Customer Lobby vs GatherUp (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GatherUp grades higher than Customer Lobby: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
GatherUp grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Customer Lobby
Review requests and customer marketing for home service businesses
GatherUp
Review requests, NPS surveys and review monitoring per location
Which one is for you
Pick Customer Lobby if
- Fits if you run HVAC, plumbing, electrical or a similar service business
- Works for companies that want review requests tied to each invoice
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you only want reviews: $299 a month plus a $199 activation fee
- Watch out: each plan has a $199 one-time activation fee
- Skip it if you sell online, because it's built for service businesses, not online stores or healthcare
- Watch out: a page also lists Pro Marketing from $299, with exact pricing set in a demo
Pick GatherUp if
- Fits if you want NPS scores and review requests in one flow
- Works for multi-location businesses that want a set price per location, from $60 down to $25
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one small shop, as the floor is $99 a month on a yearly bill, or $124 monthly
- Tight if you text a lot, as each location gets 300 texts a month
- Skip it if you want listings or fake-review tools included, as Listings Hub is $40 and Review Defense is sold separately
- Not for you if you want a free plan, as there's only a 14-day trial
- Watch out: agency and white-label pricing is by quote only, and Multi Location is sold through a demo
How we grade them
| 1.6GPACustomer LobbyWeak | 2.4GPAGatherUpFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DReviews is $299 a month plus $199 activation, and Essentials is $499. The category's dearest tenth starts at $250. | CSmall Business is $99 a month billed yearly ($124 monthly) for one location, with 300 texts and 3,000 emails a month. Set against its listed rivals, the local review tools, that's the middle. Two to ten locations are $60 each, and Listings Hub is $40 on top. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial is on record for this listing. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day free trial, and the listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. Enough to send a first batch of requests, not to stay on. |
| Features | CReview requests after every job, a technician app, customer marketing, invoice sync and spend tracking. The marketing is most of what the price buys. | BThe whole job: email and text requests with QR codes, NPS surveys, monitoring of 100+ review sites, AI replies, topic tags, widgets, a pop-up and automatic social sharing. Fake-review defense and listings on 125 directories are add-ons. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record, and it syncs with your invoice system before it works. | CNo store rating on record. You load customers or connect a system, set up the request and survey flow, and choose widgets. Multi-location and agency setups go through a demo. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, a technician mobile app and Google and Facebook review links. | BWeb, with Salesforce, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, QuickBooks Online, Google Sheets, Zapier, Toast and athenahealth, plus an API. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | service businesses wanting reviews and marketing | review requests with NPS surveys per location |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Customer Lobby and GatherUp. How we grade
Price against what you get
Customer Lobby starts at $299 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. GatherUp starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7.
GatherUp scores higher and starts $200 a month lower. Of the other customer review tools on the chart, 22 score higher than Customer Lobby for less, and none scores higher than GatherUp for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Customer Lobby also covers email campaigns, sMS marketing and dashboards.
- GatherUp also covers surveys and reports.
At a glance
| Customer Lobby | GatherUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $299 per month, plus $199 activation | $99 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Customer Lobby | GatherUp |
| Price read from | customerlobby.com | gatherup.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Customer Lobby
- Pricing is high for a reviews tool because the plans center on marketing to past customers.
- Each plan has a $199 one-time activation fee.
- A page also lists a Pro Marketing price starting at $299 with exact pricing set in a demo.
- Built for service businesses, not online stores or healthcare.
GatherUp
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial the cheapest plan is $99 a month on annual billing.
- Each location gets up to 300 SMS and 3,000 email credits a month.
- Listings Management is an add-on at $40 per location a month, and Review Defense is sold separately, annual only, at $45, $125 or $300 per location a month.
- Agency pricing and white-label options are by quote only.
Key features
Customer Lobby
- Review requests after every job
- Follows each transaction with a review request aimed at Google, Facebook and other chosen sites.
- Technician mobile app
- Lets techs ask for a review in the customer's home on the spot.
- Customer marketing
- Uses each customer's history to send personalized emails, postcards and texts.
- Invoice system sync
- Says it connects to more than 150 invoicing systems to choose which customers to contact.
- Spend tracking
- Ties marketing spend back to sold jobs in a dashboard.
GatherUp
- Email and SMS review requests
- Up to 300 SMS and 3,000 email requests per location each month, with QR codes, custom feedback links and customer uploads.
- NPS and surveys
- Asks customers a Net Promoter Score question and other survey questions before or alongside the review request.
- Review monitoring and AI replies
- Monitors 100+ review sites, writes replies with AI, lets you respond in the app and tags reviews by topic and keyword.
- Widgets and social sharing
- Review widgets and a badge for your site, a conversion pop-up and automatic posting of good reviews to social media.
- Review Defense
- An add-on in three plans that flags suspicious or fake reviews, watches competitors and helps dispute fraudulent ones.
- Listings Hub
- An add-on that syncs business details to 125 directories, including Google, Apple Maps, Yelp and Facebook.
Plans
Customer Lobby
Reviews$299
per month, plus $199 one-time activation
Unlimited review requests synced with your invoice system.
Essentials$499
per month, plus $199 one-time activation
Review requests plus marketing to up to 230 customers a month with emails and postcards.
Pro$999
per month, plus $199 one-time activation
Targets up to 510 customers a month and includes 500 promotional texts a month.
Master$1,999
per month, plus $199 one-time activation
Targets up to 1,200 customers a month and includes 1,000 promotional texts a month.
GatherUp
Small Business$99
per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly)
One location with up to 300 SMS and 3,000 email credits a month, review monitoring, NPS surveys, AI replies and widgets.
Multi Location$60
per location / month, billed annually ($75 monthly)
For 2 to 10 locations; the rate falls with volume, to $25 per location at 101+ on annual billing. Sold through a demo.
AgencyCustom
White-label reputation software for agencies to resell to clients, priced by quote.
Ways to pay less
Customer Lobby
No public discounts listed.
GatherUp
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
GatherUp's pricing page offers 20% off on annual billing: Small Business is $99 a month billed annually against $124 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Customer Lobby or GatherUp?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GatherUp is cheaper to start with: $99 a month, against $299 a month for Customer Lobby. Customer Lobby starts at $299 per month, plus $199 activation, and GatherUp starts at $99 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly).
Which has a free plan, Customer Lobby or GatherUp?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Customer Lobby nor GatherUp has a free plan. GatherUp has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.