Capterra is a legit, free, and trusted software review platform that helps potential buyers find the right software and compare through a shortlist and verified user reviews. The company is real, established, and not a scam. However, the platform allows vendors to incentivize users to leave reviews, run ad campaigns, and create sponsored profiles. But none of these improve the ranking on the shortlist or suggestions. This article will cover whether the company is legit, how it makes money, and whether to trust it or not.
Is Capterra a legitimate company?
Capterra is a well-established company that has been in the market since 1999. The platform is now one of the largest software review platforms in the world, competing with G2. The domain is 25 years old with millions of reviews for 100,000 verified software listings in more than 10,000 categories.
From the start, the company has been owned by Gartner as part of “Gartner Digital Markets. Later in February 2026, G2 acquired Capterra along with GetApp and Software Advice from Gartner for $110 million.
That means the company is 100% legit and trusted. Thousands of vendors are trusting this platform to list their SaaS, and millions of people are leaving reviews for others to compare and make the right decision.
How does Capterra make money?
Capterra offers a free service for the audience and users and makes money from the software vendors, though listing the software on the platform is completely free. Here is the breakdown of the earnings process of Capterra.
- Buyers pay nothing: Searching for software, comparing, and reading reviews of authentic buyers and users are completely free. Buyers can enjoy a free shortlist and suggestions as well.
- Vendors pay for visibility: Listing is free for software companies, but they can pay for sponsored placement and lead generation. Pay-per-click bids start at $2 and go higher with each bid. However, buyers will see the label for a paid promotion. There are sponsored profiles with a label ‘Visit website’ or ‘Book a Demo’ from which Capterra makes money.
- Reviewers may receive a small incentive: The platform allows vendors to offer small gifts in return for leaving reviews. This is a thank you for your time gift, not a payment for praise.
So, the key fact here is that money will buy the placement and leads, but it does not buy ratings or positive reviews.
Are Capterra reviews real, or are they fake?
Capterra reviews are all verified by a human team before being published through LinkedIn profiles and business emails. There is an algorithm as well that detects the review text to analyze whether it is written by AI or not. However, it is not flawless, and some fake or low-quality reviews still exist.
So the review goes through these three steps.
- Identity verification: A 30-person team confirms whether the reviewer is a real person with actual purchase history and genuine experience or not. When the identity cannot be confirmed or where there is a conflict of interest, the reviews are flagged and never published.
- Content verification: The system runs 20+ checks using technology to detect AI-generated content and plagiarism.
- Fraud combat: Suspicious reviews often trigger the system to ask for proof of use. If the proof is not sufficient, the reviews get rejected, and reviewers get banned or removed.
So the right framing for Capterra reviews is that not all reviews are fake and not every review is genuine. The system tries to eliminate fake and spam reviews, but sometimes fails to do so.
Does Capterra pay you to write reviews, and does that make reviews biased?
Capterra allows vendors to run a campaign where they will offer a small gift to users to write a review. However, note that the gift is for the act of reviewing, not for writing positive reviews. The users can leave a negative review and still get the gift card.
One thing worth noting is that people tend to leave positive reviews when they receive a gift from the vendor. This is human nature. We need to understand the incentivized review model properly since most of the suspicion is created here. Most of the reviews come from organic buyers sharing their experience.
Is Capterra worth it – for buyers and for vendors?
Yes, buyers can easily search for software by category, industry, and type, and compare through reviews and ratings to identify the right software for them. Capterra is a good place to list the software for companies since it allows them to get first exposure for free. It helps small and medium SaaS builders.
That is why companies focus on a Capterra review management campaign to get organic customers. However, getting reviews on Capterra alone won’t rank on search engines. You need a complete review management service to gain traction across different platforms and shape customer minds. Large companies are using a complete reputation management campaign to benefit the most from this platform.
The bottom line on Capterra’s legitimacy
Capterra has been serving the audience for a long time with its listings, suggestions, and real feedback from experienced users. The site is real, and most of the reviews are real. But companies are trying to manipulate the system and push fake reviews on the platform, making the system questionable to the users. That’s why every user should check other platforms to see what other users are saying about SaaS.
Frequently asked questions
Can companies pay to delete their bad reviews on Capterra?
No. Vendors cannot pay the platform to remove the bad reviews or delete the poor rating once it is approved.
Are sponsored listings ranked higher than better products?
Yes, sponsored listings can often appear above the highest-rated products, but there will be a label mentioning that the product is sponsored.
Are Capterra reviews reliable?
Capterra runs rigorous checks before approving a review from the users. It checks the reviewer’s background and reviews the text to understand whether it is real or not. So, most of the reviews are reliable.
How does Capterra make money if it’s free?
Capterra makes money by offering premium features and lead generation campaigns to the vendors. Users can check and write reviews for free, and vendors can list their products for free as well.
Does Capterra pay you to write reviews?
Sometimes. Capterra allows vendors to run incentivized-review campaigns where the users will get a gift card in return for leaving a review – positive or negative. However, most reviews are non-incentivized.
Who owns Capterra?
Capterra is owned by G2 right now, and previously it was owned by Gartner.
