Quick answer
Yes — Askback is a one-time-purchase alternative to Podium. It costs $34 once, while Podium runs $289+/mo — about $3,468 per year, every year. SMS and email review requests with smart routing, on your own Twilio and SMTP. It is for people who want the job done on their own hardware without a renewal date — not for teams that live inside Podium's ecosystem.
The verdict
Switch to Askback if you are an individual or small team paying Podium $289+/mo for work your own machine can do. If you only need the review engine, Askback pays for itself in about four days versus Podium.
Stay with Podium if your workflow depends on its integrations, you need enterprise features (SSO, admin controls, SLAs), or your team is large enough that per-seat collaboration tooling is worth the bill. Askback does not try to replicate those.
Head to head
| Askback | Podium | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $34 once | $289+/mo |
| SMS costs | Twilio direct (~$0.008/msg) | Bundled + marked up |
| Review requests + smart routing | Yes | Yes |
| Private feedback inbox | Yes | Yes |
| Follow-up reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Your data | Your SQLite file | Their cloud |
| Self-hosted / offline | Yes | No |
| Contract | None, MIT source | Annual |
| 5-year cost | $34 | $17,340 |
Where Podium still wins
- Ecosystem and integrations. Established tools accumulate years of third-party integrations, templates and add-ons. If your workflow is wired into Podium's ecosystem, switching means rebuilding that plumbing — a real cost.
- Team and enterprise features. Shared workspaces, granular permissions, SSO, audit logs and a vendor to call when something breaks — that is what the higher subscription tiers actually buy, and a pay-once app does not come with it.
- Familiarity and hiring. Podium is the name people already know. Onboarding a team onto a tool nobody has used before takes time the subscription never charges for.
Where Askback wins
- Price, permanently. $34 once versus $3,468/yr for as long as you use it. There is no renewal, no seat count and no tier gate.
- 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.
The math
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.
Common 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.
Try Askback — $34, one time
Or get Askback plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.