Softwr

CRM · head to head

Close vs Cresta

Close logo

Close

CRM

The inside sales CRM of choice for startups & SMBs

From
$9/month
Free plan
No
Visit CloseFull review
Cresta logo

Cresta

Customer Support

Real-time AI coaching and autonomous agents that sit on top of an existing contact centre platform

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit CrestaFull review

The short version

  • Close is a sales engagement CRM.
  • Close starts at $9/mo; Cresta prices on request.
  • Only Close lists built-in calling; only Cresta lists real-time agent assist.
  • Where Close falls short: no built-in lead lists, company intelligence, or contact enrichment; must source leads separately.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Close and Cresta actually diverge.

Attributes where Close and Cresta differ
AttributeCloseCresta
Starting price$9/monthOn request
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, API
CategoryCRMCustomer Support

Identical on both: free tier (No).

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Close, founded for Cresta.

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Close

  • Built-in calling
  • Email automation
  • SMS messaging
  • Pipeline management
  • Lead management
  • Activity tracking
  • Reporting
  • Mobile app

Only in Cresta

  • Real-time agent assist
  • Autonomous AI Agent
  • Conversation intelligence
  • Automated quality management
  • Behavioural coaching
  • Knowledge surfacing
  • Multilingual deployment
  • Supervisor dashboards

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Close

  • Inside salesnot Cresta
  • Outbound salesnot Cresta
  • Lead managementnot Cresta
  • Sales engagementnot Cresta
  • Pipeline trackingnot Cresta

Cresta

  • A 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent Genesys deploymentnot Close
  • An insurance contact centre replacing manual QA sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidencenot Close
  • A retail support operation deploying autonomous voice agents on high-volume order status calls while keeping humans on complex claimsnot Close
  • A contact centre director who needs to prove which specific agent behaviours drive outcome differences, rather than relying on post-call survey scoresnot Close

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Close

  • Hidden costs beyond subscription: calling charges (~$0.02/minute), SMS usage fees, phone numbers ($1-5/month), AI call assistant ($50/month + $0.02/min transcription)
  • No built-in lead lists, company intelligence, or contact enrichment; must source leads separately
  • Limited marketing automation compared to competitors like HubSpot; lacks lead scoring and nurturing campaigns
  • Calling cost at scale can double effective monthly cost for high-volume SDR teams making 50+ calls per day
  • Limited customization of data model compared to Salesforce; cannot create fully custom objects or complex relationships

Cresta

  • Cresta depends on the CCaaS platforms it integrates with, and NICE, Genesys and Five9 are all shipping native real-time assist and auto-QA of their own, so at renewal you may be paying twice for capability your platform vendor will bundle at a discount
  • Pricing is not published and contracts are seat-based and annual at enterprise scale, which in practice means six-figure commitments and a procurement cycle measured in months rather than weeks
  • Real-time guidance only pays back where conversation outcomes are measurable and repeatable, so support teams handling long, varied, low-volume cases rarely recover the licence cost
  • Deploying real-time assist requires agents to accept on-screen prompting mid-call, and contact centres with strong union representation or experienced tenured agents frequently see adoption resistance that no amount of model quality fixes
  • Automated quality scoring changes what agents are measured on, and organisations that switch from human QA without rewriting their evaluation rubric and appeals process create industrial-relations problems that surface months after go-live

Pricing, plan by plan

Close

$9/month
  • Solo$9/month (annual)
    • 1 user only
    • 10,000 leads max
    • Calling, email, SMS
  • Essentials$35/month (annual)
    • Unlimited contacts
    • Team collaboration
    • 1,000 AI credits/month
  • Growth$99/month (annual)
    • Automation workflows
    • Power dialer
    • Bulk email
  • Scale$139/month (annual)
    • Role-based permissions
    • Predictive dialer
    • Unlimited recording

Cresta

On request
  • CrestaOn request
    • AI Agent
    • Agent Assist
    • Conversation Intelligence

Which should you pick?

Choose Close if

  • You need built-in calling.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want email automation.
Close review

Choose Cresta if

  • You need real-time agent assist.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want autonomous ai agent.
Cresta review

Questions people ask

Is Close or Cresta better?
Neither clearly leads. Close starts at $9/month and Cresta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Close or Cresta?
Close starts at $9/month and Cresta at On request.
Does Close or Cresta run on more platforms?
Close runs on Web, iOS, Android. Cresta runs on Web, API.
What is Close best used for?
Close is most often used for inside sales, outbound sales, lead management, sales engagement. Of those, inside sales and outbound sales are not what Cresta is typically brought in for.
What can Close do that Cresta cannot?
Close covers Built-in calling, Email automation, SMS messaging, Pipeline management. Cresta covers Real-time agent assist, Autonomous AI Agent, Conversation intelligence, Automated quality management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Close: What are Close's pricing plans and what do they include?

Close offers four plans: Solo ($9-19/user/month), Essentials ($35-49), Growth ($99-109), and Scale ($139-149). All include calling, email, SMS, and Chloe AI agent access. Essentials adds unlimited contacts and team collaboration. Growth adds automation, power dialer, and custom activities. Scale adds role-based permissions and unlimited recording. Annual billing saves up to 50%.

Source
Cresta: Does Cresta replace my contact centre platform?

No. It is designed to sit on top of NICE, Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect and similar platforms, which is why it is chosen where a full CCaaS migration is not feasible.

Close: What are the hidden costs in Close's pricing beyond the subscription?

Close charges usage-based fees for calling (~$0.02 per minute), SMS charges per message, and phone number rentals ($1-5/month). The AI Call Assistant add-on costs $50/month plus $0.02 per minute for transcription. Heavy outbound calling teams can see their total costs increase 30-50% beyond the base seat price.

Source
Cresta: What does it cost?

Cresta does not publish pricing. Contracts are seat-based and annual, and at the enterprise scale it sells into they are typically six figures per year.

Close: What is Chloe, Close's AI sales agent, and what can it do?

Chloe is an AI sales agent built into Close that automatically calls leads, qualifies prospects through real conversations, and can book meetings while updating the CRM automatically. Chloe features AI-generated call summaries, transcripts, and action items automatically logged to contacts.

Source
Cresta: Is it viable for a contact centre under 100 seats?

Rarely. The commercial model, implementation effort and required outcome measurement all assume several hundred seats or more.

Close: Does Close include lead lists, data enrichment, or contact information?

No. Close does not provide built-in lead lists, company intelligence, or contact enrichment features. Organizations must source leads separately or use third-party data providers. This differs from platforms like HubSpot which include integrated lead databases.

Source
Cresta: Who owns Cresta?

It is an independent venture-backed company, having raised roughly 282 million USD in total including a 125 million USD Series D in November 2024 co-led by World Innovation Lab and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Close: What communication features does Close include?

Close includes built-in calling with automatic call logging, email templates and bulk email capabilities, SMS messaging with tracking and automation, email syncing with Gmail, and automated follow-up workflows. All communication happens within the CRM platform.

Source
Close: Does Close have marketing automation capabilities?

Close's marketing automation features are limited compared to HubSpot. It includes basic email sequences, task reminders, and workflow automation, but lacks advanced lead scoring, nurturing campaigns, and detailed marketing analytics. Organizations requiring extensive marketing automation need separate tools.

Source
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