Birdeye vs Podium (2026): prices, contracts and which fits

Birdeye and Podium both sell reviews, messaging and AI to local businesses, but to different buyers. Birdeye is built for multi-location brands and healthcare groups, with listings sync and review monitoring across review sites and directories, priced by quote on annual agreements. Podium is built around texting and a shared inbox, for single locations up to mid-size groups, with published plans at $399 and $599 a month plus fees. Both have AI that answers calls, with limits: Podium’s is an unpriced add-on, and Birdeye’s is generally available only for healthcare and dental so far. Below: prices, fees, contract terms and reviews side by side, as of November 11, 2026.

What do Birdeye and Podium cost?

Podium publishes its plans (pricing):

Fees outside the plan: a $5 monthly 10DLC fee for every US location, $15 a month for high-volume carrier-verified messaging on Core, $5 for each extra phone number, and phone seats at $30 a user a month (1 to 4 users) or $25 (5 or more), with a $500 network optimization fee per location. HVAC businesses are told to contact sales for pricing. The AI Employee is an add-on to any plan with no published price. Our Podium pricing breakdown works through a real bill.

Birdeye doesn’t publish prices; its pricing page is a quote form. Its own cost explainer says pricing “is custom and flexible” and “typically operates on annual agreements,” and that its buyers typically run 100 to 10,000 locations. Third-party write-ups such as Search Atlas (January 2026) report plans of about $299 to $449 per location a month, which we couldn’t confirm with Birdeye.

What does each one do best?

Birdeye is the multi-location reputation platform. Listings sync across directories, review monitoring across many sites, social publishing and reporting by location are its core. In September 2026 it made Myna, an AI coworker that answers calls and books into the practice’s records system, generally available for healthcare and dental, with other industries “coming soon.”

Podium is the texting-first inbox. Customer texts, webchat and reviews land in one inbox, payments go out by text, and review invites go by text. Its AI Employee covers “calls, text, webchat, email, social” and “books directly on your calendar,” as a paid add-on. If you add it, Podium’s scope-of-use terms cap Voice AI at 300 minutes and AI messaging at 1,500 segments a month, with overage charges after that.

How do their contracts compare?

Both sell on agreements that renew, and reviewers of both on Trustpilot describe being held to renewal terms:

• Birdeye: annual agreements, by its own explainer. A Trustpilot reviewer describes a renewal notice period of more than 90 days: “requiring more than a 90-day notification required before the renewal… I’m screwed for another $5k.”
• Podium: its Terms of Service set a 12-month first term that renews automatically unless you give 30 days’ written notice. A Trustpilot reviewer warns: “Be cautious of auto-renewal terms… Podium relied on the auto-renewal clause and maintained the full annual fees were payable.”

Ask each for the exact notice period and renewal terms in writing before you sign.

What do reviewers say?

Capterra reviewers flag glitches and slow support for Birdeye, and high, inflexible pricing for Podium.

Which should you choose?

Pick Birdeye if you run many locations, a franchise, or a healthcare or dental group: listings, review monitoring across sites and location reporting are worth more to you than a published price.

Pick Podium if you run a single location or a mid-size group and your customers text: a shared inbox, text payments and review invites, at a price you can see before the sales call.

Pick neither if you’re a small trade and the leak is unanswered calls: Podium’s AI Employee is unpriced on top of $399 or more, and Birdeye’s Myna is generally available only for healthcare and dental so far. For review tools alone, see Podium alternatives for reviews and Birdeye alternatives.

Whichever you pick, ask every customer for a review the same way (in Stack Space, that means unticking “Only send the review link to happy customers”). Sending only happy customers to Google is review gating, which Google’s rules don’t allow (is review gating illegal?).

Where does Stack Space fit?

Stack Space is a CRM with an AI receptionist built in, priced flat. The receptionist Stax trains answers your line 24/7 within your plan’s minutes, books onto the calendar built into Stack Space, and texts the confirmation, emailing it too when it has the address. Review requests go out when a job is marked done. The text asks the customer to score you from 1 to 10; a score of 8 or more gets your Google review link, and anything lower gets an apology and alerts you. You can switch that off to send the link to everyone, which is what Google’s rules ask for. The AI drafts replies to the reviews you log for you to post. Estimates and invoices with card payment come from the same record. Texts go out from our registered number with your business name on them; a number of your own is $15 a month.

Plans are $125 a month (Starter, 150 receptionist minutes) and $355 (Professional, 900 minutes), month to month, with no free trial.

What it doesn’t do: listings sync across directories, monitoring of reviews posted on Google and other sites (you log them yourself), multi-location dashboards, or marketing texts before carriers approve your registration. If those are the job, Birdeye or Podium is the stronger tool.

FAQ

Is Birdeye cheaper than Podium? It depends on locations. Podium publishes $399 and $599 a month plus fees; Birdeye quotes per location on annual agreements, with third parties reporting about $299 to $449 per location a month.

Does Birdeye or Podium answer phone calls? Both have AI for calls, with limits. Podium’s AI Employee answers calls as a paid add-on to any plan. Birdeye’s Myna answers calls for healthcare and dental practices; other industries are “coming soon.”

Which is better for multiple locations? Birdeye, which is built for brands with many locations. Podium’s Signature plan adds advanced multi-location management at a custom price.

Can I cancel Birdeye or Podium anytime? Both sell agreements that renew, and reviewers of both describe being held to renewal terms. Get the notice period in writing before you sign.