diff --git a/.eslintrc.cjs b/.eslintrc.cjs
index 360a89639..9f0f0e331 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.cjs
+++ b/.eslintrc.cjs
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@ module.exports = {
         "**/*.cjs",
         "scripts/tools/eslint-plugin-prettier-internal-rules/**/*.js",
         "website/**/*.js",
-        "tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-bar.js",
       ],
       parserOptions: {
         sourceType: "script",
diff --git a/changelog_unreleased/api/13201.md b/changelog_unreleased/api/13201.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..31ad74cdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog_unreleased/api/13201.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#### [BREAKING] Support plugins in ESM (#13201 by @fisker)
+
+Since v3.0.0, we load plugins via `import()` instead of `require()`, plugins can be ESM modules now.
+
+If you use `--plugin` by directory path, or file path without extensions, the plugin may not able to load.
+
+```diff
+- prettier . --plugin=path/to/my-plugin-directory
++ prettier . --plugin=path/to/my-plugin-directory/index.js
+```
+
+```diff
+- prettier . --plugin=path/to/my-plugin-file
++ prettier . --plugin=path/to/my-plugin-file.js
+```
diff --git a/docs/plugins.md b/docs/plugins.md
index 8c2a7ff15..1aadd5f91 100644
--- a/docs/plugins.md
+++ b/docs/plugins.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ When plugins cannot be found automatically, you can load them with:
 - The [API](api.md), via the `pluginSearchDirs` and `plugins` options:
 
   ```js
-  prettier.format("code", {
+  await prettier.format("code", {
     parser: "foo",
     pluginSearchDirs: ["./dir-with-plugins"],
     plugins: ["prettier-plugin-foo"],
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ To turn off plugin autoloading, use `--no-plugin-search` when using Prettier CLI
 
 ## Developing Plugins
 
-Prettier plugins are regular JavaScript modules with five exports:
+Prettier plugins are regular JavaScript modules with the following five exports or default export with the following properties:
 
 - `languages`
 - `parsers`
@@ -178,7 +178,9 @@ export const printers = {
 Prettier uses an intermediate representation, called a Doc, which Prettier then turns into a string (based on options like `printWidth`). A _printer_'s job is to take the AST generated by `parsers[<parser name>].parse` and return a Doc. A Doc is constructed using [builder commands](https://github.com/prettier/prettier/blob/main/commands.md):
 
 ```js
-const { join, line, ifBreak, group } = require("prettier").doc.builders;
+import { doc } from "prettier";
+
+const { join, line, ifBreak, group } = doc.builders;
 ```
 
 The printing process works as follows:
@@ -367,7 +369,7 @@ At the time of dispatching, Prettier will have annotated each AST comment node (
 The `util.addTrailingComment`/`addLeadingComment`/`addDanglingComment` functions can be used to manually attach a comment to an AST node. An example `ownLine` function that ensures a comment does not follow a "punctuation" node (made up for demonstration purposes) might look like:
 
 ```js
-const { util } = require("prettier");
+import { util } from "prettier";
 
 function ownLine(comment, text, options, ast, isLastComment) {
   const { precedingNode } = comment;
diff --git a/src/common/load-plugins.js b/src/common/load-plugins.js
index 37f7eb180..318245f2f 100644
--- a/src/common/load-plugins.js
+++ b/src/common/load-plugins.js
@@ -1,14 +1,20 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import fastGlob from "fast-glob";
 import mem, { memClear } from "mem";
 import partition from "../utils/partition.js";
+import importFromDirectory from "../utils/import-from-directory.js";
 import thirdParty from "./third-party.js";
-import requireFrom from "./require-from.js";
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
+const importPlugin = async (name, directory) => {
+  const module = await importFromDirectory(name, directory);
+  const plugin = module.default ?? module;
+  return { name, ...plugin };
+};
+
 const memoizedLoad = mem(load, { cacheKey: JSON.stringify });
 const memoizedSearch = mem(findPluginsInNodeModules);
 const clearCache = () => {
@@ -40,18 +46,19 @@ async function load(plugins, pluginSearchDirs) {
     (plugin) => typeof plugin === "string"
   );
 
