Directory review · Software review site
Capterra free listing: how it works under G2
Capterra still lists software for free and still sells clicks. What changed in 2026 is the owner: G2 bought Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice from Gartner, and the vendor side now runs through G2.
Founder, SaaSCity
Updated
Checked by hand. DR from Ahrefs.
- 91
- Domain Rating
- No link
- PPC adds a button with no href
- Yes, through G2's product form
- Free route
- Pay per click, rates unpublished
- Paid from
Contents (9)
The short answer
Yes, Capterra is free to list on: its transparency page says setting up a profile is free, and as of October 2026 the Get your product listed button opens G2's product form, because G2 now owns Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice. A free profile has no link to your website. Sponsored pay-per-click profiles get a Visit Website button, and even that is a JavaScript button routed through Capterra's click counter, with no link in the HTML.
Capterra at a glance
- Type
- Software marketplace with verified reviews
- Owner
- G2 since mid-2026 (G2 Digital Markets), with GetApp and Software Advice
- Running since
- 1999, by its own About page
- Audience
- Business software buyers; it says 50M+ users a year and 2.5M+ verified reviews
- Free route
- Get your product listed, which opens G2's product form
- Lists
- Packaged software on public sale with a trial or demo; no waitlist-only products
- Paid model
- Pay per click and pay per lead, rates unpublished
- Link
- None on free profiles; the PPC button has no href
- Incentives
- Nominal, through the vendor portal link, the same for every rating
- Wait or review time
- Not published
- Domain Rating
- 91 (Ahrefs)
- Website
- capterra.com
Who runs Capterra now
Capterra is a catalog of business software for buyers, with category pages, comparisons and reviews. It says it has been running since 1999, and a banner on every page says it may earn a referral fee when you visit a vendor through its links.
The owner changed in 2026. G2 announced a deal with Gartner for Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp on January 29 and by June called the three G2 Digital Markets. On October 7, 2026, Capterra's vendor page read "Capterra, powered by G2 Digital Markets", and its listing button opened G2's product form.
So the old advice of one Gartner Digital Markets account is out of date. G2's seller login says one account now manages your profile across G2, Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp, and Capterra's guidelines say reviews collected through its program may be published on all three Digital Markets sites.
Is Capterra dofollow?
No. A free Capterra profile has no link to your website. On a sponsored profile the Visit Website button is a JavaScript button with no href that sends the click through Capterra's pay-per-click counter. Search engines get nothing to follow either way.
We checked live in a normal Chrome window on October 7, 2026; headless browsers got a Cloudflare challenge.
Free profile: Basecamp's page has no Visit Website button and no <a> to basecamp.com. Its one vendor link, "Manage this product listing", opens a claim request on g2.com. Sponsored profile: Nifty's three Visit Website buttons are <button> elements without an href. The page data marks the product as "monetization_type":"PPC" and points the buttons at a /ppc/clicks/collect/ address on Capterra's side, not at Nifty's site. We did not click, since each click is billed to the vendor.
GetApp (a span with role="button") and Software Advice (a Try for Free button) work the same way, on the same click collector and campaign ID. All the product pages we opened were indexable and canonical to themselves.
The link as rendered on capterra.com
<!-- Sponsored profile, Nifty (live, October 7, 2026) -->
<button type="button" data-testid="visit-website-button" aria-label="Visit vendor website">Visit Website</button>
<!-- page data: "monetization_type":"PPC", "destinationUrl":"{PREFIX}/ppc/clicks/collect/CA/directory/6f5bf50a-.../destination?..." -->
<!-- Free profile, Basecamp: no Visit Website button and no <a> to basecamp.com -->
Capterra pricing for vendors
Capterra publishes no rates. As of October 2026 its legal pages describe two paid programs, both run from the G2 Digital Markets vendor account.
Budget changes and pauses take effect the following month, and invalid-click claims must be made within 60 days of the invoice. Its Free Stuff Addendum (May 4, 2026) lets Capterra limit or end free features at its discretion.
How to get a free Capterra listing
Capterra's listing and claim buttons now lead to G2, and one sign-up covers four sites.
- Check the criteria Packaged software on public sale with a trial, demo or request-for-information offer. No marketplaces, database sites, personal apps, clones or custom builds. No waitlist-only products either.
- Look for an existing profile Capterra builds some profiles itself from public information. If yours exists, "Manage this product listing" opens a claim request on G2.
- Add it through G2 Otherwise, Get your product listed on capterra.com/vendors opens G2's product form. The seller login asks you to validate through LinkedIn or a business email.
