Google reviews WordPress widget: add Google reviews to WordPress without a plugin
You can put Google reviews on a WordPress site two ways: install a plugin from the WordPress directory, or paste a hosted widget in as one script tag. The embed route needs no plugin to install or keep updated, works identically in Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi and the classic widget areas, and can show G2 and Trustpilot reviews in the same feed. ReviewJet gives you that widget, and unlike a display-only plugin it also collects the reviews in the first place.
Design the widget below, then copy the code into a Custom HTML block. Nothing to install, nothing to update, and the price does not climb with how many people view your page.
Live preview
Sources
Layout
Brand color
Minimum rating
No reviews match those filters
Turn a source back on or lower the minimum rating.
·
reviews shown
from Google · G2 · direct
Drops next to any CTA: signup, pricing, checkout.
Paste this once, anywhere in your HTML. The widget inherits your settings from the studio and stays in sync when you change them.
Create your account to activate your embed code.
Automated request email
From: Your Company <hello@yourcompany.com>
Subject: Quick favor? It takes 40 seconds
Hi Jordan,
You've been with us for 3 months, thanks for that. Would you share how it's going? One click below, 40 seconds, done.
Sent automatically 90 days after signup · timed to the customer's timezone
See it land in your own inbox
We'll send you this exact sequence the way your customers would receive it.
This is the same builder you use inside the app. Pick a layout and a source, and the code it produces is what goes into your WordPress page.
The decision
Google reviews plugin or embedded widget: which one you actually want
Nearly everyone searching for a Google reviews plugin for WordPress does not specifically want a plugin. They want reviews on the page. These are the two ways to get there and where each one wins.
| Question | WordPress plugin | Embedded widget (script tag) |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Install from the directory, activate, connect your profile, then keep it updated alongside every other plugin | Paste one line of HTML into a block. Nothing installed on the server, nothing to update |
| How it loads | Runs PHP on the server during page loads and adds its own CSS and JavaScript to the queue | Async script fetched after your content renders, so it does not block the page |
| Page builders | Usually a Gutenberg block plus a shortcode, and sometimes a dedicated Elementor addon | Works everywhere HTML works: Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Bricks, classic widget areas |
| Multiple sites | Install, configure and license per site | Same account, same widget, paste the code into as many sites as you run |
| Review sources | Most Google reviews plugins are Google only, so a second platform means a second plugin | Google, G2, Trustpilot and direct reviews in one feed, filtered per widget |
| Collecting new reviews | Display only, in almost every case. It shows what you already have | Request campaigns by email and SMS run on the same account that renders the widget |
| Leaving WordPress later | The reviews display dies with the plugin when you rebuild on Webflow or Next.js | The same script tag moves to the new stack unchanged |
The honest summary: if you run one WordPress site, only care about Google, and want everything managed inside wp-admin, a plugin is a perfectly good answer and you should take the free one. If you run several sites, want more than one review source, or you also need to get more reviews rather than just display the ones you have, a plugin is the wrong shape of tool no matter how good it is.
Setup
How to add Google reviews to WordPress in four steps
About ten minutes end to end, and you never touch a theme file or a database.
01
Connect your Google Business Profile
Create a workspace and connect the profile you want reviews from. Your existing Google reviews import into the account and new ones keep syncing, so the widget stays current without anyone refreshing anything. If you also have G2 or Trustpilot, connect them now and they join the same feed.
02
Design the widget to fit the spot
Layout follows placement. A grid suits a dedicated testimonials page, a slider suits a homepage band between two sections, and a compact badge suits a sidebar, a footer or a spot next to a pricing table. Set a minimum rating, choose how many reviews to show, and match the colors to your theme.
03
Copy the embed code
You get one async script tag. It injects rendered HTML rather than an iframe, which means your reviews inherit the page and stay responsive on mobile instead of sitting in a fixed-height box that scrolls independently.
04
Paste it where the reviews belong
Block editor: add a Custom HTML block and paste. Elementor: drag in the HTML widget and paste. Divi: use a Code module. Classic widget area: a Custom HTML widget. Sitewide: paste once into the theme footer through your theme options or a code snippets tool. Publish and the reviews render.
One placement note worth more than any styling decision: reviews work hardest next to the moment of doubt. That means beside the pricing table, under the add to cart button, and on the contact page, not only on a testimonials page nobody navigates to. Our guide to displaying reviews on your website goes through placement in more detail.
Compatibility
Where the widget goes in WordPress
If the editor accepts HTML, the widget works in it. That covers every builder in common use.
Gutenberg block editor
Add a Custom HTML block wherever the reviews belong and paste the script. The block editor shows a preview toggle, so you can confirm the widget renders before you publish the page.
Elementor
Drag the HTML widget into your section and paste the code. Elementor renders it in the live canvas, so you can see the reviews inside the layout while you are still editing. No Pro licence and no extra Elementor addon needed.
Divi and Beaver Builder
Divi has a Code module, Beaver Builder an HTML module. Both accept the script as is. The widget picks up the container width, so it fits whatever column you drop it into.
Classic widget areas
Appearance then Widgets, add a Custom HTML widget to the sidebar or footer. Use the compact badge layout here: a full review grid in a 300 pixel sidebar reads badly on every screen size.
WooCommerce product pages
Paste the widget into the product description or a hook below the add to cart button. Store reviews and Google reviews answer different questions, so showing both is not duplication.