-  const externalManualLoadPlugins = externalPluginNames.map((name) => {
-    let plugin;
-    try {
-      // try local files
-      plugin = requireFrom(path.resolve(name), process.cwd());
-    } catch {
-      // try node modules
-      plugin = requireFrom(name, process.cwd());
-    }
-
-    return { name, ...plugin };
-  });
+  const externalManualLoadPlugins = await Promise.all(
+    externalPluginNames.map(async (name) => {
+      try {
+        // try local files
+        const module = await import(pathToFileURL(path.resolve(name)).href);
+        const plugin = module.default ?? module;
+        return { name, ...plugin };
+      } catch {
+        // try node modules
+        return importPlugin(name, process.cwd());
+      }
+    })
+  );
 
   const externalAutoLoadPlugins = (
     await Promise.all(
@@ -80,10 +87,9 @@ async function load(plugins, pluginSearchDirs) {
 
         const pluginNames = await memoizedSearch(nodeModulesDir);
 
-        return pluginNames.map((name) => ({
-          name,
-          ...requireFrom(name, nodeModulesDir),
-        }));
+        return Promise.all(
+          pluginNames.map((name) => importPlugin(name, nodeModulesDir))
+        );
       })
     )
   ).flat();
diff --git a/src/common/require-from.js b/src/common/require-from.js
deleted file mode 100644
index a2f8fcef2..000000000
--- a/src/common/require-from.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-import { createRequire } from "node:module";
-import path from "node:path";
-
-function requireFrom(id, directory) {
-  const require = createRequire(path.join(directory, "noop.js"));
-  return require(id);
-}
-
-export default requireFrom;
diff --git a/src/utils/import-from-directory.js b/src/utils/import-from-directory.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b8b851884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/import-from-directory.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+import importFromFile from "./import-from-file.js";
+
+function importFromDirectory(specifier, directory) {
+  return importFromFile(specifier, path.join(directory, "noop.js"));
+}
+
+export default importFromDirectory;
diff --git a/src/utils/import-from-file.js b/src/utils/import-from-file.js
index 246b461a7..8fc83de8f 100644
--- a/src/utils/import-from-file.js
+++ b/src/utils/import-from-file.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+// TODO: Use `import.meta.resolve` when it's available
 import { resolve } from "import-meta-resolve";
 
 async function importFromFile(specifier, parent) {
diff --git a/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.cjs b/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.cjs
deleted file mode 100644
index d5b6347da..000000000
--- a/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.cjs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-"use strict";
-
-const createPlugin = require("../../utils/create-plugin.cjs");
-
-module.exports = createPlugin({
-  name: "uppercase-rocks",
-  print: (text) => text.toUpperCase(),
-});
diff --git a/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js b/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..88250fc8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import createPlugin from "../../utils/create-plugin.cjs";
+
+const plugin = createPlugin({
+  name: "uppercase-rocks",
+  print: (text) => text.toUpperCase(),
+});
+
+export default plugin;
diff --git a/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/package.json b/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/package.json
index 97f940de5..d16e23824 100644
--- a/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/package.json
+++ b/tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/package.json
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
   "private": true,
   "name": "prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks",
   "version": "1.0.0",
-  "main": "./index.cjs"
+  "main": "./index.js",
+  "type": "module"
 }
diff --git a/tests/format/misc/plugins/embed-async-parser/jsfmt.spec.js b/tests/format/misc/plugins/embed-async-parser/jsfmt.spec.js
index 86c1e6b30..86124ea72 100644
--- a/tests/format/misc/plugins/embed-async-parser/jsfmt.spec.js
+++ b/tests/format/misc/plugins/embed-async-parser/jsfmt.spec.js
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
-import createEsmUtils from "esm-utils";
-
-const { require } = createEsmUtils(import.meta);
-
-const plugins = [
-  require("../../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-async-parser/index.cjs"),
-  require("../../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.cjs"),
-];
+const plugins = await Promise.all(
+  [
+    "../../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-async-parser/index.cjs",
+    "../../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js",
+  ].map(async (plugin) => (await import(plugin)).default)
+);
 
 run_spec(import.meta, ["markdown"], { plugins });
diff --git a/tests/format/vue/with-plugins/jsfmt.spec.js b/tests/format/vue/with-plugins/jsfmt.spec.js
index 6ccb205a7..f61ea9147 100644
--- a/tests/format/vue/with-plugins/jsfmt.spec.js
+++ b/tests/format/vue/with-plugins/jsfmt.spec.js
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
-import createEsmUtils from "esm-utils";
-
-const { require } = createEsmUtils(import.meta);
-
-const plugins = [
-  require("../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.cjs"),
-  require("../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-dummy-stylus/index.cjs"),
-];
+const plugins = await Promise.all(
+  [
+    "../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js",
+    "../../../config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-dummy-stylus/index.cjs",
+  ].map(async (plugin) => (await import(plugin)).default)
+);
 
