Would you make a major purchase without first checking the reviews? In today’s digital age, visiting review sites has become a natural part of our buying process. Reviews give us insight into the quality and reliability of a product based on the experiences of others, which allows us to make more informed buying decisions. We navigate to review sites in hopes of finding transparent feedback that will help lead us to a satisfying purchase.
Whether I’m shopping for a new office chair or booking a hotel, I always check the reviews prior to completing a purchase. My buying journey for software was no exception. When it came time for me to find an NPS survey vendor for my company, I naturally set out to research software options and read the reviews.
If you also check reviews prior to purchasing, you’re in good company. According to TrustPilot, 89% of global consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying journey. And in the software industry specifically, 86% of buyers say reviews are important or very important to evaluate software before making a purchase.
So, which review sites are the best, and are they really all that different from each other? I’ve compiled a list of some of the top SaaS review sites as of 2024 (and a few non-SaaS ones as well). We’ll look at what each review site offers and what makes them stand out. In this article we’ll cover:
Table of Contents
- What Is a Software Review Site?
- The Benefits of Software Review Sites
- What Are the Best Review Sites for SaaS Tools?
- My Favorite Consumer Review Sites
- Summing Up My Favorite Review Sites
What Is a Software Review Site?
A software review site is a website that collects and publishes unbiased reviews for software vendors. Users can search for a company or software solution and find things like product comparisons, pricing information, key features, experience with onboarding and support, and more.
Purchasing a new software tool is a major decision, and reviews play a critical role in the buying journey. In fact, the majority of software buyers will read up to 10 reviews before making a decision, and qualitative commentary is the most important factor in the review.
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The Benefits of Software Review Sites
Gain First-Hand Insight
Using a software review site in your buying process allows you to gain first-hand insight into what it’s like to use a product or service. One of the biggest benefits of reviews is that you’re hearing directly from the users of the software, without any marketing or fluff in between.
Prioritize Your Criteria
Many software review sites organize their results into buying-centric categories such as the tools’ ease of use, overall pros and cons, user satisfaction, and available integrations. This allows you to easily search for the information you’re looking for about a product, and makes prioritizing your own criteria around the software much easier. Looking for a certain integration? Have a concern about whether a certain feature is robust enough for your needs? This is where you can find out.
Product Comparisons
Software review sites often offer great side-by-side product comparisons, which I recommend taking advantage of. Sometimes, all you need to see is a grid that clearly shows features and specs for two different products. Suddenly it’s a whole lot easier to make an informed decision.
What Are the Best Review Sites for SaaS Tools?
Here are my top five software review sites and why I think they’re worth visiting.
1. G2
Chances are you’ve heard about G2.com or even received a request to review a software tool on their site. Founded in 2012, their site says they’re “building trust by showcasing the authentic voice of millions of software buyers,” and they list that over 60% of Forbes Cloud 100 are G2 customers.
So what makes their review site so great?
- G2 provides extensive reviews from real users, giving you trustworthy insights based on genuine experiences. They use a rigorous review moderation process to ensure authentic results. They even show you the source of the review (if G2 invited the reviewer to participate, etc).
- G2 organizes their review information into four main categories: Product Information, Reviews, Pricing and Features. When you search for a company in G2 and land on that company’s review page, you can scroll and see things like recent reviews, security information, media and official downloads, interactive demos if available, and more.
- The overall review is rated on a 5 star scale, and they also offer a sliding scale rating for things like time to implement, return on investment, and ease of setup. They list out pros and cons (compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes). G2 also lets you search reviews for keywords and includes a section called “popular mention” that provides clickable topics you can sort the reviews by (for example: customer support).
- Under the Features tab, G2 offers up top-rated alternative products so you can easily check out the competition, and towards the bottom of the page you’ll find a Comparisons tab that lets you click into a comparison view of the product and a competitor.
- If you search the site by Software and then Category, G2 will show you the best product to choose based on your business segment with its “at a glance” feature.
