Localize Reviews

I came to you through TikTok and the user experience has been nothing short of frustrating. First of all, I was immediately asked to rate you. I hadn’t even completed setup. Then when I entered my location, I’m hit with the premium upgrade. By the way on this screen, the text is overlaying other text and you can’t read it. You are asking for money at the wrong stage. I would much rather you show your value and then rally support behind your mission asking for money to support. You’d gain way more subscribers. This just feels like a huge money grab instead of a mission. The worst part of my experience was after I exited the upgrade ad and tried to click on the closest farm and Localize crashed. This happened over and over again. So I tried looking at the list of the farms instead of the map flags. Very unimpressive. No website, limited info. Pretty useless at this stage. Why aren’t you marketing the fact that you’re brand new and acknowledge the potential bumps in the user experience. Make this a crowdfunded win against big ag. I was so turned off by the premium price for WHAT? A crashing app?! Reevaluate your strategy. It’s important you succeed. Now you’re gaining ground on social and you’re squandering it.

I wanted to give Localize a try because I’ve been seeing their social posts and they seem like they’re doing good work. Here’s the problem. There is no free option, and it’s a yearly subscription model (literally the worst kind of business model for the consumer). If they want to make it a paid model, which I think they should, offer a free or (donation based version) and add premium elements to it. Like meat and egg is free but for the other ones it’s extra) or you can see the first 3 options but to see more farms you have to pay (small fee) or if subscription, that’s fine. But to limit complete use of Localize unless you pay and not advertise that, kind of shocking.

Really truly HATE apps that force you to lock in a contract before a truly checked out test ride can begin. In central Maine, it’s the middle of FEB, and I know there isn’t a lot of activity going on with what farms I know about. “Oh there’s a 7 day free trial.” Go dig a foxhole Karen! I go a week/week and half between grocery runs. “Why you so angry?” Just because every single other app does it (7 day trial), doesn’t mean it works for all apps. Do you go and buy everything sight unseen? Not sorry for the rant. Was really looking forward to checking out Localize .

I don’t know if the UX designer or the engineers or the product manager or the QA person needs to be fired (probably all of them), but Localize is pretty bad. First off, it asks you to rate it during the setup process before you’ve even used it, and then again once you complete setup (again, before you’ve even used it). Same with the premium upgrade. It wants me to pay for Localize during the setup process before I’ve even used it. Thank god I didn’t bother with the free 3-day trial because Localize is awful. You can’t even see pins for all the farms if you’re looking at their default map zoom level, more popped up when I zoomed in. Not that it matters, because half the “farms” on the map in my area don’t even actually exist or have gone out of business (for example, a farm they have listed in Malibu went out of business TEN YEARS AGO), which I found out from clicking the website link on them. Only one “farm” has products listed in Localize . It has an apple icon listed on it — which I guess I’m supposed to remember what that means from the setup process lol — but it’s an ice cream store. The descriptions on each of the farms are absolutely useless. It should say what products they sell. You would think at the absolute bare minimum there would be a way to report errors for a farm in Localize . But nope, not even a general form submission. Just a “Contact Us” button that pops up a weird Gmail address. What a joke. Honestly, I’d have been better off googling farms in my area or just walking a block to my local farmers market on Tuesday. I refuse to believe they did any beta testing before releasing this garbage. I’m deleting Localize, definitely the fastest I’ve deleted any app, this is total garbage.

It’s frustrating that an app charges $30 a year just to connect people with small, local farming businesses. The whole idea behind supporting local farms is accessibility and community—so putting basic information like how to buy their products behind a paywall feels counterintuitive. Instead of encouraging more people to shop local, it creates an unnecessary barrier. Many people already want to support farmers directly, but having to pay just to find out where and how to do that doesn’t make sense. It turns something simple and community-driven into a subscription service, which can discourage the very support these small businesses need.

“We do independently source + verify farms outside of what is available on Google Places.” <- this is marketing to make you think their app does a better job than google maps

“we haven't fully verified all 30,000+ family farms listed in our app. <- this is lying about your marketing.

What a cool idea that’s horribly executed. Also insanely expensive paid subscription. Give me banner ads and maybe a big ad every other time i use your app and i guarantee you’ll get less angry people and 1 star reviews. Seems very unauthentic and greedy. Also asking for extra data just to sell is wild af. Change or waste away into nothing

The creator of Localize advertises it as free in his marketing ads. However the only free part is the download itself. Once you answer the questions, you get to the last page that teases the farms near you on a map but you can’t get into Localize itself without signing up for their subscription model. No free resources as was advertised. They even have a page requesting to be rated 5 stars before you’ve seen or used Localize ! And conveniently, they ask for their 5-star review before you get to the last page and realize it’s a subscription service with no free model. Disappointed in the misleading claim when the creator is standing firmly on the importance of companies not deceiving consumers with false food claims.