 run_spec(import.meta, ["vue"], { plugins });
 run_spec(import.meta, ["vue"], { plugins, embeddedLanguageFormatting: "off" });
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/__snapshots__/early-exit.js.snap b/tests/integration/__tests__/__snapshots__/early-exit.js.snap
index 837b4c4db..d452ee797 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/__snapshots__/early-exit.js.snap
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/__snapshots__/early-exit.js.snap
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ exports[`show detailed usage with plugin options (automatic resolution) (stdout)
 
 Default: 2
 Plugin defaults:
-* prettier-plugin-bar: 4
+* prettier-plugin-bar: 4,
+* prettier-plugin-baz.js: 4
 "
 `;
 
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ exports[`show detailed usage with plugin options (manual resolution) (stdout) 1`
 
 Default: 2
 Plugin defaults:
-* ../plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar: 4
+* ../plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar/index.js: 4
 "
 `;
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/early-exit.js b/tests/integration/__tests__/early-exit.js
index c9eafc685..60888d0fd 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/early-exit.js
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/early-exit.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ describe("show detailed usage with plugin options (manual resolution)", () => {
   runPrettier("cli", [
     "--help",
     "tab-width",
-    "--plugin=../plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar",
+    "--plugin=../plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar/index.js",
     "--parser=bar",
   ]).test({
     status: 0,
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/file-info.js b/tests/integration/__tests__/file-info.js
index 15101bf01..6b517d216 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/file-info.js
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/file-info.js
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ describe("extracts file-info with inferredParser=foo when a plugin is hand-picke
     "--file-info",
     "file.foo",
     "--plugin",
-    "../plugins/automatic/node_modules/@prettier/plugin-foo",
+    "../plugins/automatic/node_modules/@prettier/plugin-foo/index.js",
   ]).test({
     status: 0,
   });
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ test("API getFileInfo with hand-picked plugins", async () => {
   const pluginPath = path.resolve(
     path.join(
       __dirname,
-      "../plugins/automatic/node_modules/@prettier/plugin-foo"
+      "../plugins/automatic/node_modules/@prettier/plugin-foo/index.js"
     )
   );
   await expect(prettier.getFileInfo(file)).resolves.toMatchObject({
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/patterns-dirs.js b/tests/integration/__tests__/patterns-dirs.js
index f78f66d77..9df936273 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/patterns-dirs.js
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/patterns-dirs.js
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ testPatterns("Exclude yarn.lock when expanding directories", ["."], {
 
 const uppercaseRocksPlugin = path.join(
   projectRoot,
-  "tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks"
+  "tests/config/prettier-plugins/prettier-plugin-uppercase-rocks/index.js"
 );
 describe("plugins `.`", () => {
   runPrettier("cli/dirs/plugins", [
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-options-string.js b/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-options-string.js
index 36199c6b6..97749613f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-options-string.js
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-options-string.js
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ describe("Non exists plugin", () => {
     { input: "hello-world" }
   ).test({
     stdout: "",
-    stderr: expect.stringMatching(/Cannot find module '--invalid--'/),
+    stderr: expect.stringMatching(/Cannot find package '--invalid--'/),
     status: 1,
     write: [],
   });
diff --git a/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-resolution.js b/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-resolution.js
index 1b4dec6b3..434613849 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-resolution.js
+++ b/tests/integration/__tests__/plugin-resolution.js
@@ -152,32 +152,6 @@ describe("loads --plugin by its relative path without leading ./", () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe("loads --plugin by relative path to its directory (assuming index.js)", () => {
-  runPrettier("plugins", [
-    "automatic/file.txt",
-    "--parser=bar",
-    "--plugin=./automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar",
-  ]).test({
-    stdout: "content from `prettier-plugin-bar` package + contents" + EOL,
-    stderr: "",
-    status: 0,
-    write: [],
-  });
-});
-
-describe("loads --plugin by relative path to its directory without leading ./ (assuming index.js)", () => {
-  runPrettier("plugins", [
-    "automatic/file.txt",
-    "--parser=bar",
-    "--plugin=automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-bar",
-  ]).test({
-    stdout: "content from `prettier-plugin-bar` package + contents" + EOL,
-    stderr: "",
-    status: 0,
-    write: [],
-  });
-});
-
 describe("loads --plugin by package name", () => {
   runPrettier("plugins/automatic", [
     "file.txt",
@@ -191,13 +165,13 @@ describe("loads --plugin by package name", () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe("loads --plugin by filename without leading ./ and ext, should resolve to file, not package", () => {
+describe("loads --plugin by filename without leading ./, should resolve to file, not package", () => {
   runPrettier("plugins/automatic", [
     "file.txt",
-    "--parser=bar",
-    "--plugin=prettier-plugin-bar",
+    "--parser=baz",
+    "--plugin=prettier-plugin-baz.js",
   ]).test({
-    stdout: "content from `prettier-plugin-bar.js` file + contents" + EOL,
+    stdout: "content from `prettier-plugin-baz.js` file + contents" + EOL,
     stderr: "",
     status: 0,
     write: [],
@@ -208,7 +182,7 @@ describe("loads --plugin by bespoke plugin name (assuming it is installed in cwd
   runPrettier("plugins/bespoke", [
     "../automatic/file.txt",
     "--parser=bespoke",
-    "--plugin=@company/prettier-plugin-bespoke",
+    "--plugin=@company/prettier-plugin-bespoke/main.js",
   ]).test({
     stdout: "bespoke+contents" + EOL,
     stderr: "",
@@ -232,12 +206,12 @@ test("--no-plugin-search", async () => {
 });
 
