Best Google Review Widgets for Small Business Sites
Short answer: there is no single best Google review widget. Elfsight is the quickest to get onto a page, EmbedSocial and Trustindex connect straight to your Google listing, Trustmary adds a hosted review page, and Kudo suits a business that has no website or wants the widget as one part of a page. Choose on four things: whether it needs your own Google API key, whether it isolates its styles, what the free plan prints or limits, and whether you need a website at all.
A Google reviews widget is a piece of someone else's code that runs on your site indefinitely. The differences that matter are not the layouts, which all look fine in a demo, but what happens on your site in six months. Choosing a Review Widget: 9 Things to Check First goes through the full checklist, and How to Embed Google Reviews on Your Website covers the four ways to get reviews onto a page. This post does not repeat either. It compares specific tools.
What actually separates them
An API key of your own. Some tools, mostly WordPress plugins, ask you to create a Google Cloud project and paste in a Places API key. Smash Balloon's documentation for its Google reviews feed, for example, has a whole page on creating one. That is more setup, a billing account in your name and a secret to look after. Google's Places API also returns at most five reviews for a place, so anything built only on it stays small. Most hosted widgets below take your business name or Place ID instead.
Style isolation. A widget that shares your page's CSS can inherit your theme's fonts and break in odd ways. One that renders inside a shadow root keeps your styles out and its own in. You can check this yourself: open your browser's developer tools on a page with the widget and look for a "#shadow-root" around its markup. We could not confirm this for the vendors below, so we do not claim it for them.
What the free plan prints or limits. Free is where the compromises live, and they differ: a branding badge, a monthly cap on how many times the widget loads, or a limit on how many reviews show. None of those is wrong, but you should know which you are signing up for.
Whether you need a website at all. A widget is code you paste somewhere. If you have no site, you need a page to paste it into, or a tool that also hosts the page.
The tools compared
| Tool | Connects to Google by | Free plan | Needs your own site? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elfsight | Its editor, then an install code | Carries Elfsight branding and meters page views each month | Yes, you paste the code into a page |
| EmbedSocial | Connecting your Google Business Profile | Carries EmbedSocial branding and has a monthly widget view limit | Yes, embed code for a site |
| Trustindex | Your Google Place ID, no Google API key needed | Verify what it prints before you rely on it | Yes, mainly a plugin or embed code |
| Trustmary | Pasting your Google Maps address | Widget has a monthly load limit, then disappears until next month | No, it also hosts a Review Page |
| Kudo | Importing your Google reviews | List layouts and a star badge, "Powered by Kudo" on Free | No, it hosts your page; the widget is optional |
The details behind each row follow. We checked each vendor's own pages in September 2026. Plans change, so read the current one before you commit, and note we state no prices for anyone else.
Elfsight
What it is: a catalogue of widgets that includes a Google Reviews one. You pick a template in its editor, copy an installation code and paste it into a custom HTML block. It works with the common site builders, including Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow and Shopify.
Best at: getting reviews onto a page in a few minutes with no fuss, on almost any builder. If all you want is your Google reviews on your homepage, it is a short path.
Watch for: the free plan carries an Elfsight badge and counts page views per month, and the badge comes off on paid plans. It is a widget catalogue, not a reviews product, so it does not collect new reviews for you. See also Kudo vs Elfsight.
EmbedSocial
What it is: a reviews and social-content widget tool. Its own pages say it connects to your Google Business Profile, syncs new reviews automatically and lets you filter by star rating or keyword, and that the embed goes on WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or any site that takes a JavaScript or iframe code.
Best at: filtering and curating the reviews you show, and syncing without you doing anything.
Watch for: the free plan shows EmbedSocial branding and limits monthly widget views, and choosing which reviews to show is a paid feature according to its own comparison. You still need somewhere to put the embed.
Trustindex
What it is: a widget and plugin tool with many layouts. Its own page says you connect your Google Place ID, that there is no need for a Google API key, and that new reviews update the widget automatically. The WordPress plugin is one of its main routes.
Best at: WordPress sites, and anyone who wants to test a lot of layouts without touching code. The no-API-key setup removes the Google Cloud step that trips up plugin users.
Watch for: we could not confirm from its own pages exactly what the free version prints on the widget, so check a free install before you build a page around it.
Trustmary
What it is: a review collection and display tool. You paste your Google Maps address or search for your business to pull your reviews in, and it makes a widget from them. Its Review Page is a separate public page it hosts, showing your reviews and business information, so a site is not required to use it.
Best at: a business that wants collection, a widget and a hosted page from one tool, and that is happy with a marketing-suite feel.
Watch for: on the free plan the widget has a limited number of monthly loads. Once it has been seen that many times, it disappears until the next month. That is a fair trade for some sites and a bad surprise on a busy one.
Kudo
What it is: we make it, so weigh this entry accordingly. Kudo is a bio page first: a page at getkudo.co/yourname with your links and products on top and your reviews underneath. The widget is the same reviews, embeddable on your own site or on a Shopify or Wix store.
Best at: a business with no website, or one that wants the reviews page and the widget to be the same thing. The widget renders inside a shadow root, so your site's CSS cannot rearrange it, and it reads from a public read-only endpoint, so no database key appears in your page source. Google reviews are imported and kept up to date, and Kudo collects new ones with its own form and QR code.
Watch for: the free plan draws the widget on the four list layouts plus the star badge, and it carries a "Powered by Kudo" badge that cannot be removed. It also publishes 5 reviews, so a wall of 40 shows 5 until Pro, which is $7.99 a month, publishes every review and removes the badge. It is not a widget catalogue, so if you also want an Instagram feed or a map, you need another tool. It does not post to Google or raise your Google rating.
Which one to pick
- You have a site and want the fastest path: Elfsight.
- You want to filter and pick which reviews show, and sync without effort: EmbedSocial.
- You are on WordPress: Trustindex, and check the free install first.
- You want a hosted page and a widget from one review tool: Trustmary.
- You have no website, or want one place for your links, products and reviews: Kudo. If you are in that situation, How to Show Your Google Reviews Without a Website compares all the routes.
Before you install any of them, open a page with the widget, check the page source for a key, and block the vendor's domain to see what your page does when the widget cannot load. That takes five minutes and answers more than any feature list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Google API key for a Google reviews widget?
Not for the hosted tools above. Trustindex says outright that no Google API key is needed, and the others take your business name or address. Plugins that read reviews directly from Google's Places API usually do need a key, and that API returns at most five reviews for a place.
Is there a free Google reviews widget?
Yes, several have free plans, but each has a catch: a branding badge, a monthly view or load limit, or a cap on published reviews. The catch is more important than the word free, so check it on a free install first.
Do Google review widgets slow down my site?
A well-built one adds little. It is worth testing your page speed before and after, and Do Review Apps Slow Down Your Store? shows how.
What happens to the widget if I stop paying?
It depends on the tool. Some remove the widget, some bring back a badge, and one of the tools above hides the widget once its monthly loads are used up. Ask before you build a page around it.
Can I show Google reviews if I have no website?
Yes. Use a tool that hosts a page for you, such as Trustmary's Review Page or Kudo, or share your Google Business Profile. The full list of routes is in How to Show Your Google Reviews Without a Website.