Sitewide footer
One paste into the theme footer through your theme options or a code snippets tool puts a rating badge on every page. Do this once rather than editing thirty pages, and it survives theme content changes.
Honest comparison
Google reviews tools for WordPress compared: price, sources, what they cannot do
Checked against vendor pages and the WordPress.org plugin directory in July 2026. Confirm current pricing before you buy, because these change without notice.
| Tool | How it installs | Price in 2026 | Sources | Collects new reviews? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trustindex (Widgets for Google Reviews) | WordPress plugin, the most installed in this category | Free tier, paid plans from roughly $65 per year | Google plus other platforms on paid tiers | No, display only |
| Elfsight Google Reviews | Hosted widget, script tag | Free tier, then about $6, $12 and $24 per month by monthly widget views | Google, one app per platform | No, display only |
| EmbedSocial | Hosted widget, script tag | About $49 per month for 6 sources, $99 for 15 | Many, on the higher tiers | Limited, on higher tiers |
| Tagembed | Plugin and hosted widget | Free tier, paid plans by feed and view volume | Many social and review platforms | No, display only |
| WP Social Ninja | WordPress plugin | Paid, per site licence | Reviews plus social feeds and chat | No, display only |
| ReviewJet | Hosted widget, script tag | $24 per month billed yearly, $49 monthly, flat | Google, G2, Trustpilot, direct | Yes, email and SMS request campaigns |
Credit where it is due
Trustindex has by far the largest footprint in this category. Its Widgets for Google Reviews plugin shows over 900,000 active installations and a 4.9 star rating across more than 2,600 reviews on WordPress.org as of July 2026. If your entire requirement is a Google reviews grid on one WordPress site and you never want a subscription, take it and stop reading. We would rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.
Where the display-only tools run out
Every tool above except us is a shop window. It shows the reviews you already earned and does nothing about the fact that most businesses have too few of them, because nobody asks consistently. ReviewJet runs the ask as well: automated email and SMS review request campaigns fire off a trigger you choose, then the reviews they produce land in the same widget on your WordPress page. One account instead of two subscriptions.
Note on view-metered pricing: several hosted widget vendors bill by monthly widget views, which means a page that starts performing costs you more than a page nobody visits. ReviewJet does not meter widget views. Plans are limited by review requests sent, not by traffic to the pages you worked hard to grow.
Straight answers
Two things Google reviews plugins are still promising that are not true
Both of these appear on plugin listing pages every week, and both cost people money and trust.
"Review schema for SEO, get star ratings in Google"
Google stopped showing review rich results for self-serving reviews on 16 September 2019, and its announcement names embedded third-party review widgets explicitly. Marking up reviews you display about your own business will not put stars under your search listing, whatever the plugin description says. Product review snippets are a different case and are still eligible, which is why the myth survives.
What embedded reviews genuinely do: they hold people on the page, answer the objection sitting in the visitor's head at the exact moment it forms, and lift conversion on pricing and checkout pages. Those are worth more than a star in a SERP anyway. They are just not the same claim.
"Import all your Google reviews"
Tools that pull reviews through the Google Places API get a limited set per place, typically five. That is a hard ceiling on what they can ever display, and it is why some plugins quietly show the same handful of reviews forever. Ask any vendor how they source reviews before you believe an "all your reviews" claim, and check whether the widget updates when a new review lands.
Whichever tool you pick, display Google reviews the way Google requires: unedited, attributed to the reviewer by name, linking back to the review. Google Maps Platform terms require that attribution and prohibit exporting or scraping Maps content outside the permitted services. Editing a review to remove the awkward sentence is both a terms problem and, more importantly, the fastest way to make your whole reviews section look staged.
Who it suits
Who should skip the plugin
Four situations where a WordPress plugin will cost you more work than it saves.
Agencies running client sites
Twenty client sites means twenty plugin installs, twenty update cycles and twenty things that can break during a WordPress core release. One widget account with a workspace per client means one place to look. Our white label review management page covers running this under your own brand.
B2B SaaS with a WordPress marketing site
Your credibility lives on G2 as much as Google, and a Google-only plugin cannot show it. One feed that merges G2 reviews with Google and Trustpilot puts all your proof in the one place buyers are already looking, which is the pricing page.
Anyone mid-replatform
If WordPress might become Webflow, Framer or Next.js in the next two years, do not tie your social proof to a plugin. A script tag moves across in a copy and paste. A plugin build has to be redone.
Businesses with too few reviews
If you have eleven Google reviews, a beautiful display widget is not your problem. Fix the input first: an automated request after every completed job compounds quietly, and the widget gets better on its own as the reviews arrive.
FAQ
Questions people ask about Google reviews on WordPress
Keep going
Related pages
Review widget
The pillar page: layouts, platforms and setup for every stack.
Google reviews widget
The Google-only widget, in depth.
Reviews aggregator
Merge Google, G2 and Trustpilot into one feed.
Review generation software
Automated email and SMS requests that earn the reviews.
Can I use Google reviews on my website?
What Google actually allows you to display.
How to display reviews on your website
Placement, layouts and what to avoid.
Wall of love
A full-page testimonial layout for WordPress and anything else.
Pricing
Starter, Plus and Pro, with what is in each.
Put your reviews to work
Automated requests, one widget for every source, live on your site this afternoon.
From $24/mo, billed yearly. No per-review fees.