- Write to Capterra's rules Third person, no superlatives, no calls to action or URLs in the description, real screenshots and working destination URLs. Capterra's content team has the final say on the copy.
- Collect reviews with the portal link Ask a broad set of customers, and send any reward through the incentive link in the vendor portal.
Where SaaSCity fits next to Capterra
SaaSCity is our own launch directory, so it does not compete with Capterra for reviews. It covers what Capterra does not give a new SaaS: a launch date and a link. A free listing waits for an open Monday slot (15 free slots a week), sits on a DR 66 domain and turns dofollow once our badge is on your homepage. Quick Pass ($19.99) skips the queue and the badge and goes live within 24 hours of a human review. Like Capterra, we list products people can use today, not waitlists.
Capterra review rules
From Capterra's community guidelines, last updated May 4, 2026.
Nominal incentives through its link
A reward must be nominal, go through the vendor portal's incentive link, be offered whatever the rating and be disclosed. Incentivized reviews are marked on the site.
No selective invitations
Ask a broad cross-section of users; targeting people by expected sentiment or past feedback is banned.
No coaching, no AI
You may not tell customers what to write or collect reviews outside the site, and reviews written by generative AI are not accepted. G2 is looser here and lets LinkedIn-verified reviewers draft with AI.
No non-disparagement clauses
Capterra will not remove a review because the customer signed one, and such clauses can bring penalties on the vendor account.
Buyer Alerts
A vendor that breaks the rules may get a Buyer Alert on its profile that states the violation.
Is Capterra worth it for a SaaS?
Yes for B2B software that small and mid-size businesses buy, and the free profile costs only the time to fill it in. If you are already on G2, it is the same login. Capterra says it lists every provider, paying or not; sponsored profiles may appear first, and buyers can sort and filter the rest, so reviews carry the organic rows.
It is not a link source: free profiles carry no link and the paid button is not a link either. Treat PPC like any paid channel and fund it only if you can measure cost per trial or demo.
Good fit
- B2B SaaS sold to small and mid-size businesses, with a trial or demo
- Vendors already on G2, since one login covers both
- Teams with a paid budget who can track cost per signup
Skip it if
- Your only call to action is a waitlist
- You want a backlink
- The product is custom-built or a personal app
- You cannot answer advisor-sent leads quickly
Capterra alternatives for vendors
Review sites we checked on the same day. The first three share Capterra's owner and login.
- DR 91
Grid reports from 10 reviews and Starter at $299 a month. No link on free profiles either.
- DR 85
Capterra's sister site on the same PPC program.
- DR 87
The lead-generation arm, where advisors pass qualified buyers to paying vendors.
- DR 85
Free profile; paid profiles get a website button that was a followed link.
- DR 92
Still Gartner's. Free with a followed link, for enterprise products only.
Capterra FAQ
- Is Capterra free for vendors?
- Yes. As of October 2026, its transparency page says setting up a profile is free and lets you collect verified reviews. Capterra earns from sponsored profiles (pay per click) and from leads its advisors qualify (pay per lead).
- Who owns Capterra now?
- G2. It announced the deal with Gartner for Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp on January 29, 2026, and by June described the acquisition as done, calling the three G2 Digital Markets.
- Does one account cover Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice?
- Yes, and G2 too. As of October 2026 G2's seller login says one account manages your profile across all four, and Capterra's guidelines say reviews collected through it may appear on Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp.
- How much does Capterra PPC cost?
- As of October 2026, Capterra does not publish rates. You set bids and a budget in the vendor account and pay per click; changes and pauses apply from the following month.
- Is Capterra dofollow?
- No. Free profiles have no link to your site, and the sponsored Visit Website button is a JavaScript button with no href. We checked live on October 7, 2026.
- Can I list a product that is still in beta?
- Yes, as of October 2026, if it has a working website, an offer on public sale and at least one review within its first calendar year on the site. A product whose only call to action is a waitlist is not listed.
How we checked
Every fact on this page was read on the site it describes. Last checked on . Prices and rules change, so check the site before you pay.
- Capterra: for vendors
- Capterra: how we ensure transparency
- Capterra: profile guidelines
- Capterra: community guidelines
- Capterra: PPC service description
- Capterra: PPL service description
- Capterra: free stuff addendum
- Capterra: how we verify reviews
- Capterra: about us
- G2 Digital Markets: Engaged Buyers (PPC)
- G2 Digital Markets: Qualified Leads
- G2 seller login
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SaaSCity runs a launch directory, so we are not a neutral party. Nobody paid for this review, and the facts in it come from the pages listed under How we checked.