DirectSuggest Review: End Your Stale Suggestion Box for Fresh Ideas

Are employee ideas just getting lost again?

If you’re evaluating feedback tools, you’ve likely seen how hard it is to capture, organize, and actually act on valuable suggestions—especially across departments, devices, and now even from customers.

It’s a pain because good ideas end up completely ignored, and that means lost innovation, wasted time and frustrated people day after day.

That’s where DirectSuggest stands out: by making it super simple for your employees—and now your customers—to submit ideas, collaborate, and get their thoughts straight to decision-makers using AI automation and clear roles.

In this review, I’ll show you how DirectSuggest can help you consistently turn feedback into action so you get more innovation, engagement, and measurable impact.

Inside this DirectSuggest review, you’ll get everything you need—feature walkthroughs, pricing breakdown, customer integration, competitive alternatives, and my research-based guidance for your decision process.

You’ll leave knowing the features you need to finally fix the feedback problem for your team.

Let’s get started.

DirectSuggest Overview

DirectSuggest is an award-winning suggestion box application with a clear mission. They’re built to empower your employees to easily and affordably drive real organizational change from the ground up.

They serve organizations of all sizes, but I find their tool really connects with businesses tired of complex systems. Their differentiator is being the first all-in-one feedback app capturing ideas from both your internal staff and your customers.

The recent expansion to include customer suggestions was a smart move. Through this DirectSuggest review, you’ll see how this update significantly broadens their value proposition beyond purely internal use cases.

Unlike enterprise innovation suites, DirectSuggest feels far more accessible. Their focus on an affordable, straightforward solution means your team can get started without needing a huge budget or dedicated IT support to manage it.

You’ll find them working with a diverse set of organizations. Seeing major companies like Comcast and TD Bank on their client list adds significant enterprise-level credibility to their platform.

It’s clear to me their strategy centers on unifying all feedback into one simple system. This directly addresses the market’s need for a single platform capturing both internal and external insights without added complexity.

Now let’s examine their core capabilities.

DirectSuggest Features

Lost ideas costing your business big?

DirectSuggest features offer a powerful, focused approach to idea management, ensuring every valuable insight gets heard. Here are the five main DirectSuggest features that truly streamline your innovation process.

1. Streamlined Suggestion Submission

Is submitting ideas still a complicated hassle?

Clunky, outdated processes can stop valuable employee insights from ever reaching decision-makers. This often means good ideas just get lost.

DirectSuggest makes it incredibly simple for anyone—employees or customers—to submit ideas within company-created categories on any device. From my testing, the ease of use for submission is a standout feature, ensuring that no idea is too much trouble to share.

This means you can capture every valuable suggestion, guaranteeing that insights are directed to the right people automatically.

2. Collaborative Idea Development

Do your ideas just sit in a suggestion box, ignored?

Ideas can wither if there’s no way for teams to build on them, leading to a lack of engagement and ownership. This misses out on collective wisdom.

The platform actively encourages collaboration, allowing all users to vote and comment on suggestions, significantly enhancing idea quality. What I love about this feature is how it builds a community around innovation, where everyone contributes to refining concepts.

The result is your team gets a shared sense of ownership, making ideas stronger and more likely to succeed through collective input.

3. AI-Powered Routing and Organization

Are you manually sorting through every single suggestion?

Without proper routing, suggestions can pile up or go to the wrong department, creating administrative headaches and delays. This slows down innovation.

DirectSuggest uses AI to automatically route suggestions to the correct “Gatekeeper” based on categories and locations/regions. This is where DirectSuggest shines, as the intelligent automation drastically reduces manual effort in idea distribution.

So, as an administrator, you can eliminate the guesswork, ensuring every suggestion reaches the right person for evaluation quickly and efficiently.

4. Comprehensive Analytics and Reporting

Struggling to track the impact of implemented ideas?

Without clear data, it’s hard to justify the value of suggestions or understand where your innovation efforts are paying off. This makes data-driven decisions difficult.

The platform provides Gatekeepers and Administrators with robust analytics reports and data export capabilities for in-depth analysis. Here’s what I found: you get a complete overview of suggestion activity, from submission trends to implemented idea impact.

This means you can monitor, measure, and truly understand the ROI of your suggestions, allowing you to make smarter, data-backed decisions.

5. Customer Suggestion Integration

Only gathering feedback from inside your company?

Ignoring customer feedback means missing crucial external insights that could drive product improvements and service enhancements. This is a huge missed opportunity for growth.

The +Customers Plan allows you to collect incentivized suggestions directly from your customers, expanding your feedback loop beyond employees. This unique DirectSuggest feature means you can tap into a wealth of external perspectives, routed and collaborated upon just like internal ideas.

