How to Add a Facebook Review Widget to WordPress (No Plugin)
Facebook Review Widget for WordPress (Free, No Plugin Required)
How to add a Facebook review widget to a WordPress website: create the widget in BlooTrue, copy the one-line embed code, then in the WordPress block editor add a Custom HTML block and paste it. No plugin, no PHP, no theme edits, and it works on every theme and on WordPress.com Business and self-hosted WordPress.org sites. Facebook retired star ratings in 2018 and replaced them with Recommendations, and Facebook's own Page Plugin does not render those Recommendations at all, so a third-party widget is the only way to show Facebook reviews on your own site. Because a WordPress embed sits in the page DOM rather than a sandboxed iframe, the widget can also carry review schema for rich snippets. BlooTrue is free with unlimited widget views and syncs new Facebook Recommendations daily on paid plans.
There are hundreds of WordPress review plugins, and you do not need one. WordPress ships with a Custom HTML block that accepts any embed code, on every theme, on both WordPress.org and WordPress.com Business plans. The part that trips people up is not WordPress at all — it is Facebook, which quietly stopped offering star ratings years ago and never shipped a widget that displays what replaced them.
→ Create your free Facebook widget for WordPress or browse all review widgets for WordPress.
First, the Facebook Problem: Recommendations, Not Stars
Facebook retired one-to-five star ratings in 2018. Pages now collect Recommendations: each visitor either recommends your business or does not, leaves a comment, and Facebook shows the share of people who recommend you. That is the data your Page actually holds today.
This matters for WordPress because Facebook's official embed, the Page Plugin, renders your Page timeline, cover photo and a Like button. It does not render Recommendations. So if you have been searching for "Facebook reviews plugin for WordPress" and finding nothing that works, that is why: there is no first-party option to install. A third-party widget reads your Page's Recommendations and displays them, converting them to stars for a familiar look.
Two prerequisites on the Facebook side. You need a Page, not a personal profile, and Recommendations have to be switched on for it (Page Settings → Privacy → Page and Tagging, or under Templates and Tabs depending on your Page layout). If the Reviews or Recommendations tab is hidden on your Page, there is nothing for any widget to pull.
The 60-Second Method: The Custom HTML Block
With the Facebook side sorted, WordPress is the easy half. One paste, no plugin, nothing added to pages where you do not place it.
Step 1: Create your widget
Open the free Facebook widget builder, connect your Page, and pick a style. Facebook Recommendations often carry photos, so a grid or wall style earns its space here in a way it would not for a text-only source.
Step 2: Copy the embed code
One script tag plus one div. Copy the whole snippet.
Step 3: Add a Custom HTML block
In the block editor, click the + button, search "Custom HTML", and paste the snippet into it. In the Classic editor, switch from Visual to the Text tab first, then paste. Do not paste into a Paragraph block — WordPress escapes the script tag and you will see the raw code on your page.
Step 4: Preview and publish
Use the block's Preview toggle to confirm it renders, then publish. The widget sizes itself to the container — unlike an iframe embed, there is no height to set by hand.
Sidebar, Footer and Site-Wide Placement
A Custom HTML block works anywhere blocks work, which in a modern block theme means the whole site. Appearance → Editor lets you drop the same block into a footer template part, and it then appears on every page, including posts. On a classic theme, Appearance → Widgets gives you the same Custom HTML option for sidebars and footer widget areas.
For a local business the strongest placements are the homepage, directly under the hero, and any page where someone decides to contact you — a booking page, a quote form, a service page. A compact badge style in the footer keeps the rating visible everywhere without competing for attention. More patterns are on the WordPress widget hub.
WordPress Review Plugins vs. an Embed Widget
A plugin runs PHP on every request, adds database tables, and becomes one more thing to keep updated and one more place a vulnerability can appear. It also ties your reviews display to WordPress: move to another platform and you rebuild it. An embed widget is one script tag. The same code works on any platform, so the display survives a replatform.
WordPress does have one genuine advantage over locked-down builders here. Because the embed renders in your page's own DOM rather than inside a sandboxed iframe, review markup can be read as part of the page. If star rich snippets in search results are the goal, pair this with our guide on getting stars in search results.
Troubleshooting: WordPress-Specific Issues
You see the raw code on the page instead of the widget: the snippet went into a Paragraph block or the Classic editor's Visual tab, both of which escape HTML. Move it to a Custom HTML block or the Text tab.
The widget renders in the editor but not on the live site: a caching plugin is almost always the cause. Clear the cache in WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, W3 Total Cache or your host's own cache, then hard-refresh. If you use a JavaScript minifier or a "defer all scripts" option, exclude the widget script from it.
The script tag disappears after saving: some security plugins and all non-administrator roles strip script tags on save. Publish it while logged in as an administrator, and check whether Wordfence, Sucuri or a similar plugin is filtering post content.
It works on WordPress.org but not WordPress.com: free and Personal WordPress.com plans block custom scripts entirely. You need the Business plan or higher, or a self-hosted WordPress.org install.
The widget shows no reviews: check the Facebook side rather than WordPress. The Page needs Recommendations enabled and at least one Recommendation left on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need a plugin to show Facebook reviews on WordPress?
- No. WordPress's built-in Custom HTML block accepts the embed code directly, on any theme. A plugin adds PHP, database tables and an update surface for something one script tag already does.
- Why can't I use Facebook's own plugin for reviews?
- Facebook's Page Plugin renders your Page timeline and a Like button, not Recommendations. Facebook has never shipped an official embed for the reviews on a Page, which is why a third-party widget is the only route.
- Does this work on WordPress.com as well as self-hosted WordPress?
- On self-hosted WordPress.org, always. On WordPress.com you need the Business plan or higher, because the free and Personal plans block custom scripts.
- Will the Facebook reviews show as stars?
- Facebook stores Recommendations rather than one-to-five ratings, and the widget displays them in a familiar star layout alongside the reviewer's comment, so visitors read it the way they read any review block.
- Do new Facebook Recommendations appear automatically?
- On paid BlooTrue plans, yes — they sync daily with no changes in WordPress. The free plan displays the reviews imported when you created the widget.