Yes, you can download it only for free, but after a bunch of meandering ramp up, you reach the page where you cannot go further unless you sign up for one of the subscription models.
I don’t know what would happen if you signed up for the free seven day trial which then hit you with the annual subscription, and I don’t know whether or not the annual subscription is worth it or not especially at the lower introductory rate but what I do know is that this feels scammy, and that’s no way to start a relationship, especially when your entire business model is based on the idea that you’re trying to stop the ultra scamming corporate takeover of the food world!
So… I probably will not be going for it, even though I support this in theory. In theory, but in practice, Localize is scammy.

So I was really excited to use Localize but as of recent I’ve gotten kicked out of my account after having paid the yearly subscription and now I can’t see anything until I pay an additional premium subscription while the other subscription is still active!! What gives?? And then I tried to reach out for support via the email option and it doesn’t let me complete the request, please help!

So disappointing when apps/companies ask you for information only to get to a page where you have to pay to benefit from the service. Why not start out with that and be honest?

Tried to link to the privacy page 2 different ways to see what the policy was on any collected information and to remove myself as well as to Disapprove the selling of any of my information only to reach a blank page that doesn’t load.

Very deceptive and disappointing. Points to a one-way street and exploitation.

Doesn’t warn you that you have to pay to actually do anything. It’s infuriating to walk thru a load of setup screens before being stopped… “ehhhhh now pay!!”. Feels like a slimy, corporate, money grab to trick ppl. Otherwise, it would just be on the first screen. I gave 2 stars because I appreciate the idea and maybe I’ll eventually try it, but since I can’t even tell if it will even be useful, I doubt it. *Deleted.* 7-day trial
and then we’ll charge you is a scam and everyone knows it.

I didn’t actually experience Localize . It asked me rate it before I even used it. The fact that it’s not free was a hard no for me. I understand it’s a business I guess but I would have just ran ads on Localize to fund it. Can’t imagine giving someone $8 dollars a month on something that I don’t even know anything about yet. I give you $8 dollars to find out the closest person to me is 112 miles away? You have to get me in the door for me to even consider buying something. I think it’s a good concept but I can’t just give you money then hope it works out in my favor afterwards.

this app is exactly the kind of build we need right now.

You’re taking a real swing at consolidation and making it radically easier for people to support the farmers and ranchers who actually feed us. Making discovery free -and pairing it with deals so more families can afford “real food” - is mission-aligned and smart.

Rooting for you. Keep building in public and keep shipping.

As a new graduate nurse, it is so hard to balance lifestyle, career, and health. this app App makes it easy to find amazing local farmers and healthy food. Not only are you supporting local farms but also providing your body with non-toxic foods! They were kind enough to accommodate my situation so I’m able to use Localize ! I am excited to spread the knowledge onto my future patients to help prevent chronic illnesses and keep them healthy! It’s all about planting little seeds everywhere and Localize is a great start!

I recently have switched to trying to source our groceries for our house from local farms and markets as it helps with sourcing good food at an affordable price and you feel more connected to the people/farmers. This apps helps tremendously as most of them don’t just simply show up on Google Maps/Apple Maps. 👍👍👍

Thank you so much for giving me the tools to find and contact my local farms. I never knew I had so many options near me! I’ve started looking at more local and from the source due to the chemicals and other additives that are being put in our food without us knowing. I appreciate it, really!

I’m a student and this is a subscription service. Not bad at all for what it gives you but it’s still hard to make it work in the budget as a student. Highly recommend any students reaching out to get help and to eat healthy for your student years!!!

In a world of slop from corporations and factory farms, this app is pushing back. Localize instantly connected me with 20+ local farms with everything from tomatoes to dairy. When we go to the grocery store, we have no idea where our food comes from. Localize allows you to connect with the people who are growing your food. The food you find on here is also higher quality than what you can find in a grocery store and as someone who loves to cook, the most important thing is fresh, high quality ingredients.

I didn’t know an app like this existed! I was Google searching local farms near me without finding much luck. Most Google search results that came up were just my local Sprouts or Whole Foods. I love that Localize shows me what each farm offers and what they don’t. Thank you :)

Localize has helped me to stop buying foods from big corporations and instead support my local farmers. 10/10 recommendations if you want to find farm in your area and start eating healthy today.