What I think sets them apart:
- G2 reviews hold significant weight for companies. I’ve personally been part of initiatives meant to drive more customers to review our product on G2 because our competitor had more reviews than we did. B2B buyers use and trust G2.
- G2 lets you search reviews for a topic (which I love) and allows you to click on popular topics mentioned in reviews, which makes it easy to find reviews based on your individual buying criteria. I also like that they include review sentiment for things like ROI and implementation.
My takeaways:
- When I’m reviewing software, I naturally come here first. But after reviewing the multiple software review sites in this list, I’ll admit that some of the other review sites make it much easier to share the review data with other people. G2 should definitely consider adding a “download” or “share” option.
- Note that you’ll need to create a free account in order to see the full reviews.
- If you’re a business looking to use G2 to drive customer reviews and use them in your customer marketing, they have a host of other features to explore.
2. Gartner Peer Insights
Gartner is no stranger to data and research, so it doesn’t surprise me to find that they’ve built a software review site. Here’s what it’s about:
- Gartner Peer Insights is a free, public resource that provides access to reviews of enterprise software and services from over 175,000 peers. Gartner vets the reviews to provide objective insights to executives and their teams. Gartner analysts also use the reviews as a source of information for their research.
- Gartner review pages have sections for Product Overview, Reviews, Alternatives, and Likes and Dislikes. A few things I liked right away were the ability to download a PDF of a review page or email the page to someone. If you’re the one in charge of doing a competitive analysis and need to present your findings to others, those options could come in handy.
- Their review score is based on a 5-star rating scale and is broken up into 3 sections: Overall Review, Customer Experience, and Product Capabilities — and you get a separate review score for each section.
- Gartner offers the option to view and download the peer insights data (account creation required). The download expands on ratings by market feature and additional company size information. You’re also given an “overall experience” section with one positive and negative review, as well as likes and dislikes at a glance.
- At the bottom of each review you’re given the top alternative products that vendors considered before making a purchase, so it’s easy to explore similar product offerings.
What I think sets them apart:
- Gartner’s ability to easily share review information is unique, and the option to email a review page, download the review page, and download data and insights makes putting together a competitive analysis much easier.
- Gartner has created a digital community platform called Peer Community for verified members to engage in discussion and share knowledge. Their website states, “Peer Community produces entirely peer-driven, high-quality, and detailed insights in a trusted environment that is meant to eliminate the distractions of self or brand-promotion, sales, and recruiting.”
My takeaways:
- I like this review site and would recommend it to people in my network. I trust their review validation process and think they bring in a lot of great additional resources and insights into the reviews. Also, the downloadable information in the Peer Insights section had some additional helpful information.
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3. GetApp
I wanted to include this one because it’s new to me and I was eager to check it out for myself. GetApp’s site says they’ve been recommending software for 14 years, and they host over 37,000 software profiles with over 2 million reviews. They offer objective, independent research and verified user reviews. Here’s what I found:
- Right from the homepage you’re able to easily search for a software category, which then populates results for you with four ways to sort: Highest Rated, Category Leaders, Ease of Use, and Value for Money.
- When you click into the review page, it shows you overall info, pricing, features, reviews, alternatives, and integrations.
- In the info section, you can see the key benefits of the product as well as a section explaining the vendors’ typical customers, support options, platforms supported, and training options. I think this is a nice touch!
- The reviews are rated on a 5-star scale overall, but you are also given a review score for individual components, such as Value for Money, Ease of Use, Features, and Customer Support.
- GetApp offers suggested software alternatives, as well as an easy “compare” button to launch a comparison.
What I think sets them apart:
- I love that GetApp has an integration comparison tool — that’s something I haven’t seen yet with review sites. Seamless integrations are critical when purchasing a new piece of software.
- I also love that they include a review component on value for money. After all, isn’t that what we all want to know: Is this going to be worth the price tag?
