What is Avalara?
Avalara aims to help businesses get tax compliance right. Avalara customers face demanding tax obligations imposed by state, local, and other tax authorities around the world, and use Avalara for efficient and more accurate solutions to manage those requirements. The Avalara Tax Compliance Suite — Avalara AvaTax, Avalara Returns, and Avalara CertCapture — offers solutions for various transaction taxes, including sales and use, VAT, excise, communications, and others. The suite enables you to calculate taxes, file and remit returns, and comply with document management requirements. More than 700 integrations are available for accounting systems, ERP and CRM providers, ecommerce platforms, and more. The company also offers Professional Services including Tax Advisory Services, Implementation Services, Managed Services, and Support Plans and Training to help customers prepare for and achieve compliance. Learn more at www.avalara.com.
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Avalara Reviews (19)
- ★★★★★10
- ★★★★★4
- ★★★★★1
- ★★★★★1
- ★★★★★3
Review Summary
Generated using AI from real user reviews
Avalara earns strong praise for tax rate accuracy, multi-state compliance handling, and exemption certificate management, though support responsiveness and pricing are persistent pain points for some users.
Users consistently highlight AvaTax's core accuracy and the value of automated tax rate lookups across multiple states, which eliminates manual research and spreadsheet work. CertCapture stands out repeatedly as a genuine workflow improvement—automating certificate collection, tracking expiration dates, and eliminating email-based chaos. The reporting dashboards and analytics are also praised for consolidating nexus exposure, filing obligations, and compliance status into a single view. Several users note that onboarding and implementation, when handled well, set a solid foundation.
Support quality divides reviewers sharply. Advocates describe knowledgeable, responsive support teams that resolved complex edge cases and unusual compliance questions within hours or days. Critics report slow ticket response times, unresponsive setup specialists, and support that sometimes only repeats existing documentation. Pricing emerges as another friction point—users mention unexpected cost increases when adding states or volume, and some feel value has declined relative to rising fees since the company went public.
A small number of reviews describe serious failures: incorrect return filings, missed deadlines, unreturned calls during trial periods, and aggressive contract enforcement that locked users in after setup delays. Most five-star reviews emphasize ease of use and time savings; most criticism centers on support consistency, pricing transparency, and trust after onboarding.
★★★★★
Thursday, October 10, 2019
“Please do your research with other companies that offer the…”
Please do your research with other companies that offer the same services. I've been working with them for approximately six months and it's been nothing but a headache.
★★★★★
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
“This company is a scam. It appears their business model…”
This company is a scam. It appears their business model is to take advantage of the changing laws regarding collection of state sales taxes to trick small businesses into contracts for services they may not need or even be able to use. In our case we signed a contract with them which is the only way to try out their services. The contact provided a 60 day trial period to test the services, so we decided to give them a shot. The trick lies in the fact that they would not schedule a meeting with our set up specialist until just after the 60 day time frame. We should have just canceled before that, but we really needed to get the tax compliance working. We trusted that they would help us or at least cancel the contract if not. Unfortunately that was not the case. Our "set up specialist" did not even call us for the meeting. She did not respond to emails or return voice mails. Leaving us to try and reschedule 2-3 weeks later. At that point we had had enough and asked to cancel. Avalara refused and sent us a bill for the entire year of service "as per their policies", saying we did not cancel within the 60 days. We were about 1-2 weeks late. So they tell you you have "60 days" to try out the service, but in reality they will not set you up until the trial is over. To me, this is fraud. They hide behind their contracts as if that give them the legal right to defraud customers. What ever you do do not do business with this company, you will regret it.
★★★★★
Thursday, August 1, 2019
“Ever since they went public the service has gone down…”
Ever since they went public the service has gone down while the price has gone up. Really difficult to get in touch with anyone for support and have implemented a price increase and new fees. Now difficult to justify the expense.
★★★★★
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
“These guys can't get it right. They have managed to…”
These guys can't get it right. They have managed to get every one of our tax returns wrong. They are giving us the incorrect bank details to pay so our VAT returns are been marked as over due plus its taking them SIX months to forward on any letters they are receiving on our behalf including enforcement letters because we have paid the wrong tax department!
★★★★★
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
“I used to search through Dept. of Revenue websites and…”
I used to search through Dept. of Revenue websites and manually add tax rates in my system. Now I don't have to do that research, and I am confident the rates I'm quoting to customers are accurate. I highly recommend Avalara for anyone selling into multiple states.
★★★★★
Monday, August 12, 2013
“I highly recommend Avalara to anybody who would like to…”
I highly recommend Avalara to anybody who would like to save time, thanks for the awesome product!
★★★★★
Thursday, March 28, 2013
“You simply cannot beat Avalara in my book. Fabulous software…”
You simply cannot beat Avalara in my book. Fabulous software for a really attractive price. The ease of use of this software is something highly desirable and is a keeper for me.
★★★★★
Monday, February 11, 2013
“Avalara has everything I've ever needed. The software is excellent…”
Avalara has everything I've ever needed. The software is excellent and the customer service is highly knowledgeable and friendly. Plus, anyone can learn how to use it. Highly recommended!
★★★★★
Monday, January 14, 2013
“Avalara made my job so much easier. It is easy…”
Avalara made my job so much easier. It is easy to learn even if you aren't a fast learner. It was also a very cost efficient way to improve my business.
