The price anchor
| Askback | Podium | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 — no subscription | $289+/mo |
| Annual | $0 after purchase | $3,468 |
| 5-year total | $34 | $17,340 |
| 10-year total | $34 | $34,680 |
Subscription figures from the vendor's published pricing ($289+/mo, ~$3,468/yr); the Askback column is the full price, paid once.
Break-even analysis
If you only need the review engine, Askback pays for itself in about four days versus Podium.
- After 1 year: Askback has cost you $34 total — Podium has cost $3,468.
- After 3 years: Askback is still $34 — the subscription is at $10,404.
- After 5 years: Askback is still $34 — the subscription is at $17,340.
What you get for $34 once
- SMS + email review requests. Bring your own Twilio and/or SMTP so you pay Twilio's roughly $0.008/SMS directly instead of a platform markup, on your own sender reputation.
- Smart routing. 4-5 star ratings go to your Google review page with click-through tracked, while 1-3 star ratings go to a private feedback form in your inbox.
- Customer import. Add customers manually or import a CSV from your booking or invoicing tool, with common header aliases accepted.
- Templates with merge fields. Separate initial and follow-up templates per channel using name, business, link and job-ref placeholders.
- Automatic follow-up. One polite reminder after N days if there is no response, never more than one, guaranteed at the database level.
- No renewal, ever. The license does not expire and there is no per-seat meter — $34 is the whole price.
Pricing questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes, Askback is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/review-request-automator-mvp. The $34 buys the packaged Windows installer with everything wired up; building from source is free.
Where does my customer data live?
In a SQLite file on your own server. Every send is queued and logged locally, and secrets are masked in every API response.
Is this against Google's guidelines?
No. Askback does customer-experience routing, not review suppression: everyone is asked the same question, every rating is recorded, and nothing stops an unhappy customer from posting publicly. The rating only decides where feedback goes first.
Askback — $34, one time
Or get Askback plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.