TL;DR: You do not need a paid Trustpilot plan to get more reviews. Claim your free profile, share your direct review link in post-purchase emails and order confirmations, and ask every customer consistently. The free tier limits automated invitations, but manual link sharing and third-party review request tools bypass that restriction entirely.
What Is Trustpilot and Who Needs It?
Trustpilot is an open review platform used primarily by e-commerce, SaaS, and service businesses. Unlike Google reviews (which serve local businesses) or Tripadvisor (which serves hospitality), Trustpilot focuses on online businesses where the customer never visits a physical location.
A Trustpilot review is a 1-5 star rating plus written feedback, displayed on your Trustpilot business profile. Your TrustScore — an aggregate of all reviews — appears in search results, Google Shopping ads, and on the Trustpilot badges many websites display.
If you sell products or services online and your competitors have Trustpilot profiles, you need one too. A bare Trustpilot profile with zero reviews is worse than no profile at all — it signals that nobody trusts you enough to leave feedback.
The Trustpilot Pricing Problem
The Trustpilot free plan lets you claim a profile and receive reviews. But Trustpilot monetizes heavily through paid plans that unlock automated review invitations, advanced analytics, and marketing widgets.
The practical issue: on the free plan, you can only send a limited number of review invitations per month through the built-in tools. If you process hundreds of orders, you cannot invite every customer through the Trustpilot system without upgrading.
The workaround: do not rely on the Trustpilot invitation system. Use your own email, SMS, or review management tool to send customers your direct Trustpilot review link. Trustpilot cannot limit how many people click a link you share outside their platform.
Step 1: Claim Your Free Trustpilot Profile
- Go to business.trustpilot.com and create a free account.
- Claim your business by verifying your domain.
- Add your logo, business description, and contact information.
- Set your business category.
- Verify your profile is publicly visible by searching for your business on Trustpilot.
A complete profile converts more visitors into reviewers. An empty profile with no logo and a generic description gets skipped.
Step 2: Find Your Direct Review Link
Your Trustpilot review link is:
trustpilot.com/evaluate/[your-domain.com]
For example, if your website is acmeshoes.com, your Trustpilot review link is trustpilot.com/evaluate/acmeshoes.com.
Test this link in an incognito window. It should take you directly to the review submission form for your business. This is the link you will include in every review request.
Step 3: Add the Link to Your Post-Purchase Flow
The highest-converting moment to ask for a Trustpilot review is after the customer has received and used your product or service. Not at purchase. Not at shipping. After delivery.
Order confirmation email: Add a small note: “Once your order arrives, we would love your feedback on Trustpilot: [link].”
Delivery confirmation email: This is the best trigger. The customer just received their order and has the product in hand. Include: “How did we do? Leave a quick review on Trustpilot: [link].”
Post-purchase follow-up (7-14 days): If you send a satisfaction check-in email, include the Trustpilot link. This catches customers who used the product and now have an opinion.
Step 4: Use External Review Request Tools
The Trustpilot free plan limits their built-in invitation tool, but third-party review request tools can send unlimited invitations with your Trustpilot link included.
ReviewGlow review generation automates post-purchase review requests across Google, Trustpilot, and other platforms. You set the trigger (order delivered, service completed), the delay (24 hours, 7 days), and the platforms. The customer gets one message with links to leave a review where they prefer.
This approach is fully compliant with Trustpilot guidelines. You are not spoofing their system. You are sharing a public URL — the same thing Trustpilot encourages businesses to do.
14-day free trial. Every feature unlocked. Cancel anytime.
Step 5: Add Trustpilot to Your Website
Displaying your TrustScore and recent reviews on your website serves two purposes: it builds trust for visitors, and it reminds past customers to leave their own review.
Options:
- Trustpilot widget: Trustpilot offers free embeddable widgets that show your TrustScore and recent reviews. Available on all plans.
- ReviewGlow widget: If you manage reviews across multiple platforms, a review widget from ReviewGlow displays Trustpilot, Google, and other reviews in one place.
- Footer badge: A small Trustpilot badge in your website footer with your TrustScore and a “Review us on Trustpilot” link.
Common Mistakes With Trustpilot Reviews
Cherry-picking happy customers
Trustpilot guidelines explicitly prohibit sending review invitations only to customers you expect to leave positive reviews. This is review gating, and Trustpilot enforces it. Send invitations to all customers or risk a compliance warning on your profile.
Offering incentives
No discounts, coupons, freebies, or contest entries in exchange for reviews. Trustpilot flags incentivized reviews and may add a consumer alert to your profile.
Ignoring the free tools
The Trustpilot free plan includes basic review invitation capability, a profile page, and response tools. Many businesses assume they need a paid plan before they can do anything. They do not. Start free, build volume, then evaluate whether paid tools justify the cost.
Not responding to reviews
An unanswered negative review on Trustpilot lingers publicly. Respond to every review — positive and negative. For templates, see our guide on how to respond to Trustpilot reviews.
Trustpilot Reviews vs Google Reviews
| Factor | Trustpilot | Google Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | E-commerce, SaaS, online services | Local businesses, service businesses |
| Review format | 1-5 stars + text | 1-5 stars + text |
| TrustScore or rating | Aggregate TrustScore shown in search | Star rating shown in Maps and Search |
| Free review invitations | Limited on free plan | Unlimited (no built-in tool — use your own) |
| SEO impact | Trustpilot pages rank for brand queries | Direct local ranking factor |
| Cost | Free tier available; paid plans from around $259/mo | Free |
For most businesses, Google reviews deliver more SEO impact. Trustpilot is the right addition when you sell online and your audience checks Trustpilot before buying — common in e-commerce and SaaS.
Conclusion
Getting more Trustpilot reviews does not require a paid plan. Claim your free profile, find your direct review link, and add it to your post-purchase email flow. Use external tools to send review requests at scale without Trustpilot invitation limits. Respond to every review. Display your TrustScore on your website.
The businesses that win on Trustpilot are the ones that ask consistently. That is it.
Automate Trustpilot and Google review requests with ReviewGlow — 14-day free trial, every feature unlocked, cancel anytime.
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