Last updated: 2026-04-26
Grade.us Free Trial (2026)
Grade.us trial guide for 2026: what the trial actually includes, step-by-step signup, getting-started checklist, and what to evaluate in your first 30 days for review management.
Grade.us does not offer a standalone free trial. Evaluation happens via a demo at grade.us and monthly billing from Professional ($60/seat), Agency ($40/seat), and Partner ($2,500/mo flat for 100 seats). The per-seat pricing model means evaluation happens by signing up for Professional with 1-2 seats (representing 1-2 of your agency clients), running the workflow for 30-60 days, and scaling up to Agency or Partner as client volume grows. Grade.us targets agencies, not direct SMB, so the evaluation mindset is "will this scale my agency's review management service?" rather than "will this help my single business get more reviews?"
Step-by-step getting started
The fastest path from "signing up" to "running a real review campaign." These are the steps Grade.us actually walks new customers through, condensed into a checklist you can move through in a focused afternoon:
- 1 Go to grade.us and sign up for Professional ($60/seat) — self-serve signup is available for Professional, sales-led for Agency and Partner. No free trial, but monthly billing means you can cancel after 30 days.
- 2 Configure your agency white-label dashboard: logo, colors, custom domain (available on Agency+ tier), and client-facing rebranding. This is Grade.us's primary differentiator vs. Birdeye or Podium — take time to set it up properly.
- 3 Add your first client seat: configure their business name, Google Business Profile, Facebook, review request templates, and email/SMS cadence. Test the workflow end-to-end before demonstrating to the client.
- 4 Set up review drip campaigns (automated multi-touch review requests) for the client. Grade.us's drip cadence is configurable and tuned for agency use — typical: initial request + 3-day reminder + 7-day follow-up.
- 5 Configure client-facing reporting: review velocity, star rating trend, response time, competitor benchmarking. Rebrand the report with your agency logo for client delivery.
- 6 Add a second client seat to validate the per-seat economics and multi-client workflow. This is where Grade.us's agency-first architecture pays off vs. running multiple Birdeye/Podium accounts.
- 7 Evaluate the white-label client portal: can clients log in under your agency brand and see their own dashboard? Test with 1-2 actual clients before scaling to Agency tier.
- 8 Scale to Agency tier ($40/seat) once you have 10+ clients to amortize the volume discount.
What to evaluate first (evaluation checklist)
The biggest mistake operators make in trial periods is testing whichever feature seems shiny instead of pressure-testing the workflows they'll actually live with. This checklist prioritizes decision-relevant tests — Google Business Profile integration, review velocity, HIPAA compliance, per-location economics, and agency white-label fit:
- Are you running a marketing agency, SEO agency, or reputation consultancy with 5+ clients? If not, Grade.us is the wrong product — NiceJob or Broadly direct-SMB is better.
- Will white-label client portal + reporting genuinely help your agency service offering? If your agency bills clients for review management as a service, white-label is load-bearing; if you're a consultant providing advice, it may not matter.
- Can your client volume justify Professional ($60/seat) vs. Agency ($40/seat) tier? Break-even is ~10 clients.
- Does your client portfolio include primarily single-location businesses (where review drip campaigns work well), or multi-location chains (where Birdeye or Podium fit better)?
- Is Grade.us's per-seat economics predictable enough for your agency pricing? Agency typically marks up the $40-60/seat cost 2-4× when billing clients.
- Will your clients accept white-label review management (vs. preferring their own direct vendor relationship)? Some client types prefer direct-vendor transparency.
- Have you modeled Grade.us's cost at your projected 12-month client count (15 clients = $600/mo Agency, 50 clients = $2,000/mo, 100+ clients = Partner at $2,500-5,000)?
- Does your agency have bandwidth to onboard clients to Grade.us (1-2 hours per client for setup)?
What to expect during the trial
Expect signup to first-client-seat configured in under 90 minutes. Grade.us's dashboard is functional but feels more utilitarian than Birdeye or Podium — which some agencies dislike for client-facing rebranding. First 30 days on Professional, focus on running 1-2 client seats through a real review campaign and measuring results: review velocity, client satisfaction with the white-label portal, your agency's operational overhead per client. If the per-client economics work, scale to Agency tier ($40/seat) at 10+ clients and eventually to Partner ($2,500+/mo) at 100+ clients. Smaller Grade.us support team means slower ticket response but per-client model is mature.
Recommended next step
If you're an established agency with 10+ clients, sign up for Professional ($60/seat), add 1-2 clients, run for 30-60 days, and scale to Agency tier ($40/seat) once economics validate. If you're a solo consultant or early-stage agency with <5 clients, land 3-5 clients on NiceJob ($75/mo) first, then migrate to Grade.us at scale. For direct SMB use, skip Grade.us entirely — NiceJob or Broadly are better fits.
Ready to start?
Grade.us signup is typically demo-led and takes 45-90 minutes of your time for the initial evaluation. You can start the process today.
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Before you commit: see Grade.us in context
A trial is a feature test, not a category decision. If you're still comparing review management platforms, pull these references before investing 2-4 weeks fully evaluating Grade.us:
About this trial guide
This guide is assembled from Grade.us's own onboarding documentation, sales-team walkthroughs, independent tutorials, and operator discussions in review management communities and vertical-specific forums (automotive, dental, home services, medical). We verify trial terms, signup flow, and pricing structure against Grade.us's public site on 2026-04-26. If Grade.us changes trial terms (guarantee length, onboarding fees, pricing tiers), this page is updated within the week. Some outbound links are affiliate links — we may earn commission at no cost to you.