Podium vs Thryv: The Honest Verdict
Neither one will let you leave without a contract 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.
Before you pick either one, see where you actually rank
Type your business name. This is what your next customer sees when they search for you.
Podium, Thryv, or neither?
Podium and Thryv are aimed at different businesses, and one of them is probably right for you. Here is the honest read on all three.
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.
Thryv
From about $244 a month
Owners who want CRM, scheduling, invoicing, a website and marketing from one vendor. The catch: the public record is rough: 2.5 on Trustpilot and 353 BBB complaints in three years.
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/monthPodium vs Thryv vs Trophy Jar
| Trophy Jar | Podium | Thryv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $9/month | ~$399/mo per location | From ~$244/month |
| 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 | Limited | Limited | |
| Review widgets for your own site | 7 widgets | Limited | 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 |
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. Thryv’s centres start around $244 a month. Its small business bundles are reported at roughly $623 to $1,345 a month depending on tier and region. SMS, integrations and extra seats are billed on top. 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.
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
Thryv
From about $244 a month
Thryv’s centres start around $244 a month. Its small business bundles are reported at roughly $623 to $1,345 a month depending on tier and region. SMS, integrations and extra seats are billed on top.
Term agreement, early termination held to the full term
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 Podium and Thryv customers actually say
Sales pages do not mention this part, so here it is, quoted from public reviews with names and links attached.
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 Trustpilot
Thryv
Billing, contracts and cancellation
known unhappy customers
2.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from 414 public reviews. Check it
Thryv has the worst record here: 259 unhappy public reviewers, plus 353 BBB complaints logged in three years, 81 of them about billing. The pattern is consistent:
The drawbacks
- The public record is rough: 2.5 on Trustpilot and 353 BBB complaints in three years.
- Billing is the single largest BBB complaint category at 81 of those complaints.
- Cancellation and auto renewal disputes are the most repeated theme in its reviews.
- Reviews are one small module in a large suite, not the thing it is built around.
In their own words
“Very Shady Sales Practice”
Dale Quigley, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“Too expensive and too many bells and whistles for a sole proprietor!”
Jessica Snyder, in a public 1-star review on Trustpilot“When I tried to cancel you objected…”
Brian Goins, 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 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.
Pick Thryv if
Owners who want CRM, scheduling, invoicing, a website and marketing from one vendor.
- It really is all-in-one: CRM, appointments, invoicing, website and marketing under one login.
- One vendor and one bill instead of stitching five tools together.
- Useful if you have no website and no CRM and want the lot handled at once.
What neither Podium nor Thryv 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.
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.
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 Podium or Thryv better for getting more Google reviews?+
Podium is built for dealerships, showrooms and busy front desks that live in a texting inbox all day. Thryv is built for owners who want CRM, scheduling, invoicing, a website and marketing from one vendor. On the specific job of getting reviews to appear on Google without you chasing anyone, neither one will let you leave without a contract 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 Podium and Thryv actually cost?+
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. Thryv’s centres start around $244 a month. Its small business bundles are reported at roughly $623 to $1,345 a month depending on tier and region. SMS, integrations and extra seats are billed on top. 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 Podium and Thryv?+
For Podium, the recurring theme is price against what you get, and being heard afterwards. For Thryv, it is billing, contracts and cancellation. 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 Podium and Thryv?+
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 Podium or Thryv?+
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.