How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Software Advice is the clearest pick if you want a person to talk to. Its homepage says an advisor will send 3 to 5 matching options within 15 minutes, and buyers pay nothing.
- G2 now owns Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp. G2 announced the deal in January 2026, so four of the biggest review sites have one owner. Comparing them against each other is less independent than it used to be.
- Free advisor services are paid for by vendors. Capterra, for example, uses a pay-per-click model where vendors bid for category placement next to unpaid listings. Check how a list is sorted before you trust its order.
- If you are buying ERP, EHR or another large system and want a structured process, SelectHub sells guided packages (vendor scorecards, RFP, full selection). Prices are only given on request.
- For enterprise IT and security purchases, PeerSpot's long, detailed reviews tend to be more useful than star ratings from general review sites.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Software Advice | Free one-on-one advisor calls | Free for buyers | Yes |
 G2 | Largest pool of user reviews | Free to browse | Yes |
 Capterra | Small business category browsing | Free for buyers | Yes |
 GetApp | Side-by-side feature comparisons | Free to browse | Yes |
 SelectHub | Guided selection for complex systems | See website | Yes (free research and price quotes) |
 PeerSpot | Enterprise IT and security reviews | Free to browse | Yes |
 TechnologyAdvice | Editorial buyer's guides | Free to read | Yes |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best software advisor services
Starting priceFree for buyers
Free planYes
Software Advice is the closest thing to a free software consultant. Busy owners and office managers who would rather explain their needs once than read fifty reviews will get the most from it. You describe your requirements, an advisor matches them to products, and according to the homepage you get 3 to 5 options within 15 minutes. The company says it has helped more than 1 million businesses and has over 2.5 million verified reviews.
It is strongest in vertical software, where a generic review site struggles. The homepage features advisors who specialize in areas like legal management software. Those advisors already know which tools handle trust accounting or medical billing codes, so a 10-minute call can save you a week of research. The company was founded in 2005, was owned by Gartner from 2014, and is now part of G2 following the deal announced in January 2026.
The catch is the business model. The advice is free because vendors pay to receive qualified buyers. Treat your shortlist as a good starting point, not a complete market scan. Before you sign anything, check at least one tool that the advisor did not mention.
What we like- Real advisors who build a shortlist with you
- 3 to 5 options within about 15 minutes
- Covers 150 industries, including vertical niches like legal and medical billing
Watch out for- Vendors fund the service, so advisors only send you to vendors in the network
- Expect follow-up calls from the vendors you are matched with
Starting priceFree to browse
Free planYes
G2 is the default research stop for marketers and SaaS-heavy teams. The homepage claims more than 3,715,500 reviews, and big products have thousands each. Jira and Asana both show review counts in the thousands. That volume makes it easier to filter for reviewers at companies your size and in your industry.
What sets it apart is breadth. Besides standard software categories, G2 lists service providers, has a compare tool, runs a deals section and has started a category for AI agents. With Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice now under the same owner, G2 has said the combined business will hold close to six million reviews.
The honest weakness: G2 shows you what users think, but no one helps you decide. There is no advisor walking you through trade-offs. Its grid rankings also favor products with lots of reviews, which can hide a newer tool that might suit you better.
What we like- More than 3.7 million reviews according to its homepage
- Built-in comparison pages and a question-style search box
- Covers services and AI agent categories as well as software
Watch out for- Popular products can bury smaller vendors in category grids
- Reviews are self-selected, and vendors often ask happy customers to write them
#3Capterra
Best for: Small business category browsing3.9/5 on
G2 (150 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit capterra.com
Starting priceFree for buyers
Free planYes
Capterra works best when you know the category you need ("we need scheduling software") but have no idea which brands to look at. Its own transparency page says buyers are not charged for the information or for recommendations from its advisor service. That makes it a safe first stop for a small business with no research budget.
The category pages are long and easy to filter. Reviews from small businesses are common, which matters if you run a 15-person company and don't care what a Fortune 500 IT team thinks.
Before you rely on its rankings, understand how it makes money. Capterra uses a pay-per-click model: vendors bid on category and listing position, and those paid listings sit next to unpaid ones ranked by user reviews. Change the sort order to reviews or ratings when you want an unpaid view.
