Head to head

Brilliant Directories vs eDirectory: features and cost compared.

Brilliant Directories: A hosted directory builder with a monthly plan and add-ons at $10 a month each, against a hosted directory platform with them built in. eDirectory: Directory software as a cloud plan or a PHP licence, with paid plugins, against a hosted directory platform with one monthly price. Here they are side by side, feature by feature, from their own websites, with Yclas as a third option.

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Last checked: 22 October 2026. Facts about other products come from their own websites; the sources are listed at the end of this page.

Feature by feature

Brilliant Directories and eDirectory, side by side.

Not offeredNeeds a developerPaid add-onPartlyIncluded

Feature	Brilliant Directories	eDirectory	Yclas
AI page builder	Partly AI creator tools write pages, emails and SEO content; BD Butler builds page sections from a prompt [1]	Partly AI writes HTML for custom widgets in the page editor; no AI site design [2]	Describe a change, such as "darker hero, bigger search, rounder cards", and the AI makes it in a draft you preview. 109 ready-made looks and drag-and-drop sections.
AI sets up your site	Partly An AI directory site builder is listed; categories and content are set up by hand [1]	Partly Basic setup service on the Enterprise plan; no AI setup listed [3]	Say what your marketplace is for and the AI writes your categories, subcategories, tagline and About page in your language. Live in about two minutes.
AI listing from a photo	Not offered Not listed [1]	Not offered Not listed; AI writes text drafts and image descriptions [4]	Sellers add a photo; the AI writes the title, description and price, and picks the category and fields.
AI search	Not offered Not listed [5]	Included AI search with a natural-language mode and answers from a knowledge base you upload [4]	Visitors search the way they talk, such as "red bike under 300 near Valencia", and get the right filters.
AI scam and spam checks	Not offered Not listed; post moderation is by hand [5]	Included AI flags reviews, messages, leads and forum posts for your review [4]	Every new listing is checked against your rules for scams, prohibited items, spam and wrong categories. Risky ones wait in your queue with the reason, and buyers are warned when a message asks for gift cards or off-site payment.
Automatic listing translation	Paid add-on Google Website Translator add-on, $10 a month: the front end only [6]	Paid add-on Google Translate plugin, $97: a website translator, listings are not translated [7]	On multilingual sites each listing is translated into every site language, with its own page for search engines (Professional plan).
AI suggested replies	Not offered Not listed [1]	Not offered Not listed [4]	The AI drafts a seller's reply from the listing and the conversation; the seller edits and sends it.
AI review summary and Ask	Not offered Not listed [1]	Included AI review summaries on listing pages [4]	"What people say" from each listing's reviews, and visitors ask a question and get an answer from the listing and its reviews
AI drafts of review replies	Not offered Not listed [1]	Included AI drafts of replies to reviews for listing owners [4]	The business gets a reply in the review's language and the tone it picks, and edits it before posting
AI text for category and city pages	Included AI creator tools include SEO content [1]	Included AI drafts of SEO text for categories and locations [4]	A search title, description and intro for each "plumbers in Dallas" page, which you edit before saving
Opening hours and "Open now"	Partly A text field for opening hours; no "open now" status listed [8]	Partly Business hours on listings; an "open now" filter and special days not listed [9]	Weekly hours, holidays and special days, an Open now badge and an Open now filter in search
Several locations per business	Paid add-on Multi-Location Listings add-on, $10 a month: one member in several service areas [10]	Paid add-on Multiple Locations plugin, $97 [7]	A business adds its other branches with address and phone; they show on its listing and the map
Business details	Included Custom fields in the listing forms [11]	Included Custom fields and listing types in a template editor [9]	Services and price list, social links, attributes such as wheelchair access or women-owned, and your own custom fields per category
Events	Paid add-on Events calendar included; recurring events and "Add to calendar" are $10-a-month add-ons [12]	Included Events with recurring dates and a calendar; "Add to calendar" not listed [13]	Event dates, weekly, monthly or yearly repeats, a calendar of the month and "Add to calendar" for each event
Compare listings	Not offered Not listed [5]	Not offered Not listed [14]	Visitors put up to 4 listings side by side
Claim your business	Partly Claimable Business Listings: included on the $40 to $120 plans, else $10 a month; the business claims by choosing a plan; how it is verified is not stated [15]	Included Visitors claim imported listings; you approve the claims [16]	By a code sent to an address at the business's own domain, a code texted to its phone (with an SMS add-on), or your review; optionally only with a paid plan
Fill your directory with real businesses	Included Instant Business Data: 100 records on the monthly plan, more in credit packs; CSV import of members [17]	Partly CSV import of listings, events and images; no business data or Google import [13]	Open business data from Overture Maps included in your plan each month, CSV import, Google Places with your own key, and lists pasted and sorted by AI
Paid listing levels	Included Unlimited membership plans with upgrades [1]	Included Listing levels that unlock fields, images, video and deals [9]	Plans you sell to businesses, each with its own number of photos and deals, statistics, a badge and members-only content (Professional plan)
Featured listings and paid categories	Included Featured listings and pinned posts [5]	Included Featured placements [14]	Featured listings, bump to top, boost bundles, paid categories and coupons, paid into your own account
Sponsored results	Partly Featured upsells and a Highlight Member Results add-on; no sponsored places above results [5]	Included Sponsored listings [14]	Businesses buy a sponsored place above a category's results for a number of days
Banner ads you sell	Included Banner ad management [1]	Included Banner module in 4 sizes; geo-targeted banners in a $197 plugin [13]	Advertisers buy a banner zone for some weeks, you approve it, and they see its views and clicks
Deals with vouchers	Not offered Coupon codes on plan payments only ($10 a month); no deals on listings [18]	Included Deals with limits, codes or a QR image, countdowns and redemption reports [19]	Offers on listings and a Deals page; each customer gets a voucher with a QR code the business scans to mark it used, with a report of vouchers given and used
Charge businesses for leads	Included Sell leads to members; prices by category through a $10-a-month add-on [20]	Partly Leads from listing contact forms; selling leads not stated [9]	Per lead, or a number of leads included in their plan
Bookings	Not offered Not listed [5]	Not offered Not listed [14]	Appointments and rentals with a calendar and instant booking (Professional plan); paid online with deposits on the Marketplace plan
Reviews with owner replies	Paid add-on Star reviews included; Reply to Member Reviews is a $10-a-month add-on [21]	Included Reviews with replies from the owner, and moderation [22]	Star reviews with photos and ratings by criteria, and the business replies under each one
Review invitations	Not offered Not listed [5]	Not offered Not listed [14]	The business emails customers a personal review link, or prints a QR poster for the counter
Rating badge and yearly awards	Not offered Not listed [5]	Not offered Not listed [14]	A badge with the listing's stars for the business's own website, and "Best of" awards for the top-rated each year
Fake-review protection	Not offered Not listed [5]	Partly AI moderation checks reviews before they are published [4]	Reviews that look bought or self-written wait for your team, and you can put a consumer alert on a listing
Verified and licensed badges	Partly You set a member as Verified by hand, which shows a badge [23]	Partly Custom badges on listings; no verification process described [2]	ID and business document checks, and Licensed and Insured badges from the documents a business sends
Quote requests to the nearest businesses	Paid add-on Automatic Lead Matching add-on, $10 a month, to up to 1,500 matching members [24]	Paid add-on Enhanced Lead Distribution plugin, $299 [7]	One request goes to the closest matching businesses, and listings show how fast each one usually replies
Messages	Included Member messaging included [1]	Paid add-on Instant Messaging plugin, $149, through Messenger, Telegram or WhatsApp [7]	Visitors and businesses write to each other inside the site, with photos and PDFs
Statistics for each business	Paid add-on Member Profile Analytics: included on the $120 Pro plan, else $10 a month; call clicks with Click-to-Call, another $10; no monthly report [25]	Included Owner statistics: search appearances, views, website clicks, emails and leads, with a monthly email [26]	Views, calls, website, WhatsApp and directions clicks and the searches that found each listing, and a monthly report by email
Newsletters and automated emails	Included Broadcasts, drip campaigns, autoresponders and open and click tracking [1]	Partly Newsletters through Campaign Monitor, or a $99 MailChimp plugin; no automated email series [13]	One-off newsletters, and email series after signing up, a first listing or going quiet, with opens and clicks per email, sent through your own email service
Category and city pages for search	Included SEO URLs, structured data, sitemaps and SEO pages for search results [1]	Included Sitemaps, structured data and SEO addresses and meta tags [13]	A page for every category in every city, with your own title and intro, LocalBusiness structured data, sitemaps and IndexNow
Maps and "near me"	Included Search by radius; Google map results through an add-on [27]	Included Google Maps or OpenStreetMap; browse by map in a $199 plugin [13]	OpenStreetMap with no API key, or Google Maps; search the area on the map, by distance or near the visitor
Many languages	Partly Only the Google Website Translator add-on; languages and right-to-left not listed [6]	Partly 7 languages; right-to-left not listed [13]	44 languages, right-to-left included; several at once on a multilingual site (Professional plan)
Your own iPhone app	Partly "App-ready for Android and iOS"; customer apps come from a third party [1]	Included Native iOS and Android app builder with push notifications [28]	Your directory as a branded app on the App Store, with push notifications, published for you (Marketplace plan)
API, webhooks and MCP	Included API, webhooks and MCP on its Builder and Pro plans; Zapier [29]	Partly An open API; webhooks, Zapier and MCP not listed [3]	An API on every plan, webhooks for Zapier and Make (Professional) and an MCP server for AI assistants (Marketplace)
Hosting, SSL, updates and backups	Included Hosting, daily backups and updates included [1]	Included Included on the cloud plans; version upgrades on Professional need a support package [3]	Included in every plan, with support
Members-only content	Included Members-only content and paywalls (Builder and Pro plans) [29]	Not offered Not listed [14]	Pages and listing details only members on a plan can see (Professional plan)