 test("--no-plugin-search still allow use --plugin", async () => {
-  const args = ["file.txt", "--parser=bar"];
+  const args = ["file.txt", "--parser=baz"];
   const { stdout: stdoutWithoutPlugin } = await runPrettier(
     "plugins/automatic",
     args
   );
-  const argsWithPlugin = [...args, "--plugin=./prettier-plugin-bar.js"];
+  const argsWithPlugin = [...args, "--plugin=./prettier-plugin-baz.js"];
   const { stdout: stdoutWithPlugin } = await runPrettier(
     "plugins/automatic",
     argsWithPlugin
diff --git a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/index.js b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04dbc89d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+"use strict";
+
+module.exports = {
+  languages: [
+    {
+      name: "baz",
+      parsers: ["baz"],
+    },
+  ],
+  parsers: {
+    baz: {
+      parse: text => ({ text }),
+      astFormat: "baz",
+    },
+  },
+  printers: {
+    baz: {
+      async print(path) {
+        const { default: prettier } = await import(
+          "../../../../../config/prettier-entry.js"
+        );
+        const { concat } = prettier.doc.builders;
+        return concat(["content from `prettier-plugin-baz.js` package + ", path.getValue().text]);
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  defaultOptions: {
+    tabWidth: 4,
+  },
+};
diff --git a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/package.json b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b731bd61b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/node_modules/prettier-plugin-baz.js/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"type": "commonjs"}
diff --git a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/package.json b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/package.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 5bbefffba..000000000
--- a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/package.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "commonjs"
-}
diff --git a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-bar.js b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-bar.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f16f83ea..000000000
--- a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-bar.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-"use strict";
-
-module.exports = {
-  languages: [
-    {
-      name: "bar",
-      parsers: ["bar"],
-    },
-  ],
-  parsers: {
-    bar: {
-      parse: (text) => ({ text }),
-      astFormat: "bar",
-    },
-  },
-  printers: {
-    bar: {
-      print(path) {
-        return [
-          "content from `prettier-plugin-bar.js` file + ",
-          path.getValue().text,
-        ];
-      },
-    },
-  },
-  defaultOptions: {
-    tabWidth: 4,
-  },
-};
diff --git a/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-baz.js b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-baz.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bff6ac40b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/plugins/automatic/prettier-plugin-baz.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+const plugin = {
+  languages: [
+    {
+      name: "baz",
+      parsers: ["baz"],
+    },
+  ],
+  parsers: {
+    baz: {
+      parse: text => ({ text }),
+      astFormat: "baz",
+    },
+  },
+  printers: {
+    baz: {
+      print(path) {
+        return [
+          "content from `prettier-plugin-baz.js` file + ",
+          path.getValue().text,
+        ];
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  defaultOptions: {
+    tabWidth: 4,
+  },
+};
+
+export default plugin;