Podium review
Podium is a business texting platform built around two-way conversations and a shared inbox, with a Core plan at $399 a month including 250 bulk message credits as of September 22, 2026. Podium does not publish free trial terms (checked September 22, 2026). We score Podium 5.92 out of 10 overall.
Alain Grossbard OAM, with Justin Grossbard Updated How we rate Reader supported, we may earn a commission Reader supported. We may earn a commission when you sign up through a link on this page, and it never changes a score. How we make money.
Podium cost at your volume
No calculator here: Podium publishes plan prices but no price per message, so no monthly figure at a volume can be computed. The plans are in the table below.
Podium scores
| Value for money | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 8 | |
| Reliability | 4 | |
| Reputation | 8.5 | |
| Compliance | 6 | |
| Customer service | 8 |
Six criteria, equally weighted, each scored out of 10 from Podium's own published pages (how we rate).
Podium US rates
| As published | Price | How it compares |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | By monthly plan, with no per message price. Core $399 a month with 250 bulk message credits, Pro $599 a month with 500 credits, Signature custom. One to one texts are unlimited on every plan. The cash value of a credit is not published, and credits used per message vary with length and content. Credits expire monthly and bulk sending stops at the limit. | No price per message is published, so there is nothing to rank |
| Long code rental | 5 numbers included on Core, 15 on Pro, custom on Signature; each extra number $5 a month | Billed on top of the plan |
Podium publishes no US per message rate a buyer can read before talking to sales. Source.
Podium fees, trial and support
| What | Podium | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 10DLC registration fees | Base 10DLC fee of $5 a month per US location, covering 3 message segments per second and up to 2,000 T-Mobile messages a day. High-Volume Carrier-Verified Messaging costs $15 a month on Core, is included on Pro and custom on Signature (2,000 to 200,000 T-Mobile messages a day, 4 to 75 segments per second by carrier trust score). Brand registration and campaign vetting fees are not itemized. | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Toll-free verification | Not published | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Carrier fees | Not published | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Free trial | Not published | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Minimum plan or spend | Core at $399 a month is the lowest published plan; sold through sales only. HVAC businesses must ask sales for pricing. Contracts run 12 months and renew automatically. Podium Phones adds a $500 network optimization fee per location. | Read 22 September 2026 |
| API and SDKs | Yes, a REST API with message send, send with attachment, templates and webhooks; API access is requested through a sign up form. No SDK languages are named. | Read 9 September 2026 |
| Web app | Yes. Desktop and mobile platform; the Bulk Messages product sends SMS and MMS to groups of contacts. | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Integrations named | 200+ integrations, including Salesforce, Zapier, Stripe, Google, CDK Global, DealerSocket CRM, Tekion, AccuLynx, ActiveCampaign, AdvancedMD, Airtable and Angi | Read 9 September 2026 |
| Support channels | Phone, chat, text and email support plus a help center and a dedicated customer success manager, on every plan; priority phone support on Signature only. The published US numbers are a sales line and a privacy line, not a support line. | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Support hours | Phone Monday to Friday 6 AM to 6 PM MST; chat, text and email Monday to Friday 6 AM to 11 PM MST and Saturday to Sunday 7 AM to 9 PM MST. Not 24/7. | Read 9 September 2026 |
| SOC 2 | No SOC 2 report yet; Podium says it is pursuing SOC 2 Type I in 2026 | Read 9 September 2026 |
| ISO 27001 | Claims ISO 27001:2022 status (its own wording is ISO 27k-qualified); the certificate download is gated | Read 9 September 2026 |
| HIPAA | Publishes a Business Associate Agreement that is built into its terms for clients handling protected health information; it applies only where Podium is a business associate under HIPAA | Read 9 September 2026 |
| Opt-out handling (TCPA) | Acceptable Use Policy sets consent, opt out and sender identification rules for all texts; the API has an opt out endpoint and the text marketing page lists opt in tools and built in compliance | Read 9 September 2026 |
| 10DLC registration | Podium runs 10DLC registration inside its app, self serve or with a support specialist; it quotes approval in as little as 24 hours and an average of 48 hours | Read 9 September 2026 |
| Founded | 2014 | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Head office | Lehi, Utah, United States | Read 9 September 2026 |
| Ownership | Owned and operated by Podium Corporation, Inc. Its own timeline lists Y Combinator (2016), Series A (2017) and Series B (2018) funding. No parent company, acquisition or rename stated; it says it reaches 100k businesses. | Read 22 September 2026 |
| Uptime or SLA | 99.0% availability, contractual (Terms of Service 6.1); the only remedy for missing it is support, not service credits | Read 9 September 2026 |
Not published means Podium's own pages were checked on that day and state no figure. Nothing here is carried over from the earlier version of this review.
When Podium fits
Podium fits a US business that runs customer messaging through a shared inbox, since one to one texts are unlimited on every plan and 200+ integrations include Salesforce, Zapier and Stripe (read September 9, 2026). You get 5 numbers on Core and 15 on Pro, with extras at $5 a month (read September 22, 2026). Support is strong: every plan has phone, chat, text and email plus a customer success manager. Podium runs 10DLC registration inside its app, quoting approval in as little as 24 hours (read September 9, 2026).
When to look elsewhere
Look elsewhere on a tight budget: Core costs $399 a month, contracts run 12 months and renew automatically, and sales handles all orders (read September 22, 2026). High volume bulk sending stops when monthly credits run out, and the cash value of a credit is not published (read September 22, 2026). Podium does not publish carrier fees, toll free verification costs or a price per message (checked September 22, 2026). The contractual uptime is 99.0 percent with no service credits as a remedy (read September 9, 2026).
Podium questions
How much does Podium cost per month?
Podium cost starts at $399 a month for Core with 250 bulk message credits, as of September 22, 2026. Pro is $599 a month with 500 credits, and Signature is custom priced. One to one texts are unlimited on every plan.
Does Podium offer a free trial?
Podium does not publish free trial terms on its own pages, checked September 22, 2026. Pricing is sold through sales only, and contracts run 12 months with automatic renewal.
What is Podium and who owns it?
Podium is a business texting platform founded in 2014 and based in Lehi, Utah. Podium Corporation, Inc. owns and operates it, and its timeline lists Y Combinator funding in 2016, Series A in 2017 and Series B in 2018 (read September 22, 2026).