How to Get Listed on G2 and Capterra (Free)

Short answer: Submit your product through G2's product form, wait for its research team to approve the listing, then claim the profile (G2 says claims are approved within 1-3 business days). Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp now belong to G2, so treat the four sites as one listing job. Listing is free; the real work is collecting honest reviews from real customers without paying for positive ones.

Every rule, price and date below comes from G2's own pages, G2's newsroom or the official text of the FTC rule, checked on 11 Nov 2026. Capterra's own vendor and guideline pages blocked our automated checks today, so we do not quote Capterra-specific prices or bid minimums. The advice in between is ours and is marked as such.

TL;DR#

• Eligibility first. G2 "does not accept business-to-consumer (B2C) products or products that are currently in the alpha or beta stage of development" (G2 documentation).
• Three steps on G2: fill out the product submission form, let G2's research team verify eligibility and category, then claim the profile.
• Free covers the basics. G2's Free plan lists a basic profile, standard seller page, the Users Love Us badge licence and basic review collection (G2 plans).
• Capterra is now G2. G2 agreed to acquire Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp in January 2026 and now describes "one login and one workflow instead of four" (G2 news).
• Reviews are the hard part. Ask every real user, never only the happy ones, keep any incentive nominal and neutral, and stay inside the FTC's 2024 review rule.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this guide and runs a launch directory for bootstrapped products. ZeroRaised has no commercial relationship with G2, Capterra, Software Advice or GetApp and earns nothing if you list or buy a plan. Facts come from the linked sources as checked on 11 Nov 2026.

Is a G2 or Capterra listing worth it for a small SaaS?#

Our guide to where to launch a SaaS puts G2 at the "paying customers" stage, not at launch. This post picks up from there.

Our read: review sites are worth the effort when three things are true.

1. You sell to businesses. G2 excludes B2C products outright.
2. Buyers already compare tools in your category. If "best [category] software" searches land on comparison grids, being absent is a cost. In a category that does not exist yet, a listing does less.
3. You have customers who can review you. An empty profile proves little; ten honest reviews do more than a perfect profile.

Pre-launch, in beta or selling a consumer app? Skip review sites for now.

There is a newer reason to bother. G2's 10 Nov 2026 announcement argues that "software brands must be recommended by AI answer engines, which base their answers on credible, third-party evidence" (G2 news). That is G2's pitch, not a measured result, but AI assistants answering "best X for small teams" do lean on pages that compare and review tools. Our guide to optimizing for AI search answers covers the rest.

G2 and Capterra are now one company#

On 29 Jan 2026, G2 published "G2 to Acquire Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp from Gartner", stating that "G2 has formally agreed to acquire the software discovery and recommendation platforms" (G2 news).

On 10 Nov 2026, G2 described the result, "following G2's acquisition of Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp earlier this year". It says vendors can "manage listings, reviews, ad campaigns, leads, intent signals, badges" in one place, and that "For marketing teams, that means one login and one workflow instead of four." The same post says the unified platform holds "more than 6 million reviews across over 2,000 categories" (G2 news).

The post does not say whether a listing or review on one site appears automatically on the others; "New campaigns cover every site by default" refers to ads. Our read: list on G2 first, then check in your vendor account whether your Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp profiles exist and are linked.

What to prepare before you submit#

G2 does not publish a full checklist for new submissions, so this list is ours:

• A released product with no alpha or beta label on your site.
• A one-sentence B2B use case written for a business buyer.
• Public pricing, or a clear trial or demo route. Buyers compare prices; hiding yours means the comparison happens without you.
• A category guess. Check which G2 category two or three competitors sit in. G2's research team checks categorization anyway.
• Assets: square logo, 4 to 6 screenshots, short description, key features, integrations and a support contact.
• A work email on the product's domain, which makes a vendor claim easier to justify.

How to get listed on G2, step by step#

Steps 2 to 4 are G2's documented process (G2 documentation); steps 1, 5 and 6 are our additions:

1. Search G2 first. Your product may already have an unclaimed profile. If it exists, skip to step 4.
2. Fill out the Product Submission Form at g2.com/products/new.
3. Wait for research review. G2's research team "will verify eligibility and categorization." G2 does not publish a timeframe for this step.
4. Claim the profile. On the profile page, "Hover over Unclaimed, then select Claim this profile." G2 says: "After you submit a claim request, G2 will review it and provide final approval within 1-3 business days."
5. Complete the profile. Add screenshots, pricing, features, integrations and a description that matches the words buyers use. Our read: fill in pricing even if it is simple. A blank price field reads as "expensive" or "call sales".
6. Set up review collection. The Free plan includes "Basic Review Collection and Syndication" (G2 plans). Use G2's own review link so reviews go through its moderation.

What the free G2 plan includes#

From G2's plans page, checked 11 Nov 2026:

G2 notes that "Starter is available to net new vendors only." The Users Love Us badge "is earned after collecting 20 reviews with an average rating of 4.0 stars", so the licence on the Free plan only matters once you reach that.

How to get listed on Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp#

Because G2 now runs all four sites and describes one login for listings and reviews, our advice for a new vendor is:

1. Get the G2 listing approved and claimed first.
2. Search Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp for your product name. If profiles already exist, they should now be manageable from the same account, per G2's announcement.
3. If no profile exists, start from Capterra's vendor pages (capterra.com/vendors) and register with the same company details you used on G2, so the profiles can be matched.

Capterra's vendor and guideline pages returned errors to our checks on 11 Nov 2026, so we do not quote its listing criteria, pay-per-click prices or minimum bids. Check them in the vendor portal before spending anything. Our read: do not buy clicks until you know your trial-to-paid rate.

SaaSHub, AlternativeTo and other directories are separate listings with their own rules; our where-to-launch guide above covers them.

