# Podium - Small Business Tools — Messaging, Payments, Marketing

> All-in-one communication, payments, and marketing platform for small businesses. (iPhone/iPad app by Podium Corporation, Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podium-small-business-tools/id971412288 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Podium Corporation, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/971412287)
- Category: Business, Productivity
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 31,350 App Store ratings · 190 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 16 · 277 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2015-03-08
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: ad-supported
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podium-small-business-tools/id971412288/reviews.md

## What is Podium?

Podium® is a communications and marketing platform that helps small local businesses manage all customer communications in one easy-to-use inbox, from collecting payments to managing your online reputation and reviews. 

Podium is changing the way local business gets done everywhere. More than 100,000 businesses rely on Podium to grow and do more as a team. 

Key features include: 

- Inbox: Bring every customer conversation from every channel into a single, easy-to-use inbox. See and respond to every chat, review, text, social media message, and phone call in a single thread.

- Reviews: Double your monthly review volume in less than 60 days and increase website and foot traffic to your business by sending review invitations via text through Podium.

- Bulk Messaging: With a 98% open rate, Podium’s text marketing software allows you to send tailored messages to your customer base that turn into customer sales in minutes.

- Phones: Don't let missed calls fall through the cracks, with a singular business number for calls and texting you can keep all communications in one place and avoid everyone give out their personal number to customers.

- Payments: Get paid with just a text. Payments through Podium gather more reviews, generate higher quality leads, and centralize your customer data to communicate and market in a more targeted way.

## Key features

- Unified customer inbox
- Automated review invitations
- Bulk text marketing
- Centralized business phone number
- Text-to-pay functionality

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Mobile Plan | $45.00 | per month |
| Podium Mobile Annual Plan | $400.00 | per year |


## What do users think of Podium?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 🚀 Brilliant communication tool
- 👍 Easy to use and integrate
- 💡 Helpful for growing business
- 🚀 Efficient review management
- 👍 Great customer service

**Cons**

- 🐛 Glitchy app performance
- 🔍 Difficult to cancel service
- 💰 Overpriced for small businesses
- 🤖 Impersonal automated responses
- 🔧 Requires a lot of manual work

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Frequent app crashes
- Login issues and logout problems
- Inconsistent review posting
- Unreliable SMS/text functionality
- Syncing issues between web and mobile

**Most requested features**

- Ability to edit auto-replies
- Access to custom templates on mobile
- Improved media handling (photos, videos)
- Easier contact import from phone
- Word search functionality

## Recent user reviews (10 of 190)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podium-small-business-tools/id971412288/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Awesome app

*2026-08-21, version 2026.34.1*

Amazing!

### 5/5 — Easy and affective

*2026-08-12, version 2026.32.2*

I love that it keeps all the correspondence with each customer in the same place. Easy to use. Very happy!

### 1/5 — Be careful

*2026-08-10*

I’m currently locked into a contract that I can’t get out of, despite the service failing to deliver what was promised during the sales process.

Not only has the platform failed to provide the results we were led to expect, but it’s now causing serious issues for my business. I’m no longer receiving all messages from my clients, which makes us look unprofessional and has resulted in missed opportunities.

What has been most disappointing is the lack of support. I’ve contacted my account manager multiple times by both email and message, and I’ve received no response. The level of support and product knowledge around this issue has been extremely poor.

If you’re going to hold customers to a long-term contract, the least you could do is provide reliable support and ensure the product works as advertised.

Choosing Podium has been one of the worst business decisions I’ve made, and I would strongly encourage other businesses to carefully consider their options before signing a contract.

### 1/5 — DO NOT USE if using for your clinic

*2026-07-20, version 2026.28.1*

I have used many EMR platforms and I can say without a doubt this is the worst system I have ever used. Maybe in other industries the podium app works well, but for medical EMR app functionality I am baffled and how poorly this works. If you are looking to use this for your medical practice RUN!! Sales team made it look incredible and now I’m locked in to a year contract.

### 1/5 — Very Frustrating

*2026-07-13, version 2026.28.1*

We have been with Podium for 15 months now. Some things are great, and come as advertised. Reviews, follow-ups, and bulk messaging, and credit card processing have all been great benefits to add. However, the AI portion of this company is far from what we were promised. For over a year, we have asked the 7 different customer service managers that we have been assigned to resolve these issues. The AI will change its name, change the script, tell customers we offer things that we don’t, turn away customers for services we do offer, change the name of our company, etc etc. The list goes on and on. And no matter how many times we have complained and been promised that this would be resolved, the issues just continue to get worse. We are very disappointed in this, and are actively seeking to get away from the AI and back to an answering service. We are very tired and disappointed in the service and the support we have received on this aspect. We placed a lot of our eggs in this basket, and it is going to be a long, disappointing process to re-implement the old procedures to make up for what we were promised with Podium. I encourage anyone looking into an AI CSM to seek something else.

### 1/5 — Issue-ridden

*2026-07-10, version 2026.28.1*

Constant outages, never getting notified of when a text is actually coming in, and a whole bunch of other issues. Only reason I continue to use Podium important.

### 1/5 — Wtf is this!?

*2026-06-22, version 2026.25.1*

I can’t even sign in, can’t create an account, wtf???

### 4/5 — SELECT ALL PICS OPTION

*2026-06-03, version 2026.22.0*

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE US AN OPTION TO SELECT MULTIPLE PHOTOS TO UPLOAD AT ONCE INSTEAD OF ONE AT A TIME THEN THE APP WILL BE PERFECT PLEASE

### 1/5 — Very poor service

*2026-05-28, version 2026.22.0*

Asked for help to upload documents for a dispute on the podium platform was give a run around and that have to only uploaded on the portal and the support staff could not help. Making the customer work for everything

### 1/5 — Notification

*2026-05-25*

Notification is not very noticeable, doesn’t make a sound and can’t change notifications sounds. 
I have been paying for podium phone for more then a year and it’s not setup at all.

## Frequently asked questions about Podium

### What does Podium do for small businesses?

Podium is a platform designed to help small local businesses manage all their customer communications in one place. It centralizes conversations from various channels like text, social media, and phone calls, and also facilitates payments, review collection, and marketing outreach.

### What are the key features of Podium?

Key features include a unified inbox for all customer conversations, tools to send review invitations via text to boost online reputation, bulk messaging for marketing campaigns with high open rates, a single business number for calls and texts, and the ability to collect payments directly through text messages.

### How does Podium help with online reviews?

Podium helps businesses double their monthly review volume by making it easy to send review invitations to customers via text. This increased volume can lead to improved online reputation and drive more website and foot traffic to the business.

### Can I collect payments with Podium?

Yes, Podium allows businesses to collect payments directly from customers via text message. This feature streamlines the payment process and can also contribute to gathering more reviews and generating higher quality leads.

### Is Podium compatible with my business?

Podium is specifically designed for small local businesses. Its features are geared towards streamlining customer communication, managing online presence, and facilitating transactions, making it suitable for a wide range of local service providers and retailers.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2026.35.0 — 2026-08-26

Bug fixes and performance updates

### 2026.34.1 — 2026-08-20

Bug fixes and performance updates

### 2026.34.0 — 2026-08-19

Bug fixes and performance improvements.

### 2026.33.1 — 2026-08-14

Bug fixes and performance updates

### 2026.33.0 — 2026-08-14

Bug fixes and performance improvements

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*