Disclosure notice
Capterra makes money through referral fees from software and service providers who sign up for sponsored profiles or sales lead qualifications. Sponsored profiles include buttons with link-out icons or phrases that direct buyers to a provider’s website. See below for more details.
What we do
Capterra is a marketplace connecting business leaders to the right software and service providers so they can make informed purchase decisions. We’re deeply committed to offering a business platform anchored in objective research and verified reviews that serves the interests of all our users: providers, buyers, and reviewers.
Our offerings include:
A comprehensive catalog of more than 100,000 software and service providers spanning industries, functions, and business sizes.
Detailed software and service provider profiles, including pricing, features, and user ratings and reviews.
More than 2 million reviews collected from verified software and service users.
Comparison tools, software buyers guides, service hiring guides, and objective product rankings.
Objective, independent research combining proprietary insights derived from verified user reviews, thorough research methodologies, data science, and our researchers' deep knowledge and expertise.
Our business model
Capterra is a software and services review website that’s free for everyone—buyers, providers, and reviewers. Software and service providers may opt for paid services to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. We aim to be a comprehensive information hub, listing all software and service providers and enabling them to build a profile on our site and collect reviews, regardless of whether they purchase our lead generation services.
Software and service buyers
Capterra is free for buyers interested in finding software and services.
We don’t charge buyers for the information we provide on our website or the recommendations we offer via our advisor service.
To ensure buyers have access to a comprehensive platform, we list all software and service providers—not just those that pay us—so buyers can make the best-informed purchase decision.
While sponsored profiles may appear first on our product or service listings, we provide sorting and filtering options to allow buyers to change the order of profiles based on criteria most relevant to their needs.
Our user reviews, review verification process, editorial content, and research are independent and unaffected by whether providers choose to pay for our services. Product information and editorial content published on our site leverage key insights from user reviews that follow clear, objective methodologies.
Software and service providers
We offer free and paid services for software and service providers.
Free services
Setting up a product or service profile on our website is free. It gives providers a no-cost avenue to introduce their offerings to engaged users, collect verified user reviews, and potentially earn social proof content, including badges and report placements, to build credibility.
Paid services
Software and service providers can opt for various paid services, including setting up sponsored profiles to receive direct web traffic and/or sales leads through our advisor service.
Sponsored profiles for software and service providers
Sponsored profiles represent providers who pay us a referral fee for redirecting traffic to their websites and for enhanced profile features. Buyers can identify these sponsored profiles from the link-out button that’s accompanied by any of the following text: “Visit Website,” “Try for Free,” or “Book Demo”. Clicking on this button takes buyers to the provider’s website. Currently, sponsored profiles represent a small fraction of our comprehensive catalog of software and service offerings.
Sales lead qualification for software providers only
Our team of professional software advisors delivers product recommendations to interested buyers and sales-qualified leads—i.e., buyers with matching product requirements—to paying software providers.
Software recommendations are always matched to buyers’ needs and delivered from our list of software providers who partner with us in this service.
The advisor service is at no cost to the buyers and is fully covered by the referral fees received from participating software providers.
Our commitment to objectivity and independence
Authentic, verified user reviews: Capterra employs rigorous review verification processes to prevent fraudulent submissions, ensuring all published reviews accurately reflect real people's experience with a software solution or service.
Objective ranking reports: Capterra compiles product ranking reports using proprietary methodologies that combine quantitative analytics and data science with our researchers’ deep knowledge and experience. While some providers may compensate us for web traffic or leads, this never impacts our methodology or providers’ placement in ranking reports.
Customizable product lists: While our product lists may include sponsored profiles, we provide sort and filter options so buyers can tailor product list views according to their specific preferences, such as pricing, features, or user ratings. This approach enables buyers to personalize their software search and selection experience to fit their unique requirements.
For more information about Capterra's review verification process, check how we collect and verify reviews.