If you’re running an HVAC, plumbing, pest control, cleaning, or electrical business, you’ve probably seen Broadly’s name come up when researching review management tools. They’ve been around since 2015, and for a while, they were one of the go-to options for service businesses that wanted to collect more Google reviews and manage customer messaging.
But the landscape has changed. Broadly was acquired by Vendasta in 2023, and since then, the product has gone quiet while the price hasn’t moved. At $299 to $699 per month with a mandatory 12-month contract, a lot of service business owners are asking the same question: is this still worth it?
For many, the answer is no. And the tool they’re switching to is VisibleFeedback.
Here’s how the two platforms compare — and why the switch makes sense.
Let’s start with the number that matters most to a small business owner.
| Broadly | VisibleFeedback | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard plan | $299/mo | $65/mo |
| Premium/Pro plan | $499-$699/mo | $100/mo |
| Annual pricing | Not offered | $55/mo and $85/mo |
| Setup fee | $350 | None |
| Contract | 12 months required | None — month-to-month |
| Free trial | Demo only | 14 days, no credit card |
That’s not a minor price difference. If you’re on Broadly’s Standard plan, switching to VisibleFeedback saves you $234 every month. That’s $2,808 per year — more than enough to cover a new set of tools, a part-time helper for a few weeks, or just margin you get to keep.
And because VisibleFeedback doesn’t require a contract, you’re not locked in if things change. You can try it for a month, see the results, and decide. With Broadly, you’re committed for a full year before you know if it’s working.
Broadly is primarily a review request and messaging tool. Here’s what you get:
For a business that just wants to collect more Google reviews and have a chat widget on their website, Broadly covers those bases. The problem is that these features alone don’t justify $299 per month in 2026, especially when similar functionality is available at a fraction of the price.
What Broadly does NOT do:
VisibleFeedback was built for service businesses from the ground up, and it takes a fundamentally different approach to the customer relationship after a job.
This is the biggest difference. When a job is completed, VisibleFeedback doesn’t immediately ask for a review. Instead, it asks the customer how the job went. This happens privately — via text or email, whichever the customer prefers.
If the customer says everything was great, they get guided to leave a Google review. You get the 5-star rating you earned.
If something went wrong — the tech tracked mud on the carpet, the repair didn’t hold, the technician was late and didn’t apologize — you find out about it in your inbox the same day. Before the customer opens Google. Before they type a one-star review. Before any damage is done.
For a plumbing company, this might mean catching a slow leak complaint before it becomes a public nightmare. For an HVAC company, it might mean a callback offer that saves a customer relationship worth thousands in future maintenance revenue. For a pest control company, it might mean finding out that the quarterly treatment didn’t seem to work — and sending a tech back out before the customer cancels their contract.
Broadly has no equivalent. Every customer gets the same “leave us a review” flow, regardless of how the job actually went.
The second major difference is retention. VisibleFeedback tracks when your customers are due for repeat service and sends automated reminders that bring them back.
For HVAC companies, that means spring tune-up reminders, fall maintenance check-ups, and filter replacement notifications. For pest control companies, it means quarterly treatment reminders that prevent contract lapses. For plumbers, it means water heater flush reminders, annual inspection nudges, and seasonal prep tips.
These reminders don’t just improve customer retention. They generate revenue. A single maintenance reminder that brings back a $200 HVAC tune-up customer pays for months of VisibleFeedback’s subscription. Do that across your entire customer base, and the tool pays for itself many times over.
Broadly doesn’t offer retention reminders at any price tier.
VisibleFeedback tracks customer feedback patterns so you can see which services, technicians, or locations are consistently producing satisfied customers — and which ones need attention. This gives you operational intelligence that goes beyond star ratings.
Broadly shows you your review scores but doesn’t connect feedback to specific patterns in your business.
Let’s say two HVAC companies in the same city each complete 100 jobs in a month.
Company A uses Broadly. After each job, the customer gets a review request. 15 customers leave reviews — 12 five-star, 3 one-star. The 3 unhappy customers had fixable issues (late arrival, dirty work area, follow-up question that went unanswered), but nobody checked in with them before the review request went out. Those 3 one-star reviews are now public. Company A’s rating drops from 4.7 to 4.4. They pay $299/mo for this.
