The short answer
Capterra advertising is a pay per click auction. Vendors report a $2 minimum bid and a budget floor of about $500 a month, with real clicks costing $2 to $10 in quiet categories and $8 to $25 or more in crowded ones. One campaign runs on Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice at once. It pays back when a customer is worth several hundred dollars and your site turns 3% or more of those clicks into trials.
How Capterra advertising works
Every vendor can have a Capterra profile at no charge. The paid part is position. Inside each category, such as "Project Management Software" or "Dental Practice Management Software", listings are ordered by bid, and paying vendors get a "Visit Website" button that sends the buyer straight to their site. That click is what you pay for.
The auction is second price. You set a maximum bid for a category, and when your listing is clicked you pay just enough to stay above the vendor ranked below you, not your full maximum. Capterra's own PPC service description sets out the rest: the campaign covers capterra.com, getapp.com and softwareadvice.com, a conversion counts if it happens within 30 days of the click, and you have 60 days from the invoice date to dispute invalid clicks. Install the conversion snippet on your landing page on day one, or you will be judging the spend blind.
Ownership changed this year. G2 closed its purchase of Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice from Gartner on February 5, 2026. For now the sites keep separate dashboards and sales teams, but the biggest review subscription and the biggest click auction in B2B software now answer to one company. Our comparison of G2 vs Capterra pricing for vendors covers what that means if you were planning to fund both.
Capterra PPC cost at a glance
Capterra does not publish a public rate card, so the figures below come from its service description where it states them and from what vendors and PPC agencies consistently report. Confirm the current floor with the sales team before you sign.
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Basic profile | No charge | Capterra |
| Minimum bid | $2 per click, raised in $0.25 steps | Vendor and agency reports |
| Monthly budget floor | About $500 | Vendor and agency reports |
| Typical click, quiet category | $2 to $10 | Agency reports |
| Typical click, CRM, HR, marketing | $8 to $25 or more | Agency reports |
| Sites covered | Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice | Capterra PPC service description |
| Conversion window | 30 days from the click | Capterra PPC service description |
| Invalid click disputes | Within 60 days of the invoice | Capterra PPC service description |
Software Advice also sells qualified leads on a per lead basis. Those prices are quoted privately and vary by category.
Is Capterra PPC worth it? Do the math before you bid
Capterra traffic is good traffic. The person clicking is already on a page titled with your category and comparing vendors, which is about as close to a buying decision as paid traffic gets. The question is never whether the clicks are real. It is whether your price and your conversion rate can carry the click cost. Here is the $500 minimum spent three ways:
| Scenario | Avg click | Clicks for $500 | Trials at 5% | Customers at 20% | Cost per customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niche vertical | $3 | 166 | 8 | 1.7 | About $300 |
| Mid category | $8 | 62 | 3 | 0.6 | About $800 |
| Crowded category | $20 | 25 | 1.25 | 0.25 | About $2,000 |
Swap in your own trial rate and close rate; the shape does not change. A $15 a month tool cannot afford an $800 customer in a mid category, and an $800 a month tool on annual contracts ($9,600 a year) can afford a $2,000 one comfortably. If the cost per customer is below one third of what a customer pays you in the first year, keep going. If it is above the full first year, stop, whatever the dashboard says about impressions.
Two things move that math more than your bid does. The first is where the click lands: a category specific page that repeats the buyer's problem converts far better than a homepage. The second is knowing who is bidding above you. Rival vendors change their positioning and pricing often, and a competitor monitoring tool that tracks rivals' prices, pages and ads will show you what the vendor in the top slot is offering before you raise a bid to chase them.
Who should advertise on Capterra, and who should not
Good fit
- Vertical software for small businesses (salons, dental, construction, field service)
- Annual contracts or seat based pricing above $100 a month
- A sales team that follows up on trials within hours
- At least a handful of recent Capterra reviews, so the listing earns the click
Poor fit
- Low priced self serve tools in CRM, HR or marketing categories
- Products with no reviews yet, which get skipped even in the top slot
- Teams without conversion tracking or a dedicated landing page
- Anyone who needs a fixed, predictable monthly cost
Cheaper ways to reach software buyers
If the math above does not work in your category, you do not have to abandon comparison traffic. You need a model where the cost is fixed instead of set by the vendor bidding above you. On SoftwareHome, featured placement is a flat $299 for a week, $999 for a month or $2,999 for a year. Your product sits at the top of its category page and in the comparison and alternatives pages buyers read, and the price does not change when a competitor gets aggressive. A standard listing with your own description is $49 once and goes live when you submit.
That does not replace Capterra for a vertical tool with strong reviews and a high contract value. It is the sensible test when a $500 month on Capterra buys you 25 clicks. For the other options, independent of G2, see our list of Capterra alternatives for SaaS vendors, and for every paid channel side by side, including Google and LinkedIn click prices, the guide on where to advertise a SaaS product.
Whatever you choose, run it as a 60 day test with a budget you set in advance, tag every link, and compare channels on cost per paying customer. Impressions and clicks are the numbers directories like to show you. Customers are the only number that pays the invoice.
Capterra advertising questions vendors ask
How much does Capterra advertising cost?
Capterra advertising is pay per click. Vendors report a minimum bid of $2 per click and a budget floor of about $500 a month. Real clicks usually cost $2 to $10 in quieter categories and $8 to $25 or more in crowded ones such as CRM, HR and marketing automation, so most small vendors spend $500 to $3,000 a month.
Is Capterra PPC worth it?
It is worth it when one customer is worth several hundred dollars or more and your site converts a Capterra click into a trial at 3% or better. It rarely pays for low priced tools in expensive categories, because the click cost eats the first year of revenue. Run a 60 day test with conversion tracking before committing a larger budget.
What is the minimum budget for Capterra PPC?
Vendors and agencies consistently report a floor of around $500 a month, with bids starting at $2 per click and rising in $0.25 steps. Capterra does not print a rate card in its public service description, so the sales team confirms the figure when you set up the campaign.
Does a Capterra PPC campaign also run on GetApp and Software Advice?
Yes. Capterra's PPC service description covers capterra.com, softwareadvice.com and getapp.com, and a click on any of the three is billed the same way. All three have belonged to G2 since the acquisition from Gartner closed on February 5, 2026.
Is a Capterra listing free?
Yes, the basic profile costs nothing. You can claim it, add screenshots and collect reviews without paying. Money only enters when you want a higher position in your category listing and a direct link to your website, which is what the pay per click program sells.
How does Capterra bidding work?
You set a maximum bid per click for each category you want to appear in. Listings are ordered by bid, and you pay just enough to beat the vendor ranked directly below you rather than your full maximum. Conversions are counted for 30 days after a click, and invalid clicks can be disputed within 60 days of the invoice.