How to get your first 10 reviews without breaking the rules#

This is where most small vendors either stall or cross a line. Know the rules first.

G2's rules, quoted#

From G2's community guidelines, checked 11 Nov 2026:

• Who can review: "Only actual users of those products or services, business partners, or guest users can leave reviews on G2."
• Asking is encouraged: "We encourage all sellers to ask their customers to leave reviews with authentic, unbiased feedback."
• Cherry-picking is punished: "If G2 finds evidence of a seller soliciting only positive reviews, we will remove the reviews."
• Banned under biased collection: "conditioning incentives on reviews being positive; independently incentivizing reviewers without disclosing those incentives to G2; discouraging negative reviews of your product or service."
• Incentive cap: "G2 limits the value of any incentive offered in exchange for a review to $100 USD." Such reviews are labelled "Incentivized".
• Moderation: "All reviews must pass our moderation process before they are published."

The FTC rule, quoted#

The FTC's Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, "is effective October 21, 2024" (Federal Register via govinfo). Section 465.4 makes it a violation to "provide compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative" (16 CFR 465.4). Section 465.2 covers businesses that "write, create, or sell" reviews that misrepresent that the reviewer exists or used the product (16 CFR 465.2).

In plain terms: a neutral thank-you for any honest review differs from a reward for a good one, and fake reviews from friends, staff or bought accounts are out under both sets of rules. This is not legal advice.

A 30-day plan for the first 10 reviews (ours)#

1. List every active customer. Pull everyone who used the product in the last 30 days. Do not filter by NPS score or happiness; G2 removes reviews if you solicit only positive ones.
2. Send a personal email from the founder. Short, plain, with the G2 review link. Example wording (ours): "We just listed [Product] on G2. If you have 5 minutes, an honest review, good or bad, helps other teams decide whether we're a fit. Here's the link."
3. Add the ask to moments of success. After a support ticket is solved or a customer hits a milestone in the app, show the same neutral ask. Our testimonials and reviews guide has more timing ideas.
4. Decide on incentives once, and keep them neutral. If you offer one, offer it to everyone you ask, regardless of rating, keep it well under G2's $100 cap, and tell G2 if you run it yourself rather than through its tools.
5. Follow up once, after a week. Then stop. Repeated chasing annoys the customers you most need.
6. Reply to every review, especially critical ones. A calm reply to a 3-star review tells future buyers more than ten 5-star reviews.

Worked example (illustrative, our numbers, not a benchmark): if you have 40 active customers and one in four leaves a review after two emails, that is 10 reviews in a month. If you have 12 customers, plan on a slower drip and keep asking as new customers activate.

Should you pay for G2 or Capterra?#

Our read, for a bootstrapped SaaS:

G2 Starter at $299/month is $3,588 a year on monthly billing, or $2,999 on annual (G2 plans). Illustrative arithmetic: at a $49/month price with customers staying 12 months, that annual plan needs just over 5 new customers a year attributable to it, so call it 6, before it pays for itself. If you cannot measure attribution, you cannot judge it, so set up referral tracking before paying.

Timeline and checklist#

Our rough timeline: submit or claim on day 1, finish the profile in week one, run the review ask over weeks two to six, and only weigh paid options in month three.

• Product is released, B2B, not labelled alpha or beta
• Pricing or trial is public on your site
• Logo, 4-6 screenshots, description, features and integrations ready
• G2 listing submitted or claimed
• Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp profiles checked
• Review email sent to every active customer, not only happy ones
• Any incentive is neutral, under $100 and disclosed
• Every review answered
• Referral tracking set up before any paid plan

Frequently asked questions#

Is it free to list a product on G2?#

Yes. G2's Free plan includes a basic profile, a standard seller page, a Users Love Us badge licence and basic review collection and syndication. Paid plans start with Starter at $299/month or $2,999/year, available to net new vendors only, and higher tiers are priced through sales.

How long does it take to get listed on G2?#

G2 does not publish a timeframe for its research team to verify a new product submission. Once a profile exists, G2 says it reviews a claim request and gives final approval within 1-3 business days.

Can I list a beta product on G2 or Capterra?#

Not on G2. Its documentation says it does not accept business-to-consumer products or products currently in alpha or beta. Wait until the product is released and has paying business customers, then submit it.

Can I give customers a gift card for leaving a G2 review?#

G2 allows a nominal incentive, capped at $100 USD, and labels those reviews as incentivized. You must not condition the incentive on a positive review, must not ask only happy customers, and must disclose any incentive you run yourself to G2. The FTC rule in 16 CFR 465.4 also bans incentives tied to a particular sentiment.

Are G2 and Capterra the same company now?#

G2 announced on 29 Jan 2026 that it had formally agreed to acquire Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp from Gartner. A G2 post on 10 Nov 2026 refers to that acquisition as done and describes one login to manage listings, reviews, ad campaigns, leads and badges across the four sites.

Get listed where bootstrapped buyers look#

Review sites reward products that already have customers. To find those first customers, submit your product to ZeroRaised for free, and work through our product launch checklist for bootstrapped makers. For more distribution guides like this one, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

Sources#

• G2 documentation: finding or listing a product on G2, last checked 11 Nov 2026
• G2 seller plans, last checked 11 Nov 2026
• G2 community guidelines, last checked 11 Nov 2026
• G2 to Acquire Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp from Gartner, last checked 11 Nov 2026
• G2 Unifies Four Software Marketplaces, last checked 11 Nov 2026
• FTC final rule, Federal Register (govinfo), last checked 11 Nov 2026
• 16 CFR 465.4 (Cornell LII), last checked 11 Nov 2026
• 16 CFR 465.2 (Cornell LII), last checked 11 Nov 2026