Hazel Ryan
How Trustpilot review invitations work
Trustpilot review invitations are requests to review your business that you send through Trustpilot, an integration, the API or a review link you share yourself. Every method follows one rule from Trustpilot's guidelines: invite all customers the same way, at the same point in their journey, with neutral wording and no incentive.
Trustpilot's guidelines for businesses (version 7.3, September 2026) split invitations into automated ones, which Trustpilot sends for you, and non-automated ones, such as links and QR codes you share. Trustpilot notes that many businesses choose automated methods because they send invitations consistently, and the guidelines ask for one invite per experience.
Automated invitations are capped by plan. Trustpilot's pricing page lists 50 automated invitations a month on the Free plan, 100 on Starter, 300 on Plus, 1,000 on Premium and unlimited invitations on Enterprise. A team that signs up more customers each month than its plan allows has to choose between upgrading and sending a review link from its own email tool.
If your team has no time to run invitations at all, our Trustpilot review service plans and runs a Trustpilot campaign with verified users instead, and all our review services cover G2, Capterra, SourceForge, SoftwareSuggest and HubSpot as well. For the wider picture, from profile setup to monthly review targets, see our guide on how to get Trustpilot reviews. The rest of this guide assumes you are sending invitations yourself.
Timing on Trustpilot: invite customers once they have used the product
The guidelines ask businesses to give customers time to experience the product or service before asking for feedback. For a SaaS product, the day of sign-up is too early, because the customer has not set the product up or used it for real work yet.
Trustpilot also bans timing that only satisfied customers reach. Sending invitations at a stage of the customer journey that only people with a good experience get to counts as being selective, even when no one picks names by hand. The safe choice is a point in time that every paying customer passes, whatever they think of the product.
| Trigger | Does every customer reach it? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| A fixed day count after the first payment | Yes | Fair |
| The welcome email on day one | Yes, before any real use | Too early |
| An upgrade or renewal confirmation | Only customers who stay or grow | Risky |
| A high score in an NPS survey | Only happy customers | Breaks the guidelines |
For most SaaS products, a fixed point between 30 and 90 days after the first payment gives customers enough time to form a view. Write that point down, use it for every account, and change it for everyone at once if you ever move it.
Choosing how to send invitations
Trustpilot offers several ways to send invitations, and the right one depends on where your customer data lives. Trustpilot's review invitations page lists its automated feedback solution, integrations with tools such as Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk and WooCommerce, an API link for your own email service and bulk invitations to past customers. The same page says reminder emails collect an additional 35% more reviews on average.
| Method | Who sends the email | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Feedback Service (AFS) | Trustpilot, triggered by an email you send | Teams without developer time |
| Integrations | Trustpilot, triggered by your CRM or help desk | Teams on HubSpot, Salesforce or Zendesk |
| Review link | You, from your own email, app or help centre | Products with their own messaging |
| Invitation API | Trustpilot or your own system, triggered by your code | Teams with engineers and custom events |
| Bulk invitations | Trustpilot, to past customers in one batch | A first round when a profile is new |
Your plan decides which of these you can use. The pricing page lists eCommerce integrations on Starter and all integrations from Plus upward, while API access is an add-on on Premium and Enterprise.
Pick one main method, so each customer gets one invitation per experience as the guidelines ask. A review link on a page every customer can open, such as your help centre, can sit alongside it without sending anyone a second request.
How the Trustpilot Automatic Feedback Service works
The Trustpilot Automatic Feedback Service, usually called AFS, sends Trustpilot's invitation off the back of an email you already send. You add the AFS address Trustpilot gives you to that email, usually in the BCC field, and Trustpilot then emails the customer its own invitation. For email tools that have no BCC field, Trustpilot's help centre describes a setup that uses a separate trigger email.
AFS is part of the Free plan. Trustpilot's guide to getting the most out of its Free plan (May 2024) names ecommerce integrations and AFS as the Free plan's invitation tools, with 50 monthly review invitations and pre-built email templates.
The choice that matters most is which email carries the AFS address. Pick one that every customer receives at your fixed point, such as a 30-day check-in, and avoid the welcome email, upgrade receipts and anything sent only to active users. If you later move AFS to a different email, move it for everyone on the same day so your invitations stay consistent.
How to use a Trustpilot review link
A Trustpilot review link opens the review form for your business, so a customer can start a review in one click from wherever you place it. The guidelines treat links and QR codes as non-automated invitations, which means the same rules apply: the same request at the same point for every customer.
For SaaS products, the useful places are the ones that reach every account:
- A fixed in-app message. Shown to every account at the same day count.
- Your check-in email. Sent from your email tool when the plan's automated limit is too low.
- The help centre or account page. Open to any customer who wants to review you.
- A QR code. Useful at events or on site, as long as customers scan it with their own phones.
If you want a separate link for each customer, the Trustpilot Invitation API documentation shows how to generate a unique invitation link to send by email or show on a website. It can also send the customer on to a product review form after the service review. The extra collectors have their own limits: Plus includes 1 active QR code and 300 in-app collector clicks a month, Premium 5 codes and 1,000 clicks, and Enterprise 50 codes with unlimited clicks.
Short on time for invitations?
