CMB2 for WordPress Plugin Directory
CMB2 is the #188 ranked popular app on WordPress, with a 5.0 average rating from 91 reviews, as of Aug 31, 2026.
CMB2 is a WordPress Plugin Directory app by Justin Sternberg. With a rating of 5.0★ from 91 reviews, it currently ranks #188 in the Popular category.
AppRanks data: CMB2 ranks #188 in Popular on WordPress Plugin Directory, placing it in the top 37% of that category.
AppRanks verdict
Generated from live marketplace data — refreshed daily
CMB2 is a category-leading WordPress app with a limited review volume. It is listed in the Popular category on WordPress Plugin Directory, which AppRanks treats as the canonical taxonomy node for ranking and competitor comparison. 91 reviews put it in the early-traction tier — useful for early-stage stores willing to be on the leading edge. Early-traction review counts are sensitive to single launch periods or feature events, so a 30-day re-check before bigger commitments often resolves whether the trend is sustained. Paid-only pricing means evaluating fit on the marketplace listing or via the developer's documentation before installing. AppRanks tracks rating, review count, pricing tier, and category position daily — the figures on this page reflect the most recent scrape from the canonical WordPress Plugin Directory listing.
Pros
- +High average rating (5.0★) signals consistent merchant satisfaction
- +Published by Justin Sternberg — established developer track record
Cons
- −Limited review base (91) — ratings can shift significantly with new feedback
Looking to switch from CMB2?
See CMB2's alternatives ranked by audit score, rating, and review velocity.
How CMB2 works
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CMB2 is a developer’s toolkit for building metaboxes, custom fields, and forms for WordPress that will blow your mind. Easily manage meta for posts, terms, users, comments, or create custom option pages.
CMB2 is a complete rewrite of Custom Metaboxes and Fields for WordPress. To get started, please follow the examples in the included example-functions.php file and have a look at the basic usage instructions.
You can see a list of available field types here.
Contribution Development occurs on Github, and all contributions welcome. Please read the CONTRIBUTING doc for more details.
A complete list of all our awesome contributors found here: github.com/CMB2/CMB2/graphs/contributors
Features:
Create metaboxes to be used on post edit screens.
Create forms to be used on an options pages.
Create forms to handle user meta and display them on user profile add/edit pages.
Create forms to handle term meta and display wherever your taxonomies are used.
Flexible API that allows you to use CMB forms almost anywhere, even on the front-end.
Several field types are included.
Custom API hook that allows you to create your own field types.
There are numerous hooks and filters, allowing you to modify many aspects of the library (without editing it directly).
Repeatable fields for most field types are supported, as well as repeatable field groups.
CMB2 is safe to bundle with any project. It will only load the newest version in the system.
Translation If you are looking to provide language translation files, Please do so via WordPress Plugin Translations.
Documentation
CMB2 documentation can be found at the CMB2 wiki on github. Also, If you’re into reading code and inline documentation, we tried to keep all functions and methods fully inline-documented.
3rd Party Resources Custom Field Types
CMB2 Field Type: CMB Attached Posts Field from coreymcollins: custom_attached_posts, for attaching posts to a page.
CMB2 Field Type: Post Search Ajax by alexis-magina: post_search_ajax Attach posts to each other. Same approach as CMB2 Attached Posts Field but with Ajax request, multiple/single option, and different UI.
CMB2 Field Type: Ajax Search from rubengc: 3 different fields with the same UI in AJAX to search (with query parameters) to users, post type and taxonomy terms.
CMB2 Field Type: CMB2 User Search field from Mte90: user_search_text adds a user-search dialog for searching/attaching other User IDs.
CMB2 Field Type: Google Maps from mustardBees: Custom field type for Google Maps.
The pw_map field stores the latitude/longitude values which you can then use to display a map in your theme.
CMB2 Field Type: Leaflet Maps from villeristi: Custom field type for Leaflet Maps.
CMB2 Field Type: Select2 from mustardBees: Custom field types which use the Select2 script:
The pw_select field acts much like the default select field. However, it adds typeahead-style search allowing you to quickly make a selection from a large list
The pw_multiselect field allows you to select multiple values with typeahead-style search. The values can be dragged and dropped to reorder
CMB Field Type: Slider from mattkrupnik: Adds a jQuery UI Slider field.
WDS CMB2 Date Range Field from dustyf of WebDevStudios: Adds a date range field.
CMB2 Remote Image Select from JayWood of WebDevStudios: Allows users to enter a URL in a text field and select a single image for use in post meta. Similar to Facebook’s featured image selector.
CMB Field Type: Sorter: This plugin gives you two CMB field types based on the Sorter script.
CMB Field Type: Tags: WordPress-Tags-like field type for CMB2. note: this does not set the post tags, but simply provides a unique text input
CMB Field Type: Link Picker: Using the Link Picker for CMB2 control, you can choose a link from your WordPress site, or manually enter a link. You can also identify if the link should open in a new window, or not.
CMB Field Type: MultidatesPicker: Creates a CMB2 field type that enables a multiple date calendar. It uses a plugin called MultiDatesPicker v1.6.3 for jQuery UI.
CMB Field Type: CMB2-radio-image: Image as radio buttons.
CMB2 Term Select: Special CMB2 Field that allows users to define an autocomplete text field for terms. Note: this will set the taxonomy terms, but has the option ('apply_term' => false) to disable and save the term ids as data instead (like for options pages, etc).
CMB2 Related Links: Allows users to add a related links via a repeating field group. Field inputs are powered by the CMB2 Field Type: CMB2 Post Search field documented above, and so each link can be populated with existing WordPress content by clicking on the search button. Note: this is not a standard field type, but instead a function you use in combination with CMB2::add_field().
CMB2 Field Type: Order by rubengc: Allows users to define custom order of predefined options.
