Comparison Enterprise 7 min read

8 Best Gainsight Alternatives in 2026

Gainsight is the market leader in customer success platforms, but its enterprise pricing and complexity aren't right for every company. Whether you're looking for something more affordable, simpler to implement, or better suited to your company size, here are the best Gainsight alternatives.

Why Consider Gainsight Alternatives?

Gainsight is powerful, but it comes with trade-offs:

  • Enterprise pricing - Contracts typically start at $50,000+/year, putting it out of reach for many companies
  • Implementation complexity - Full deployment can take 3-6 months with dedicated resources
  • Overkill for smaller teams - Many features go unused by mid-market companies
  • Steep learning curve - The platform requires significant training investment
  • Long-term contracts - Typically requires annual or multi-year commitments

If any of these resonate, there are excellent alternatives that might serve you better.

Top Gainsight Alternatives

1. ChurnZero

Best for: Mid-market SaaS companies wanting real-time capabilities

ChurnZero is often the first alternative considered when evaluating Gainsight. It offers strong customer health monitoring and engagement features at a more accessible price point.

  • Real-time customer health scoring
  • In-app messaging and engagement
  • Automated playbooks and workflows
  • Product usage analytics
  • Churn prediction models

Key difference: ChurnZero is faster to implement and more intuitive for smaller CS teams, though it lacks some of Gainsight's advanced analytics.

Pricing: From $849/month

2. Totango

Best for: Companies wanting modular, scalable pricing

Totango takes a modular approach with "SuccessBLOCs" - pre-built customer success workflows you can mix and match. This makes it easier to start small and expand.

  • SuccessBLOCs (pre-built playbooks)
  • Modular feature packages
  • Free community edition
  • Segment-based customer journeys
  • Integration marketplace

Key difference: Totango's free tier and modular pricing makes it more accessible for growing companies.

Pricing: Free tier available, paid from $249/month

3. Catalyst

Best for: Revenue-focused CS organizations

Catalyst positions itself as a "revenue intelligence" platform for customer success. It's designed to help CS teams directly impact expansion and renewal revenue.

  • Revenue opportunity tracking
  • Account intelligence
  • Stakeholder mapping
  • CS-sales alignment tools
  • Deal room collaboration

Key difference: Catalyst focuses more on revenue outcomes than traditional CS metrics, making it popular with CS teams measured on expansion.

Pricing: Contact for pricing (mid-market to enterprise)

4. Vitally

Best for: Product-led growth companies

Vitally has gained significant traction for its modern interface and strong product analytics integration. It's particularly popular with PLG companies.

  • Clean, modern interface
  • Deep product usage analytics
  • Automated health scoring
  • Built-in NPS and surveys
  • Powerful automation builder

Key difference: Vitally's UX is more intuitive than Gainsight, requiring less training for CSMs.

Pricing: From $300/month

5. Planhat

Best for: European companies and teams wanting collaboration

Planhat is a strong player particularly popular in Europe. It combines customer success management with revenue operations capabilities.

  • Unified customer platform
  • Revenue operations features
  • Collaboration workspace
  • Strong GDPR compliance
  • Professional services tools

Key difference: Planhat has stronger revenue management features and is GDPR-focused for European companies.

Pricing: From $500/month

6. ClientSuccess

Best for: Teams wanting straightforward customer success tools

ClientSuccess offers a more focused feature set without the complexity of platforms like Gainsight. Good for teams that want the basics done well.

  • Customer health scores
  • Success cycle management
  • Renewal management
  • Email integration
  • Executive reporting

Key difference: ClientSuccess is simpler to implement and use, making it good for teams new to CS platforms.

Pricing: From $499/month

7. Custify

Best for: Growing SaaS companies wanting affordability

Custify provides core customer success features at a lower price point than most competitors. It's a solid option for companies not ready for enterprise pricing.

  • Health score automation
  • Task and workflow management
  • Revenue analytics
  • Customer 360 view
  • Playbook automation

Key difference: Custify offers the most competitive pricing for core CS features.

Pricing: From $199/month

8. Salesforce Customer Success (formerly Salesforce Essentials)

Best for: Companies heavily invested in Salesforce

If you're already running your business on Salesforce, their native customer success capabilities might make more sense than adding another platform.

  • Native Salesforce integration
  • Customer health in CRM
  • Workflow automation
  • Einstein AI analytics
  • Single platform approach

Key difference: No additional integrations needed if you're a Salesforce shop, but features are less specialized than dedicated CS platforms.

Pricing: Varies (add-on to Salesforce licensing)

Comparison by Company Size

Platform Best Company Size Implementation Time Starting Price
Gainsight Enterprise (1000+) 3-6 months $50,000+/year
ChurnZero Mid-market (50-500) 4-8 weeks $849/month
Totango SMB to Enterprise 2-4 weeks Free / $249/mo
Catalyst Mid-market to Enterprise 4-6 weeks Contact sales
Vitally SMB to Mid-market 2-4 weeks $300/month
Custify SMB (10-100) 1-2 weeks $199/month

Key Selection Criteria

When evaluating Gainsight alternatives, prioritize these factors:

  1. Customer volume - How many accounts does your CS team manage?
  2. CS team size - Larger teams need more robust collaboration features
  3. Integration needs - What's your existing tech stack?
  4. Reporting requirements - Do you need executive dashboards and custom reports?
  5. Implementation resources - Do you have dedicated ops support?
  6. Budget constraints - What can you actually afford?

Making the Switch

If you're currently on Gainsight and considering a switch, here's what to prepare:

  • Export your data - Customer health scores, playbooks, and historical data
  • Document your workflows - Map current automations before migrating
  • Plan for parallel running - Run both systems briefly during transition
  • Train your team - Budget time for learning the new platform
  • Set new benchmarks - Metrics may calculate differently in new systems

Explore More CS Tools

Looking for more customer success platforms? Browse our complete directory of customer success tools to compare features, pricing, and reviews.