Hear the difference before you decide
Start free, forward your after-hours line first, and compare with your own calls.
Podium · Messaging, reviews and payments platform for local businesses
Podium is a broad, well-built platform: reviews, phones, a shared inbox, payments, text marketing, website chat and an AI Employee in one place, with automations that connect to more than 200 other tools. If a practice wants one vendor for reputation, messaging and payments, it is a serious option. The trade is price you can't see: podium.com doesn't publish plan prices, and Quo reports Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599, based on Podium's 2025 public pricing. Lydoh is narrower and priced in the open: Lydoh Text is $49/mo for missed-call text back, two-way patient texting, appointment reminders and review requests, and Lydoh After Hours adds AI answering after hours at $99/mo with 300 minutes included, with 911 deflection on clinical lines (an emergency animal hospital for vets), urgency decided by the caller, and an on-call cascade that dials your providers until one accepts.
Side by side
| Podium | Lydoh | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Reviews, phones, inbox, payments, text marketing, website chat; AI Employee as an add-on | Answering and patient texting for medical, dental and veterinary practices |
| Published pricing | None on podium.com: plans are set with sales | Every plan published: from $49/mo, $0.25/min past the included minutes |
| Reported pricing | Core $399/mo, Pro $599/mo, Signature custom (Quo, from Podium's 2025 pricing) | Lydoh Text $49/mo; Lydoh After Hours $99/mo with 300 minutes included; Lydoh Frontdesk $249/mo with 1,200 minutes included |
| Reported fees | $500 network optimization fee per location and $25 to $30 per user per month for phone seats, with Podium Phones (Quo) | No setup fee, no contract, 14-day free trial |
| AI answering | AI Employee, "add on to any plan" (price not published); Quo reports 300 AI voice minutes on Pro | Lydoh After Hours: $99/mo with 300 minutes included; Lydoh Frontdesk: $249/mo with 1,200 minutes included |
| Missed and after-hours calls | Automatic text to the caller (Podium Phones) | Missed-call text back on every plan; on voice plans, 911 deflection on clinical lines (an emergency animal hospital for vets), urgency decided by the caller, and an on-call cascade that dials your providers until one accepts |
| Reviews and payments | Both, built in | Review request texts; no payments |
| Integrations | 200+ integrations through Automations | No practice management sync; reminders read a pasted schedule |
Disclosure: Lydoh wrote this page. Competitor facts are from their published materials (sources below), compiled October 22, 2026; verify current pricing directly. We've tried to be fair; tell us if we got something wrong: hello@lydoh.com.
The honest split
FAQ
Podium doesn't publish prices; its pricing page says to talk to the sales team. Quo, using Podium's 2025 public pricing, reports Core at $399 a month, Pro at $599 a month and Signature as a custom quote, plus a $500 network optimization fee per location and $25 to $30 per user per month for phone seats on Podium Phones. Confirm current figures with Podium. Lydoh's prices are on its pricing page: Lydoh Text $49/mo, Lydoh After Hours $99/mo with 300 minutes included, Lydoh Frontdesk $249/mo with 1,200 minutes included.
A customer communication platform for local businesses. Its pricing page lists Reviews, Phones, Lead Consolidation, Website Chat, Inbox, Payments, Text Marketing, AI Employee and Automations, and says the AI Employee can be added to any plan. Its Phones page lists auto dealerships, aesthetics, home services and retail among the industries it serves.
It depends on which part of Podium you use. For reviews and payments, look at another platform such as Weave or NexHealth. If you mostly use Podium to catch missed calls and text patients, Lydoh Text does that for $49/mo. If you need calls answered, Lydoh After Hours answers with AI and handles after-hours triage and on-call escalation for $99/mo with 300 minutes included. Lydoh signs a BAA with healthcare practices.
Yes. Lydoh only needs calls forwarded to its number, so you can keep Podium for reviews and payments and forward unanswered or after-hours calls to Lydoh. Nothing moves off Podium.
Related: what answering services really cost, how our after-hours triage works, AI receptionist vs. answering service, and all comparisons.
Sources: Podium: Pricing (no published prices; AI Employee add-on; 200+ integrations; checked October 22, 2026) · Podium: Phones (missed and after-hours calls get an automatic text; industries listed; checked October 22, 2026) · Quo: Podium pricing, March 2026 (reported Core $399, Pro $599, fees; from Podium's 2025 pricing)
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Start free, forward your after-hours line first, and compare with your own calls.