MetaLocator Review
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Our rating: 
MetaLocator is one of the longest-running locator platforms. Mike Fatica founded it in 2007 as a Joomla plug-in, and it has been a hosted service since around 2010, run from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its customer logos include Abbott, Canon, HP and Toshiba, which tells you who it's built for.
It does far more than put pins on a map. MetaLocator can pull location data from CRMs, route sales leads to dealers, publish SEO pages for every location and give different teams their own logins. The price of that power is complexity, and a plan structure where many of the headline features sit on the top tiers.
MetaLocator's Interface Builder, as shown on its website Source: metalocator.com
MetaLocator includes maps from MapTiler with no API key and no extra mapping charges, which removes the usual worry about a surprise bill from a map provider. Mapbox is also supported, and you can use Google Maps with your own key. One caution: the pricing table ticks Google Maps for the Enterprise plan only, while the support documentation describes it without a plan restriction, so check before relying on Google Maps on a lower plan.
Geocoding is included up to a monthly quota that matches your location limit (100, 10,000 or 100,000 lookups). Marker clustering, directions links and automatic location detection are available on all plans. Address autocomplete needs the Growth plan or higher, and custom map colours need Scale.
Multi-language support starts on the Growth plan, where you can edit the language file and add unlimited languages by hand. A set of 31 ready-made translations is included only on Enterprise. Visitors choose a language from a dropdown, or your site can pass the language to the locator. Right-to-left languages are supported.
To show translated location details, you add a row per language for each location and a separate locator interface for each language, which is more work than most competitors require.
This is one of MetaLocator's strongest areas. Categories can be grouped and nested, any field can be turned into a filter with numeric or date comparisons, and each locator interface can have preset filters. You can build a product finder based on categories or on SKUs with per-location inventory. The radius dropdown accepts your own list of distances, and units can switch by country. Sales territories are available from the Scale plan.
All plans include a basic analytics dashboard covering searches, clicks, calls and leads, along with a data quality dashboard. Google Analytics integration starts on Growth and Google Tag Manager on Scale. The search-demand heat maps, custom reports, data export and the Analytics API are Enterprise only.
Every plan can import CSV files and spreadsheets or paste data in directly. Imports can add, replace, update or skip existing records, matched on an external key. The default "add" mode can create duplicates, and the duplicate analysis tool is Enterprise only.
The integrations are where MetaLocator stands apart, but they're tiered:
- Scale ($199) and above - Google Drive, Airtable and Salesforce, scheduled daily imports and Zapier.
- Enterprise only - HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Yext, Google Business Profile, AWS S3 and SFTP, with unlimited import frequency.
The Interface Builder is a point-and-click editor with a live preview and 8 starting templates. Colours and fonts can be changed on every plan. Custom CSS and custom marker images need Growth, and custom HTML templates, custom JavaScript and white labelling are Enterprise only. The locator embeds inline with a JavaScript snippet and has a map/list toggle on mobile.
All plans get documentation, video tutorials and email support. Live chat starts on Growth, and there's a phone number, with hours listed as Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 Mountain Time. Training sessions, SLAs and one-to-one onboarding are Enterprise features.
The help centre is large, with hundreds of articles, many updated in the last two years. MetaLocator is clear that support doesn't extend to writing custom CSS or JavaScript for you, which a few reviewers mention.
MetaLocator has a REST API for locations, categories and leads, and a separate Analytics API. Both are Enterprise only, as are webhooks, which MetaLocator's staff configure for you. Zapier is available from the Scale plan, with triggers for new leads and updated records.
- Lead capture and routing - forms, notification emails and reminders from Growth; delivery to Salesforce or HubSpot from Scale.
- SEO location pages - hosted pages with schema markup and a sitemap, sold as an add-on through sales.
- Reviews - import and display reviews from Growth, collect them from Scale.
- User roles - eight user types, including translators and country managers; SSO on Enterprise.
- Security - MetaLocator states it is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR and CCPA compliant.
MetaLocator's pricing page, showing annual-billing rates and plan limits Source: metalocator.com
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Locations | Page views / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | $19 | $17 / mo | 100 | 5,000 |
| Growth | $49 | $41 / mo | 10,000 | 25,000 |
| Scale | $199 | $167 / mo | 100,000 | 50,000 |
| Enterprise | By quote | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card. Three things to watch:
- Page views are limited, and each locator load and each search counts as one. A busy locator can use up an allowance quickly. Accounts over the limit get a warning and a grace period, then risk being unpublished.
- Add-ons are priced through sales: extra admin users, extra domains and SEO location pages.
- Annual plans are non-refundable and can't be downgraded or switched to monthly.
MetaLocator has a small number of reviews on business software sites: roughly 20 on Capterra, averaging about 4.9 out of 5, and a couple on G2. We could only see summaries of these, so treat the figures as approximate. Reviewers praise the responsiveness of support, the depth of customization and the Salesforce integration. The criticisms are a learning curve from the number of options, and that support won't make CSS changes for you.
Pros
- Maps included via MapTiler, with no API key
- Deep filtering, product finders and territories
- CRM integrations and lead routing
- 10,000 locations on the $49 Growth plan
- 30-day free trial
Cons
- Data sync starts at $199; APIs and most integrations are Enterprise only
- Monthly page-view limits on every paid plan
- The $19 plan lacks custom CSS, autocomplete and lead forms
- Complex to learn
- Add-on prices aren't published
MetaLocator is a serious platform for organisations with serious requirements: dealer networks, CRM-driven data, lead routing and compliance paperwork. For those buyers its Enterprise plan covers ground that simpler locators don't attempt.
Below Enterprise, the picture is mixed. The Growth plan's 10,000 locations and lead forms for $49 are good value, but syncing with Google Drive or Airtable costs $199 a month, the APIs aren't available at any published price, and the page-view limits need watching. Small and mid-sized businesses will often find the features they want on a cheaper plan elsewhere.