About Podium

Podium is an all-in-one customer communication and payments platform that combines Webchat, Online Review Generation, SMS (Text) Marketing and Payment Processing from one, easy-to-use inbox.

Podium's operating system for local business generates more customer reviews, sends personalized text conversations, customizes outbound marketing campaigns and powers payments through text as well as credit card readers for 150,000 happy customers.

Businesses that use Podium:

- Show up in Google searches 52% more often.
- Convert up to 11x more web traffic into customers.
- Grow their earnings by up to 10% in just 30 days.

Try out Podium for 14 days for Free.

Pricing starting from:

Not provided by vendor

  • Free Version
  • Free Trial
  • Subscription

Top 5 alternatives to Podium

Key benefits of Podium

  • Get more reviews on the sites that matter to your business - Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor & more.

  • Manage all your customer messaging from one inbox - Google, Facebook, SMS text and more.

  • Interact with customer via text, email, and social media.

  • Improve understanding of customers by viewing consolidated customer feedback.

  • Gain business insights with detailed reporting and monitoring.

  • Accept payment through text and smart credit card readers

  • Build and send promotions to your customers through text messaging marketing campaigns.

  • Generate leads from your website with Webchat.
  • Typical Customers

    • Freelancers
    • Small Businesses (2-50)
    • Mid-size Companies (51-500)
    • Large enterprises (500 and more)

    Deployment

    • Cloud-based
    • On-premise

    Markets

    Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States

    Supported Languages

    English

    Pricing starting from:

    Not provided by vendor

    • Free Version
    • Free Trial
    • Subscription

    Top 5 alternatives to Podium

    Images

    Podium Software - Easily manage all your customer messaging channels in one dashboard. Add user level access so the right teams are able to handle any communication and your customers have a great experience.
    Podium Software - Add Podium Webchat to your site and make it easy for customers to text you. Live Chat doesn't mean tied to a computer any more. Your customers will love it.
    Podium Software - Podium Teamchat means private, secure team discussions to make sure you are all on the same page, can easily manage customer information and keep morale high.
    Podium Software - Gather feedback from customers with a simple text message. Podium Feedback makes it easy for customers to engage and offer feedback.
    Podium Software - Review generation, review monitoring and responding to reviews is easier with Podium.
    View 6 more
    Podium video
    Podium Software - Easily manage all your customer messaging channels in one dashboard. Add user level access so the right teams are able to handle any communication and your customers have a great experience.
    Podium Software - Add Podium Webchat to your site and make it easy for customers to text you. Live Chat doesn't mean tied to a computer any more. Your customers will love it.
    Podium Software - Podium Teamchat means private, secure team discussions to make sure you are all on the same page, can easily manage customer information and keep morale high.
    Podium Software - Gather feedback from customers with a simple text message. Podium Feedback makes it easy for customers to engage and offer feedback.
    Podium Software - Review generation, review monitoring and responding to reviews is easier with Podium.

    Features

    Total features of Podium: 71

    • ACH Payment Processing
    • API
    • Activity Dashboard
    • Activity Tracking
    • Alerts/Notifications
    • Batch Communications
    • Billing & Invoicing
    • CRM
    • Call Recording
    • Campaign Analytics
    • Campaign Management
    • Campaign Scheduling
    • Canned Responses
    • Chat/Messaging
    • Communication Management
    • Complaint Monitoring
    • Compliance Management
    • Content Management
    • Customer Experience Management
    • Customer History
    • Customizable Reports
    • Dashboard
    • Data Security
    • Debit/Credit Card Processing
    • Electronic Payments
    • Electronic Signature
    • Email Management
    • Engagement Tracking
    • Feedback Management
    • Inbox Management
    • Interaction Tracking
    • Live Chat
    • Mobile Access
    • Mobile Payments
    • Monitoring
    • Multi-Channel Communication
    • Multi-Channel Data Collection
    • Multi-Location
    • Negative Feedback Management
    • Offline Form
    • On-Demand Communications
    • Online Payments
    • PCI Compliance
    • Payment Processing
    • Performance Metrics
    • Personalization
    • Predictive Analytics
    • Proactive Chat
    • Ratings/Reviews
    • Real Time Notifications
    • Real-time Consumer-facing Chat
    • Recurring/Subscription Billing
    • Reporting & Statistics
    • Reporting/Analytics
    • Response Management
    • Review Generation
    • Review Monitoring
    • Review Notification
    • Review Request
    • SEO Management
    • SMS Messaging
    • Social Media Integration
    • Social Media Monitoring
    • Social Sharing
    • Survey/Poll Management
    • Surveys & Feedback
    • Template Management
    • Text Analysis
    • Third Party Integrations
    • Video Support
    • Visual Analytics

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    Reviews

    Overall rating

    4,3 /5
    (464)
    Value for Money
    4,0/5
    Features
    4,3/5
    Ease of Use
    4,4/5
    Customer Support
    4,2/5

    Already have Podium?

    Software buyers need your help! Product reviews help the rest of us make great decisions.

    Showing 5 reviews of 464
    Brandon
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Chemicals
    • Company size: 51–200 Employees
    • Used Daily for 6-12 months
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Double our Reviews!

    Reviewed on 2022/04/10

    Quality software which is a must in our modern times.

    Quality software which is a must in our modern times.

    Pros

    The review text message changed our search engine position. We got a ton of reviews after deploying this software. It’s always incredible easy to set up and teach new employees.

    Cons

    Once you send out reviews to a customer you can’t send another one even if it has been months.