CMB2 Field Type: Animation by rubengc: Allows users to pickup an animation from Animate.css (includes preview of chosen animation).
CMB2 Field Type: Ajax Search by rubengc: Based on CMB2 Field Type: Post Search Ajax, adds the ability to attach posts/users/terms, and the ability to limit the maximum number of attached objects.
CMB2 Field Type: Visual Style Editor by rubengc: Custom field for CMB2 which allows customizing style from a small set of controls.
CMB2 Field Type: Content Wrap by rubengc: Custom field for CMB2 to store a content wrap values (padding, margin or border width).
CMB2 Field JS Controls by rubengc: Show any field similar to WordPress publishing actions (Post/Page post_status, visibility and post_date submit box field).
CMB2 Field Type: Position by rubengc: CMB2 field type to setup a jquery UI position values.
CMB2 Field Type: CMB2 Roadway Segments by pixelwatt: This plugin adds a new CMB2 fieldtype for drawing roadway segments onto a map and provides a shortcode for display.
CMB2 Field Type: Font Awesome by serkanalgur: This plugin adds a new CMB2 field type for selecting Font Awesome icons.
CMB2 Field Type: Typography by eduplessis: This plugin adds a new CMB2 field type “Typography” and it use jQuery fontselect for the font-family selection.
CMB2 Field Type: Markdown by Rekenna: This plugin adds a new CMB2 field type “CMB2 Markdown” where you can type in markdown and view a live preview of the results or convert to html with a button.
CMB2 Field Type: Switch Button by themevan: This plugin adds a Custom Switch Button field type for CMB2.
CMB2 Field Type: select_plus from manzoorwanijk: Select field type which acts much like the default select field. However, it adds the support for optgroup and saving of values with multiple attribute.
CMB2 Field Type: Address by scottsawyer: Just a simple, repeatable address field. It’s really just the snippet from CMB2 Snippet Library converted to a plugin.
CMB2 Field Type: Link by scottsawyer: Create a link field with some attributes. Very nice for styling links.
CMB2 Field Type: Widget Selector by scottsawyer: Need a field that lets you ( or your editor ) select / display an existing widget instance? Then this is the plugin for you.
Other Helpful Resources
CMB2 WooCommerce HPOS Orders: Adds the ability to add custom fields to the new WooCommerce HPOS orders page.
CMB2 Admin Extension: Adds a UI to create CMB2 meta boxes from the WordPress admin. Also on wordpress.org.
WordPress Shortcode Button: Uses CMB2 fields to generate fields for shortcode input modals.
WDS-Simple-Page-Builder: Uses existing template parts in the currently-active theme to build a customized page with rearrangeable elements. Built with CMB2.
CMB2 Example Theme: Demonstrate how to include CMB2 in your theme, as well as some cool tips and tricks.
facetwp-cmb2: FacetWP integration with CMB2.
CMB2-grid from origgami: A grid system for WordPress CMB2 library that allows the creation of columns for a better layout in the admin.
CMB2 Metatabs Options from rogerlos: CMO makes it easy to create options pages with multiple metaboxes–and optional WordPress admin tabs.
CMB2 Conditionals from jcchavezs: Allows developers to relate fields so the display of one is conditional on the value of another.
CMB2 Metabox Code Generator from willthemoor: Skip the boring bits. Use this generator to create fully functional CMB2 metaboxes easily. Now with bulk entry!
Caldera Metaplate by CalderaWP: Not specific to CMB2, but allows creating templates for outputting your custom fields.
Yoast CMB2 Field Analysis WP Plugin by alexis-magina: This plugin adds in a js based method of recalculating Yoast SEO’s content scores when updating page content, specifically custom meta fields added via the CMB2 library.
Skeleton by awethemes: A complete framework for WordPress, uses CMB2 engine.
WP Simple Iconfonts by awethemes: An icon fonts manager and provides a font icon picker for CMB2.
CMB2 Nav Menus by nsrosenqvist: Lets you use CMB2 in nav menu entries..
Links
Project Homepage
Github project page
Documentation (GitHub wiki)
Snippet Library
View CHANGELOG
Known Issues
Metabox containing WYSIWYG editor cannot be moved or used in a repeatable way at this time (this is a TinyMCE issue).
Not all fields work well in a repeatable group.
Category rankings
As of Sep 4, 2026- Popular#188of 510Top 37%
See 90-day rank history for each category
Track daily rank changes, category shifts, and position volatility.
Keyword rankings
CMB2 ranks for 6 keywords across WordPress Plugin Directory. Here are the top 3:
- Rank #247
- 2.formsRank #248
- Rank #284
Competitors & alternatives
CMB2 doesn't have curated competitor matchups yet. Other tracked popular apps on WordPress:
Where CMB2 stands in the Popular category
CMB2 ranks #188 of 510 apps in the Popular category, placing it in the top 37% of the listing.
Frequently asked questions
What is CMB2?
CMB2 is an app for WordPress. It currently holds a 5.0-star rating from 91 merchant reviews, and AppRanks has been tracking its public marketplace data on the refresh cadence published in our methodology. It is listed under the Popular category on AppRanks, where you can see its current category position, review-velocity trend, and how it compares against the top alternatives in the same space. Developed by Justin Sternberg.
Who uses CMB2?
Currently around 300,000 active stores have installed CMB2. Its review base is still building, which usually maps to early-stage merchants and stores piloting a new workflow. It is part of the Popular category on WordPress.
Where does CMB2 rank on WordPress?
CMB2 currently sits at position #188 in the Popular category on WordPress. That places it in the top 37% of 510 apps tracked in the same category. Category positions are read from the live marketplace ranking and refresh on each scrape, so the number you see here reflects the most recent crawl rather than a long-running average.