How to Choose the Right Reviews App on Shopify
When was the last time you bought something online without checking the reviews first? Personally, it's the first thing I look at after the product images, often before I even read the entire product description. Reviews are the digital version of word-of-mouth, and it's where you get a product satisfaction summary. They're super important for influencing purchasing decisions and building trust between customers and brands. For Shopify stores, reviews aren’t just nice to have, they're absolutely essential for boosting conversions, improving credibility, and even improving SEO.
When you look at all the review apps available in the Shopify App store, there are 15+ apps all with similar ratings of 4.8 to 5.0 stars, so it can be tricky to know which one to start with and what the difference in features is between these apps.
In this post, I'll break down some of the unique features in review apps, and tell you my personal preference of where I suggest brands start depending on their business needs.
Why Reviews Matter for Shopify Stores
Reviews are one of the most powerful tools for e-commerce success. They act as social proof, building trust and giving potential customers the confidence to buy, especially if they’re discovering your brand for the first time.
Reviews also help reduce return rates. When shoppers can see real feedback, including photos and videos from other customers, they’re more likely to make informed decisions. This means fewer surprises when the product arrives, happier customers, and fewer returns.
While reviews are primarily thought of as benefiting customer decisions, they're also valuable for brands.
Reviews can also boost SEO by improving search visibility. Search engines love fresh page content, and product reviews (as well as brand replies to reviews) help stores rank higher in search results. Some review apps even enable rich snippets, allowing star ratings to appear directly in Google search results, boosting click-through rates.
Getting feedback on products from reviews can also help brands know how to improve product quality, improve the customer experience, and create better marketing strategies. Reviews can bring issues to the attention of the design team, inspire ideas for new products, and brands can use review content in their marketing (think UGC content and message mining!).
Features to Look for in a Shopify Review App
While most Shopify review apps will have all the same basic features, some of them do expand even beyond reviews to be a one-stop shop for building customer relationships and marketing. Let's see some of the features you want to have to maximize reviews:
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Photo & Video Reviews:
Are visual reviews supported? Can customers upload both images and videos, and is there a limit to how many media items or the file size of what can be uploaded?
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Automated Review Requests:
Can it send emails to request reviews after purchases? This is crucial for maximizing the chances that a customer will return to the website to leave a review.
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Incentivized Reviews:
Can you offer discounts or rewards for reviews? Providing a small incentive like a 15% off discount on their next purchase can be an excellent push for customers to take the time to leave a review because they're actually getting something back in return. This also encourages repeat purchases.
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Rich Snippets & SEO Benefits:
Does it display star ratings in Google search results? Being able to see a summary of the product reviews directly on a search engine search result page makes customers more likely to select a product with great reviews.
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Customizability & Widget Options:
Can you adjust the look of the app to match your brand? Some review apps have more options of ways to display reviews. While some limit their options to different widgets on the product template, some apps will additionally have widgets that can go on any page of the website to show UGC content, video carousels, highlight text testimonials and more.
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Able to Collect Custom Information:
Some apps allow you to add additional fields to the review forms, so that you can collect more information that helps other customers make a decision. For example, below you can see how the review app displays the Average Fit based on what customers have said about it. Additionally, each review contains information about the customer's size choice. These details are extremely helpful for customers in choosing their size, improving satisfaction, and reducing returns.
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Q&A Feature:
Many review apps also allow customers to submit questions about the product directly on the product page (see the Q&A tab in the image above). Brands can reply to these questions, and all customers will see the answer. This is a great way to find out what information isn't clearly being communicated on the product page, and for customers to make more informed purchasing decisions.
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Multi-Channel Review Importing:
Can you import reviews from other platforms (Amazon, AliExpress, etc.)? Being able to display reviews collected across channels means more robust reviews on every channel!
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Third-Party Integrations:
Does it work with email marketing, loyalty programs, etc.? While most review apps will integrate with Klaviyo, some will also integrate well with other types of marketing apps, or have their own solution as part of the app.
