GR Widget

⭐ Show Google reviews on your WordPress site in minutes — no Google API keys, no Google sign-in, and no review data stored in your database.

GR Widget is a Google reviews embed plugin for WordPress: search for your business in wp-admin, pick a layout, and publish with a shortcode or Gutenberg block. Reviews stay fresh because they sync on the GR Widget platform.

Want more control over look and feel? Link a free GRWidget.com account to use the full-featured web builder to manage your WordPress widgets. Upgrade to paid to unlock more widgets and features.

🚀 Unlimited views on every plan — including free. Your widgets are not metered by page views.

Why site owners choose this Google reviews widget

• 🔑 No Google API keys — search by business name; we handle Google data on our servers
• 🧩 Shortcode + Gutenberg block — [grwi_widget id="your-key"] or the GR Widget block to embed Google reviews
• 🎨 5 free layouts — badge, list, grid, carousel, and more (paid plans unlock the full set)
• 🎛️ Hosted builder — link a free account and customise plugin widgets in the full builder on GRWidget.com
• 🔄 Reviews stay fresh — synced on GRWidget.com (weekly on free, daily on paid)
• 🛡️ No local review storage — your WordPress database stays clean
• ✨ Works standalone — create widgets without an account; link or upgrade when you need more

Free WordPress plugin (no account required)

• ✅ Up to 3 Google review widgets per site
• ✅ 5 layouts with local miniature previews in wp-admin
• ✅ Up to 10 reviews displayed per widget
• ✅ Weekly review sync
• ✅ Shortcode and Gutenberg block embeds
• ✅ Embed script loads only on pages that contain a widget
• ✅ Unlimited views — no view caps on free or paid

The free tier is a complete, ongoing product — not a time-limited trial. Existing widgets keep working if you hit the free widget limit.

What upgrading unlocks 💎

Link a GRWidget.com account when you outgrow free. Paid plans are domain-based (clear pricing — not charged per page view):

• ♾️ Unlimited widgets (Site plan and above)
• 📈 More reviews displayed & synced — up to 100 on Site, unlimited on Business/Agency
• ⏱️ Daily sync instead of weekly
• 🎨 All layouts (13+ styles: badges, feeds, stickers, and more)
• 🪄 Filters — highlight the reviews that matter
• 👤 Reviewer photos (and review photos on Business+)
• 🧠 AI review summary (Business+)
• 🔍 JSON-LD / review structured data for search engines (eligibility for rich results is never guaranteed)
• 🏷️ Remove branding on paid web plans; Agency adds white-label and team workspaces
• 🎛️ Advanced style options — colours, fonts, spacing, floating badges, and more in the hosted builder

Compare plans on GRWidget.com when you are ready to upgrade.

How it works

1. Install and activate GR Widget
2. Open GR Widget in wp-admin and search for your business
3. Pick a layout and create your Google review widget
4. Paste the shortcode or insert the block — done
5. (Optional) Link a free GRWidget.com account to customise widgets in the full hosted builder

Widget HTML/CSS/JS is served by the hosted grwidget.js embed and the GRWidget.com API. This plugin is a thin, Plugin Check–friendly client.

Support

🛟 Something not working? Please ask — GR Widget is actively improving, and we address reported issues very quickly.

• 🐞 Report bug — open a widget in Customize, then click Report bug in the top bar. That sends the issue to our team with useful context.
• 💬 Community (WordPress Plugin) — grwidget.com/community/c/wordpress-plugin for install, shortcode, block, and linking questions
• 📘 WordPress.org support forum — wordpress.org/support/plugin/gr-widget

External services

This plugin relies on external services to work. By installing and activating it, you authorize the connections below (similar to Akismet or other SaaS-connected plugins — no separate opt-in checkbox is required because the plugin cannot function without GRWidget.com).

GRWidget.com

What it is: GRWidget.com (operated by EXTHUS LTD) hosts the Google review widget service — API, embed script, review sync, and wp-admin tools.

Used for: Site registration, business search, review sync, widget creation and configuration, plan limits, hosted previews, the style editor, the hosted builder (when you link an account), and serving live embeds on your public site.

When it is contacted:

• Plugin activation — registers your WordPress site and retrieves plan limits
• wp-admin (GR Widget) — business search, widget create/delete, account linking, plan refresh; layout cards use local miniature previews (no iframes); live preview loads grw-preview.js; widget style editor runs entirely in wp-admin
• Widget customisation — colours, fonts, and display options are edited on the native Customise screen in wp-admin (API-backed; no external tabs or iframes). After linking an account, you can also customise the same widgets in the full-featured web builder
• Public site — loads grwidget.com/v1/grwidget.js only on pages that contain a GR Widget shortcode or block (not site-wide); the script fetches widget JSON to render review embeds
• Background — plan limits may refresh twice daily via WordPress cron

Data sent to GRWidget.com:

• Site URL and hostname
• Plugin version
• Site credentials issued at registration (stored locally in WordPress options)
• Business place IDs, names, addresses, ratings, and review counts you select in wp-admin
• Widget layout and style configuration choices
• API token (only when you choose to link a GRWidget.com account)
• Referrer hostname when a visitor loads a widget embed (to verify the widget is used on an allowed domain)

Data not sent by this plugin:

• WordPress user passwords or wp-admin login credentials
• Unrelated site content or visitor analytics
• Payment or billing details (checkout happens on GRWidget.com, not inside the plugin)

Terms and privacy:

• Service: https://grwidget.com
• Privacy policy: https://grwidget.com/privacy
• Terms of use: https://grwidget.com/terms

Google (business data and review links)

What it is: Google Maps / Google Business Profile — the source of business listings and public Google reviews displayed in widgets.

Used for: Business search results and review content are fetched by GRWidget.com from Google on your behalf. Widgets may also show links such as “View on Google” or “Write a review” that open Google in the visitor’s browser.

When it is involved:

• wp-admin — when you search for a business or trigger review sync, your search terms and selected place ID are sent to GRWidget.com, which queries Google server-side (your WordPress site never stores or sends Google API keys)
• Public site — review text, ratings, and business details are served from GRWidget.com (originally sourced from Google). Optional Google links appear in the widget UI; data is sent to Google only if a visitor clicks those links and leaves your site

Data sent:

• To GRWidget.com (then to Google server-side): business search queries, Google place IDs, and business metadata needed to sync reviews
• To Google directly from the visitor’s browser: only when a visitor clicks a Google link in a widget (standard browser navigation; may include referrer URL per the browser’s normal behaviour). The plugin does not call Google APIs from WordPress.

Terms and privacy:

• Google Terms of Service: https://policies.google.com/terms
• Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Google Fonts (optional, visitor browsers)

What it is: Google’s hosted web font service (fonts.googleapis.com), used only when a widget is configured to use a Google Font rather than the site’s inherited/system font.

Used for: Loading the font files that style widget text on the public site.

When it is contacted: When a visitor views a page containing a widget whose style uses a Google Font preset — the hosted grwidget.js embed script injects a stylesheet request to Google Fonts.

Data sent: The visitor’s browser requests font CSS from Google; Google may log the request per its own policies (typically IP address and user-agent). No WordPress user or site-admin data is sent by the plugin for this purpose.

Terms and privacy:

• Google Fonts FAQ (privacy): https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq#what_does_using_the_google_fonts_api_mean_for_the_privacy_of_my_users
• Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Other third parties

This plugin does not load third-party advertising or analytics trackers on your public site. Scripts and styles for wp-admin UI (except the GRWidget.com connections above) are bundled in the plugin. Upgrade and account links open GRWidget.com in your browser only when you click them.