Capterra Review
Software review marketplace where vendors get listed, collect verified reviews, and pay for leads
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Looking for a Capterra alternative? See our ranked comparison.→What is Capterra?
Capterra is a free directory where software buyers browse categories, compare products, and read verified user reviews. For the vendor side (the founders and marketers using it to collect reviews), it works like this: you claim a free profile, ask customers to leave reviews, and can respond publicly to any review. Getting seen above competitors in a category, or generating inbound leads, is where the paid side kicks in through a pay-per-click bidding system.
Capterra was bought by Gartner in 2015 and ran as part of Gartner Digital Markets alongside GetApp and Software Advice. G2 agreed to acquire all three from Gartner in January 2026, and the deal closed February 5, 2026. The three sites still run on one shared backend: a review posted on Capterra also shows up on GetApp and Software Advice, and a single PPC campaign runs across all three at once.
Capterra screenshots
Who it's for
- ✓ Vendors who want a free place customers already search when comparing software
- ✓ Teams willing to run a PPC campaign to get ranked above competitors in a crowded category
- ✓ Companies that already run reviews on G2 and want the same review pool to also show up on Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice
Who should look elsewhere
- ✗ Teams that want a fixed, published price for advertising instead of a bidding auction
- ✗ Small budgets in expensive categories, where competitors bidding $20+/click can bury a low-bid listing
Pros
- + Listing, collecting reviews, responding to reviews, and displaying badges cost nothing
- + Same review pool and PPC spend cover Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice at once
- + Buyer intent data now spans all four G2-family sites, so paid customers see more in-market accounts than before the acquisition
- + Reviews go through an identity-verification process with more than 20 control checks per submission, meant to catch fraudulent or bulk-submitted entries
Cons
- – No published rate card. Real cost per click depends on how many competitors bid in your category, and can run well past the $2 starting bid
- – Bidding runs as a sealed second-price auction, so vendors don't see competitor bids and can be charged more to hold rank without warning
- – Recent Gartner-to-G2 ownership change means vendor dashboards, sales contacts, and terms are still settling
- – Review-incentive emails offering small gift cards for reviews have drawn complaints that the promised reward doesn't always arrive
Capterra pricing
What you pay for
You pay nothing to list your product, collect reviews, respond to them, or display badges. What costs money is getting seen: a pay-per-click auction that ranks vendors higher in a category the more they bid. Capterra does not publish a rate card or fixed minimum spend, only a $2 starting bid, so real cost depends entirely on how many competitors are bidding in your category.
You pay for what you consume rather than a per-seat fee, so cost scales with usage.
| Plan | Price | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Free listing | Free | Product profile and reviews · Responding to reviews · Earning and displaying badges · No subscription needed to stay listed |
| PPC lead generation | Custom | Pay-per-click bidding, starting bid $2/click, raised in $0.25 increments · Higher bids move you higher in category directory listings · Spend scales with category competitiveness and your own budget |
| Qualified leads program | Custom | Human advisors run a structured needs analysis and qualification call before handing buyer contact details to vendors |
Listing on Capterra, responding to reviews, and displaying badges are free. Paid lead generation runs as a per-click, sealed second-price auction: Capterra's own PPC guide states bids start at $2/click and rise in $0.25 increments, but Capterra does not publish a current minimum monthly budget or fixed rate card. Third-party buyer guides cite roughly $500/month as a typical starting budget and note bids in competitive categories (like CRM) commonly run $20+/click. Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice share one backend, so a single PPC campaign and review appear across all three sites.
Pricing verified July 16, 2026 · source
How Capterra's pricing compares
Capterra next to its closest alternatives on entry price, billing, and whether pricing is public.
| Tool | Starting price | Billing | Free option | Pricing disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capterra | Free tier + custom | usage-based | Yes | Not disclosed |
| Trustpilot | $99/domain/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| G2 | $299/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| TrustRadius | Free tier + custom | quote-only | Yes | Not disclosed |
| REVIEWS.io | $29/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Testimonial.to | $30/mo | tiered | Yes | Partly public |
| Senja | $29/mo | tiered | Yes | Public |
Is Capterra still actively developed?
Last significant update: June 2026. G2 rolled buyer research data from Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice into a single Buyer Intent view alongside G2's own data, giving existing Buyer Intent customers up to 2x more signals at no extra cost.
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Capterra FAQ
Is it free to list a product on Capterra?+
Yes. Creating a profile, collecting reviews, responding to reviews, and earning or displaying badges don't require a paid plan.
How does Capterra charge for leads?+
Two ways. Pay-per-click bidding, where Capterra's own guide says bids start at $2 per click and go up in $0.25 increments, with higher bids ranking you higher in a category and no published flat rate since actual cost depends on category competition. And a separate Pay-Per-Lead program, where human advisors qualify buyers before handing off their contact details.
Who owns Capterra now?+
G2, after agreeing in January 2026 to acquire Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice from Gartner in a deal that closed February 5, 2026.
Does a review on Capterra also show up on GetApp or Software Advice?+
Yes. The three sites share one backend, so one review appears on all three, and one PPC campaign runs across all three.