Company B uses VisibleFeedback. After each job, the customer gets a private check-in. 15 customers had positive experiences and get guided to leave Google reviews — 15 five-star reviews collected. 5 customers flagged issues privately. The office team follows up the same day, resolves 4 of the 5 issues, and turns those unhappy customers into loyal ones. The fifth customer declines a callback — no review posted. Company B’s rating stays at 4.8. Plus, 30 past customers received maintenance reminders and 8 booked tune-ups ($200 each = $1,600 in recovered revenue). They pay $65/mo for this.
Same number of jobs. Same customer base. Dramatically different outcomes.
Broadly was acquired by Vendasta, a Canadian white-label software platform, in March 2023. Since the acquisition, there are a few things worth noting:
Product development has slowed. No major new features have been announced. The product roadmap has gone quiet. For a SaaS tool you’re paying $300+/month for, you’d expect active development.
Support complaints have increased. Trustpilot and BBB reviews mention slower response times, difficulty reaching support, and billing issues that take weeks to resolve.
The business model may be shifting. Vendasta’s core business is white-labeling software for agencies and resellers. It’s possible that Broadly’s standalone product is becoming a lower priority as Vendasta focuses on its agency platform.
None of this means Broadly is going away tomorrow. But if you’re evaluating a tool to invest in for the next year or more, you want to know the company behind it is actively building and improving the product. VisibleFeedback is founder-led, actively developed, and focused exclusively on the service business use case.
| Feature | VisibleFeedback | Broadly |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $65/mo | $299/mo |
| Contract required | No | Yes (12 months) |
| Setup fee | None | $350 |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | Demo only |
| Private problem detection | Yes | No |
| Retention reminders | Yes | No |
| Review automation | Yes | Yes |
| Customer sentiment tracking | Yes | Limited |
| SMS follow-ups | Pro plan ($100/mo) | Yes |
| Webchat widget | No | Yes |
| Text-to-pay | No | Yes |
| Unified inbox | No | Yes |
Broadly has the edge on communication features — webchat and text-to-pay are useful if your business relies heavily on customer messaging. But for the core job of protecting your reputation and driving repeat business, VisibleFeedback covers more ground at a fraction of the cost.
Switch to VisibleFeedback if:
Stay with Broadly if:
For most HVAC, plumbing, pest control, cleaning, and electrical businesses under 25 employees, the switch is straightforward. You get more features, pay less, and aren’t locked into anything.
Switching from Broadly to VisibleFeedback takes about 15 minutes:
You don’t need to cancel Broadly on day one. Run both side by side, see which one catches more issues and brings more customers back, and then make the call.
Yes. During your 14-day trial, you can run both platforms simultaneously. This lets you compare results directly before making a decision. Most businesses find that VisibleFeedback’s problem detection catches issues that Broadly’s review-only flow misses entirely.
VisibleFeedback is building integrations with Jobber, Housecall Pro, and other scheduling platforms. In the meantime, you can trigger follow-ups manually or via the dashboard after each job is completed.
Review your Broadly contract terms for cancellation options. Some customers have successfully negotiated early termination, especially if they can document billing or service issues. In the meantime, you can start a VisibleFeedback trial to see the difference — it’s free and doesn’t require canceling Broadly first.
VisibleFeedback works for any service business that completes jobs and wants to follow up with customers. It’s been built with HVAC, plumbing, pest control, cleaning, and electrical companies in mind, but restaurants, salons, auto shops, and other service businesses use it too.
Broadly was a reasonable tool for its time. But at $299-$699 per month with a mandatory 12-month contract, no problem detection, and no retention reminders, it’s hard to recommend in 2026.
VisibleFeedback costs $65/mo. No contract. No setup fee. 14-day free trial. And it includes the two features that matter most for a service business: catching problems before they become bad reviews, and bringing customers back for repeat work.
The math is simple. The switch is easy. And the trial is free.
Text or email clients after every job. Catch issues early, recover unhappy clients fast, and drive repeat work with smart reminders.
Austin Spaeth is the founder of VisibleFeedback, a tool that helps service companies automate post-job follow-ups, catch issues early, and drive repeat work with smart reminders. With a background in software development and a focus on practical customer retention systems, Austin built VisibleFeedback to make it easy to text or email customers after every job, route problems to the right person, and keep relationships strong without awkward outreach. When he’s not building new features or writing playbooks for service businesses, he’s wrangling his six kids or sneaking in a beach day.
Whether you’re dealing with callbacks, unhappy customers, or low repeat work, we’ll help you tighten the follow up loop.
No credit card required.