Cost

A working site in year one.

Brilliant Directories, year one	About $2,304
eDirectory, year one	About $1,791
Yclas Starter, year one	$678

When Brilliant Directories is the better choice

Your directory is mainly a paid membership community with members-only areas and content.
Selling leads to many members at once is your main business, and you want its lead-matching portal.
You want a lifetime plan with a single payment.

When eDirectory is the better choice

You want the PHP source code on your own server.
You want native apps for both iPhone and Android, built from your directory.
You need a sales-led setup, with training sessions and a team that sets the site up for you.

Questions

Questions people ask

Yclas vs Brilliant Directories Yclas vs eDirectory

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Which is cheaper, Brilliant Directories or eDirectory?

In our counts, a working site costs About $2,304 in year one with Brilliant Directories and About $1,791 with eDirectory. Each comparison page lists the lines that make up the total.

Which includes more, Brilliant Directories or eDirectory?

Of the 40 features compared here, Brilliant Directories includes 14 (or as a free add-on) and eDirectory includes 19. Yclas includes all of them.

Is there a third option?

Yes: Yclas is hosted, with every feature in this table built in, a 15-day free trial and no credit card.

Sources

Checked on 22 October 2026. Prices change: the vendor's own page is always the latest word. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the products compared. Yclas is not affiliated with them.

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