Podium pricing: what it costs and what to compare
Podium does not publish prices. As of 2026-10-25, its pricing page is a quote form that asks for your industry. Third-party estimates are shown once, in a labelled block below. OpenGMB costs $10 a month per account, however many locations it holds.
Last updated 2026-10-25
OpenGMB is our product, so read the Podium facts against their sources.
Podium is a trademark of its owner. OpenGMB is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by it. Facts about other products come from their public pages on the dates shown and may have changed since. If something is wrong or out of date, email info@synectus.com and we will correct it.
How much does Podium cost, by plan and number of locations?
Podium does not publish prices. Its pricing page offers custom quote by industry; no prices shown (verified 2026-10-25), and Custom quote only; no prices shown (verified 2026-10-25). The only numbers we found are estimates from CostBench, a third-party price tracker. We show them once, in the labelled block below, because we cannot verify them against Podium's own pages.
- A Podium marketplace page names three packages: Essentials, Standard and Professional (verified 2026-10-25). It gives no plan prices.
- The quote form lists these industries: Auto Dealerships, Home Services, Aesthetics and Retail (verified 2026-10-25).
- Podium's own pricing address sent us to its Australian site (2026-10-25), so a US visitor may see a different page than we did. The footer link on podium.com goes to the quote form.
How do Podium and OpenGMB compare on price and access?
Facts checked 2026-10-25. Each figure below links to the page it came from.
| What you compare | Podium | OpenGMB |
|---|---|---|
| Price for one location | Not publicly listed (checked 2026-10-25) | $10 a month per account. The $10 is usage credit for AI drafts and rank scans. |
| How price scales | Custom quote by industry (auto dealerships, home services, aesthetics, retail). No prices shown. (verified 2026-10-25) | One price per account, however many locations you connect. Google calls are free, with a fair-use limit. |
| Free trial | Not publicly listed (checked 2026-10-25) | 14-day trial with $0.50 of credit, no card. After the trial the account is read-only until you subscribe. |
| API and MCP | A developer portal. No MCP server was found. (verified 2026-10-25) | Public MCP at https://opengmb.synectus.com/mcp, included on the $10 plan. A read only token cannot change anything. A read and write token acts with its owner's rights. |
How much does OpenGMB cost, with two examples?
OpenGMB is $10 a month per account, and the $10 is usage credit. Google calls are free, with a fair-use limit. AI drafts and rank scans use the credit, both at our cost plus 28%. If the credit runs out, only AI drafts and rank scans pause. A typical reply draft is about $0.0004. That is an estimate, not a price: each draft is charged at its metered cost plus 28%. The usage numbers below are our own assumptions, not averages.
Owner, 1 location
A month with no AI drafts and no rank scans costs the flat $10. A typical month adds 30 AI drafts and 4 rank scans on a 5x5 grid. That uses about $0.09 of the $10, so the bill is $10.
Podium shows no price for one location. Ask Podium for a quote. OpenGMB is $10 a month for the account, plus any AI drafts and rank scans you run.
Agency, 10 locations
A month with no AI drafts and no rank scans costs the flat $10. A typical month adds 150 AI drafts and 20 rank scans on a 7x7 grid. That uses about $0.81 of the $10, so the bill is $10.
At 10 locations, Podium still shows no price (2026-10-25). We do not estimate a total, because Podium has not published one. OpenGMB stays $10 a month for the account, plus usage.
Who is Podium for, and who is OpenGMB for?
Podium fits you if
- You want texting, phones, payments and reviews in one tool, and reviews are one part of it.
- You are fine asking for a quote by industry.
OpenGMB fits you if
- Your work is Google Business Profile reviews, posts and profile edits.
- You want a price you can read before you talk to anyone, and one that does not move when you add a location.
What pushes a Podium bill up?
We only list reasons that Podium's own pages support.
- The price depends on your industry. Podium's page says custom quote by industry; no prices shown (verified 2026-10-25).
- The tool is wider than reviews. Podium describes chats, texts, calls and social messages in one AI-powered inbox (verified 2026-10-25), so you may pay for features you do not use.
- The pricing page mentions no trial (2026-10-25).
- The form comes first. Podium's quote page has Custom quote only; no prices shown (verified 2026-10-25).
What is different about OpenGMB?
One price per account
$10 a month, and the $10 is usage credit for AI drafts and rank scans, both at real cost plus 28%. Ten locations do not cost ten times as much. Google calls are free, with a fair-use limit.
Approval first
Posts and profile edits need approval, and so do replies unless the owner turns on auto-approve for 4- or 5-star reviews. Rules such as U7.url and PR.description-length check the text first, and the audit log records who approved.
MCP
Connect Claude or any MCP client to https://opengmb.synectus.com/mcp. It is included on the $10 plan. A read only token cannot change anything. A read and write token acts with its owner's rights inside OpenGMB, but a person approves anything that reaches Google, in the app.
Open-source core
Read the code of the community edition, or self-host it with one owner login and your own keys. The hosted plan adds teams, a client portal and billing. Licence: MIT. Repo: https://github.com/synectus/OpenGMB.
See how approvals work on the guardrails page or read about the Google Business Profile MCP.
Where is Podium stronger?
Honestly, in several places. If any of these matter to you, Podium is the better pick.
- Messaging. Podium offers chats, texts, calls and social messages in one AI-powered inbox (verified 2026-10-25). OpenGMB has no inbox for texts or calls.
- Payments and phones. Podium handles payment requests sent by text, in the same thread (verified 2026-10-25) and has a VoIP phone system that texts missed calls (verified 2026-10-25). OpenGMB has neither.
- Review requests by text. Podium's page says automated review invites and reminders (verified 2026-10-25). OpenGMB has no SMS.
How do you switch from Podium to OpenGMB?
- Ask Podium for a written quote for your industry and the contract terms first.
- Try OpenGMB on one profile with the $0.50 of free credit. No card needed.
- Keep Podium for texting, phones or payments if you still need them.
OpenGMB's core is open source (MIT). If the hosted version stopped being worth $10 a month, you could run the community edition yourself. See how the community edition works.
Questions about Podium pricing
How much does Podium cost?
Podium does not publish prices, so there is no verified number. A third-party estimate is in the labelled block on this page. Ask Podium for a quote.
Does Podium publish its prices?
No. As of 2026-10-25, the pricing page shows a quote form, not a price list.
How much does Podium cost for multiple locations?
Podium does not say. Its page offers custom quote by industry; no prices shown (verified 2026-10-25). Ask Podium for a quote for yours. OpenGMB is one price per account.
Does Podium have a free trial?
Podium's pricing page mentions no trial (2026-10-25). The labelled third-party block on this page has what CostBench reports. OpenGMB gives a 14-day trial with $0.50 of credit and no card.
What does OpenGMB cost compared with Podium?
OpenGMB is $10 a month per account, and the $10 is usage credit for AI drafts and rank scans. An account that runs none of those pays the flat $10. The tools do different jobs, so compare the features before the price.
Can OpenGMB reply to reviews without my approval?
Only if you turn it on. Replies need approval by default. An optional rule auto-approves replies to 4- or 5-star reviews, and the owner has to turn it on. Auto-approve never covers replies to 1 to 3 star reviews.
Try it on one profile first.
$0.50 free credit, no card. Posts and profile edits go through approval before they go live.