Gainsight CS vs. Intercom

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gainsight CS
Score 8.4 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Gainsight’s customer-centric technology aims to drive the future of customer success. The company’s Customer Cloud offers a set of solutions focused on customer success, product experience, revenue optimization, customer experience, and customer data, that together are designed to enable businesses to put the customer at the center of everything they do. The vendor states that companies that use Gainsight grow net retention by up to 33 percent. Learn how leading companies like Okta, SAP Concur,…
$2,500
Per Company Per Month
Intercom
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Intercom creates modern Customer Service software that aims to redefine how businesses support their customers. The platform connects businesses directly to customers using powerful messaging and automation. According to the vendor, Intercom enables teams to scale support without investing more resources - leading to happier customers and more efficient support teams.
$39
per month per seat
Pricing
Gainsight CSIntercom
Editions & Modules
Subscription
$2,500
Per Company Per Month
Essential
$39
per month per seat
Advanced
$99
per month per seat
Expert
$139
per month per seat
The Early Stage program
From $65 for 5 support seats
per month
Proactive Support Plus add-on
from $99
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Gainsight CSIntercom
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAI customer service features included in every plan. Intercom integrates Help desk, AI Chat bot, and Proactive support.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Gainsight CSIntercom
Considered Both Products
Gainsight CS
Chose Gainsight CS
I have not used or evaluated any other products like Gainsight. In the past, I was using Wrike to store my client notes and use keep tabs on their onboarding process. I also synced my email to Salesforce so that the account managers could see my activity with customers. I know …
Intercom