My takeaways:
- I think Getapp brings some pretty unique and beneficial points to the software review process. Things like a vendor’s list of typical customers, their customer support options, and the list of available integrations are things I’d naturally be looking for in my search process, so I like that they did the work for me and provided it upfront.
4. Capterra
Capterra has been providing purchasing insights to buyers since 1999, and they currently host an impressive 2 million verified reviews from real users. Their mission is to “provide you with insights needed to find the best solution for your business based on your industry, size, budget and specific requirements.” They not only offer software reviews, but they have a section for service reviews as well. We’ll focus on the software review section here.
Let’s take a look at what they offer:
- You can search by software category or vendor name. When you click on a vendor to learn more, you can see at the top of the page their overall review score on a 5 star scale as well as how many reviews exist. You can click straight into the reviews to read them from the top of the page, which is a plus.
- Underneath the review score, you have a section with some overall information that includes a recent review, the starting price for the software, and more.
- Capterra provides an easy-to-read list of pros and cons so you can see at a glance what people’s experiences have been with the product. There is also a basic overview of the software tool, available integrations, similar software that you can click over to and compare, pricing information, features, and more. Capterra also gives you an “Alternatives” section where it shows you the overall review rating for a few alternative software offerings, as well as popular comparisons so you can take time to research popular competitive software vendors.
- When you get to the review section, it’s divided into three categories: Overall, Ease of Use, and Customer Service.
What I think sets them apart:
- Capterra offers you the chance to talk to an expert for a recommendation, which can be helpful if you’re feeling stuck in your decision. They also have a dedicated team of software researchers, content analysts, and review moderators to ensure an authentic and relevant review experience.
My takeaways:
- There seems to be less vendor influence on this site than some of the others, making it feel like a neutral research experience. Three separate times throughout the page scroll, there was an option to review or compare alternatives and competitors, which I think gives you a healthy opportunity to do more unbiased research.
- I like that they explicitly include a review score for customer service. Great customer service is key to having a great experience with a product or company.
- You can also filter the reviews by things like company size, reviewer's role, etc., but I would have liked an option to look at reviews by specific keywords or search for topics within the reviews.
5. SourceForge
SourceForge not only provides B2B software comparison and reviews, but it’s also an open source software directory. Their site states, “Together, our business software comparison platform and open source software directory makes SourceForge the most complete software review, comparison, and discovery platform in the world.” They have a software directory of over 97,000 software titles to review.
For the sake of this review, we’ll focus on their Business Software Review offering.
- The SourceForge site is simple and separated into two main categories: open source software and business software. You can search for an offering or browse by category.
- When you click into a software tool to review, you can see their overall rating on a 5-star scale as well as how many reviews have been submitted. You’re shown four main categories at the top of the page: About, Reviews, Pricing, and Features. Within the reviews, you can filter by things like rating, company size, reviewer’s role, length of use, or frequency of use.
- The Features section is the most extensive, showing checkmarks on available features under specific feature categories, such as Artificial Intelligence.
- The pricing section covers the basics and mentions if there’s a free version or a free trial available.
What I think sets them apart:
- SourceForge’s ability to also obtain and review open-source software is a standout for the developer community.
My takeaways:
- SourceForge has a large title of software products and an impressive number of reviews, and they cover the basic “need to know” points of a piece of software. However, I find that it’s missing some of the components offered by other review sites that I’d find helpful in making a purchase decision. Things like competitor comparison tools, searchable topics within reviews, and recommended software by category were things that I found missing from this offering.
- I like that I did not need to create an account to access any of the review information.
These are just a few of the many software review sites that are out there. If you’re looking for even more options, check out Trust Radius, TrustPilot, and PeerSpot.
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My Favorite Consumer Review Sites
Much like with purchasing software, when it comes to major consumer purchases (or even travel and vacation planning), reading reviews can give you a sense of what to expect with a product or experience.
