DesignRush vs GoodFirms for agencies: bid on leads or pay less for placement
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Clutch Reviews · Updated September 28, 2026 · Prices from each company's own pages; Trustpilot pulled September 27, 2026
Disclosure: this site reviews Clutch and earns a commission if you sign up for it through our links. Clutch isn't one of the two directories compared here; it has its own section at the end, for agencies that neither one suits.
GoodFirms is the cheaper way to pay for placement: PRO costs $49 a month, billed annually at $588, and sponsor slots start at $300 a month. It has no pay-per-lead product.
DesignRush suits agencies that want to pay per lead. You bid on leads, and the two to five highest bidders win. Its memberships cost $200 or $300 a month with a one-year minimum paid upfront, and it doesn't refund bids.
On organic Trustpilot reviews the two are level (3.69 for DesignRush from 13, 3.68 for GoodFirms from 34). Neither says an editor reads every review before it goes live; if that matters to your buyers, see the section on when neither fits.
DesignRush vs GoodFirms at a glance
| Compared on | DesignRush | GoodFirms |
|---|---|---|
| Free listing | Yes, by form; DesignRush says it accepts only agencies it considers legitimate and professional | Yes, by application; GoodFirms says about 23% of applicants are accepted, with a typical decision in 5 to 10 business days |
| Paid entry point | Marketplace membership: $200/month (Basic) or $300/month (Advanced) | PRO: $49/month, billed annually at $588/year |
| Commitment | 1 year minimum, secured upfront | PRO billed annually; terms of use describe month-to-month auto-renewal |
| What the paid tier adds | A Top 10 ranking in its directory, subject to category availability | Featured placement above free listings, below sponsors; Verified Business badge after you submit documents |
| Leads | Bid per project; bids on $5,000 to $10,000 projects start at $50; the 2 to 5 highest bidders win | No pay-per-lead product; buyers can post a project and get 3 to 5 agencies GoodFirms picks (within 72 hours, it says) |
| Sponsorship | From $500/month, billed quarterly (Standard from $2,000, Premium from $5,000) | From $300/month for a #1 to #15 slot; its get-listed page says pricing is on request |
| Refunds | None on bids; if the client goes quiet, the bid becomes credit | No refund clause in its terms of use |
| Review checks (own description) | Reviewer authorized through LinkedIn; email or call where necessary | Business email and LinkedIn; a random sample gets a phone or video call |
| Trustpilot, organic reviews | 3.69 average (13 reviews) | 3.68 average (34 reviews) |
| Trustpilot, via the company's review link | 4.92 average (87 reviews) | 1 review (5 stars) |
| Trustpilot score shown | 4.8 from 308 reviews | 4.6 from 35 reviews |
| G2 | No product page found | 4.4 from 8 reviews (December 2025) |
| Company | DesignRush Inc, Miami | Alphazero Technologies Inc, Las Vegas |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-09-28. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
DesignRush vs GoodFirms pricing and contracts
GoodFirms sells a PRO listing and sponsor slots. PRO costs $49 a month, billed annually at $588 a year, and puts you in featured placement in category lists, above every free listing and below sponsors. It also adds a Verified Business badge once you submit company documents. Sponsor slots, anywhere from position 1 to 15 at the top of a category page, start at $300 a month, although GoodFirms' get-listed page says sponsor pricing is available on request. Its terms of use say subscriptions renew automatically on a month-to-month cycle and can be cancelled by email to info@goodfirms.co at least five business days before the next billing date. GoodFirms doesn't say whether PRO can be cancelled before the year is up, and its terms have no refund clause.
DesignRush charges more, and in more ways. Its Marketplace memberships cost $200 a month (Basic) or $300 a month (Advanced), each with a one-year minimum secured upfront, and paid tiers include a Top 10 ranking in its directory where the category has room. Leads are sold by bid: on projects worth $5,000 to $10,000, bids start at $50, the two to five highest bidders get the lead, and only agencies DesignRush has verified can bid. Its FAQ says "we cannot provide refunds"; if the client goes unresponsive, the bid turns into credit. Sponsorship starts at $500 a month, billed quarterly, for the top position in a category ranking, with Standard from $2,000 and Premium from $5,000 a month. Changes made before a sponsorship starts become credits usable within 12 months.
“They make you bid for projects, then, if the project ends up being bogus and they don't provide an actual connection, they don't refund your money.”Elie S., DesignRush review on Trustpilot, October 2025
How DesignRush and GoodFirms check reviews
Both check reviewers through LinkedIn, by their own accounts. DesignRush says it authorizes each reviewer through their LinkedIn profile and, where necessary, verifies them by email or call. Its ratings also collate feedback from third-party review sites and start from a 3.5-star Bayesian baseline, which pulls a firm with few reviews toward 3.5 stars. GoodFirms says it verifies reviewers with a business email and social profiles such as LinkedIn, and its research team calls a random sample by phone or video.
On both, paying moves you up the page. DesignRush's category pages say sponsored listings pay for a placement above organic positions. GoodFirms puts sponsors at the top of category pages, then PRO members, then free listings.