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Gainsight CSIntercom
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.1
164 Ratings
21% below category average
Intercom
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.1164 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.7
205 Ratings
11% below category average
Intercom
-
Ratings
API6.8122 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com7.9204 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Marketo7.749 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Eloqua8.219 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Data Extraction / Integration
Comparison of Customer Data Extraction / Integration features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
6.8
205 Ratings
24% below category average
Intercom
-
Ratings
Product usage8.5194 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk / support tickets5.1165 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Success Management
Comparison of Customer Success Management features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
6.3
217 Ratings
28% below category average
Intercom
-
Ratings
NPS surveys7.9170 Ratings00 Ratings
Sponsor tracking4.8160 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer profiles6.2194 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated workflow7.8208 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal collaboration5.1195 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer health scoring6.9210 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer segmentation5.1177 Ratings00 Ratings
CSM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CSM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.1
215 Ratings
15% below category average
Intercom
-
Ratings
Customer health trends6.9197 Ratings00 Ratings
Engagement analytics7.1174 Ratings00 Ratings
Revenue forecasting7.9107 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboards6.7212 Ratings00 Ratings
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Intercom
8.1
111 Ratings
3% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings8.4101 Ratings
Expert directory00 Ratings8.068 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings7.767 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings8.275 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings8.3104 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings7.8109 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Intercom
7.3
115 Ratings
6% below category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings7.4114 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings7.299 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Intercom
8.2
111 Ratings
7% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings8.589 Ratings
IVR00 Ratings7.736 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings7.569 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings8.8105 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.580 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Gainsight CSIntercom
Small Businesses
Intercom
Intercom
Score 8.7 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CustomerSuccessBox
CustomerSuccessBox
Score 9.5 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Webex Experience Management (discontinued)
Cisco Webex Experience Management (discontinued)
Score 8.8 out of 10
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Gainsight CSIntercom
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(222 ratings)
9.0
(260 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.8
(14 ratings)
8.9
(19 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(24 ratings)
8.8
(168 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(134 ratings)
7.1
(10 ratings)
Online Training
5.5
(2 ratings)
8.1
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.3
(6 ratings)
7.5
(5 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.3
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Gainsight CSIntercom
Likelihood to Recommend
Gainsight
Well suited for: consolidated and organized note taking tracking stakeholders contact information if properly configured - identifying and categorizing risk categories less appropriate setting up customer journey takes quite a bit of work to implement and make use of - want best practices baked into the product - "customer journey wizard" reporting is robust but clunky to set up reports and get meaningful data
Read full review
Intercom
Well suited for real time customer support needs - that's where it really shines. Well suited for proactive outreach and the ability to gather feedback from customers + surveys. Less appropriate for a non techie company to set it up, basically any sort of changes in integration have to be done by an engineer.
Read full review
Pros
Gainsight
  • Gainsight's Data Designer is a powerful tool that allows you to create new tables/data sets from different sources (Create a new table by merging Snowflake, SFDC and Gainsight data that you can use for reporting or be the engine of calls to actions)
  • The health score is great! with good data and the right workflows in place, you can easily create automated health scores by your desired segmentation
  • Journey Orchestrator is the best 1:M outreach tool I have seen from any CSP. Very flexible and comprehensive. Can also support surveys! JO can be used for all segments, not just your digital segments!
  • Gmail/Outlook integration - Our CSMs love that you can send an email and attach it to the gainsight account. You can also create a meeting note in Gainsight and email it to your customers!
  • Calls to Action/Playbooks are very customizable, interoperable with SFDC and a great way for CSMs to keep on top of their work and also a great tool for reporting outcomes and CSMs work throughout the year
Read full review
Intercom
  • Intercom's ability to centralize customer communication is a game-changer.
  • Intercom's automation features have saved us time and streamlined workflows.
  • Help desk for users.
  • Intercom seamlessly integrates with a variety of other tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality and making it a central part of our tech stack.
Read full review
Cons
Gainsight
  • Sometimes tying Salesforce Data into Gainsight objects can be challenging. (I don't believe this is a true Gainsight limitation)
  • I would love to see the ability to create a dashboard directly from JO Analytics, to help save time recreating measure the program analytics already provide. (Since the JO program analytics aren't extensible to everyone, a dashboard needs to be created )
Read full review
Intercom
  • The AI tools should have a make shorter option
  • The research is difficult compared to other platforms such as Zendesk where it is easier to find stuff (accounts, emails, messages...)
  • I know that you could integrate better AI tools! The chatbot is amazing, so I'm just missing more AI tools to increase productivity
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Gainsight
Gainsight offers a level of support that I've not experience before. They will work with you to come up with a solution to a problem - or help match you with another client that has a similar setup as you to get their feedback. Also the functionality that we have built within the software works for us. It's 'easy' to use (once you get the hang of it) and our users rather enjoy working in the software.
Read full review
Intercom
We have been and will be continuing our journey with Intercom and nothing too concerning has happened that I have experienced or heard of that has us on the edge yet. If it ever happens it will be something along the lines of "Outgrowing" the use of need of the platform.
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Usability
Gainsight
I give it this score based on the implementation at my current employer. I don't know if it could be higher based on if the implementation went better, or if there is something on the vendor side that could help. If this were asked at my previous employer, I would have given it a score of 9 or 10.
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Intercom
Everything is very straightforward and easy to see, explore, and use. Intercom provides walkthroughs and helps guides in case something is not apparent to the user and has their agents available to help. I always feel confident when exploring new features or making changes that I can have it accomplished due to the service they provide.
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Reliability and Availability
Gainsight
No answers on this topic
Intercom
always there
Read full review
Performance
Gainsight
There are some times when it can take almost a minute to load some of our reports or the rules engine. Within a rule it can also take time to load the actions as they each load one at a time when scrolling. The ability to scroll without waiting would be ideal
Read full review
Intercom
works perfect
Read full review
Support Rating
Gainsight
The CSMs are very hands-on and helpful, both Elaine and Lane have provided a lot of guidance and value over the years. Support is responsive and will jump on things as needed. The thought leadership and community is probably the most valuable part of our support from Gainsight.
Read full review
Intercom
Intercom is the premier customer support/engagement model and it definitely has one of the top tier customer support teams as well. I don't think I have ever waited more than 5 minutes to get the information I need or get help with an issue. They are incredible and I aim to model our customer service department after them.
Read full review
Online Training
Gainsight
The online videos are very good for basic tasks in the platform, but it isn't very descriptive or helpful trying to make your own specific variables fit the simple example that is typically used. Typically, I'll watch a video, try on my own and still have to get help from support or Customer Success team
Read full review
Intercom
Easy to know the learning path
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Gainsight
I was not part of the implantation (I took over later). However, based on what was passed to me, the tool was not well implemented at our org. I think this had to do with complexity, wrong person assigned in our org, and org buy-in. I think it would have been very successful if we had a better assignment process internally.
Read full review
Intercom
The implementation was surprisingly easy but we are having to adapt from our old process to work well with Intercom.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Gainsight
Our Salesforce admin is constantly pushing us to adopt more of the features of Salesforce. However, we find that Gainsight is a stronger tool for customization and enhanced interdepartmental communications. Timeline makes it easy to understand where we stand in a customer lifecycle, which is far superior to reviewing an activity history related list in Salesforce.
Read full review
Intercom
We've used both Drift and Salesforce chat at Owl Labs in the past, and I didn't find them to meet our needs or customer needs the way Intercom has been able to. Intercom ranks higher for us regarding Integrations offered, customization, AI functionality, and user-friendliness. In the past, if chat visitors would click around our website, they'd have to start their chat over again from the start and lose their communication history with us. We also found that Salesforce chat did not have enough customization that we needed. One small example is that in Intercom, you can see when another teammate is looking at a chat and tag them in notes to collaborate. We didn't have access to anything like that when using Salesforce chat. Intercom has made it easy to work alongside one another to be more efficient.
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Return on Investment
Gainsight
  • We increase account coverage by more than 20% through the tools within Gainsight CS to generate actions for our CSMs to prioritize accounts.
  • Now that we are using Success Plans, we are seeing 65-75% of customer outcomes realized within a 12-month period. This was something we weren't able to track before.
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Intercom
  • I like how easy it is to spot the user data needed to assist our members.
  • Love how easy it is to link articles on the chat that will help both us and the customers.
  • I like that the sales force or the tickets is already connected on the chat
Read full review
ScreenShots

Gainsight CS Screenshots

Screenshot of Get notified when your sponsor moves with our social media tracker - Sponsor TrackingScreenshot of Get more face time with your customers with 60 second videos - GsnapScreenshot of Automate Calls-to-Action on customer risks, opportunities and lifecycle events, better prioritize tasks with AI-driven priority scoring and follow a step-by-step playbook to deliver a consistent, best-in-class customer experience.Screenshot of Our collection of best practice-based solutions can be deployed within your Gainsight instance to help you move quickly and realize value fasterScreenshot of Design dynamic, multi-step customer journeys that blend human and digital touchpoints to deliver personalized engagement at scale. Analyze data at every step and adjust to each customer's behavior to more effectively deliver the outcomes your customers desire.Screenshot of Organize your team’s activities around your customer's key objectives. Collaborate directly with customer stakeholders to realize their desired outcomes and demonstrate how your efforts translate to results.

Intercom Screenshots

Screenshot of AI Agent - The agent resolves 50% of support volume.Screenshot of AI Copilot - A personal AI assistant for every support agent.Screenshot of Omnichannel inbox - AI-enhanced to increase productivity.Screenshot of Tickets - Intercom tickets are designed for collaboration so complex issues are resolved faster.Screenshot of Help Center -  The help center powers AI and self-serve support.Screenshot of Workflows - Automations are built using the Intercom no code visual builder.