Home · Google Reviews Engine · vs Podium
Google Reviews Engine vs Podium.
Two ways to ask your customers for Google reviews, compared on what each company publishes. Every Podium fact is dated and linked to the page it came from.
Websites built free for local businesses. Then the systems that get you booked. £39 a month keeps us working on it to bring you more customers. No minimum term.
What each one is.
Podium sells an all-in-one platform for leads and customer messages: one inbox for texts, calls, emails and social messages, with payments, phones, website chat and text marketing, and reviews collected by text1. Our Google Reviews Engine is run for you from Manchester: when a job is finished, you send us the customer's first name and mobile, and they get one text from your own number with your Google review link.
| What | Build My Digital | Podium |
|---|---|---|
| The ask | When a job is finished, you send us the customer's first name and mobile (a text or WhatsApp to us is enough). They get one text from your own number, the number we set up for your missed-call text-back. The email version is coming. | By text, with review invites and reminders automated. On Pro, their AI Reputation Specialist writes the invites.1, 2 |
| Who gets the link | Every customer is asked, in the same words, with your Google review link in the first message, no reward and no star rating. | Not published on the pages we read. Their pages name Google, Facebook and industry review sites.1 |
| Timing | Timed by job type: a call-out 2 hours after the job, an install 24 hours after, a salon 3 hours after, a clinic 4 hours after. Nothing goes before 08:00 or after 21:00 UK time, or on a bank holiday. | Not published on the pages we read. |
| Reminders | One reminder three days later, only to customers who have not opened the link. A snag check 5 days after a call-out and 7 days after an install asks whether everything is still fine, with no review link. | Automated reminders. How many, and when, is not published on the pages we read.2 |
| Replies | Replies are read within minutes: a complaint, a question, a booking or a threat to post a bad review comes to us with a drafted answer, and we answer it or pass it to you. A reply is drafted for each Google review you or we paste in, for your approval before anything is posted, and a review of three stars or fewer is checked with you first. Posting is by hand. | Core includes review management with AI responses. Pro adds their AI Reputation Specialist, which writes review invites and replies.1, 2 |
| Price, as published | £299 setup, then £49 a month. Message costs billed to you by your own provider. | Core $399 a month, Pro $599 a month, Signature on custom pricing. HVAC businesses are asked to contact sales, and their FAQ says the monthly cost may vary with your needs.1 |
| Contract | Cancel monthly, no exit fees. | Their terms of service set a first term of 12 months that renews for the same length unless you give written notice at least a month before it ends. Your own subscription documents can say otherwise.3 |
| In the UK | Based in Manchester, working with UK businesses. | Their terms of service define the Territory as the United States, Canada and Australia, unless your subscription documents say otherwise, and make no representation that the service is appropriate or available outside it.3 |
The Podium pages we read are listed under Sources, with the date. Ask Podium about anything they do not cover.
Five real differences.
- Reviews, or the whole inbox
- Podium puts reviews inside a wider platform: an inbox for texts, calls, emails and social messages, with payments, phones, website chat and text marketing1. Ours covers your Google reviews, and drafts your Google profile's description of each service from your calls and reviews, for your approval. Your part is sending us the customer's first name and mobile when a job is finished.
- What it costs
- Podium's pricing page shows Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599 a month, with Signature on custom pricing1. Ours is £299 setup, then £49 a month, with message costs billed to you by your own provider.
- How long you sign for
- Podium's terms of service start with a 12-month term that renews for the same length unless you give written notice at least a month before the end, though your own subscription documents can set different terms3. Ours: cancel monthly, no exit fees.
- Who writes the replies
- At Podium, Core includes review management with AI responses, and on Pro their AI Reputation Specialist writes review invites and replies1, 2. With us, replies are read within minutes: a complaint, a question, a booking or a threat to post a bad review comes to us with a drafted answer, and we answer it or pass it to you. A reply is drafted for each Google review you or we paste in, for your approval before anything is posted, and a review of three stars or fewer is checked with you first.
- Which reviews it asks for
- Podium's pages name Google, Facebook and industry review sites1. Ours asks every customer you send us for a Google review, with your Google review link in the first message.
When Podium is the better buy.
- You want one inbox for texts, calls, emails and social messages, with your reviews in the same place.1
- You want to take payments, or send text marketing, from the same system.1
- You want your phones and website chat from the same company.1
- You run several locations and want them managed together. Their Signature plan lists advanced multi-location management.1
- You want reviews on Facebook or industry review sites as well as Google.1
Read on Podium's own website.
Every Podium fact on this page was read on Podium's own website on 30 September 2026. Prices and features change, so please confirm the details with Podium before you decide.
- Podium pricing, read 30 September 2026
- Podium Reviews, read 30 September 2026
- Podium terms of service, version 6.3, read 30 September 2026
Also compare us with NiceJob and Birdeye, or read why you might not choose us.
Google Reviews Engine: £299 setup, then £49 a month. Message costs billed to you by your own provider. Cancel monthly, no exit fees. How the engine works.
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