Pinsonar vs collecting by hand
You can check your competitors on the maps without any tool: open three map services, search your niche and copy what you see into a spreadsheet. This page compares that with Pinsonar, including where doing it by hand is the better choice.
The comparison
| By hand | With Pinsonar | |
|---|---|---|
| Time for 30 businesses | Hours of copying | A scan that runs in your browser while you do something else |
| Three maps | You search each one and match the businesses yourself | The same business from the three maps becomes one record |
| Repeating it | You start over each time | A rescan, and alerts for what changed |
| Memory | Only what you wrote down | The history of each listing's rating and reviews |
| Completeness | Depends on your patience | Depends on what the maps publish; not guaranteed |
| Cost | Your time | Free, with limits |
Where Pinsonar is limited
- The free scan covers a radius of up to 1 km, one category and up to 1,000 businesses in a report, with 5 hours between reports.
- It needs Google Chrome 137 or newer and the collector extension.
- Data is only what the public listings show. A business that is not on a map is not found, and a listing with no price list has no price.
- Accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed.
Where doing it by hand wins
- You need two or three listings, once.
- You want to read a competitor's reviews carefully, in their order, with the photos next to them.
- You cannot install an extension on your computer.
Where Pinsonar wins
- You are comparing an area, not a business.
- You want the same business on three maps merged without checking each by yourself.
- You want to know what changed since the last time you looked.
- You want an Excel file you can sort and send to your team.
A sensible mix
Many people start by hand to learn what matters in their niche, then use Pinsonar to cover the whole area and to repeat it. Begin with the first scan or read how to analyze competitors on maps.
Questions and answers
When is doing it by hand better?
When you only need to look at a few listings once, or to read one competitor's reviews in depth. Pinsonar pays off when there are dozens of businesses or when you want to repeat the check.
Try it on your own area.