Skip to main content
TrustRadius

Overview

What is Podium?

Podium, formerly Repdrive, is a ratings and review management platform from the company of the same name in Provo, Utah.

Read more
Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Users have reported a range of experiences with Podium, both positive and negative. On the positive side, many users find Podium to be a …
Continue reading

Product Malfunctions

1 out of 10
September 08, 2022
Our company acquired this service as its parter with our dealer program. We had the miss-fortune to encounter massive issues within the …
Continue reading

Simple View

6 out of 10
September 02, 2022
To answer customer enquiry. Set appoint when appropriate.
Continue reading
Read all reviews

Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons
Return to navigation

Pricing

View all pricing

Podium Essentials

$249

Cloud
per month 3 users

Podium Standard

$409

Cloud
per month Unlimited users

Podium Professional

$599

Cloud
per month Unlimited users

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.podium.com/pricing/

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $249 per month
Return to navigation

Product Details

What is Podium?

Podium (formerly Repdrive) aims to help businesses make interaction with consumers simple and convenient by focusing on familiar communication channels they already use. According to the vendor, increased interaction with customers makes businesses more visible, improves business operations, and drives purchase decisions. Podium serves 130,000+ users across nearly 25,000 businesses.

Podium Competitors

Podium Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Podium, formerly Repdrive, is a ratings and review management platform from the company of the same name in Provo, Utah.

Podium starts at $249.

Birdeye, Yotpo, and Reputation.com are common alternatives for Podium.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.9.

The most common users of Podium are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
Return to navigation

Comparisons

View all alternatives
Return to navigation

Reviews and Ratings

(90)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Users have reported a range of experiences with Podium, both positive and negative. On the positive side, many users find Podium to be a useful tool for managing their online reputation and generating customer reviews. They appreciate its ease of use in sending review invites via text messages, which has yielded better results compared to email surveys. The software has helped businesses boost their online presence by addressing the problem of not receiving enough Google reviews. By using Podium, companies have seen an increase in their average rating on Google and have stood out among their competitors.

Furthermore, users have found value in Podium's ability to automate necessary communications and save hours per week that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks. The software allows for custom automated messages, such as reservation reminders, service ticket notifications, and review requests. This automation not only makes businesses appear more professional but also helps them stay organized and efficient. Podium's payment function is also appreciated by users as it simplifies the process of collecting payments for special orders and memberships.

However, there are also several challenges that users have faced with Podium. Some users have reported difficulties during the installation process and a month-long onboarding period. Additionally, there have been complaints about unhelpful customer support and language barriers when seeking assistance. Users have encountered issues with linking phone numbers to the company phone and experiencing problems with form submission when integrating with WordPress.

Furthermore, some users find certain features of Podium to be limited or unnecessary. For example, the reviews tab is deemed pointless as users can simply send customers a link to their Google My Business review tab. Another limitation is that once customer information is uploaded, it cannot be modified or deleted, leading to mix-ups and errors in automated texts.

Despite these challenges, many customers highly recommend Podium for its reputation management capabilities, review solicitation tools, and live chat feature. It has proven valuable for businesses across various industries, helping them improve their online presence, streamline their communications, and enhance their customer experiences.

Intuitive User Interface: Reviewers have consistently praised Podium's user interface for its simplicity and ease of use. Many users have stated that the software is intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing anyone to quickly grasp and utilize its features effectively.

Flexible Message Customization: A significant number of reviewers have highlighted the value of being able to customize messages on Podium. Users appreciate the flexibility to send mass texts or individual messages, tailoring their communication approach based on their specific needs and preferences.

Top-Notch Customer Support: Numerous users have commended Podium's customer support as being highly responsive and helpful. The availability of support via chat has been particularly appreciated by customers, who find it convenient to reach out for assistance whenever they encounter any issues or require guidance.

  1. Poor Customer Support: Several users have expressed dissatisfaction with the customer support provided by Podium, describing it as unhelpful and sketchy. They have mentioned that their issues were not resolved in a timely manner and felt frustrated with the lack of assistance.

  2. High Pricing: Some users found the pricing model of Podium to be poor, stating that the software is considerably more expensive compared to other systems like Reputation.com. They feel that the cost does not justify the features and functionality offered by Podium.

