Opineko vs Podium
Compare Opineko and Podium for review management. See pricing, features, and which platform fits your business best.
About Podium
Podium is an enterprise-grade interaction management platform that combines messaging, reviews, and payments into a single dashboard. Founded in 2014, it has grown into one of the most recognized names in reputation management, serving tens of thousands of businesses across automotive, healthcare, retail, and home services industries.
Podium's core strength lies in its unified inbox that brings together SMS, web chat, social media messages, and review requests into one place. Their review solicitation tools are tightly integrated with their messaging platform, making it easy for large teams to request and manage reviews at scale. They also offer payment processing, appointment scheduling, and team chat features.
However, Podium's broad feature set comes with enterprise-level pricing that puts it out of reach for many small businesses. Their contracts typically require annual commitments, and the platform's complexity can be overwhelming for teams that simply need a straightforward way to collect and manage reviews.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Opineko | Podium |
|---|---|---|
| Review Collection | Yes — via QR codes, direct links, and email | Yes — via SMS, email, and webchat |
| QR Code Generation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Review Gating | Yes — built-in review gating with custom routing | Limited — basic sentiment filtering |
| Multi-Platform Support | Yes — Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Trustpilot | Yes — Google, Facebook, and select industry sites |
| Review Analytics | Yes — review trends, ratings breakdown, and CSV export | Yes — advanced analytics with team performance tracking |
| Custom Branding | Yes — custom branding on all plans | Limited — some customization on higher plans |
| SMS Review Requests | ✗ | Yes — core feature with bulk SMS campaigns |
| White-Label Option | ✗ | ✗ |
Pricing Comparison
Opineko
$29/mo
Pro plan — Unlimited reviews & businesses
$49/mo
Premier plan — Includes Telegram notifications
Podium
$249–$599/mo (annual contract, custom quotes for larger plans)
Starting price — may vary by features and locations
Podium — Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓Unified inbox combines messaging, reviews, and payments in one platform
- ✓Strong SMS-based review solicitation with high open rates
- ✓Robust team management features for multi-location businesses
- ✓Well-established brand with a large integration ecosystem
Cons
- ✗Starting price of $249/mo makes it expensive for small businesses
- ✗Annual contracts required — no flexible monthly billing
- ✗Feature bloat if you only need review management
- ✗No built-in QR code generation for in-person review requests
Buying Guide: Podium vs Opineko
When evaluating Podium against Opineko, the decision comes down to scope and budget. Podium is a full customer interaction platform — messaging, reviews, payments, and scheduling under one roof. If your business already uses separate tools for each of these functions and wants to consolidate, Podium can replace multiple subscriptions. But consolidation comes at a cost: $249 to $599 per month with annual commitments.
For businesses whose primary goal is collecting more positive reviews, the vast majority of Podium's feature set goes unused. You are paying for a unified inbox, payment processing, and team chat infrastructure that has nothing to do with review collection. Opineko, by contrast, is purpose-built for the review workflow: feedback collection, gating, platform routing, and monitoring — nothing more, nothing less.
The other key differentiator is collection method. Podium relies heavily on SMS-based review solicitation, which requires phone numbers and feels more intrusive to some customers. Opineko's QR code approach is passive and frictionless — the customer initiates the interaction by scanning, which creates a more natural and opt-in experience.
Who Should Choose What?
Podium is best for mid-size to enterprise businesses that want an all-in-one messaging and review platform and have the budget for it. Opineko is the better choice for small businesses and solo operators who want simple, affordable review collection without the complexity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Podium offers significantly more features — messaging, payments, scheduling — but starts at roughly 5-8x the cost of Opineko. If you only need review collection and management, Opineko delivers the core functionality at a fraction of the price. Podium makes more sense if you need a full customer communication suite.
Podium focuses primarily on SMS and webchat-based review solicitation and does not offer built-in QR code generation. Opineko includes QR codes on all plans, making it easy to collect reviews at the point of service — at the register, on a table tent, or on a receipt.
Yes. Since review platforms primarily help you collect new reviews on third-party sites like Google and Yelp, your existing reviews stay on those platforms regardless of which tool you use. You can start using Opineko immediately and begin routing new review requests through it.
Both platforms support Google and Facebook. Opineko additionally supports Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Trustpilot out of the box. Podium supports some industry-specific sites but may not cover all the general platforms Opineko includes by default.
Opineko is purpose-built for small businesses. At $29/mo for Pro, you get review collection, QR codes, review gating, multi-platform routing, and analytics — everything a single-location business needs. Podium's $249+/mo starting price and feature complexity are designed for larger operations.
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