- What should you look for in review management software?
- Review management software compared
- The best review management software
- 1. Birdeye
- 2. Podium
- 3. Reputation
- 4. Trustpilot
- 5. Feefo
- 6. Yotpo
- 7. NiceJob
- 8. Grade.us
- 9. Google Business Profile
- How to choose the right review management software
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources worth reading
The best review management software depends on where your customers leave reviews. Birdeye, Podium and Reputation suit local and multi-location businesses, NiceJob and Grade.us suit small service businesses and agencies, Trustpilot and Feefo suit businesses that want independent review pages, Yotpo suits ecommerce product reviews, and Google Business Profile is where every local business should start.
Reviews do more selling than most websites. Before someone books a plumber, picks a restaurant or buys a product, they read what other customers said. Yet many small businesses only ask for reviews when they remember, and only reply when something goes wrong.
Review management software asks for reviews automatically, gathers them in one place and makes replying quick. The tools below are well known and widely used. I've focused on what each one is known for, so treat this as a shortlist and check which review sites each one supports.
What should you look for in review management software?
- Review requests. Automatic emails or texts after a job or purchase are the biggest win.
- Review sites. Check it covers the sites your customers use, such as Google, Facebook or industry sites.
- One inbox. Seeing every review in one place makes replying fast.
- Alerts. Hearing about a bad review quickly gives you the chance to put it right.
- Widgets. Showing reviews on your website builds trust where people buy.
- Platform rules. Review sites ban fake and incentivised reviews, so the tool should help you ask fairly.
Review management software compared
| Tool | Best for | Stand-out feature |
|---|---|---|
| Birdeye | Local and multi-location businesses | Reviews, messaging and listings |
| Podium | Local businesses | Text-based review requests |
| Reputation | Larger multi-location brands | Reputation data and reporting |
| Trustpilot | Online and service businesses | Independent review pages |
| Feefo | UK businesses | Verified customer reviews |
| Yotpo | Ecommerce stores | Product reviews and photos |
| NiceJob | Small service businesses | Automatic review requests |
| Grade.us | Agencies | White-label review management |
| Google Business Profile | Every local business | Reviews on Google Search and Maps |
Plans and features change often, so check each vendor's current plans before you commit.
The best review management software
1. Birdeye
Birdeye is a customer experience platform for local businesses. It covers review requests, monitoring, replies, business listings, messaging and surveys.
Who it suits: local and multi-location businesses that want reviews and customer messages in one place.
What stands out: breadth. Reviews, listings and messaging all sit together.
Watch out for: it does a lot, so a solo service business may not need the full platform.
2. Podium
Podium is a messaging platform for local businesses that's well known for sending review requests by text, along with customer messaging and payments.
Who it suits: local businesses whose customers respond best to a quick text.
What stands out: text-based review requests, which customers can act on from their phone in seconds.
Watch out for: check that its texting features cover your country.
3. Reputation
Reputation, formerly Reputation.com, is a reputation management platform for larger and multi-location brands, covering reviews, listings, surveys and reporting.
Who it suits: larger brands with many locations to manage.
What stands out: the reporting, which helps you compare locations and spot patterns.
Watch out for: it's built for scale, so small businesses may find it more than they need.
4. Trustpilot
Trustpilot is a well-known independent review platform. Businesses can invite customers to review them, reply to reviews and show Trustpilot ratings on their website.
Who it suits: online businesses and service companies that want a recognised, independent review page.
What stands out: recognition. Many shoppers know and look for Trustpilot reviews.
Watch out for: Trustpilot has clear rules about how you invite reviews, so read them before you start.
5. Feefo
Feefo is a UK-based review platform that collects reviews from verified customers who have bought from you.
Who it suits: UK businesses that want verified customer and product reviews.
What stands out: verification. Only real customers are invited to review.
Watch out for: check how its reviews display in the places your customers search.
6. Yotpo
Yotpo helps ecommerce brands collect and display product reviews, photos and questions, and it's known for its Shopify integration.
Who it suits: online stores that want product reviews on every product page.
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What stands out: photo and video reviews, which help shoppers picture the product.
Watch out for: it's ecommerce-focused, so local service businesses should look elsewhere.
7. NiceJob
NiceJob automates review requests for small service businesses and turns reviews into social posts and website content.
Who it suits: trades, cleaners, salons and other local service businesses.
What stands out: simplicity. Once it's connected, review requests go out after every job.
Watch out for: check that it links with the job or booking software you use.
8. Grade.us
Grade.us is review management software built for agencies, with white-label dashboards so agencies can manage reviews for many clients.
Who it suits: marketing agencies managing reviews for local business clients.
What stands out: white labelling. Agencies can present it under their own brand.
Watch out for: it's designed for agencies, so a single business may prefer a direct tool.
9. Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is Google's own tool for managing how your business appears on Google Search and Maps, including reading and replying to Google reviews.
Who it suits: every local business, whatever other tool you use.
What stands out: it's where many customers read reviews first, and replying there is built in.
Watch out for: it only covers Google, so you'll need another tool to manage reviews elsewhere.
How to choose the right review management software
Start where your customers look. For local businesses that's usually Google, so claim and complete your Google Business Profile first. Then choose a tool that asks every customer for a review automatically, because asking consistently matters far more than asking cleverly.
Reply to every review, good and bad. A short, warm reply to a happy customer and a calm, helpful reply to an unhappy one both tell future customers how you treat people. Never buy reviews or offer rewards for good ones: review sites ban it and it can do real damage.
Finally, don't let reviews sit on the review sites alone. Add your best ones to your website, your proposals and your social posts. A real customer's words are more convincing than anything you'll write about yourself, and most review tools make it easy to show them where people are deciding.
To see why this matters for local search, read how reviews help your local map rankings. My Google review response prompt pack speeds up replies, and how to collect and use customer reviews covers the asking.
Building a tool in this space? Here's how tools get considered for my roundups.
Frequently asked questions
What is review management software?
It's software that asks customers for reviews, gathers reviews from different sites in one place, alerts you to new ones and helps you reply quickly.
What is the best review management software for small business?
Birdeye and Podium are popular with local businesses, NiceJob suits small service businesses, Trustpilot suits online businesses and Yotpo suits ecommerce stores.
Can I remove bad reviews?
Usually not, unless a review breaks the site's rules, such as fake or abusive reviews. A calm, helpful reply is often the best response.
Is it allowed to ask customers for reviews?
Yes. Asking customers for honest reviews is fine. What's not allowed on most sites is buying reviews, offering rewards for positive ones or only asking happy customers.
