What changes and what does not
The question that matters when you switch a field plugin is not which one has more features. It is what happens to the content you already have, and to the templates that read it.
ACF facts checked at the source in September 2026.
Your content stays where it is
Ultivo Toolkit stores values in the same pattern ACF uses: a field_name entry holding the value, and a hidden _field_name entry pointing at the field key. Repeater rows are stored as name_0_subname.
Your field keys are preserved
Tools → Migrate from ACF rebuilds your field groups here, from the database and from the theme's acf-json folder. Definitions only: your values stay put, and the keys carry over.
An existing group with the same key is replaced. Try it on a staging copy first.
Your templates need a rename
get_field() becomes ultivo_get_field(), have_rows() becomes ultivo_have_rows(). The classic functions are fully supported, not a waiting room.
Not every name follows the prefix: the_row_index() is ultivo_get_row_index(). A few have no equivalent at all.
What the migration converts
Google Map becomes Map, on OpenStreetMap instead of the Google Maps API. oEmbed becomes URL. Anything unrecognized becomes Text instead of disappearing, so the value is still there.
Flexible Content and Clone come across but stay locked without Pro. Hide on screen settings are dropped. Duplicate names are reported, not fixed.
One field type needs more than a rename
ACF gave your template the embed markup. A URL field gives the address, so wrap wp_oembed_get() around it wherever you printed that value. Worth a search through your theme before you go live.
What the free versions hold
Both plugins are free with a paid tier on top. The line between them is drawn in a different place, and the last two rows are where it is drawn the same.
| Field or feature | Ultivo Toolkit free | ACF free |
|---|---|---|
| Conditional logic | Yes | Yes |
| Local JSON | Yes | Yes |
| Post types and taxonomies from the admin | Yes | Yes |
| REST API support | Yes | Yes |
| Repeater field | Yes | Pro only |
| Gallery field | Yes | Pro only |
| Options pages | Yes | Pro only |
| Flexible Content | Pro only | Pro only |
| Clone field | Pro only | Pro only |
What it costs
Where ACF is the better choice
ACF invented this category and is very good at it. Four reasons to stay, and they are not small ones.
- Fifteen years, 76 million downloads and 1,400 reviews behind it, against a plugin that has existed since September 8.
- An ecosystem: extensions, tutorials, and an answer on Stack Overflow for almost any question.
- ACF Blocks is a full framework with its own interface. Here a block can only be registered in PHP, and the block sidebar handles the simple field types.
- Paid support, with a team whose job it is to answer you.
If your site leans on ACF Blocks, or on an extension that only exists over there, stay. Switching would cost you more than it saves.
Weighing up a form plugin too? The same comparison for forms sits next to this one.
Try it on one site first
Install it next to ACF on a staging copy, run the migration, and see what comes across. Your content is not written to: the migration creates or replaces field group definitions, and nothing else.