Podium review
A customer messaging platform. Webchat, 2 way texting, calls and payments, with reviews as 1 part of it.
Written by the team at FiveStariz, who sell a competing product. Every number here was read on podium.com on 18 October 2026. We say where they beat us.
| Price | $399 a month |
| Best for | A business that wants to run all its customer messaging in 1 inbox and has the staff to answer it. |
| Not for | Anyone whose actual problem is that nobody asks their customers for a review. |
Their cheapest plan. Their own page lists extra fees per location on top. Prices change, so check podium.com before you decide.
What Podium actually does
- Webchat on your website, 2 way texting with customers, phone calls and payments in 1 inbox.
- Review requests are 1 feature inside that, not the product.
- Their own page warns that prices "may vary based on industry, partnerships, integrations, volume, and carrier fees", and that HVAC businesses must contact sales.
- Their review page names Google and Facebook only.
What Podium charges
From their own pricing page on 18 October 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $399 | Messaging, reviews and their AI answering. |
| Pro | $599 | More AI and automation. They mark it best value. |
| Signature | Custom | Quoted by their sales team. |
On top of the plan, their page lists these:
| A carrier fee for US texting | $5 a month per location |
| A network setup fee | $500 per location |
| Extra phone numbers | $5 a month each |
| Phone seats, if you want calls | $30 a user a month, $25 from 5 users |
Ours, for the same job: $19 for 1 location, $29 with a team, $5 per location from 10 with your own brand on it.
What Podium does well
- The inbox is genuinely good, and running webchat, texts and calls in 1 place is a real job we do not do.
- They publish plan prices, which most platforms at this size do not.
- Payments are built in.
- No gating wording anywhere on their review pages.
Where it falls short
- The setup fee is $500 per location, which is more than 2 years of our Solo plan.
- No free plan and no trial on the pricing page.
- The contract length is not published.
- At $399 a month the review requests are the most expensive part of a product you bought for something else.
- Bulk message limits can only be raised by asking your account manager.
Podium and FiveStariz
We make a competing product, so read this with that in mind. The comparison page has the long version, including the parts where they win.
Podium, answered
How much does Podium really cost?
Their published plans are $399 and $599 a month, read on their own pricing page on 18 October 2026. On top of that their page lists a $5 a month carrier fee per US location and a $500 network fee per location. Phone seats are extra again, at $30 a user a month.
Is Podium good for review requests?
Yes, it sends them. The question is whether you want to pay for webchat, calls and payments to get there. If the answer is no, the money is in the wrong place.
What is a cheaper Podium alternative?
FiveStariz is $19 a month for 1 location with no setup fee, and the price is on our pricing page. We do not do webchat, phone calls or payments, so if you need those, Podium is the better fit.
Want the asking done for less?
FiveStariz is $19 a month, the price is on the page, and there is no setup fee.