This helps you gain a competitive edge by directly integrating client needs and ideas into your innovation pipeline, driving better business outcomes.

You’ll appreciate how these DirectSuggest features work together to create a complete idea management ecosystem for both internal and external feedback.

DirectSuggest Pricing

Struggling with unclear subscription costs?

DirectSuggest pricing is refreshingly straightforward, offering a per-employee per-month model that makes budgeting for your feedback program simple and transparent.

Plan	Price & Features
Standard Employee Plan	$0.50 per employee per month • Employee suggestions only • No minimum employees • 30-day free trial • AI-powered routing
+Customers Plan	$1.50 per employee per month • Employees and customer suggestions • Minimum $75 per month • 30-day free trial • Incentivized customer feedback

1. Value Assessment

Incredible value for the features.

From my cost analysis, DirectSuggest offers exceptionally low pricing, especially for the Standard Employee Plan, which helps you drive internal innovation affordably. What I found regarding pricing is how their per-employee model perfectly aligns costs with usage, so you only pay for what your team actually needs.

This means your budget gets a high ROI potential, with an average 33X return on investment projected for your business.

2. Trial/Demo Options

Try before you buy, risk-free.

DirectSuggest offers a generous 30-day free trial for both plans, letting you fully explore the platform and its features without financial commitment. What stood out about their trial is how you aren’t billed until the end of the second 30-day period, allowing ample time to cancel.

This helps you evaluate the system’s impact on your organization before committing to full pricing.

3. Plan Comparison

Choosing your ideal plan is easy.

The Standard Employee Plan is an excellent starting point if you’re solely focused on internal suggestions, offering core features at a minimal cost. For businesses looking to expand feedback to external sources, the +Customers Plan adds significant value by integrating customer insights into the mix.

This selection guidance helps you match DirectSuggest pricing to your actual feedback needs, ensuring you get the right solution.

My Take: DirectSuggest’s pricing is highly competitive and accessible, designed to provide significant value and ROI for organizations of all sizes, prioritizing affordability and innovation.

The overall DirectSuggest pricing reflects excellent value for driving innovation and feedback.

DirectSuggest Reviews

What do real users actually say?

I’ve analyzed numerous DirectSuggest reviews to bring you balanced insights on what actual customers think about this employee suggestion software.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users are generally quite positive.

From my review analysis, DirectSuggest consistently receives high marks, with users often praising its simplicity and effectiveness in gathering feedback. What I found in user feedback is that ease of use and streamlined processes are frequently cited as major contributors to overall satisfaction.

This suggests you can expect a smooth experience for both employees submitting ideas and decision-makers.

2. Common Praise Points

Its simplicity is truly loved.

Users repeatedly highlight the platform’s intuitive interface and the seamless process for submitting suggestions from any device. From customer feedback, the automatic routing to proper decision-makers based on categories is highly valued, ensuring no ideas get lost.

This means your organization can efficiently capture and act on valuable employee insights.

3. Frequent Complaints

No significant complaints emerged.

What stood out in customer feedback is a surprising lack of recurring negative themes or widespread frustrations. Review-wise, I found no frequent complaints regarding performance, features, or support, indicating a generally smooth user experience across the board.

This suggests that for most users, any issues are minor or quickly resolved, rather than being deal-breakers.

The overall DirectSuggest reviews present a picture of consistent user satisfaction with its core functionality.

Best DirectSuggest Alternatives

Too many innovation platforms to choose from?

The best DirectSuggest alternatives include several strong options, each better suited for different business situations, budget considerations, and specific innovation management needs.

1. Brightidea

Need enterprise-grade innovation management?

Brightidea is for large organizations seeking a comprehensive platform with extensive features for every stage of innovation and a proven track record of significant business impact. From my competitive analysis, Brightidea offers a robust, enterprise-scale innovation platform, ideal for multi-million dollar impacts, though it comes at a higher price.

Choose Brightidea if your enterprise requires deep innovation management capabilities and has a substantial budget.

2. Sideways 6

Prioritizing integration with existing collaboration tools?

Sideways 6 excels by allowing employees to submit ideas directly from tools like Microsoft Teams or Viva Engage, leveraging familiar platforms to boost engagement. What I found comparing options is that Sideways 6 prioritizes seamless integration for idea submission, making it a strong alternative for teams heavily invested in those ecosystems.

Consider this alternative when maximizing engagement through existing communication channels is your top priority.

3. Viima

Seeking a highly visual, free entry point?

Viima is ideal for smaller teams (under 50 users) or those prioritizing a highly visual, engaging, and customizable platform for idea management without initial cost. From my analysis, Viima provides an accessible, visually appealing solution with a generous free tier, though it lacks customer suggestion integration and an API.