Who owns DesignRush and GoodFirms
GoodFirms' footer and terms of use name Alphazero Technologies Inc of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the terms apply Nevada law. But a 2022 press release called GoodFirms "a Washington, D.C.-based research firm." Its about page says it was founded in 2015. DesignRush is based in Miami, at 18117 Biscayne Blvd. BBB lists DesignRush Inc with an A+ rating and no complaints in the past three years; it isn't BBB accredited.
DesignRush vs GoodFirms on Trustpilot, like for like
The scores Trustpilot shows, 4.8 for DesignRush from 308 reviews and 4.6 for GoodFirms from 35, aren't like for like. Of the 100 most recent DesignRush reviews (August 2024 to August 2026), 87 came through a review link DesignRush shares and average 4.92; the 13 organic reviews, which arrived on their own, average 3.69. GoodFirms has 35 reviews in all (June 2020 to September 2026): 34 organic, averaging 3.68, and one through a company link. Organic against organic, the two are level, and DesignRush's sample is small.
DesignRush's critical organic reviews describe a listing declined without a reason, an annual fee that brought no profile clicks, a bogus lead that wasn't refunded, and spam emails. GoodFirms' are mostly from 2020 to 2023 and describe profiles created without the company's consent and hard to remove, support that stopped replying, and a paid subscription that didn't start. Many of its recent organic reviews praise support for fixing listings.
“Declined my agency from being listed with no reasons as to why.”Ryan L., DesignRush review on Trustpilot, October 2025
“Design Rush has been a consistent, high-performance partner to help us find qualified customers for our agency's services.”Michael N., DesignRush review on Trustpilot, October 2024
“They listed our company without our permission AND reached out to our customer base without our permission”Elle T., GoodFirms review on Trustpilot, December 2021
“Not all updates are possible directly, need to open a case with support and I found their help and response time excellentt.”Ingo, GoodFirms review on Trustpilot, April 2026
Where DesignRush wins
- You can pay for specific projects: agencies bid on leads, and the two to five highest bidders win. GoodFirms has no pay-per-lead product.
- Some of its paid plans include a feed of US government and education projects.
- It publishes a starting price for each sponsorship tier, while GoodFirms' own pages disagree on whether sponsor pricing is published.
- Reviews you already have elsewhere can count: DesignRush says its ratings collate feedback from third-party review sites.
- BBB rates DesignRush Inc A+, with no complaints in three years (not accredited).
Where GoodFirms wins
- The cheaper paid tier: PRO is $49 a month, billed annually at $588, against DesignRush memberships at $200 or $300 a month.
- Sponsorship starts lower, at $300 a month against DesignRush's $500 (billed quarterly).
- Its terms of use describe month-to-month renewal with at least five business days' notice by email; DesignRush memberships need a year paid upfront. PRO itself is billed annually, so ask which applies.
- It says a random sample of reviewers gets a phone or video call from its research team.
- Almost all of its Trustpilot reviews (34 of 35) arrived without a company review link.
When neither DesignRush nor GoodFirms fits
If you want buyers to rely on your review record, Clutch is the other option. Neither DesignRush nor GoodFirms says an editor reads each review before it goes live; Clutch says a human editor checks every one before it's published. Reviewers sign in with LinkedIn, Google, or a company email, providers can't preview or approve reviews, and Clutch says it rejected 10% of submitted reviews in 2025 for signs of falsified information.
Clutch's Basic profile is free. Verified costs $499 a year, paid upfront, which is less than GoodFirms PRO at $588, and it adds a badge once you pass a credit check, placement above unverified firms, and a link to your site from directory pages. Clutch also sells leads through Pay Per Lead, with bids from $25 and a $1,000 monthly minimum, for firms with an active Verified or advertising plan. Against that, paid plans run 12 months with no early cancellation and renew automatically, sponsorship prices aren't published, and sponsors appear first on Clutch's directory pages too. Clutch's organic Trustpilot reviews average 3.49 from 135, a little below both of these.
The side-by-side detail is in Clutch vs DesignRush and Clutch vs GoodFirms, and our ranking of agency directories puts all of them in one list.
DesignRush vs GoodFirms FAQ
Is DesignRush or GoodFirms cheaper?+
GoodFirms. Its PRO tier costs $49 a month, billed annually at $588, and sponsor slots start at $300 a month. DesignRush memberships cost $200 or $300 a month with a one-year minimum paid upfront, and its sponsorship starts at $500 a month, billed quarterly. Both offer a free listing.
Which has better reviews, DesignRush or GoodFirms?+
On organic Trustpilot reviews, the ones that arrive without a company's review link, they're level: DesignRush averages 3.69 from 13 and GoodFirms 3.68 from 34. Of DesignRush's 100 most recent reviews, 87 came through its own review link and average 4.92. GoodFirms has one review like that.
Who owns GoodFirms and DesignRush?+
GoodFirms' footer and terms of use name Alphazero Technologies Inc of Las Vegas, Nevada, and its about page says it was founded in 2015. DesignRush is based in Miami, and BBB lists DesignRush Inc with an A+ rating (not accredited) and no complaints in three years.
Does DesignRush refund lead bids?+
No. DesignRush's marketplace FAQ says "we cannot provide refunds." If a client goes unresponsive, the bid becomes credit, and sponsorship changes made before the start date also become credits, usable within 12 months. GoodFirms has no pay-per-lead product, and its terms of use have no refund clause.