Birdeye vs BrightLocal: The Honest Verdict
Neither one will publish what they cost or trigger on any status in your own tools. Here is what each one really costs, what users complain about, and the third option that asks for your reviews on its own.
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Birdeye, BrightLocal, or neither?
Birdeye and BrightLocal are aimed at different businesses, and one of them is probably right for you. Here is the honest read on all three.
Birdeye
From about $299 a month per location
Multi-location businesses that want reviews, messaging, webchat and listings in one contract. The catch: you cannot see a price without talking to sales.
BrightLocal
From $65 a month for the plan that includes reviews
Agencies and owners who want local SEO auditing and rank tracking on a small budget. The catch: reviews only appear on the top Grow plan, so the cheaper tiers you see advertised are not a review tool at all.
Trophy Jar
$9/month, then $29
It asks every customer the moment a job, invoice, deal or order hits the status you choose, follows up with anyone who forgets, and stops the second they review. All 13 integrations and 7 widgets on every plan.
Start for $9/monthBirdeye vs BrightLocal vs Trophy Jar
| Trophy Jar | Birdeye | BrightLocal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $9/month | From ~$299/mo per location | From $65/month |
| Pricing published openly, no sales call | Price on request | ||
| No annual contract or lock-in | |||
| Asks your customers automatically | Grow plan only | ||
| Triggers on any status in your tools, not a fixed list | |||
| Follow-ups that stop the second they review | |||
| Route unhappy customers privately first | |||
| Reviews land on Google | |||
| Photo and video reviews | Plan dependent | ||
| Review widgets for your own site | 7 widgets | Plan dependent | Grow plan only |
| Native integrations on every plan | 13 | Plan dependent | Limited |
| Free migration, done for you | |||
| Live within 2 business days | Onboarding process | Self serve |
Birdeye does not publish pricing. Commonly reported plans are $299 Starter, $349 Growth and $449 Dominate, each priced per location and usually billed on a 12 month contract. Text message carrier fees sit on top. BrightLocal’s cheapest plan that includes review management starts at $65 a month. Its lower tiers do not include review monitoring, review requests or review widgets, so the smaller entry price quoted elsewhere is not the price of a review tool. BrightLocal now shows price on request on its own pricing page. Checked July 2026.
The number on the pricing page is not the number you pay
Contracts, per-location pricing and add-on fees are where the real cost hides.
Birdeye
From about $299 a month per location
Birdeye does not publish pricing. Commonly reported plans are $299 Starter, $349 Growth and $449 Dominate, each priced per location and usually billed on a 12 month contract. Text message carrier fees sit on top.
12 month contract that auto renews
BrightLocal
From $65 a month for the plan that includes reviews
BrightLocal’s cheapest plan that includes review management starts at $65 a month. Its lower tiers do not include review monitoring, review requests or review widgets, so the smaller entry price quoted elsewhere is not the price of a review tool. BrightLocal now shows price on request on its own pricing page.
Monthly, cancel any time
Trophy Jar
$9/month
Launch is $9 a month for your first two months, then $29. Growth is $19 then $49. Every integration and all 7 widgets are on every plan, and we migrate you across for free.
No contract, cancel any time
What Birdeye and BrightLocal customers actually say
Sales pages do not mention this part, so here it is, quoted from public reviews with names and links attached.
Birdeye
Auto renewal and cancellation
known unhappy customers
3.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from 665 public reviews. Check it
The complaint that repeats most often is not the product, it is getting out of the contract.
The drawbacks
- You cannot see a price without talking to sales.
- Requests fire off a fixed set of hooks rather than any status your tools already track.
- Photo and video reviews, widgets and integrations are all plan dependent.
- The annual contract auto renews, and the cancellation window is narrow.
In their own words
“Predatory auto-renewals and impossible cancellation barriers”
Susan Russell, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“Buyer Beware: Cancellation Is a Nightmare”
Carter C, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“DO NOT SIGN ON!!”
Juliana B., in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot
BrightLocal
Where the reviews features actually sit
known unhappy customers
4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from 760 public reviews. Check it
Being straight about this one: BrightLocal is well liked, only 29 unhappy reviewers out of 760, and its record is the cleanest here. The honest catch is scope, not quality:
The drawbacks
- Review monitoring, request campaigns and widgets are all exclusive to the top Grow tier.
- Advanced review management and third party integrations are limited next to dedicated tools.
- Responding to reviews in-app covers Google and Facebook only.
- Citation building runs on pay-as-you-go credits, so costs can arrive unexpectedly.
Known unhappy customers counts the people who left a 1 or 2 star public review, so it is a floor rather than an estimate. Quotes are verbatim from public reviews, shown with the reviewer name and linked to the source so you can check them yourself. They are individual opinions, not our verdict on either company. Figures were checked in July 2026 and move over time.
