Trustpilot

trustpilot.comcontributed by Samuele Ongaro

KEEP IT

The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying.

A public review platform: customers leave reviews on a profile people already search for, with widgets showing the score on your own site.

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is
Do not build this. A profile people search for by name is the product, and it exists whether you participate or not.

Somebody typing your company name into a search engine finds that profile. You cannot replicate the fact that a stranger trusts a third-party page more than testimonials on your own site — that is the whole mechanism, and it is a network position rather than software.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE PRICE
- This is among the most expensive subscriptions on the list. The free tier lets you claim the profile and reply to reviews, which is most of what actually matters
- Work out what the paid tier is doing for you. If it is invitation automation, that is a mailing list and a link
- The reviews themselves are collected whether you pay or not, which is unusual and worth remembering

WHAT YOU CAN BUILD, AND SHOULD

**Your own review collection**, feeding both your site and the platform:
- An automated invitation after a purchase, at the right delay — long enough to have used the thing, short enough to remember it. One reminder, never more
- Ask for a rating first, in one click. Then route: a high rating gets a link to the public profile, a low one gets a private form that reaches you
- **That routing has a line you must not cross.** Making it easier for happy customers to review publicly is fine. Suppressing negative reviews, or only inviting people you know are happy, is review gating — several platforms forbid it, consumer regulators treat it as a deceptive practice, and it is exactly the sort of thing this catalogue exists to be sceptical of. Invite everybody
- Collect your own reviews too, with permission, and publish them with structured data so search engines can show the rating

AND THE THING THAT MOVES THE NUMBER
Reply to the negative ones, publicly, quickly, and without arguing. A well-handled complaint reads better to the next reader than an unbroken run of five stars, which nobody quite believes anyway.

THE ONE-LINE VERSION
Claim the free profile and reply to everything. Build the invitation flow — and invite everybody, not just the happy ones.

What you lose

  • A destination customers already visit when checking whether a company is real
  • Review verification and fraud detection
  • Rich snippets in search results, which come from a recognised platform

If you would rather not build

  • Your own verified review page, for on-site proof
  • Google Business Profile, which is free
  • Trustpilot's own free tier

What it costs

read from their page 15 Aug 2026

PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearlyLast read
—$99/mo—15 Aug 2026

Their pricing page is where these came from. Seeing a different price? Tell us.

The escape hatch

open source · no votes, no paid placement

Formbricks

$0

Collects the review through a signed link with logic and moderation.

formbricks/formbricksfree · open source

Astro

$0

Renders reviews and the structured data statically.

withastro/astrofree · open source

Why this verdict

our own opinion · changed only by a person

22/100

Verdict no at 22. The software is trivial; the value is a destination people already trust, and that cannot be rebuilt on your own domain.

History

tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten

Interest · last 30 dayspeak 3/day
views012330 Aug4 Sept9 Sept14 Sept19 Sept24 Sept28 Sept
— views— prompt copies none yet— votes none yet

Questions about Trustpilot

answered from the record above

Is Trustpilot free?

No — the plan we track is $99 a month. Starter from $99 per month per domain billed annually, and only for new small-business customers; Plus is $319 and Premium $799. A free tier covers basic profile management.

Can you replace Trustpilot by building your own?

KEEP IT. The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying. Replacement score 22 out of 100, build time longer than it saves. Read what you lose before you decide.

How much does Trustpilot cost?

$99 a month on Plus — $1,188 a year. Recorded 14 Aug 2026.

What do you lose by replacing Trustpilot?

A destination customers already visit when checking whether a company is real; Review verification and fraud detection; Rich snippets in search results, which come from a recognised platform. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Trustpilot?

Yes: Formbricks, Astro. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.

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