diff --git a/beetsplug/substitute.py b/beetsplug/substitute.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..120e62dfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/beetsplug/substitute.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# This file is part of beets.
+# Copyright 2023, Daniele Ferone.
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+# included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+"""The substitute plugin module.
+
+Uses user-specified substitution rules to canonicalize names for path formats.
+"""
+
+import re
+from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
+
+
+class Substitute(BeetsPlugin):
+    """The substitute plugin class.
+
+    Create a template field function that subsitute the given field with the
+    given substitution rules. ``rules`` must be a list of (pattern,
+    replacement) pairs.
+    """
+    def tmpl_substitute(self, text):
+        """Do the actual replacing."""
+        if text:
+            for pattern, replacement in self.substitute_rules:
+                if pattern.match(text.lower()):
+                    return replacement
+            return text
+        else:
+            return u''
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        """Initialize the substitute plugin.
+
+        Get the configuration, register template function and create list of
+        substitute rules.
+        """
+        super(Substitute, self).__init__()
+        self.substitute_rules = []
+        self.template_funcs['substitute'] = self.tmpl_substitute
+
+        for key, view in self.config.items():
+            value = view.as_str()
+            pattern = re.compile(key.lower())
+            self.substitute_rules.append((pattern, value))
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 0aacbf03a..4ceeb1874 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ New features:
 * :doc:`/plugins/embyupdate`: Add handling for private users by adding
   ``userid`` config option.
   :bug:`4402`
+* :doc:`/plugins/substitute`: Add the new plugin `substitute` as an alternative
+  to the `rewrite` plugin. The main difference between them being that
+  `rewrite` modifies files' metadata and `substitute` does not.
+  :bug:`2786`
 
 Bug fixes:
 
diff --git a/docs/plugins/index.rst b/docs/plugins/index.rst
index 96b0eb7a8..21e99e3dc 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/index.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/index.rst
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ following to your configuration::
    spotify
    subsonicplaylist
    subsonicupdate
+   substitute
    the
    thumbnails
    types
@@ -240,6 +241,11 @@ Path Formats
 :doc:`rewrite <rewrite>`
    Substitute values in path formats.
 
+:doc:`substitute <substitute>`
+   As an alternative to :doc:`rewrite <rewrite>`, use this plugin. The main
+   difference between them is that this plugin never modifies the files
+   metadata.
+
 :doc:`the <the>`
    Move patterns in path formats (i.e., move "a" and "the" to the
    end).
diff --git a/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst b/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
index 3706d940a..41cd454bf 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
@@ -30,5 +30,9 @@ As a convenience, the plugin applies patterns for the ``artist`` field to the
 ``albumartist`` field as well. (Otherwise, you would probably want to duplicate
 every rule for ``artist`` and ``albumartist``.)
 
-Note that this plugin only applies to templating; it does not modify files'
-metadata tags or the values tracked by beets' library database.
+A word of warning: This plugin theoretically only applies to templates and path
+formats; it initially does not modify files' metadata tags or the values
+tracked by beets' library database, but since it *rewrites all field lookups*,
+it modifies the file's metadata anyway. See comments in issue :bug:`2786`.
+
+As an alternative to this plugin the :doc:`/plugins/substitute` could be used.
diff --git a/docs/plugins/substitute.rst b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14f3cb025
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+Substitute Plugin
+=================
+
+The ``substitute`` plugin lets you easily substitute values in your templates and
+path formats. Specifically, it is intended to let you *canonicalize* names
+such as artists: For example, perhaps you want albums from The Jimi Hendrix
+Experience to be sorted into the same folder as solo Hendrix albums.
+
+This plugin is intented as a replacement for the ``rewrite`` plugin. While
+the ``rewrite`` plugin modifies the metadata, this plugin does not.
+
+Enable the ``substitute`` plugin (see :ref:`using-plugins`), then make a ``substitute:`` section in your config file to contain your rules.
+Each rule consists of a case-insensitive regular expression pattern, and a
+replacement value. For example, you might use:
+
+    substitute:
+        .*jimi hendrix.*: Jimi Hendrix
+
+
+To apply the substitution, you have to call the function ``%substitute{}`` in the paths section. For example:
+    
+    paths:
+        default: %substitute{$albumartist}/$year - $album%aunique{}/$track - $title
\ No newline at end of file