diff --git a/CHANGES/v2.4.md b/CHANGES/v2.4.md
index da3803a9940182d4ca2d5f65cb08ffe2c7a54d4f..ab87a76be741b63f2f34ef8721ea0f1dfac7c367 100644
--- a/CHANGES/v2.4.md
+++ b/CHANGES/v2.4.md
@@ -93,3 +93,4 @@ Fixes after alpha release:
     Notice that this is an experimental feature and is not fully validated yet. See \issue{244}.
   - When parsing constants, PLUMED uses lepton library. This allows to pass
     arguments such as `HEIGHT=exp(0.5)`.
+  - \ref CUSTOM function has been added as an alias to \ref MAXENT.
diff --git a/regtest/basic/rt13-lepton/plumed.dat b/regtest/basic/rt13-lepton/plumed.dat
index 99f6ece69bb250dbb911947d801e2ae77c7b1cf5..2e3629037477fdce2505776a440e14de88beb645 100644
--- a/regtest/basic/rt13-lepton/plumed.dat
+++ b/regtest/basic/rt13-lepton/plumed.dat
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ cc1: MATHEVAL ARG=t1,t2,t3 FUNC=x^2+y+0*z+1 PERIODIC=NO
 cc2: MATHEVAL ARG=t1,t2,t3 FUNC=0*x^3+0*y^3+0*z^3 PERIODIC=NO
 cc3: MATHEVAL ARG=t1,t2 FUNC=x^2+y^2 PERIODIC=NO
 
-all: MATHEVAL ARG=t1,t2,t3,cc1,cc2,cc3 VAR=a1,a2,a3,a4,a5,a6 FUNC={ (a1+a2+a3+a4+a5+a6) / 6.0 } PERIODIC=NO
+all: CUSTOM ARG=t1,t2,t3,cc1,cc2,cc3 VAR=a1,a2,a3,a4,a5,a6 FUNC={ (a1+a2+a3+a4+a5+a6) / 6.0 } PERIODIC=NO
 
 RESTRAINT ARG=all AT=0 SLOPE=1.0
 
diff --git a/regtest/basic/rt20b-lepton/plumed.dat b/regtest/basic/rt20b-lepton/plumed.dat
index 61dfd90164ae733af451d2dc2b6084ee3a12d407..463e8d3dbd975e4fba64264b38623db348c29b09 100644
--- a/regtest/basic/rt20b-lepton/plumed.dat
+++ b/regtest/basic/rt20b-lepton/plumed.dat
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 c:   COORDINATION GROUPA=1 GROUPB=2 SWITCH={MATHEVAL R_0=1.3 D_MAX=2.6 FUNC=1/(1+x^6) NOSTRETCH}
-cs:  COORDINATION GROUPA=1 GROUPB=2 SWITCH={MATHEVAL R_0=1.3 D_MAX=2.6 FUNC=1/(1+x^6)}
+cs:  COORDINATION GROUPA=1 GROUPB=2 SWITCH={CUSTOM R_0=1.3 D_MAX=2.6 FUNC=1/(1+x^6)}
 
 PRINT ...
   ARG=c,cs
diff --git a/src/bias/MaxEnt.cpp b/src/bias/MaxEnt.cpp
index 109a0ac26366fb210de79278565af238434a7c93..c1786defa7309f7b37165418ef3fdbb4359654e0 100644
--- a/src/bias/MaxEnt.cpp
+++ b/src/bias/MaxEnt.cpp
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ The value of \f$ \xi(\lambda,t)\f$ is written in output as a component named: ar
 Setting \f$ \sigma =0\f$ is equivalent to enforce a pure Maximum Entropy restraint without any noise modelling.
 This method can be also used to enforce inequality restraint as shown in following examples.
 
+Notice that a similar method is available as \ref EDS, although with different features and using a different optimization algorithm.
+
 \par Examples
 
 The following input tells plumed to restrain the distance between atoms 7 and 15
diff --git a/src/eds/EDS.cpp b/src/eds/EDS.cpp
index 2e95fb8198f01ab5408688470f135c1f8728eec6..34ff47605cbe0c7196a5897508b19d93b8946f12 100644
--- a/src/eds/EDS.cpp
+++ b/src/eds/EDS.cpp
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ to zero with the default value of \f$s_i\f$ as this will cause a
 divide-by-zero error. Instead, set \f$s_i=1\f$ or modify the CV so the
 desired target value is no longer zero.
 
+Notice that a similar method is available as \ref MAXENT, although with different features and using a different optimization algorithm.
+
 \par Examples
 
 The following input for a harmonic oscillator of two beads will
diff --git a/src/function/Matheval.cpp b/src/function/Matheval.cpp
index 6c92e7bc3eeeb8504827413faedabd2fdd156c91..a98b6bf4862884ff83b826ec3b1d6ef586c29ea0 100644
--- a/src/function/Matheval.cpp
+++ b/src/function/Matheval.cpp
@@ -206,6 +206,32 @@ public:
 
 PLUMED_REGISTER_ACTION(Matheval,"MATHEVAL")
 
+//+PLUMEDOC FUNCTION CUSTOM
+/*
+An alias to the \ref MATHEVAL function.
+
+\par Examples
+
+Just replace \ref MATHEVAL with \ref CUSTOM.
+
+\plumedfile
+d: DISTANCE ATOMS=10,15
+m: CUSTOM ARG=d FUNC=0.5*step(0.5-x)+x*step(x-0.5) PERIODIC=NO
+# check the function you are applying:
+PRINT ARG=d,n FILE=checkme
+RESTRAINT ARG=d AT=0.5 KAPPA=10.0
+\endplumedfile
+(see also \ref DISTANCE, \ref PRINT, and \ref RESTRAINT)
+
+*/
+//+ENDPLUMEDOC
+
+class Custom :
+  public Matheval {
+};
+
+PLUMED_REGISTER_ACTION(Matheval,"CUSTOM")
+
 void Matheval::registerKeywords(Keywords& keys) {
   Function::registerKeywords(keys);
   keys.use("ARG"); keys.use("PERIODIC");
diff --git a/src/tools/SwitchingFunction.cpp b/src/tools/SwitchingFunction.cpp
index 4cbaf0a191dc0d056d824100580a3f30c1554c40..66ef0aa946349f388b46979d4e6baf57727c79c4 100644
--- a/src/tools/SwitchingFunction.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/SwitchingFunction.cpp
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ void SwitchingFunction::set(const std::string & definition,std::string& errormsg
     for(auto & e : expression_deriv) e=ped.createCompiledExpression();
   }
 #ifdef __PLUMED_HAS_MATHEVAL
-  else if(name=="MATHEVAL") {
+  else if(name=="MATHEVAL" || name=="CUSTOM") {
     type=matheval;
     std::string func;
     Tools::parse(data,"FUNC",func);