10 Best Meks Smart Author Widget Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Meks Smart Author Widget has 10,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Meks Smart Author Widget
- 1
Author Avatars
Closest matchAuthor Avatars List/Block
4.8 (32) 4,000+ active installsDisplay lists of user avatars using widgets or shortcodes. With Gutenberg support.
Shares the author, avatar, profile tags on WordPress.org. About a third of the installs, last updated 30 days ago.
- 2
4.5 (29) 20,000+ active installsAllow registered users to upload & select their own avatars.
Shares the avatar, profile, user tags on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, last updated March 28, 2026.
- 3
4.6 (89) 100,000+ active installsAdds an avatar upload field to user profiles. Generates requested sizes on demand just like Gravatar!
Shares the avatar, profile tags on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, last updated 18 days ago.
- 4
4.7 (42) 20,000+ active installsAdd an avatar upload field on frontend pages and Edit Profile screen so users can add a custom profile picture.
Shares the avatar, profile tags on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, no update since November 15, 2024.
- 5
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture
4.7 (41) 100,000+ active installsUse any image from your WordPress Media Library as a custom user avatar or user profile picture. Add your own Default Avatar.
Shares the avatar, profile tags on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, last updated 17 days ago.
- 6
4.6 (59) 40,000+ active installsSet a custom profile image (avatar) for a user using the standard WordPress media upload tool.
Shares the avatar tag on WordPress.org. About 4 times the installs, last updated July 9, 2026.
- 7
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor
4.7 (735) 40,000+ active installsPowerful user profile plugin to create front-end user registration forms, login & user profile forms. Includes user role editor & content restriction.
Shares the profile tag on WordPress.org. About 4 times the installs, last updated 12 days ago.
- 8
4.9 (39) 5,000+ active installsAvatar Manager for WordPress is a sweet and simple plugin for storing avatars locally and more. Easily.
Shares the profile tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, no update since February 2, 2021.
- 9
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities
4.6 (236) 5,000+ active installsCustom user profiles plugin ❤ with paid memberships, groups, communities, content restriction, user registration, messaging, WooCommerce memberships, …
Shares the profile tag on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated 2 days ago.
- 10
4.9 (28) 6,000+ active installsAutomatically generate beautiful user avatars based on their initials.
Shares the avatar, user tags on WordPress.org. About half the installs, last updated December 18, 2025.
Switching from Meks Smart Author Widget: common questions
What is the best alternative to Meks Smart Author Widget?
Author Avatars is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 4,000+ active installs with a 4.8 out of 5 rating.
Which Meks Smart Author Widget alternative has the most users?
Simple Local Avatars, with 100,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Meks Smart Author Widget alternative is rated highest?
User Profile Builder, rated 4.7 out of 5 by 735 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Meks Smart Author Widget alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Meks Smart Author Widget score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Meks Smart Author Widget on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
Author Avatars is the closest match to Meks Smart Author Widget by the data we track, and Simple Local Avatars has the widest reach with 100,000+ active installs. ProfileGrid shipped the most recent release, on September 5, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.