What we like- Free for buyers, including its advisor recommendations
- Very broad category coverage for small businesses
- Passed 2 million verified reviews back in January 2023
Watch out for- Sponsored placement affects which listings you see first
- Overlaps heavily with Software Advice and GetApp since they share an owner
Starting priceFree to browse
Free planYes
For the stage after you have a shortlist, GetApp is the most practical of the review sites. Its comparison tool puts two or more products side by side so you can check which ones offer the integrations or features you consider must-haves. That is the job most buyers struggle with once they have narrowed the list to three names.
Its category pages let you filter by features, integrations and pricing across about 1.5 million verified user reviews. A small business owner who knows "it must sync with QuickBooks" can cut a 200-product category down to a handful quickly.
The downside is that GetApp is no longer a separate opinion. It shares an owner and much of its underlying data with Capterra and Software Advice. Checking all three does not give you three independent views. Use G2 or PeerSpot as an outside check.
What we like- Dedicated comparison tool for checking tools against each other
- Filters for features, integrations and pricing
- Category pages built around 1.5 million verified reviews
Watch out for- Smaller review base than G2 or Capterra
- Owned by the same group as Capterra and Software Advice, so results overlap
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes (free research and price quotes)
SelectHub is built for mid-size companies replacing a system that touches many departments, such as ERP, EHR or warehouse management. Its homepage describes a selection platform that runs from research and analysis through to price negotiation. The site also lists a separate advisory phone line, distinct from sales.
The paid guided packages are what make it different from a review site. They range from Vendor Scorecards (three vendors scored against your requirements) through Express RFP and Express Selection to Complete Selection. In Complete Selection, a SelectHub advisor runs the project from requirements to the final contract. For a company that cannot justify a traditional consulting firm, that middle ground is valuable.
On the free side, SelectHub will gather price quotes for the products you pick and verify your details first. Its advisors also say which products fit your industry and company size. The catch is cost transparency. Every package page sends you to "Get Pricing Now" rather than showing a number, so budget a sales conversation before you know what you will pay.
What we like- Paid packages include vendor scorecards and a full RFP process
- Separate advisory phone line for buyers
- Strong coverage of ERP, EHR, CMMS and supply chain categories
Watch out for- Guided package pricing is only shared after you request it
- More process than a small team buying simple software needs
Starting priceFree to browse
Free planYes
IT managers and security leads at growing companies are PeerSpot's real audience. Formerly called IT Central Station, it describes itself as buying intelligence for enterprise technology. Its reviews go into pricing, performance, stability and support in more depth than a typical star-rating site.
The category menu shows the focus. Endpoint detection, vulnerability management, cloud security posture, SIEM, firewalls, SASE and data loss prevention all have their own sections. If you are a 200-person company picking your first proper security stack, this is where you will find candid notes on deployment pain and licensing surprises. PeerSpot has also added a voice AI agent to collect reviews through interviews instead of typed forms.
It is the wrong tool for a marketing agency looking for a CRM or a dental office choosing practice software. Coverage of small business categories is thin, and the reviews assume an enterprise IT setting.
What we like- Detailed reviews covering pricing, performance, stability and features
- Deep coverage of cybersecurity categories like EDR, SIEM and ZTNA
- Long-form reviews tend to read less like vendor marketing
Watch out for- Little use for small business tools like scheduling or invoicing apps
- Focused on enterprise buyers, so many reviewers work at large organizations
Starting priceFree to read
Free planYes
Readers who prefer an expert's write-up to a pile of user reviews should start with TechnologyAdvice. Its homepage lists buyer's guides for 163 categories of B2B technology and more than 3,200 software products, written by a team of over 50 industry experts. Recommendations are laid out so you can skim the takeaways in about 30 seconds or read further.
It also covers head-to-head comparisons (for example, Asana vs. monday.com) and explainers on concepts like HRIS types. That helps a first-time buyer who doesn't yet know what questions to ask. The company says its analysis is editorially independent of client priorities.
The weakness is freshness. When we checked, several featured posts on the homepage carried 2024 dates. Confirm pricing and features on the vendor's site before acting on any guide. As with the others, vendors pay to reach this audience, so keep that in mind as you read.
