Comparison

Throughput vs Podium / Birdeye

Podium and Birdeye charge hundreds a month, and Birdeye will not even text for a cannabis business. We own the channel and the reviews.

What it replaces: Communication Hub + Reputation / Review Engine

Dimension	Podium / Birdeye	Throughput
Monthly cost	Podium starts at $399/month, $599 for Pro, often $599 to $1,000+ once add-ons stack; Birdeye starts at $299/month per location	A system you own outright with a far smaller retainer, no per-location SaaS tax
Texting a hemp business	Birdeye's help center confirms cannabis/CBD businesses cannot send SMS and are routed to email-only webchat	Compliant owned-channel messaging built for the regulated-retail niche
Why reviews matter	Sells review collection as a feature you rent	A review engine you own, where a one-star Yelp increase ties to a 5 to 9 percent revenue lift
Ownership	Your reviews and conversations live inside the vendor's platform	Reviews, messaging, and customer list live in your isolated system
Compliance posture	Generic platform that disables SMS for your category rather than solving it	HIPAA-aware reputation engine with compliance handled in the build

The receipts

Podium's review and messaging platform starts at $399/month for the Core plan (up to 2 locations) and $599/month for Pro, with real multi-location costs running $599 to $1,000+/month after users and add-ons. Birdeye starts at $299/month per location. Birdeye's own help center confirms cannabis/CBD businesses cannot send SMS through its platform, so it routes them to email-only webchat. Separately, a one-star increase in a business's Yelp rating leads to a 5 to 9 percent increase in revenue. (Sources: SocialPilot Podium Pricing Breakdown, https://www.socialpilot.co/reviews/blogs/podium-pricing ; Emitrr on Birdeye Pricing, https://emitrr.com/blog/birdeye-pricing/ ; Birdeye Help Center SMS guidelines for cannabis, https://support.birdeye.com/en/articles/12653074-updated-sms-guidelines-for-cannabis-companies ; HBS Working Paper 12-016, Luca, https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=41233 )

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