How to Generate Dynamic User Avatars in Laravel Using ui-avatars.com (No Upload Needed)

Introduction

Creating user avatars dynamically is a great way to personalize your application without forcing users to upload profile images. In this post, we'll use ui-avatars.com with Laravel to generate avatars based on a user's name.

Why use dynamic avatars?

Dynamic avatars help provide a default identity for users who haven’t uploaded a photo. Services like ui-avatars.com generate simple, color-based avatars with initials, which look professional and require zero setup.

How to use ui-avatars in Laravel

01: The Base URL

The base API looks like this:

This will generate an image with "JD" centered on a colored background.

02: Laravel Blade Example

You can use Laravel Blade to dynamically generate the avatar like so:

This will generate a circular avatar using the user's name with a random background and white text.

03: Customize Colors and Size

You can pass more parameters to control how the avatar looks:

https://ui-avatars.com/api/?name=John+Doe
&background=0D8ABC
&color=fff
&size=128
    

04: Use in Loops (e.g., list of users)

If you're listing multiple users, you can use it like this:

@foreach ($users as $user)
  <img src="https://ui-avatars.com/api/?name={{ urlencode($user->name) }}&background=random&color=fff"
       class="w-10 h-10 rounded-full" alt="{{ $user->name }}">
@endforeach
    

Conclusion

Generating dynamic avatars using ui-avatars.com is a clean and efficient way to handle default profile images in Laravel. It's fast, free, and requires zero backend logic beyond generating the name-based URL.