Birdeye vs Podium: The Honest Verdict
Neither one will publish what they cost or let you leave without a contract. 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, Podium, or neither?
Birdeye and Podium 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.
Podium
Around $399 a month per location, quoted by sales
Dealerships, showrooms and busy front desks that live in a texting inbox all day. The catch: you cannot see a price without talking to sales, and the reported figures are the highest here.
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 Podium vs Trophy Jar
| Trophy Jar | Birdeye | Podium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $9/month | From ~$299/mo per location | ~$399/mo per location |
| Pricing published openly, no sales call | |||
| No annual contract or lock-in | |||
| Asks your customers automatically | |||
| 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 | Limited | |
| Review widgets for your own site | 7 widgets | Plan dependent | Limited |
| Native integrations on every plan | 13 | Plan dependent | Plan dependent |
| Free migration, done for you | |||
| Live within 2 business days | Onboarding process | Onboarding process |
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. Podium no longer publishes pricing and now sends you to sales. Commonly reported figures are Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599, per location, with extra users on Core at $25 to $30 each. Most single-location businesses report landing at $450 to $600 once compliance fees and add-ons stack up. 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
Podium
Around $399 a month per location, quoted by sales
Podium no longer publishes pricing and now sends you to sales. Commonly reported figures are Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599, per location, with extra users on Core at $25 to $30 each. Most single-location businesses report landing at $450 to $600 once compliance fees and add-ons stack up.
12 month contract that auto renews
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 Podium 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
Podium
Price against what you get, and being heard afterwards
known unhappy customers
4.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from 350 public reviews. Check it
Podium’s headline score is 4.2, but the split is stark: 208 five star reviews and 107 one star ones, and the unhappy end goes largely unanswered.
The drawbacks
- You cannot see a price without talking to sales, and the reported figures are the highest here.
- 114 of its 350 public Trustpilot reviewers left 1 or 2 stars, and it has answered almost none of them.
- Review requests trigger off a fixed set of hooks, not any status your tools track.
- Annual contract with auto renewal and a notice window before renewal.
In their own words
“Expensive and not worth the hassle”
Jonathan Kunkel, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“Want to Slow your business down?”
Steven Frankenberry, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“Terrible waste of time and money”
Bree, in a public 1-star review on TrustpilotKnown 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 Podium if
Dealerships, showrooms and busy front desks that live in a texting inbox all day.
- The texting and shared inbox experience is the best of this group, and staff actually use it.
- Webchat that converts website visitors into text conversations works well.
- Strong fit if reviews are only one job and phone plus text is your main channel.
- A genuinely strong product if reviews are one job among many rather than the main event.
What neither Birdeye nor Podium 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.
No contract to be trapped in
Month to month, cancel whenever. No annual term, no auto renewal, no notice window to miss and no early termination fee waiting for you.
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.
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 Podium better for getting more Google reviews?+
Birdeye is built for multi-location businesses that want reviews, messaging, webchat and listings in one contract. Podium is built for dealerships, showrooms and busy front desks that live in a texting inbox all day. On the specific job of getting reviews to appear on Google without you chasing anyone, neither one will publish what they cost or let you leave without a contract. 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 Podium 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. Podium no longer publishes pricing and now sends you to sales. Commonly reported figures are Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599, per location, with extra users on Core at $25 to $30 each. Most single-location businesses report landing at $450 to $600 once compliance fees and add-ons stack up. 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 Podium?+
For Birdeye, the recurring theme is auto renewal and cancellation. For Podium, it is price against what you get, and being heard afterwards. 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 Podium?+
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 Podium?+
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.