  3. Difficulties with Setup and Onboarding Process: Users have reported difficulties with the setup and onboarding process of Podium, suggesting that it should not charge until the setup is complete. They have mentioned facing challenges in getting started with the platform and believe that a smoother onboarding experience would greatly improve user satisfaction.

Users highly recommend using Podium as a valuable tool for businesses. Despite its cost, users believe it is worth the investment and suggest exploring all the features and options available on Podium's home page for better understanding. They also recommend ensuring that Podium can integrate with all the software used by the business.

Podium is praised as a great tool for tracking customer conversations, follow-up, and live chats. Users suggest using it to its full potential in order to enhance client interaction. Many reviewers believe that Podium is the best product on the market for customer communication and driving revenue.

Users highly recommend Podium for its user-friendliness, great support, and simplicity. They advise fully implementing Podium in the business and getting the team fully on board with using it for asking reviews. It is also recommended to have friendly competition within the team both for the number and quality of reviews.

Overall, users advise trying Podium and taking advantage of its free trial period to experience its benefits firsthand. They suggest using it to gather feedback, create an online presence, and increase online reputation. Users praise Podium's integrations with other tools and emphasize the importance of being accountable with review invites, sending them right after customer interactions.

Although there are a few users who advocate against using Podium and suggest alternative platforms, many others find it to be a valuable addition to their business toolbox.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 25)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I can't recall the 'other' company we considered this year, but Podium won out because of the 'team chat' feature. It is our primary means of communicating with one another, both one-to-one and via teams/groups.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Podium had reached out to me years ago and stayed in touch. I felt they were the best and most professional company. Some others in our industry had tried competitors with mixed results. I did not even shop around when we went with Podium.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Intercom
We had the advantage of Podium integrating with our point of sale software already so that was a huge plus. We also felt that SMS gave people more freedom to communicate at their pace on their mobile device rather than being tied to a web browser or figuring out which tab they were in.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
used to use "Skipio" for texting and "social climb" for reviews, using all different systems for something one product can do, is just a pain! So it has been FANTASTIC!

We use Podium all day every day and we had to log in to multiple account systems to do all the things that Podium does alone, technically getting reviews on Google, Home Advisor and BBB through Podium is so nice!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have never heard of any of these other companies. I met Podium at the Las Vegas Furniture Market Trade Show and signed up right away because I could see the value in it. The sites we see most reviews on are Google, Yelp, and Trip Advisor. I didn't know there were more companies out there so their marketing isn't very good compared to Podium.
Jordan Barrick | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have evaluated multiple smaller companies that do not appear on TrustRadius including Swell, Yext, Solutions by Text, and ReviewInc. We currently utilize Podium for its integrations with our point of sale system and the fact that they have negotiated the cheapest rate on merchant processing fees through stripe as of 7/23/20. We are able to test and implement new strategies so rapidly that it would feel like taking a step backward if we jumped ship even though the per month fees are getting larger than we would prefer.
July 23, 2020

My Podium Review

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The other software we have used which I will not name has an incredibly clunky UI that is straight out of the '90s. On top of that conversations are hardly organized making it difficult to manage multiple conversations. Podium is faster, more efficient, easier to learn, and easier to use.
Brock Bruce | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
BirdEye was not easy to use and it did not give us the features we were looking for such as SMS and our employees would not use because it slowed them down with little ROI.
Emily Gatlin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
To be completely candid, I have not used another review software other than Podium. I've worked here for just over 2 years, and our company had just started using Podium. Podium has been useful and successful for our team; therefore, there has not been any reason for me to search for a new company. We are happy with Podium.
Ross Lugasi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Reputation.com
Very comfortable, however, where Podium offers a flat rate for all of its services, Reputation.com has an "al la carte" approach where you select the services you wish to use.

Examples: Auto-sending review request, responding to messages sent back by customers, in-depth analytics, etc.
Scott Keeler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Digital Air Strike at our two GM dealerships because it is one of a small list of reputation management companies authorized by GM as part of their SFE program. Digital Air Strike surveys our customers and invites them to write a review about our dealership. It is not as effective or flexible as Podium so we have been using Podium at those dealerships alongside Digital Air Strike. We also recently started a trial use of ReplyPro which is a service that monitors review sites and writes customized responses to positive reviews and suggested responses to negative reviews. I'd like to see Podium add this as part of their service so we can consolidate 3rd party vendors and manage every aspect of online reputation management from one place.
Return to navigation