Sketch Block
Sketch and draw freely on a canvas with brush strokes that feel natural. Pick among three different brush sizes and the color palette of the site. The block has a transparent background so it can be layered on top of…
Consider an alternative
Sketch Block shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites and was last updated 4 years ago, and scores 25/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 3 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.1 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Sketch Block stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| block | >100 |
| blocks | >100 |
| drawing | >100 |
| freehand | #20 |
| sketch | #23 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Sketch Block
From the official readme · v1.3.0Description
Sketch and draw freely on a canvas with brush strokes that feel natural. Pick among three different brush sizes and the color palette of the site. The block has a transparent background so it can be layered on top of any container block, like groups or background images to achieve different effects.
Credits
The block is powered by the awesome perfect-freehand library.
Source and Support
You can follow development, file an issue, suggest features, and view the source at the Github repo: https://github.com/Automattic/block-experiments
Changelog
1.3.0 – 3nd March 2023
- Added default and custom color palettes to Color control.
- Fixed selected color marked in the Color control
1.2.0 – 2nd March 2023
- Updated the Clear control to not reset the height of the sketch.
- Removed minimum height restriction for resizer.
- Fixed full width block alignment support.
- Updated Upload control label to “Upload as image”.
- Updated alternative text control copy.
- Updated dependency on perfect-freehand to its version 1.2.0.
1.1.0 – 2nd October 2022
- Updated to reflect compatibility with WordPess 6.0.
- Added toolbar control for uploading an image to the media library generated from the sketch drawing.
1.0.10 – 14th July 2021
- Prevent default pointer behavior on move, which could cause unintended window scrolling with some devices and browsers.
1.0.9 – 8th July 2021
- Improved accessibility by using title and role on the SVG element
1.0.8 – 2nd July 2021
- Address crashing issues when the underlying library detects duplicate strokes
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Sketch Block alternatives
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FAQ
Sketch Block: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 16, 2026
Is Sketch Block free?
Yes. Sketch Block is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Sketch Block safe to use in 2026?
Sketch Block shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites and was last updated 4 years ago, and scores 25/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Sketch Block?
Sketch Block is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 5,731 times since it launched in July 2021. It was downloaded 113 times in the last 30 days.
Does Sketch Block work with WordPress 7.1?
Sketch Block is officially tested up to WordPress 6.1.15, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Sketch Block last updated?
The latest version, 1.3.0, was released on March 4, 2023 (4 years ago).
Who makes Sketch Block?
Sketch Block is developed and maintained by Automattic.
What are the best alternatives to Sketch Block?
The most popular alternatives to Sketch Block are Spectra Legacy (1M+ installs), Breadcrumb NavXT (800K+ installs) and PDF Embedder (300K+ installs).
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