The story
Founded by Michael Ortner and Rakesh Chilakapati in 1999.1
Founding and early years
The company was founded in 1999 by Michael Ortner and Rakesh Chilakapati. Capterra was initially intended to let businesses rent software from vendors through its website. About six months after launch the company abandoned that plan in favor of a directory that was free to buyers and charged vendors for exposure and sales leads. It subsequently adopted a pay-per-click charging model. Capterra was on the list of the Inc. magazine's 2007 ranking of the 500 fastest-growing private U.S. companies. By the end of 2007, there were nearly 10,000 software vendors advertised on the website. In 2009, the site allowed software users to leave reviews.
By 2014, The Washington Post described the company as "the Yelp of business software", reporting that it had grown into one of the larger business-to-business directories on the web while retaining a small-company culture at its Arlington offices.
Gartner ownership (2015–2026)
In September 2015, Capterra was acquired by Gartner for $206.2 million. The purchase followed Gartner's 2014 acquisition of the comparison site Software Advice and its acquisition on 1 July 2015 of Nubera eBusiness, the Barcelona-based operator of the software directory GetApp. Capterra was subsequently grouped with Software Advice and GetApp under the division Gartner Digital Markets.
In January 2023, Capterra announced it had reached 2 million verified software reviews.
Acquisition by G2 (2026)
In January 2026, G2, a Chicago-based software insights platform company, announced plans to acquire Capterra along with two other Gartner-owned companies, Software Advice and GetApp. G2 stated that the combined business would hold close to six million user reviews and reach more than 200 million software buyers annually. The acquisition closed on February 5, 2026.
From Wikipedia’s article on Capterra, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4