Vova's Post Grids vs Blockshifter: Which Gutenberg Plugin Do You Actually Need?

Who This Comparison Is For

Both of these are free, WordPress.org-hosted Gutenberg plugins that let you skip a heavyweight page builder for a specific layout problem. But they solve different problems, and confusing them will lead to picking the wrong tool. Vova's Post Grids is about querying and displaying content — pulling posts (or custom post types) into a filtered, paginated grid. Blockshifter is about transforming the display mode of blocks you've already built — turning a static Gallery, Columns, or Query Loop block into a Carousel or Masonry layout. If you need to filter and paginate a set of posts, you want Post Grids. If you've already got content in native blocks and just want it to slide or stagger instead of sitting in a static grid, you want Blockshifter. Some sites will plausibly use both: Post Grids to build the query, Blockshifter to switch its display mode to Masonry.

Pricing

There's effectively no pricing decision here — both are completely free with no premium tier, no license key, and no upsell nag in the settings screen as of this writing. Vova's Post Grids is explicit that there's no changelog hinting at a future paid version. Blockshifter's guide is a bit more hedged: it notes that many WordPress.org plugins launch free and add a paid tier later for advanced controls (autoplay timing, custom breakpoints, masonry column counts), so while today's answer is $0 for both, Blockshifter's long-term pricing is explicitly called "unconfirmed."

Feature Comparison

Vova's Post Grids is a query tool: it lets you pick a post type (including custom post types), filter by taxonomy, keyword, or date range, and control columns and spacing per breakpoint, all with AJAX pagination so clicking through pages doesn't reload the whole site. It ships its own "Post Grid" block rather than modifying existing ones. What it doesn't do is give front-end visitors interactive filter controls, and it doesn't offer a visual card template editor — you're limited to its predefined card layout options.

Blockshifter takes the opposite approach: it doesn't create a new block at all. It injects a "Display Mode" toggle into the block inspector of blocks you already use — Gallery, Columns, Group, Query Loop, Latest Posts — letting you switch their rendering to Carousel or Masonry. The underlying block markup stays native, so turning the plugin off doesn't orphan your content. It's explicitly not useful if you're on Elementor, Divi, or another builder, since it only hooks into native Gutenberg blocks.

Both are lightweight compared to a full builder, both are native to the block editor, and both explicitly avoid loading a builder's separate CSS/JS runtime just to solve a narrow layout problem.

	Vova's Post Grids	Blockshifter
Price	Free, no Pro tier, no license key	Free, no Pro tier currently; future pricing unconfirmed
Best for	Querying and filtering posts/CPTs into a grid	Turning existing native blocks into carousels or masonry
Standout feature	AJAX pagination with no full page reload	Toggles rendering mode without changing underlying block markup
Platform	Native Gutenberg block plugin	Native Gutenberg block editor tool (inspector-level toggle)
Front-end interactivity for visitors	No front-end filter UI for visitors	N/A — changes display mode, not query/filter logic

Which One Should You Pick?

If your problem is "I need a grid of posts (or a custom post type) filtered by taxonomy, keyword, or date, with pagination that doesn't reload the page," Vova's Post Grids is the direct answer — it's purpose-built for that query-and-display job, and it's free with no strings attached.

If your problem is "I've already built a Gallery, Columns, or Query Loop block and I want it to slide as a carousel or lay out as masonry instead of sitting in a static grid," Blockshifter is the more precise fit — it doesn't ask you to rebuild anything, it just changes how the existing block renders.

If you're running a page builder like Elementor or Divi as your primary layout system, neither plugin is really for you in the way page-builder-native widgets would be — Blockshifter explicitly has little to offer outside native Gutenberg blocks, and Post Grids assumes you're comfortable configuring queries in the block sidebar rather than a builder's widget panel.

And if you need both — a filtered, paginated post grid that also renders as masonry instead of uniform cards — there's nothing stopping you from using Post Grids to build the query and Blockshifter to switch its display mode, since neither plugin replaces core block markup in a way that would conflict with the other.