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Two platforms, compared
Weave and Podium both put phones, texting and reviews in one place. They differ in who they are built for and how they price. Here is what each vendor publishes, what others report, and which practices each one fits.
The short answer
Weave is built around healthcare offices: its integrations are listed for dental, veterinary, medical and optometry practices, and it is the only one of the two with a price on its own site (from $199 a month). Podium serves local businesses in many industries, publishes no prices, and is reported to start at $399 a month. Choose Weave if you want a phone system and patient texting tied to your practice software; choose Podium if reviews, payments and marketing across many locations or a non-medical business matter most.
Side by side
| Weave | Podium | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Practice communications platform: phones, texting, reviews, payments, online scheduling | Communication platform for local businesses: reviews, phones, inbox, payments, text marketing, website chat |
| Who it is built around | Integrations listed for dental, veterinary, medical and optometry practices | Many industries; its Phones page lists auto dealerships, aesthetics, home services and retail |
| Published price | "Starting from $199 per month"; Pro, Elite and Ultimate tier prices on request | None: "talk to our sales team" |
| Reported price | Pro about $249 a month per location (Pabau, citing Capterra) | Core $399 a month, Pro $599, Signature custom (Quo, from Podium's 2025 pricing) |
| Reported fees and terms | About $750 one-time setup; annual contract per location; early-exit penalties may apply (Pabau) | $500 network optimization fee per location and $25 to $30 per user per month with Podium Phones; carrier registration $5 or $20 per location per month (Quo) |
| Text allowance | Pro 1,500, Elite 3,000, Ultimate 15,000 messages a month | Not on the pricing page |
| Phones | Included; Ultimate lists up to 15 phones | Podium Phones, priced per user (Quo) |
| Missed-call texting | Missed Call Texting | Missed and after-hours calls get an automatic text |
| AI | Call Intelligence (new): AI to turn calls into appointments | AI Employee, an add-on to any plan; Quo reports 300 AI voice minutes on Pro |
| Integrations | Listed by practice type (dental, veterinary, medical, optometry) | 200+ integrations through Automations |
Disclosure: Lydoh wrote this page and sells answering and patient texting, not a platform like either of these. Facts are from each vendor's own pages and the reports named in the sources below, read October 22, 2026. Pabau and Quo sell competing products. Prices change; get a written quote. If we got something wrong, tell us at hello@lydoh.com.
Who each fits
A third option
Some practices look at Weave and Podium because calls go unanswered, not because they need a platform. Lydoh is an answering service that works with the phone line you already have. It does not replace either platform: it has no payments, no marketing campaigns and no practice software sync.
Already on one of them? See the Weave alternative and Podium alternative pages, or compare a third platform in NexHealth vs. Lydoh.
FAQ
For most dental, medical, veterinary and optometry offices, Weave is the closer fit: its pricing page organizes integrations by those practice types and bundles phones, texting, reviews, payments and online scheduling. Podium is built for local businesses across many industries and is strongest when reviews, payments, marketing texts and website chat matter as much as the phones. A med spa or aesthetics practice, which Podium lists among its industries, may find Podium the better match.
On the figures available, usually yes. Weave says its plans start from $199 a month, and Pabau reports the Pro tier at about $249 a month per location plus a one-time setup fee of about $750. Podium publishes no prices; Quo reports Core at $399 a month and Pro at $599, plus a $500 network optimization fee per location and $25 to $30 per user per month for Podium Phones. Both price by quote in practice, so get written quotes for your number of locations and users.
Ask each vendor for the setup or onboarding fee, the contract length and what leaving early costs, per-location and per-user charges, carrier registration fees for texting, the message allowance and what extra messages cost, and the price of any AI add-on. Pabau reports an annual per-location contract for Weave; Quo reports the per-location and per-seat fees for Podium Phones.
Both sell AI. Weave's pricing page lists Call Intelligence, which uses AI to turn calls into appointments. Podium offers an AI Employee that can be added to any plan, and Quo reports 300 AI voice minutes included on Pro. Neither publishes the price of its AI on the pricing page.
Not necessarily. Both are platforms, and their prices pay for reviews, payments and marketing as well as phones. If unanswered calls are the problem, an answering service that works with the phone line you already have may be enough. Lydoh is one: Lydoh Text is $49/mo for missed-call text back and patient texting, and Lydoh After Hours is $99/mo with 300 minutes included for AI answering with after-hours triage.
Sources: Weave: Pricing (starting price, tiers, message allowances, features; checked October 22, 2026) · Pabau: Weave pricing, updated October 6, 2026 (reported Pro price, setup fee, contract; Pabau sells a competing product) · Podium: Pricing (no published prices, AI Employee add-on, 200+ integrations; checked October 22, 2026) · Podium: Phones (missed-call text, industries; checked October 22, 2026) · Quo: Podium pricing, March 2026 (reported plans and fees, from Podium's 2025 pricing; Quo sells a competing product)
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