Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy

by Automattic

View on WordPress.org

74 Quality Score

Active Installs

23/30

With 100,000 active installs, it has real traction but sits well below the million-install plugins in this category.

Update Freshness

24/25

Last updated in March 2026 and tested against WordPress 6.8.5, it is clearly being maintained actively.

User Rating

9/15

A perfect 100/100 from only 3 ratings is encouraging but statistically thin, hence the middling score here.

Support Health

8/15

Only 1 support thread with 0 resolved is a yellow flag for a plugin with this install base, though low volume may reflect low need.

WP Compatibility

11/15

Requires WordPress 6.6 and PHP 7.4, which excludes sites running older stacks but covers the vast majority of current installs.

Scores higher than 37% of indexed plugins

About

The official Gravatar plugin, featuring privacy-focused settings, easy profile updates, and customizable Gravatar Profile blocks.

Active Installs 100k+

Rating ★★★★★ 5/5

Last Updated 2026-03-17 4:18pm GMT

Requires WordPress 6.6+

Tested Up To 6.8.8

Requires PHP 7.4+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Gravatar Enhanced is the official Gravatar plugin for WordPress, letting site owners display user avatars from the global Gravatar service alongside their profile information. It adds profile blocks and easy profile editing tools, with privacy-focused controls for how avatar data is handled on your site. In practice, it makes comments and author bylines feel more personal without forcing you to manage local avatar uploads.

Who It's For

This plugin is a good fit for blogs with active comment sections, membership sites, multi-author publications, and community platforms where showing recognizable user photos builds engagement. It is especially useful for coaches, journalists, and creative portfolios where a personal face matters. The privacy controls make it reasonable for sites serving EU visitors.

Who Should Skip It

If your site has few commenters, no author profiles, or you already use a membership plugin that handles avatars natively, this adds little value. Sites running heavy user-management suites like BuddyPress or Ultimate Member may get duplicate functionality and should skip it.

The Bottom Line

Gravatar Enhanced scores 75.14/100 and does its core job well, with strong maintenance and official backing. The thin rating pool and 0% resolved support rate are real concerns for anyone relying on it heavily. It is a solid, low-risk add-on for sites that want better avatars, but not a transformative plugin.

Pick Akismet instead if your main concern is comment spam rather than avatar personalization.

Complianz: GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent 92/100

Choose Complianz if you need full cookie consent and privacy compliance, not just avatar privacy settings.

User Profile Builder 90/100

Pick User Profile Builder if you need full registration forms, custom profile fields, and role editing, not just avatars.

Compliance by Hu-manity.co 89/100

Choose this if consent management is your real priority and avatar features are secondary.

Antispam Bee 88/100

Pick Antispam Bee if you want a free, privacy-friendly spam filter for comments without avatar needs.