Choose Viima when a free, user-friendly, and highly visual ideation platform is essential for your smaller team.

4. IdeaScale

Running large-scale public idea campaigns?

IdeaScale is a pioneer in crowdsourcing, best for large enterprises, governments, or non-profits needing robust community engagement and extensive public idea campaigns. Alternative-wise, IdeaScale offers superior crowdsourcing capabilities for large public initiatives, though it’s a more expensive, enterprise-focused solution without a mobile app.

Choose IdeaScale when your organization requires a powerful platform for broad, public-facing idea collection and community-driven innovation.

The best DirectSuggest alternatives depend on your organization’s specific scale and integration preferences more than just core features.

DirectSuggest Setup

Worried about complicated software setup and training?

This DirectSuggest review covers the straightforward deployment approach and overall complexity, helping you set realistic expectations for your implementation journey.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

Getting started is refreshingly simple here.

DirectSuggest implementation is designed to be completed quickly, often within a week or less, involving employee import, category creation, and gatekeeper assignments. From my implementation analysis, the process is notably less complex than typical enterprise software rollouts, prioritizing efficiency.

You’ll want to prepare your employee data and define suggestion categories upfront to ensure a smooth, rapid deployment.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Minimal technical hurdles to overcome.

Your setup requires internet access and standard devices, as DirectSuggest operates as a web-based Progressive Web App, functioning like a native application without local installation. What I found about deployment is that it integrates with any existing email application for notifications, simplifying technical requirements significantly.

Plan for basic network connectivity, but you won’t need to budget for extensive server infrastructure or complex API integrations.

3. Training & Change Management

User adoption is intuitive and well-supported.

Staff training is facilitated by clear documentation, live online sessions, and tutorial videos, coupled with an easy-to-use interface that encourages self-sufficiency. From my analysis, the platform’s simplicity minimizes the learning curve, reducing resistance to new feedback mechanisms and promoting quick user engagement.

Invest time in promoting the system’s benefits to your team to foster a culture of active participation and continuous improvement.

4. Support & Success Factors

Dedicated support guides your rollout.

DirectSuggest includes customer support throughout the implementation process, ensuring you have assistance at every step, from initial setup to ongoing optimization. What I found about deployment is that proactive use of available support resources directly correlates with a more efficient and successful launch, addressing queries swiftly.

Plan to leverage their documentation and support channels to maximize the benefits and streamline your DirectSuggest setup experience.

The overall DirectSuggest setup emphasizes speed and ease of deployment, making it a highly accessible solution for gathering feedback effectively and quickly.

Bottom Line

Is DirectSuggest the right innovation platform for you?

This DirectSuggest review distills my comprehensive analysis, offering a clear final recommendation for businesses seeking to boost innovation and engagement through employee and customer feedback.

1. Who This Works Best For

Organizations fostering a culture of innovation and engagement.

DirectSuggest excels for companies of all sizes and industries looking for an affordable, easy-to-implement solution to gather ideas from both employees and customers. From my user analysis, businesses prioritizing streamlined feedback mechanisms to capture valuable ideas and drive growth will find significant value.

You’ll see high ROI if your current feedback processes are inefficient and you want to actively leverage collective knowledge for improvement.

2. Overall Strengths

Uniquely combines employee and customer suggestion features.

The software succeeds by providing an intuitive platform for both internal and external feedback, featuring AI-powered routing, collaboration tools, and a reported 33X ROI. From my comprehensive analysis, its unique ability to capture customer suggestions alongside employee ideas offers a holistic approach unmatched by many competitors.

These strengths translate directly into improved engagement, better decision-making, and a clear path to innovation and cost savings for your business.

3. Key Limitations

Advanced analytics and deep integrations are less robust.

While effective, DirectSuggest may not offer the extensive customization options, advanced analytics, or wide array of business tool integrations found in enterprise-level platforms. Based on this review, organizations requiring highly complex innovation management features might find the solution less comprehensive for their specific needs.

I find these limitations are acceptable trade-offs for its affordability and simplicity, rather than fundamental flaws for its target audience.

4. Final Recommendation

DirectSuggest earns a strong recommendation for most businesses.

You should choose this software if you’re seeking an accessible, powerful tool to enhance employee engagement and gather actionable insights from both staff and customers. From my analysis, your success depends on prioritizing ease of use and high ROI potential over the deep customization of more expensive alternatives.

My confidence level is high for organizations aiming to streamline feedback without the complexity or cost of enterprise solutions.

This DirectSuggest review demonstrates strong value for fostering engagement and innovation, providing a powerful yet affordable solution for gathering critical feedback.