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Marketing Features:
Some review apps extend their functionality to include email marketing, SMS marketing, loyalty programs and review programs.
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Affordable Pricing & Scalability:
Does it fit your budget currently, does it have the features that you anticipate needing as the store grows, and will the increased price of these features still fit the budget?
Choosing the Right App for Your Business Type
After seeing the types of features a review app can offer above, it probably goes without saying that more features will cost more money. Luckily there's an option for brands at any stage of business.
Shopify did used to have its own free Reviews app but it was extremely basic, without the ability to send review request emails after purchase, and without the ability for customers to upload images. For this reason, we never did recommend using it, and it was eventually discontinued on May 6, 2024. Now everyone must use a third-party app. Now on to our recommendations in 2025.
For small businesses with basic needs
For small businesses that focus on affordability, easy of use, and automation, I always recommend Judge.me. It's so simple to set up, and affordable. They have a free plan that will fit many business' needs, or upgrade to a paid plan which has the main benefit of offering coupon codes to customers to incentivize leaving a review.
This is what I personally install in most of my clients' stores, and is what we use at Luna Templates. Their pricing and features are easy to understand and affordable:
Judge.me pricing starts at $0/month.
For brands focused on aesthetics
For brands that need strong visual customization, I recommend Loox because it has 20+ different widgets to add to a storefront, creating lots of opportunities for displaying visual reviews and showcasing social proof. They even have a post-purchase upsell offer widget and several widgets for referrals.
Loox pricing starts at $10/month.
For brands needing more features
Brands that need more advanced features might be looking for an app that offers multiple solutions. Apps like Yotpo & Stamped.io offer extended functionality like SMS and email marketing, loyalty, and rewards. Store owners may want to stick to one 'brand' of apps to maximize compatibility and lower app costs. This multi-pronged approach helps improve customer loyalty and customer lifetime value. These apps may also be best suited to businesses selling on multiple platforms who need multi-channel review importing.
Yotpo pricing starts at $79/month.
Stamped.io pricing starts at $19/month. 
For high growth brands
High-growth brands may require even more advanced solutions that offer ways to gather more in-depth customer data, more integrations, more features and a more dedicated support team. Okendo is an app that's tailored to high-growth brands.
Okendo pricing starts at $19/month, with its most popular Reviews plan costing $299/month.
Tips for Maximizing Review App Effectiveness
Choosing the right review app is just the first step. How you use the app makes all the difference. For some final tips on maximizing the effectiveness of any of the above Shopify review apps:
1. Send Automated Review Requests at the Right Time
Most customers won’t leave a review unless prompted. Use automated emails or SMS to request reviews at the right moment—typically a few days after delivery. For digital products or services, ask once they’ve had time to see results.
2. Incentivize Reviews
Offering a discount, loyalty points, or a small freebie in exchange for reviews can boost participation. Careful not to incentivize only positive reviews. We recommend a 15% discount on customers' next purchase.
3. Leverage Photo & Video Reviews
User-generated content is gold. Encourage customers to upload photos or videos alongside their reviews, making your products more relatable and trustworthy.
4. Feature Reviews Across Your Store
Don’t limit reviews to product pages. Showcase them on your homepage, checkout pages, and even collection pages to reinforce trust throughout the buyer’s journey.
5. Respond to Reviews (Especially Negative Ones)
Engaging with both positive and negative reviews shows potential customers that you care. Address concerns professionally, offer solutions, and turn unhappy customers into loyal ones. Responding to reviews is also an opportunity to contribute to SEO.
6. Use Reviews for Marketing & SEO
Highlight top reviews in email campaigns, on social media, and in ads. If your app supports rich snippets, enable them to display star ratings in Google search results for better click-through rates.
Review systems shouldn't only collect feedback. They should build trust with customers, drive sales, and inform the product team of improvements than can be made.
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