/ Plugin Category

/ Design & Themes

/ Icon Libraries & Fonts

/ Font Awesome

Font Awesome

By fontawesome

Design & Themes / Icon Libraries & Fonts

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Font Awesome Review - In-Depth Analysis

Easily add Font Awesome Free or Pro icons to your WordPress site. This official plugin supports custom icons and troubleshooting for conflicts.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.36/10

User Rating

3.6/5 (based on 61+ reviews)

Active Installations

400,000+

Update Frequency

Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The official way to use Font Awesome Free or Pro icons on your WordPress site, brought to you by the Font Awesome team.

This plugin makes it easy to add Font Awesome icons to your pages, posts, and templates. You can use Pro or Free icons from the latest release or a specific release. It also allows the use of custom icons from your Pro Kits and provides a Font Awesome Kit to add any of the icons.

Once installed, you can add icons as blocks or inline with text. The Icon Chooser makes it simple to search for and select icons. The plugin also includes features to troubleshoot and resolve issues when multiple versions of Font Awesome are loading on your site.

For detailed usage instructions and troubleshooting, refer to the Font Awesome documentation available online.

Comparing to Alternatives

Font Awesome is the official plugin for embedding the popular icon library, but the crowded alternatives list shows many site owners look for simpler, more self-contained ways to add icons without relying on external accounts or quotas.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Official plugin backed by the Font Awesome brand and icon library
Free version works well for basic icon embedding without custom code
Recent updates have improved FSE (Full Site Editor) compatibility and performance
Simple setup for adding social or navigation icons

Weaknesses

Relies on an external account/API token system that has caused site-breaking failures for some users
Gutenberg editor integration is limited, such as lacking easy link support for icons
Numerous lightweight alternatives exist that avoid the account-based model entirely

User Sentiment Analysis

With 61 ratings averaging 3.6/5, sentiment is split: nearly 59% of users give 5 stars, but a substantial 32.8% land in the 1-2 star range, pointing to a polarized experience depending on whether users hit account or licensing issues.

Positive highlights

ilyazzzz calls it 'a normal plugin' and questions the low overall rating
danielepais says it 'worked flawlessly to add social icons onto wp navbar / top menu'
loyaltyoverroyalty praises the latest update for 'fantastic' FSE compatibility and improved performance
joseeneveu describes it as an 'Excellent Free Product' that's useful and effective without custom code
alexadsoxford sums it up simply: 'Just works, quick and simple'

Common complaints

Account management problems, including a user's entire account being deleted after a billing dispute, with unhelpful and unresponsive support
Pro license expiration causing PHP fatal errors and site outages (white screen of death) rather than a graceful fallback

Weaknesses

A known medium-severity stored XSS vulnerability affected versions before 4.3.2
An older version also had an API/access token disclosure issue
Dependence on external API tokens creates a single point of failure for site stability

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who want an official, straightforward way to add Font Awesome icons to their WordPress site without writing custom code, and who are comfortable managing an official Font Awesome account for updates and Pro features.

Not ideal for

Site owners running client sites or production environments where an expired license or API token failure could cause fatal errors are better served by simpler, self-contained alternatives. Users wary of past XSS and token disclosure vulnerabilities, or who've had negative account/support experiences, may also want to look elsewhere.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version allows adding Font Awesome icons to a site without custom code, covering common use cases like social and navigation icons, and has recently seen performance and FSE compatibility improvements.

Pro version

The Pro version, tied to a Font Awesome account and API token, is expected to unlock the full icon library and premium features, but some users report the license and token system causing serious reliability problems, including fatal errors when licenses expire.

Final Verdict

Font Awesome's free plugin earns genuine praise for simplicity and recent technical improvements, but the 32.8% share of 1-2 star reviews and two recorded vulnerabilities (including a stored XSS flaw) reveal real risks. The most damaging complaints center not on the icons themselves but on account management and license expiration causing fatal site errors—serious concerns for anyone running production or client sites.

Given the crowded field of simpler, account-free alternatives, users who just want icons without the complexity of API tokens and external account dependencies may be better served elsewhere. Those who value the official library and are comfortable managing a Font Awesome account can still get good value from the free tier, but should proceed cautiously with Pro and keep versions updated.