Display reviews

Elfsight alternative for Google reviews: an honest comparison

Elfsight vs Revys for Google reviews: pricing, view limits, tested HTML vs JavaScript rendering and AI review replies. Checked October 19, 2026.

By Oz IlyasFounder of Revys

Published October 19, 2026

Contents

Elfsight is often the first tool people find when they want Google reviews on their website: a no-signup demo, a visual editor, one snippet to paste. People start looking for an alternative when they hit the view limit, when they want to reply to reviews in the same place, or when they realize their reviews aren't in their page's HTML.

Checked on October 19, 2026 against Elfsight's public pages. Revys is our product, and we're telling you up front so you can read this comparison with that in mind.

How we compared Elfsight and Revys

We collected Elfsight's pricing page, its Google Reviews Widget page and its help center articles on the same day. We did not use a paid Elfsight account.

For rendering, we ran three checks:

The public demo. The widget page embeds the demo editor at dash.elfsight.com/demo/google-reviews. Fetched with curl, without running JavaScript (the way GPTBot or ClaudeBot see it), it's 6.7 KB and contains no review text at all, only scripts. Everything appears after JavaScript runs.
The install code. Per Elfsight's help center, the embed is a <script src="…/platform.js"> tag plus an empty <div class="elfsight-app-…">. The script injects the reviews into that div in the visitor's browser.
Elfsight's own position. Its help center says modern search engines "can render and index client-side JavaScript". That's accurate for Google, which renders JavaScript in a later pass. It doesn't apply to AI crawlers that read raw HTML.

Elfsight vs Revys at a glance

Criteria (checked October 19, 2026)	Elfsight	Revys
Catalog	96 widgets (reviews, chat, forms, social feeds…)	Google reviews only
Review platforms	Google; 20+ platforms via the All-in-One Reviews widget	Google only (Facebook and Trustpilot coming)
Free plan	200 views/month, 1 widget, Elfsight branding	1 location, unlimited widgets and views, Revys credit
Paid pricing (single app)	Basic $5/mo (5,000 views, 3 widgets), Pro $10/mo (50,000 views, 9 widgets), Premium $20/mo (150,000 views, 21 widgets), billed yearly	Pro $7.90/month for the first location, $3.90 for locations 2–20, $2.20 after; monthly or annual
View limit	Yes; over the limit, the app is temporarily deactivated	None
Google connection	Place ID, address or name, no Google login	Owner authorization through the Google Business Profile API
Time for a new review to appear	"Usually within 72 hours"	Synced nightly
How reviews render	JavaScript in the page: not in the HTML	WordPress plugin and server include: in the HTML; JS snippet (iframe) elsewhere
Layouts	6	5: grid, list, carousel, wall, badge
Review replies	No	AI replies on Pro, 1–3★ reviews held for your approval
Structured data	Product markup by default (can be turned off)	Organization or LocalBusiness, no AggregateRating
Platforms	All major site builders, Shopify app	WordPress plugin, server include, API, JS snippet everywhere else
Data	Stored on Google Cloud Platform (region not stated)	App and database hosted in Germany (EU)

Elfsight prices are in US dollars as displayed; Revys prices are in US dollars excluding tax (pricing).

What Elfsight does better than Revys

One subscription for your whole site. The 96 Apps Pack also covers chat, forms, Instagram feeds and countdown timers. Revys only does Google reviews.
More review sources. The All-in-One Reviews widget combines Google, Facebook, Amazon, Yelp and 20+ other platforms.
No profile access needed. Elfsight can show reviews from a Place ID or Google Maps link. Revys needs the profile owner's authorization: more reliable, but you need the access.
The editor and demo. You can configure a widget live on their site without an account, with more styling options than Revys.
Ecosystem. A Shopify app, install guides for dozens of platforms, free installation help.
Entry price for a low-traffic site. $5/month billed yearly, if 5,000 monthly views is enough.

Where Revys is different

Your reviews in your HTML. On WordPress, the Revys plugin writes reviews into the page. On PHP or Next.js, the server include does the same. Google reads the content without waiting for JavaScript rendering, and AI crawlers see it too. Why that matters: reviews and AI search.

No view counter. A traffic spike won't switch your reviews off, free plan included.

All your reviews, from the official source. Revys uses the Google Business Profile API, so it pulls all your reviews rather than a limited selection.

Replies in the same place. On Pro, every new review gets a draft reply in your tone; approve it or let it post after a delay. See AI review replies.

Who should pick Elfsight, and who should pick Revys?

Your situation	Better fit
You want several widget types (chat, forms, social) on one subscription	Elfsight
You want Google, Facebook and Yelp in one widget	Elfsight (All-in-One)
You don't have access to the business's Google profile	Elfsight
Your site gets more traffic than the view limits allow	Revys
You want AI crawlers to read your reviews (WordPress, PHP, Next.js)	Revys
You want to reply to Google reviews with AI	Revys
Your site is on Wix and you just want reviews displayed	Either: same JavaScript limitation

More comparisons: Trustindex, EmbedSocial, and our best Google reviews widgets roundup.

How to switch from Elfsight to Revys

Connect your Google Business Profile
Create a Revys account and authorize access to your Business Profile. Your reviews are imported automatically.
Recreate your layout
Pick grid, list, carousel, wall or badge, then your colors. If your Elfsight widget filtered reviews by rating, keep in mind that showing only 5-star reviews looks less credible.
Replace the Elfsight code
Remove the <div class="elfsight-app-…"> from the page, and the platform.js tag if no other Elfsight widget remains. Install the WordPress plugin, the server include or, on Wix and Shopify, the Revys snippet instead (see our Wix page).
Check the page source
Press Ctrl+U on the page and search for a sentence from one review. With the plugin or the server include, it should be there.
Downgrade or cancel Elfsight
If you keep other Elfsight widgets, move to the plan that fits them alone. Otherwise, cancel before your annual renewal date.

Every embedding method is compared in how to embed Google reviews on your website.

FAQ

How much is Elfsight per month?

On October 19, 2026, Elfsight lists a Free plan (200 views a month, 1 widget, Elfsight branding), then single-app plans at $5/month (Basic), $10/month (Pro) and $20/month (Premium), billed yearly. The 96 Apps Pack starts at $15/month, billed yearly.

What happens when you go over Elfsight's view limit?

According to Elfsight's pricing page, a view is counted every time a widget loads, and exceeding the monthly limit temporarily deactivates the app. With 200 views on the free plan, a site with a few visitors a day can hit it quickly.

Is the Elfsight Google reviews widget good for SEO?

Elfsight says its widgets render client-side with JavaScript and that Google can index them. That holds for Google, which renders JavaScript in a second pass. AI crawlers that don't run JavaScript won't see the reviews: in our test, Elfsight's public demo had no review text in its HTML.

Can Elfsight reply to Google reviews?

Not according to its Google Reviews Widget page: it's a display tool. It offers a button inviting visitors to leave a review, not review replies. Revys drafts and posts AI replies on its Pro plan.

Is SociableKIT or another tool a better free option?

We haven't tested SociableKIT. Among the tools we checked, free options for Google reviews are Revys Free (1 location, unlimited views, reviews in your HTML), Trustindex's WordPress plugin (up to 10 reviews) and Featurable's free plan (15 reviews per widget).

Will Elfsight or Revys get me review stars in Google search?

Not for a local business. Google doesn't show stars for reviews a business publishes about itself on its own site, even with markup generated by a widget. Your stars come from your Google Business Profile.