What we like- Buyer's guides for 163 technology categories
- Covers more than 3,200 software products
- Short summaries for skimming plus longer detail
Watch out for- Some featured content on the homepage is dated
- Also sells audience access to vendors, which funds the content
How we chose
We started from a simple question: where can a small or mid-size US business get reliable, low-cost help choosing software? We looked at each platform's own homepage, pricing pages and service descriptions to confirm what buyers actually get and what it costs. We also read public coverage, including news of G2's 2026 deal for Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp. We did not test these services hands-on. This list is based on published information.
We scored each one on five things: whether a real person can advise you, how many reviews it has and how detailed they are, how open it is about vendor payments, what it costs buyers, and how well it fits a company with 10 to 500 employees. Directories that only list vendors, with no reviews, guidance or selection process, did not make the cut. Neither did services whose current homepage or offer we could not confirm.
How to get honest advice from a free software advisor
Know who is paying
Nearly every free software advisor is funded by vendors. That is not a scandal, but it shapes what you see. Vendors pay for clicks, placements or qualified leads. Ask the advisor directly whether every vendor in the category is eligible for recommendation or only paying ones. On review sites, check whether the default sort is "sponsored" or "highest rated."
Prepare before the call
Advisors work faster when you arrive with specifics. Write down:
- Number of users now and in two years
- Budget range per user per month, or per year for flat pricing
- Must-have integrations (accounting, payroll, email, ecommerce)
- Contract preference: monthly or annual, and whether you can live with a multi-year term
- Data export needs, in case you switch later
With this list, a 15-minute call can give you a usable shortlist. Without it, you will get the category's most-advertised products.
Cross-check with an unrelated source
Since G2 now owns four major review brands, a second opinion from the same group is not fully independent. Pair a G2-family source with something outside it, such as PeerSpot for IT purchases, SelectHub for structured selection, or peer threads on Reddit and in industry associations.
Decide whether to pay for help
Free advisors are fine for tools under a few thousand dollars a year. For an ERP, EHR or field service platform that will run your operations for five years or more, a paid, structured process with requirements, scorecards and an RFP is often worth it. Ask SelectHub or a similar firm for a quote, then compare it with the cost of picking the wrong system.
Protect your inbox
Booking an advisor call usually means vendors will contact you. Use a work email you are happy to have contacted, and tell the advisor how many vendor calls you want. Two or three focused demos beat eight rushed ones.
Frequently asked questions
What does a software advisor actually do?
A software advisor learns your requirements, matches them against products in a category and gives you a shortlist. Free services such as Software Advice do this by phone or online. Paid services such as SelectHub's guided packages go further, with scoring, RFPs and contract support.
Why are most software advisor services free?
Vendors pay for them. Review and advisory sites earn money from vendor advertising, paid placement or referral fees when a buyer they send goes on to talk to the vendor. Buyers usually pay nothing, but the shortlist may lean toward vendors in the network.
Are Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice the same company?
Effectively, yes. They were all part of Gartner Digital Markets, and in January 2026 G2 announced an agreement to buy all three. They keep separate brands and websites, but you should not treat them as independent opinions.
Which is the top software advisor for a small business?
For most small businesses, Software Advice is the best starting point because a person builds the shortlist with you for free. Then check reviews on G2 and compare features on GetApp before booking demos.
Should I trust star ratings on review sites?
Use them as a rough filter, not a verdict. Read the most recent reviews from companies your size, focus on complaints about support and billing, and pay attention to reviews that describe setup time and contract terms.
When is it worth paying for software selection help?
When the software is expensive, hard to replace or touches several departments. ERP, EHR, warehouse management and similar systems usually qualify. A structured selection process costs less than a failed implementation and a second migration.
Sources we checked (15)
- https://www.softwareadvice.com/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Advice
- https://www.g2.com/
- https://www.capterra.in/blog/7596/how-we-ensure-transparency-in
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capterra
- https://www.getapp.com/resources/compare-software-solutions/
- https://www.getapp.com/marketing-software/search-marketing/
- https://www.selecthub.com/
- https://www.selecthub.com/about/guided-selection-packages-pricing-site/
- https://www.selecthub.com/about/find-it-solutions-site/
- https://www.peerspot.com/
- https://www.g2.com/products/peerspot-formerly-it-central-station/reviews
- https://technologyadvice.com/
- https://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-news/news-brief/g2-to-acquire-gartners-capterra-software-advice-and-getapp/51668/
- https://pulse2.com/g2-to-buy-capterra-software-advice-and-getapp-from-gartner/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.