With Judge.me retiring their WooCommerce plugin, you might be wondering what to do next. If your eCommerce webiste relies on reviews, it’s important to have a plan so you don’t lose valuable feedback or customer engagement. Multi-channel review collection via email, SMS, WhatsApp and social media can really help boost responses and conversions, so it’s worth thinking carefully about your replacement.
Reviews can help with conversions on your website, they can also help to lower the return rates (for unsuitable products for example). Around 70–90% of shoppers check reviews before they buy. Making it easy for customers to leave feedback is key. Keep things simple with short forms, star ratings and optional text or images. Using multiple channels also helps. Email is still very effective, with typical open rates of 20–30% for review requests and 5–10% conversion. SMS often gets even better responses because it’s fast and convenient. For tech-savvy audiences, WhatsApp or social media requests are worth considering.
When deciding on a replacement for Judge.me, it’s important to be clear about what you want the reviews to achieve. Essentially, you need to consider whether you’re looking to:
Your priorities here will influence whether a SaaS solution or a native WordPress plugin is the best fit.
SaaS platforms tend to excel at automation, multi-channel outreach (email, SMS, social media), and analytics, which can help with credibility and engagement. Native plugins, on the other hand, keep your reviews on-site, which is great for on-page SEO and gives you full control over how they’re displayed.
SaaS platforms host reviews on external servers. They tend to offer strong automation for emails, SMS and sometimes social media outreach. Analytics and reporting are usually built in. SEO impact can be a little limited because reviews are displayed via widgets rather than directly on your pages. Examples include WP Social Ninja, Yotpo, Trustpilot and Feefo.
Native WordPress plugins store reviews on your website. That’s great for SEO because reviews contribute directly to your pages and structured data for rich snippets. You also have full control over formatting, display and your data. Automation and multi-channel outreach may be more limited or require extra plugins.
Let’s have a look at some alternatives to Judge.me
Independent cloud-hosted platform for verified reviews. Automated emails and SMS (in some regions via API). Reviews can be shared on social media and displayed via widgets. Integration with Google Seller Ratings is possible. SEO impact comes from widgets rather than on-page content. Pros are strong trust signals and brand credibility. Cons are higher cost, hosted externally and less SEO control.
Verified cloud-hosted platform. Automated emails and SMS available through certain plans. Limited social or WhatsApp integrations. Can show product or seller ratings on Google. Structured data included but reviews are mostly off-site. Pros are credibility and verification. Cons are external hosting, less SEO control and higher cost.
Premium cloud-hosted platform, WooCommerce compatible and able to import Judge.me reviews. Automates email and SMS review requests and allows sharing to social channels. Can integrate with Google Reviews via API or add-ons. SEO benefits include structured data and rich snippets, although some review text sits off-site. Pros are feature-rich automation and detailed reporting. Cons are higher cost and external hosting.
Cloud-hosted, WooCommerce compatible and can import Judge.me reviews. Emails and SMS are automated, and it can pull in reviews from Facebook and Instagram. Google Reviews can also be imported and displayed. Structured data is included for rich snippets, although widgets mean slightly less on-page SEO impact than native. Pros are multi-channel outreach, analytics and automation. The reviews are hosted externally, so you have slightly less control.
Fully native WordPress/WooCommerce plugin. Can import Judge.me reviews via CSV. Email requests built-in, SMS requires third-party plugins. No WhatsApp or social media support and no Google Reviews integration. SEO is strong because reviews are stored on your website and structured data is applied directly to product pages. Pros are full control, strong SEO and on-website data. Cons are limited automation and fewer multi-channel options.
Whether you go for a SaaS solution like WP Social Ninja, Yotpo, Trustpilot or Feefo, or a native plugin like Site Reviews, it comes down to your priorities. SaaS platforms make it easy to automate review requests across multiple channels and give you analytics and reporting, whereas a native plugin keeps all your data on-site and maximises SEO benefits.
If you’re a WooCommerce store owner and Judge.me is no longer supporting your website, don’t panic. You still have options to keep your reviews. We offer fast, practical solutions to: export and migrate your existing Judge.me reviews, set up a new review plugin, and to maintain your SEO. Contact b:web today and get your reviews working again.
