating.
Which Custom Global Variables alternative has the most users?
One Click Demo Import, with 1 million+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Custom Global Variables alternative is rated highest?
CMB2, rated 5.0 out of 5 by 91 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Custom Global Variables alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Custom Global Variables score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Custom Global Variables on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
CMB2 is the closest match to Custom Global Variables by the data we track, and One Click Demo Import has the widest reach with 1 million+ active installs. WP Date and Time Shortcode shipped the most recent release, on August 25, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.