Author | Chatmeter TeamDate Posted | February 29, 2024

4 Birdeye alternatives you should try out

Birdeye is a review management and messaging platform designed to help multi-location businesses stay on top of their local listings. But it’s not for everyone.

Whether you’re an existing Birdeye customer looking at other options or a potential new customer weighing up the options available to you, here are four Birdeye alternatives to consider and what you should know about each one.

What to look for in Birdeye alternatives

Birdeye seems to be a popular choice for companies looking for listings management software — it has 4.8 out of 5 stars on G2 and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that it’s not always meeting customers’ needs. In fact, according to the Better Business Bureau, it’s had 95 complaints in the last three years. So, if you’re looking at Birdeye alternatives, here’s what you should consider.

Affordable pricing plans

When you’re comparing prices for review management software like Birdeye, don’t just compare the total cost. Look at how you’re charged — is it per user, per location, or based on some other metric? Then, what add-ons or extras will you need to pay for? 

Birdeye’s pricing plans are charged on a per-location, per-month basis. It offers three tiers, and each tier offers more features. For example, if you want social media management functionality, you need the mid-range tier, while you can only manage referrals with the top-tier plan. So, what looks like a great price initially can soon skyrocket if you need to bump up through the pricing tiers to get one specific feature.

Product cost is one of the most common “cons” featured in Birdeye reviews on G2, with customers unhappy about needing to pay more for additional features:

Image Source

Image Source

Integrations with other review tools

Your customers leave reviews on lots of different places online — like Google, Apple, Yelp, and Bing. 

When looking at Birdeye and alternative solutions, make sure the software you choose integrates with the directories that are the most important to your brand. For instance, Birdeye doesn’t yet have partnerships with Yelp or Apple Maps.

These missing integrations are another common pain point that users call out in their Birdeye reviews:

Image Source

Image Source

Social media management functionality

Many listings management solutions include social media management functionality within their platform. Birdeye enables customers on their top two pricing tiers to manage social media accounts as part of their plan so they can manage social accounts within a centralized tool.

However, some reviewers feel the social media management functionality is lacking compared to alternative solutions. So, if this is something you need, be sure to compare the features you get across different providers — especially as it’s only available on Birdeye’s top two pricing tiers.

Image Source

Quality of ongoing support

Good service and support can make or break your experience with a tech vendor. Sure, you hope you won’t need to reach out to them much, but when you do, you want to be confident you’ll get through to someone who can help.

Several customers mentioned having difficulties getting hold of Birdeye’s support team and that they had to wait a long time to resolve their issues. So, when comparing alternative solutions, look at how customers feel about the ongoing quality of support they receive.

Image Source

Image Source

In-depth reporting

Where do your customers go when they want to give you suggestions to improve your business? Your reviews and social media channels. And with many tools, it’s impossible to really listen to those customers and take action. Why? It’s just too much feedback to make sense of.

This is where recent advancements in AI come in. With natural language processing, machine learning and generative AI, multi-location businesses can automatically analyze the reviews that are coming in – and get answers to the questions that they need. For example, Chatmeter’s Signals uses generative AI to provide the exact answer their clients need when they type in their questions. 

4 Birdeye alternatives you should know

1. Chatmeter

Chatmeter is a multi-location intelligence platform that helps businesses with more than 50 locations boost local organic traffic and turn online search traffic into customer visits.

Reasons to choose Chatmeter over Birdeye

  • Directory partnerships: Chatmeter monitors and integrates with every major directory, including Apple and Google. It has partnerships with directories that Birdeye doesn’t, like Yelp and Bing, giving you more control over your online listings.
  • Quality of support: Chatmeter has an award-winning support team that is completely based in the U.S. Customers get a dedicated team to support them, from onboarding and initial setup to ongoing usage.
  • Full-featured plans: A common complaint Birdeye users had was having to pay more for different features that were only available on higher-tier pricing plans (like social monitoring or referrals). On Chatmeter, even the most basic package gives you access to social media listening and publishing, AI-powered reputation management, listing management, and analytics tools.

Reviews

Pricing

All pricing plans are calculated based on the number of locations, not on a per-user basis. To get a customized quote, book a demo to see it in action and speak with one of Chatmeter’s sales representatives.

Request a demo of the Chatmeter platform

2. SOCi

SOCi is a marketing platform for multi-location businesses. It’s more commonly used for social media management and marketing campaigns than listings management.

Reasons to choose SOCi over Birdeye

  • Directory integrations: SOCi integrates with many of the tier-one listings directories, including Apple, Bing, and Google. This means it integrates with some partners Birdeye is missing.
  • Social media management: SOCi is an established social media management tool for companies with multiple locations and accounts. Its social media functionality is much more established and expansive than Birdeye’s, meaning you can do more from within its platform.

It’s worth noting that SOCi is designed as a marketing platform rather than for review or location management, so it’s not a direct alternative to Birdeye. However, it still offers much of the same core functionality, so you should be able to do most of what you do in Birdeye in SOCi.

Reviews

Pricing

SOCi doesn’t share pricing information on its website. To get a price for its solution, you’ll need to book a demo and speak with its team.

3. Yext

Yext is an online presence platform for multi-location companies. It offers listing management software with features like listing analytics, review management, and social media messaging.

Reasons to choose Yext over Birdeye

  • Directory integrations: Yext has a vast network of integration partners. It integrates with 200+ companies, including Yelp, Apple, and Google Maps, meaning it has partnerships with common directories that Birdeye is missing.
  • Ease of use: Yext’s G2 reviews list ease of use as the top advantage of its tool, while reviewers are split over how easy Birdeye is to use. It seems like it has a much steeper learning curve, which can make it hard for companies to start using the tool.

However, one area that Yext and Birdeye have in common is that users don’t rate their customer service and support highly. Some Yext users report having to wait more than a week for replies to their support requests.

Reviews

Pricing

To get a pricing quote from Yext, you’ll need to speak with its team or book a demo.

4. Reputation

Reputation is an online reputation management platform. It offers a range of features, including business listing management, duplicate suppression, review monitoring, and help desk ticketing.

Reasons to choose Reputation over Birdeye

  • Quality of ongoing customer support: Customers generally seem satisfied with Reputation’s support — “quick response” and “customer service” are two of its top pros listed on G2. 
  • Specialist in the healthcare space: Unlike Birdeye, Reputation has focused a fair amount on serving companies in the healthcare industry, so if you’re in that space, it might be a great option for you.

Reputation doesn’t integrate with as many directory partners as other companies on this list — Yelp is a notable absence. It also has a fairly basic product offering without some of the more advanced functionality multi-location businesses might want.

Reviews

Pricing

To get a custom quote or more pricing information, you’ll need to book a demo and speak with the Reputation team.

Ready to try your best Birdeye alternative?

Chatmeter is a proven tool to help your business grow its customer base through online local listings and reviews. We’re trusted by major brands like Volvo, Shell, and Taco Bell. Customers love that we have native integrations with all of the top listings directories — including several that Birdeye doesn’t have. They also appreciate the white-glove service from our fully U.S.-based support team.

To get a sense of what we offer and how our tool compares to Birdeye, book a live demo. They’ll explain exactly how Chatmeter differs from Birdeye to help your company unlock the many benefits of listings management software.

 

 

Take a tour of Chatmeter