When each one is genuinely the right call
We are not going to pretend Trophy Jar wins every scenario. If one of these fits you better, buy it.
Pick Birdeye if
Multi-location businesses that want reviews, messaging, webchat and listings in one contract.
- The suite is genuinely broad: mass texting, webchat, surveys, listings management and a shared inbox.
- Per-location dashboards, roles and reporting that hold up across dozens of sites.
- Listings management across a large directory network bundled in with reviews.
- It actually answers its unhappy customers in public, which is more than most of its rivals manage.
Pick BrightLocal if
Agencies and owners who want local SEO auditing and rank tracking on a small budget.
- The best public record in this comparison: 4.3 on Trustpilot from 760 reviews, with just 29 unhappy reviewers out of 760.
- Self serve, no contract, and a fraction of what the enterprise platforms charge.
- Local rank tracking and citation auditing are genuinely strong and its real reason to exist.
What neither Birdeye nor BrightLocal will do for you
This is the gap both of them leave, and the reason people comparing the two end up on a third option.
The price is on the website
No sales call to find out what it costs. $9 a month to start, published, the same number everyone else pays.
It asks on anything your tools track
Not one fixed trigger. Any status your CRM, invoicing, payments or job software already exposes can fire a request: deal won, invoice paid, job closed, order shipped, matter settled.
Photo and video reviews on every plan
Not a premium upsell. Real photos and real faces are the proof that actually converts, so they are included from $9.
7 widgets to show the proof off
Carousel, wall of love, badge, live feed and more, on every plan, so the reviews you collect start selling on your own site.
Switching is not your job. It is ours.
You sign up. We do everything else, end to end, and you keep collecting reviews the entire time.
You sign up. That is your part.
No exports, no spreadsheets, no support tickets, no onboarding calls. Tell us what you are on today and hand the rest to us.
We rebuild everything, exactly as it was.
Your review requests, follow-up timing, sentiment routing, widgets and every integration, set up the way you already had it. You do nothing.
Live within two business days.
Nothing pauses, so no customer notices a thing. What you notice is more reviews landing, a rating that climbs, all without burning your wallet.
It runs on the tools you already have
Connect once and every finished job, paid invoice or won deal asks for a review on its own.
Every finished job turns into a review request before your van leaves the driveway.
Every paid invoice becomes a review request, so getting paid also grows your rating.
Each successful charge quietly asks for a review, so proof grows alongside revenue.
Won deals become public proof automatically, with nothing added to your team's checklist.
Reviews collect themselves off the invoices you were already sending.
Every won opportunity asks for itself, so your clients watch their reviews stack up.
It all runs off what your tools already track. If you can see it in your tool, you can ask for a review on it.
Common Questions
Is Birdeye or BrightLocal better for getting more Google reviews?+
Birdeye is built for multi-location businesses that want reviews, messaging, webchat and listings in one contract. BrightLocal is built for agencies and owners who want local SEO auditing and rank tracking on a small budget. On the specific job of getting reviews to appear on Google without you chasing anyone, neither one will publish what they cost or trigger on any status in your own tools. Trophy Jar triggers off any status your existing tools already track, follows up with the people who forgot, and stops the moment someone reviews.
How much do Birdeye and BrightLocal actually cost?+
Birdeye does not publish pricing. Commonly reported plans are $299 Starter, $349 Growth and $449 Dominate, each priced per location and usually billed on a 12 month contract. Text message carrier fees sit on top. BrightLocal’s cheapest plan that includes review management starts at $65 a month. Its lower tiers do not include review monitoring, review requests or review widgets, so the smaller entry price quoted elsewhere is not the price of a review tool. BrightLocal now shows price on request on its own pricing page. Trophy Jar is $9 a month for your first two months, then $29, published on the site with no sales call and no contract.
What do people complain about most with Birdeye and BrightLocal?+
For Birdeye, the recurring theme is auto renewal and cancellation. For BrightLocal, it is where the reviews features actually sit. We have quoted the public reviews on this page with the reviewer names so you can go and read them yourself rather than take our word for it.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Birdeye and BrightLocal?+
Trophy Jar starts at $9 a month, but the reason to switch is not the price. You can ask on anything your tools already track instead of a short fixed list, collect photo and video reviews, use all 13 integrations on every plan, and show the results with 7 widgets.
Do you migrate me across from Birdeye or BrightLocal?+
Yes, free, on every plan. You sign up and tell us which one you are leaving. We rebuild your requests, timing, routing, widgets and integrations and hand it back running. Most switches are live within two business days, and requests keep going out throughout so there is no gap.
Is there a contract?+
No annual contract and no lock-in. Cancel whenever you want. There is no free trial, the paid trial simply starts at $9.