    JOSH
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Automotive
    • Company size: 501–1 000 Employees
    • Used Daily for 1+ year
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Great Program!

    Reviewed on 2020/05/29

    Pros

    I appreciate how easy it is to navigate through the different pages and separate my message boards from my coworkers. The program is fast and efficient and I have not experienced any issues.

    Cons

    On a rare occasion, customers have reported that they were unable to open links sent through podium. It is my belief that this was likely user error on their end as I have not experienced this issue.

    jerry
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Automotive
    • Company size: 11–50 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

    Great until you want to cancel it!

    Reviewed on 2019/10/10

    The experience was good but so far overshadowed by their lack of letting us cancel with proper...

    The experience was good but so far overshadowed by their lack of letting us cancel with proper notice that the entire experience is lost. Like an amazing meal with a crap server. All you remember was the final service and it is horrible.

    Pros

    Mostly worked well and had pretty good interface with website for chat as well

    Cons

    Tried to cancel this and was not allowed. Went through all kinds of hoops including a mandatory "screen share" by our account rep trying to keep us which made it worse. You CANNOT call or write in and cancel ever! They have their methods and basically won't let you out of a contract. We canceled ours finally after the screen share, the hard close from two different people to keep paying and then still got billed since they had our credit card. I would never recommend such a company. I have NEVER heard of someone NOT taking written notice well in advance to close a monthly contract. We did finally get it resolved to only pay an additional 9 days past when we asked for it to be closed, but its 9 days of our money.

    One of the poorest experiences i have had in 32 years of the retail business trying to cancel something. Mandatory screen share and hard sell to stay - Simply unbelievable

    Dickson
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Computer & Network Security
    • Company size: 2–10 Employees
    • Used Daily for 1+ year
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

    Podium review

    Reviewed on 2022/12/09

    It's amazing to be able to obtain reviews and see your business develop. I adore this application...

    It's amazing to be able to obtain reviews and see your business develop. I adore this application to pieces.

    Pros

    Having discussions assigned to me allows me to quickly begin addressing inquiries and setting up appointments with clients.

    Cons

    The phone app is terrible and frequently crashes. Does not offer notifications or gives too many alerts, is difficult to identify or locate the person you are speaking with, crashes or malfunctions

    Van
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Automotive
    • Company size: 2–10 Employees
    • Used Daily for 6-12 months
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Podium has been a game changer

    Reviewed on 2021/02/25

    Podium has been great both for communicating with customers and for generating more reviews. I...

    Podium has been great both for communicating with customers and for generating more reviews. I would highly recommend!

    Pros

    I love the texting capabilities with podium. When a customer signs up for an appointment with my booking software (Acuity) they get a text from a real phone number that they can respond to. Other services send a text from a number that does not accept responses. This has by far been the best feature with podium for my business.

    Cons

    Getting the initial integration setup was a bit more complicated than I would expect, but once the integration was setup it has been smooth sailing.

    Alternatives Considered

    Swell and Birdeye

    Reasons for Switching to Podium

    Podium seemed to have a lot stronger CSM team to help me get things rolling.
    Showing 5 reviews of 464 Read all reviews

    Podium FAQs

    Below are some frequently asked questions for Podium.

    Podium offers the following pricing plans:

    • Starting from:
    • Pricing model: Subscription
    • Free Trial: Available

    Free 14-Day Trial. Pricing starts at $249 per month for our Essentials plan, ideal for small businesses.

    Podium has the following typical customers:

    Self Employed, 2–10, 11–50

    Podium supports the following languages:

    English

    Podium supports the following devices:

    Android (Mobile), iPhone (Mobile), iPad (Mobile)

    Podium integrates with the following applications:

    3C Connect, ABC Fitness Solutions, ACS, AIM duplicate, ALLDATA, AMS Protractor, AccuLynx, AdvancedMD EHR, AutoFluent, Autosoft, Autosoft DMS, Bay-masteR, CCC ONE Total Repair Platform, CDK Drive, CDK Elead, COSTAR, ClearDent, Clio, Cloud 9 Ortho, DealerBuilt, DealerCenter, Dealertrack DMS, Denticon, Dentrix, Dentrix Enterprise, Eaglesoft, Epass-online, FEX DMS, FareHarbor, FieldEdge, FieldRoutes, Frazer, FreshBooks, Furniture Wizard, Grapevine, HawkSoft CMS, Housecall Pro, InvoMax, JobNimbus, Kickserv, LANKAR PRO, Lightspeed, Lightspeed POS, Litify, MEDENT, Manager SE, MaxxTraxx, MedEvolve, Mindbody, Mindbody, Mitchell RepairCenter, ModMed, MoveWare, Nexsyis Collision, NextGen, NextGen Office, Omnique, Open Dental, P3 HVAC Software, PawnMaster, Peartree Dealership Management System, PestPac, PracticeWorks a Sensei product, ProMax Unlimited, QuickBooks, Quickbooks Online, Repair Shop Director, SERTI, SOLO, STORIS, Salesforce Essentials, Saleslifter Pro, ServSuite, Service Fusion, ServiceTitan, Shop Boss, Shop-Ware, ShopController, Shopify, SiteLink Web Edition, SoftDent a Sensei product, Stock Tracker, Storage Commander Cloud, Successware, Tekmetric, TeleVox, The EDGE, The Edge, The Jewelry Shopkeeper, Tire Guru, TireShop, TriMed Complete, Tylernet, Xero, ZENOTI, improveit 360, simPRO

    Podium offers the following support options:

    Email/Help Desk, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, Chat

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