Basic User Avatars vs Avatar Manager (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Avatar Manager has a higher user rating (4.9/5 from 39 reviews) while Basic User Avatars leads in active installations (20K+ vs 6.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. Basic User Avatars has accumulated 196K+ total downloads while Avatar Manager has 114K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Basic User Avatars | Avatar Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | ► | 4.9/5 |
| Total Reviews | 41 | ◄ | 39 |
| Active Installs | 20K+ | ◄ | 6.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 196K+ | ◄ | 114K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 1 year ago | ◄ | 5 years ago |
| First Released | 2014 | 2013 | |
| Age | 12 years | 13 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.2+ | 3.5+ | |
| PHP Requires | false+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 1.0.9 | 1.6.1 |
Rating Breakdown
Basic User Avatars
Avatar Manager
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, Basic User Avatars averaged approximately 49 daily downloads while Avatar Manager averaged 5.
Recent Reviews
Basic User Avatars Reviews
Simply outstanding!
Great plugin. Thank you
Perfect!
Simple, objective and clean. Effective for users to upload their profile picture on the frontend. Congratulations!
Excellent solution for local gravatar
Simple, light, secure and easy to customize. Thanks!
Avatar Manager Reviews
Works in WP 6.4.2, Not sure is Still Supported
First off great that this plugin works, doesn’t cause download of huge images to display as small avatars and seems to work well 🙂 I like that it supports gravatar as a default. I’m not sure it
So sad, I had to deactivate Avatar Manager
Much appreciated Avatar Manager… until after a recent update, it caused a strange effect in our User Submitted Posts. (USP Pro) What happened was, logged in users were no longer able to submit the pos
Very useful plugin, thank you!
Very useful plugin, thank you!
More Gravatar Worth Comparing
Top alternatives in the same category as Basic User Avatars and Avatar Manager
Use any image from your WordPress Media Library as a custom user avatar or user profile picture. Add your own Default Avatar.
Adds an avatar upload field to user profiles. Generates requested sizes on demand just like Gravatar!
Set a custom profile image (avatar) for a user using the standard WordPress media upload tool.
Simple User Avatar helps users to add or remove their avatar using images from his Media Library.
Stops WordPress from grabbing a user avatar using their registrated email from gravatar.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Basic User Avatars or Avatar Manager more popular?
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.