Research shows that 8 out of 10 shoppers check product reviews on their smartphones while shopping in person at a store, and 91% of online shoppers read reviews regularly before making their purchase. Whether you’re shopping in-store or online, having access to product reviews can help you feel more confident in your buying decision.
Here are a few consumer review sites (in no particular order) to keep handy. These sites include both direct customer reviews and editorial reviews.
1. Trust Pilot
Trust Pilot lets you easily explore categories like banks, stores, companies, and services. The results are automatically sorted by the highest rated companies.
Best for: Finding a new company — like a new insurance agency, bank, electric company, etc. (They do not do reviews for products.)
2. Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports hosts reviews for consumer goods. You’re given free access to see the overview and ratings/reliability for a product, but if you want to see the “recommended” section (results of being tested, reviewed, and rated by Consumer Reports themselves) you’ll need to sign up for a paid membership. You can also access a free buying guide for products to help you with your decision.
Best for: Any physical item that you’re considering purchasing — from cars to toaster ovens, you can find reviews for it here.
3. The Verge
The Verge is a little different in that they don’t host public reviews, but they test new tech gear and give their professional reviews of the product. They also share deals on products they have personally tested and recommend. Plus, they include buying guides to make your research easy.
Best for: Technology purchases. The Verge specializes in reviews and buying advice for tech gear. I liked that they have not only buying guides but gift guides as well.
4. Good Housekeeping Product Reviews
Similar to The Verge, these reviews are crafted by the Good Housekeeping editors who independently research and test products. They may not host public reviews, but their write-ups reference public reviews of the products (Example: “This item has 4.5 star rating on Amazon”), so you don’t have to go out and do the digging yourself.
Best for: Household items like appliances, kitchenware, vacuums, and more.
5. Wirecutter
Wirecutter independently tests and reviews thousands of products a year, and they only post recommendations for products if their team actually thinks it's the best. You can find their professional recommendations for a multitude of categories like home & garden, kitchen, baby gear, tech, and more.
Best for: Anything you want a more research-focused opinion on. I was impressed that each write-up comes with a “Why you should trust us” section and talks about the research process that each editor does (including talking to professionals in the field).
6. Honest Product Reviews
Honest Product Reviews researches other first-hand customer reviews from websites to create a list of the top five products in a specific category. They include their opinion on each as well as pros and cons, a link to check the price, and an explainer on how they did their research and selected their recommendations.
Best for: If you want to know the top 3-5 items in a specific category, or you have no idea where to begin with your search, this site can give you a starting point.
7. ChatGPT
What can’t ChatGPT do? I asked ChatGPT, “What is the best office chair out there?” and it not only gave me some buying criteria to consider, but it populated a nice list of seven options with their pros and cons. It also asked me if I wanted more information on any of the options listed or advice tailored to my specific needs.
8. Amazon
I know, I know... but I would be remiss not to include them. They carry almost everything and customer reviews are a key part of their platform. I like to filter the reviews by most recent (they automatically default to the highest review), and their newer AI overview in the review section is helpful in pulling out key decision factors and highlighting pros and cons.
There are obviously many more customer review sites, like Google and Yelp.
Pro tip: If you’re a business looking to gain more online reviews, check out these tips and tricks to ask for (and get) good customer reviews.
Summing Up My Favorite Review Sites
As someone who tends to do obsessive research before I make a major purchase, I’m thrilled to know there are so many different review site options out there — and that you can find review sites that cater to a specific category.
My favorite SaaS review site was a tie between G2 and GetApp. In my opinion, G2 and Getapp have created review criteria that not only cater to the initial purchase but also give insights into whether or not customers will see value in the tool and want to renew.
Being able to search for specific topics on G2 and seeing the “value for your money” rating on GetApp allows buyers to do comprehensive research on whether this could be a long-term tool in their tech stack.
In fact, I’d love to see one review site with both of those features combined!
Add in the ability to share the review information or download it and you’ve got the supreme SaaS review site offering.
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- Positive Reviews
- Negative Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- False/Slanderous Reviews
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