BrightLocal vs Whitespark

BrightLocal sells one suite in three tiers, Track, Manage and Grow, and the monthly bill is set by how many locations you enter, with a 14-day full-access trial before any card is needed. Whitespark sells separate products, each with its own monthly price, from a USD 1 per location platform to a USD 79 per location Reputation Builder, and its pricing page names no trial. The practical question is whether you want rank, citation and review tracking under one login and one meter, or would rather buy only the single job that currently hurts. Whitespark is also stated as Canadian, while BrightLocal's privacy policy gives a Brighton, UK address.

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Both are reviewed in full in our local SEO tool ranking: BrightLocal and Whitespark.

1. 01

   Fourteen days with no card against paying first

   BrightLocal offers a 14-day trial with full access, no credit card needed, and you are not charged unless you choose a plan. No ongoing free plan is listed beside it. At Whitespark, nothing on the page we read offers a sandbox period or a zero-cost tier, so a buyer commits to a monthly product before seeing it in use. Its four free tools, Review Checker, Review Link Generator, Free Local Ranking Checker and Freshness Distance Calculator, give a small taste but are not presented as a plan.

   Edge: BrightLocal

2. 02

   One location on the cheapest rung

   For a single location on annual billing, BrightLocal's Track costs USD 31 a month (USD 41 if paid monthly), with Manage at USD 40 and Grow at USD 49. Whitespark's entry points are far smaller: the Local Platform is USD 1 per location per month and Local Ranking Grids start at USD 10. A solo owner who needs only one task will spend much less at Whitespark, though each added product adds its own line.

   Edge: Whitespark

3. 03

   Review requests and where they sit

   BrightLocal places review monitoring, responses and requests by email, SMS and in-store campaigns on Grow alone, the top tier at USD 49 per month for one location on annual billing, with reviews publishable on your own website. Whitespark handles reputation through Reputation Builder at USD 79 per location per month, with custom pricing for several locations. On a one-location comparison BrightLocal's route is cheaper, but it forces you onto the highest tier.

   Edge: BrightLocal

4. 04

   Maps of rankings across a city

   BrightLocal's Track plan includes a geo-grid map, though only for up to five keywords, alongside 100 tracked keywords and four competitors per location. Whitespark's Local Ranking Grids monitor up to 225 geographic points and start at USD 10 per month, with enterprise pricing available. If the density of the map matters more than bundled extras, Whitespark's dedicated grid product gets the clearer line in the pages we read.

   Edge: Whitespark

5. 05

   What happens as you add locations

   BrightLocal prices stepwise by location count: two to five locations on annual billing run USD 47, 57 and 65 a month for the three plans, Grow at 91 to 100 locations reaches USD 989 a month if paid monthly, and above 100 the price is on request. Whitespark's per-location items, USD 1 for the platform and USD 79 for Reputation Builder, stay flat per location, though multi-location Reputation Builder pricing is custom. Both turn into quotes at scale.

   Depends on the buyer

6. 06

   Citations and paid services around the software

   BrightLocal sells Citation Builder pay-as-you-go from USD 2 per citation, managed SEO from USD 499 a month and API solutions on quote. Whitespark's Local Citation Finder runs USD 33 to 149 a month, with a one-time listings service from USD 20 to 999, SEO services at USD 499 to 1,999 monthly and a USD 399 per location Yext replacement. Whitespark offers the wider range of citation purchase shapes.

   Edge: Whitespark

Does either vendor let me try the software for free before buying?

BrightLocal gives 14 days of full access with no credit card, and you are not charged unless you pick a plan.

Whitespark shows neither a gratis tier nor a test period on that page. It does offer four free tools, but these are not presented as a plan.

Which one gets expensive faster when I add more locations?

BrightLocal rises stepwise, for example Grow at 91 to 100 locations is USD 989 a month on monthly billing, and over 100 locations is a quote.

Whitespark's USD 1 platform and USD 79 Reputation Builder are charged per location, with custom pricing for several locations on the latter. The totals depend on which Whitespark products you stack.

Where is each company based according to its own pages?

Whitespark says it was founded in 2005 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and its footer reads Made with love in Canada.

BrightLocal Ltd's privacy policy gives First Floor, Huntingdon House, 20-25 North Street, Brighton, BN1 1EB, UK. The BrightLocal homepage we read does not state a headquarters country.

• BrightLocal pricing: tier prices per location, 100-keyword and geo-grid limits, review request tier, citation and managed SEO costs, and the 14-day no-card trial.
• BrightLocal privacy policy: the Brighton, UK address of BrightLocal Ltd as data controller.
• BrightLocal homepage: company name BrightLocal Ltd with no headquarters country stated.
• Whitespark pricing: separate product prices, 225-point grids, one-time packages, four free tools and no named trial period.
• Whitespark homepage: Whitespark Inc., founded 2005 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.