See how our review campaigns work, from the written plan to the last review, all inside Trustpilot's rules.
Writing Trustpilot review invitations: templates and wording
Trustpilot's own templates are a safe starting point. Its review invitations page says the templates are available in 16 languages and are fully customizable to match your brand, and the Invitation API lists both default and custom templates you can choose from.
Customizing is where teams get into trouble. The guidelines ask for fair, neutral and unbiased language and give "If you like us, please leave us a 5-star review" as an example of what not to write. They also warn that Trustpilot may ask you to change the language, or reset your invitation template, if it breaks the terms.
A neutral SaaS invitation can be this short:
- Subject: How is [Product] working for you?
- Body: You have been using [Product] for a month, and we would like to hear how it is going, good or bad. Your review on Trustpilot helps other teams decide whether [Product] fits them.
- Button: Write a review
Leave out stars, ratings and any hint of a reward, and keep the subject line plain. For more subject lines and templates across review sites, see our guide to writing a review request email that SaaS customers answer.
Reminders, limits and duplicate invitations
Reminders are the easiest extra reviews to collect. The 35% figure for reminder emails comes from Trustpilot's own product page, which gives no date or method for it, so treat it as a guide. One reminder is enough for most teams, and more than one starts to feel pushy.
Space the reminder to match how people use your product. In its 2019 advice on tailoring invitations to the customer journey, Trustpilot suggested a reminder a week after the first invitation by default, and a month later for long software relationships. That longer gap suits most B2B SaaS tools, where customers need weeks to judge the product.
The guidelines also ask for one invite per experience. Check that your AFS trigger, integration and any manual sends do not fire for the same customer, and count each customer once when you plan against your monthly limit.
Invitation mistakes that cost you reviews
Most invitation problems come from setups that looked harmless when someone built them. A customer survey that sends promoters to Trustpilot and everyone else to support is pre-screening, which the guidelines name as a form of selective inviting. Triggering AFS from upgrade emails has the same effect, because the customers who upgrade are mostly the ones who like the product.
Other mistakes are about who gets invited and where. The guidelines say not to invite people who have a special relationship with your business, and not to collect reviews on business devices such as a laptop or tablet handed to a customer at an event. Any reward, from a discount to a prize draw entry, breaks the rules however it is worded.
When an invitation breaks these rules, Trustpilot can ask you to change it or reset your template, and the reviews it brought in are at risk too. Our guide to Trustpilot fake reviews explains how Trustpilot finds rule-breaking reviews and what happens next.
Trustpilot review service
Short on time? RelikReview can run your Trustpilot campaign
If your team has no time to run invitations, RelikReview plans and runs a Trustpilot review campaign instead, with verified users who review your product in their own words. You see the plan, timing and pacing in writing before anything starts.
- Own words, own ratingEach reviewer chooses their own star rating.
- Paced to look naturalReviews arrive steadily, with no sudden spikes.
- Inside Trustpilot's rulesNo incentives, gating or scripted reviews.
Getting Trustpilot review invitations right
Good Trustpilot review invitations come down to a few fixed choices: one point in the journey that every customer reaches, one main sending method, a neutral template and one reminder. Set them once, check them each quarter, and the reviews that arrive will reflect what customers really think.
If you would rather spend that time on the product, the RelikReview team can walk you through a campaign that fits Trustpilot's rules. Either way, start by writing down your trigger point, because the rest of the setup follows from it.
FAQs about Trustpilot invitations
Can I send Trustpilot invitations for free?
Yes, the Trustpilot Free plan includes 50 automated review invitations a month, along with the Automatic Feedback Service and ecommerce integrations. You can also share a review link in your own emails or app. Paid plans raise the monthly limit, and the Enterprise plan has no fixed limit on automated invitations.
How long should I wait before sending a Trustpilot invitation?
Wait until customers have used the product enough to judge it, which Trustpilot's guidelines ask for. For most SaaS products, that means a fixed point between 30 and 90 days after the first payment. Use the same point for every customer, and avoid triggers that only satisfied customers reach, such as upgrades.
Can I customize the Trustpilot invitation template?
Yes, Trustpilot's invitation templates are fully customizable and available in 16 languages. The wording must stay fair, neutral and unbiased, so leave out star ratings, rewards and any request aimed at happy customers. Trustpilot can ask you to change the language or reset the template if it breaks its guidelines.
Does the Trustpilot Automatic Feedback Service work for SaaS?
Yes, the Automatic Feedback Service works for any business that emails its customers. You add Trustpilot's AFS address to one email, usually in the BCC field, and Trustpilot sends its own invitation. SaaS teams should attach it to an email every customer receives at the same point, such as a 30-day check-in.
Where should I put my Trustpilot review link?
Put your Trustpilot review link where every customer can reach it at the same point, such as a fixed in-app message, a check-in email or your help centre. Avoid places that only happy customers see, such as an upgrade confirmation. If you use a QR code, customers should scan it on their own phones.
How many reminders should I send?
Send one reminder and then stop, because extra reminders mostly add pressure. Trustpilot says reminder emails collect 35% more reviews on average, and its older advice was to send the reminder a week after the first invitation, or a month later for long software relationships. The guidelines also ask for one invite per experience.
