For a small business, Reach by Locus is the pick when the job is answering Google reviews. It is free for one location, drafts two replies in your voice and language, and paid plans start at ₹800 a month in India ($10 elsewhere). Choose GatherUp, NiceJob or BrightLocal for other review sites or automatic requests.
Review management software covers three jobs: replying, monitoring and reporting. Prices were checked 8 Oct 2026. To get new reviews in the first place, read tools to get more Google reviews.
What should review management software do?
Most tools do three jobs. Some do all three well. Others are strong at one.
- Replying: one inbox for every review, alerts when a new one arrives, and AI-drafted replies you edit before posting.
- Monitoring: reviews from more than Google, such as Tripadvisor, Zomato or Practo, in the same inbox.
- Reporting: how your rating, review count and impressions move, so you know whether the work shows.
Google lets you reply to reviews for free in its own dashboard, so software is worth paying for when it saves time: drafts instead of blank boxes, one list instead of opening each review, or several sites in one place.
How do the 7 tools compare?
Reach by Locus is listed first because it is the one built for owners who reply on Google. Tools priced by quote don't publish a number, so you have to ask their sales team.
| Tool | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026 | Reply help | Sites watched | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reach by Locus | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026Free (1 location); Starter ₹800/month, Business ₹1,500/month in India; $10 and $20 elsewhere | Reply helpTwo drafts in your voice, in the review's language and script; also by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Sites watchedGoogle reviews only | Best forOwner-run businesses whose main review site is Google and whose reviews arrive in many languages |
| GatherUp | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026Small Business $99/month for 1 location; 14-day trial | Reply helpAI replies | Sites watched100+ sites | Best forOwners who want automated text requests and loyalty surveys too |
| NiceJob | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026Starter $75/month; Pro $125/month; 14-day trial | Reply helpAI replies on Pro | Sites watchedNot listed in the plan summary | Best forHome-service businesses with a job list |
| BrightLocal Grow | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026$65/month for 1 location monthly, $49/month billed annually | Reply helpResponses across platforms | Sites watchedMultiple platforms | Best forReviews plus rank tracking and listings in one tool |
| Semrush Local Pro | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026$60/month per location, billed annually | Reply helpReview management and AI replies | Sites watchedNot listed in the plan summary | Best forPeople who already use Semrush |
| Birdeye | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026By quote | Reply helpYes | Sites watchedYes | Best forMulti-location brands |
| Podium | Price, checked 8 Oct 2026By quote | Reply helpAI review responses, shared inbox for texts, calls and email | Sites watchedSee the vendor | Best forBusinesses that sell over text |
What does Reach by Locus cost?
The price covers the whole account, not each location. India is billed in rupees and every other country in dollars. Paying yearly works out to ₹400 and ₹750 a month in India ($5 and $10 elsewhere), charged as ₹4,800 or ₹9,000 ($60 or $120) once a year.
| Plan | India, per month | Elsewhere, per month | Locations | Credits a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | India, per month₹0 | Elsewhere, per month$0 | Locations1 | Credits a month50 (25 sets of reply drafts) |
| Starter | India, per month₹800 (₹400 billed yearly) | Elsewhere, per month$10 ($5 billed yearly) | Locations2 | Credits a month500 (250 sets) |
| Business | India, per month₹1,500 (₹750 billed yearly) | Elsewhere, per month$20 ($10 billed yearly) | Locations5 | Credits a month5,000 (2,500 sets) |
A set of two reply drafts costs 2 credits. Replying yourself, without a draft, costs none.
Which tool suits a business with more than one location?
Check how the price scales before you add a second branch. GatherUp lists multi-location pricing at $60 a month per location for 2 to 10 locations. Semrush Local Pro is $60 a month per location. Birdeye sells to multi-location brands by quote.
Reach covers 2 locations on Starter and 5 on Business for the one account price above, so a salon with three branches pays the same whether it has one or five. It is built for one owner, not an agency fleet. If you manage dozens of locations, a multi-location tool fits better.
What does Reach show you about your reviews?
The Reviews page lists every Google review in one place. You can show only the unanswered ones, sort by rating, and see which reviews were later deleted. For each review, Reach reads your recent replies to match their length, warmth and sign-off, then writes two drafts. You edit one and press Post.
For reporting, the Insights page charts impressions, clicks, calls and direction requests over time, and the search terms that brought customers in. You can also ask ChatGPT or Claude for a summary of your reviews or this month's performance through Reach's MCP server.
What does a reply cost per review?
Take a salon that gets 20 Google reviews a month and only wants help answering them.
A salon with 20 Google reviews a month
Here is one review and a reply that is specific, apologises once and says what changed.
| Tool | Monthly price | What 20 replies cost |
|---|---|---|
| Reach Free | Monthly price$0 | What 20 replies cost20 sets of drafts use 40 credits, inside the 50 free credits |
| GatherUp | Monthly price$99/month | What 20 replies costAbout $4.95 per review if the salon doesn't use the requests |
| NiceJob Pro (the plan with AI replies) | Monthly price$125/month | What 20 replies costAbout $6.25 per review if the salon doesn't use the requests |
The request features in GatherUp and NiceJob are what you're paying for. If the salon will send text requests after every appointment, those tools can earn their price. If it only needs replies, it is paying for requests it never sends.
Review: "Haircut was great but I waited 40 minutes past my booking." Reply: "Thank you, Ananya. Glad you liked the cut, and sorry about the wait. We now keep a 10-minute gap between Saturday bookings. Ask for Ritu next time and we'll have the chair ready. Glow Salon"
The reply works because it uses the customer's name, thanks her for the specific praise, owns the problem and names the fix. For more patterns, see Google review reply examples.
Where is Reach weaker?
Reach watches Google reviews only, so reviews on Zomato, Practo or Tripadvisor won't appear. It doesn't send text or email review campaigns and has no website review widgets or loyalty surveys. For any of those, GatherUp, NiceJob or BrightLocal fits better.
Which tool should you pick?
Start with the job that is slowing you down:
- Replies on Google, one to five locations: Reach by Locus. Start on the free plan and move up only when you add locations or want scheduled posts and more rank tracking.
- Reviews spread over many sites, such as Tripadvisor, Zomato or Practo: a multi-site monitor such as GatherUp, BrightLocal or Birdeye.
- Staff-led service business that wants automatic requests after every job: GatherUp or NiceJob.
- Already paying for Semrush: check what Local Pro adds before buying a second tool.
Questions owners ask
- Can software remove bad reviews?
- No. No tool can delete a Google review for you. You can report a review that breaks Google's policy, and Google decides. The steps are in how to remove a Google review.
- Are AI replies against Google's rules?
- Google's policy bans fake engagement and incentives. It doesn't ban tools that help you write a reply. A reply you have read, edited and made specific to the review is fine.
- Do replies help ranking?
- Google lists responding to reviews among its tips to improve local ranking (Google's local ranking tips).
- Is there a free option?
- Yes. Google's own dashboard lets you reply to reviews for free. Reach by Locus Free drafts up to 25 sets of replies a month for one location.
- Can I reply to a Hindi or Tamil review in the same language?
- With Reach, yes: each draft is written in the language and script of the review. With other tools, test it with one of your own reviews during the trial before you pay.
Related guides
Answer every Google review in your own voice
Writing a fresh reply to every review is the repeated chore. Reach puts every Google review in one list, drafts two replies for each in your voice and language, and you press Post on the one you like.
Start on the free plan: 50 credits a month cover 25 sets of drafts. Reach handles Google reviews only, so if you need text campaigns or monitoring on other sites, one of the tools above fits better.