SaaS · head to head
Close vs Kore.ai

Kore.ai
Live Chat & Chatbots
Enterprise conversational AI platform
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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); Kore.ai the Internet Archive's capture of Kore.ai's site on 17 June 2020 confirmed its named products, Kora (Enterprise Virtual Assistant) and Deflect.ai (Digital Deflection Platform), are sold to enterprise buyers across banking, insurance, healthcare and retail with no published price list and a dedicated pricing path that itself 404s.
- They diverge on capability: Close covers Built-in calling, Kore.ai covers Conversational AI.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Close and Kore.ai actually diverge.
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).
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 Kore.ai
- Conversational AI
- Advanced NLU
- Workflow automation
- Multi-language
- Salesforce
- SAP
- Oracle
- API
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Close
- Inside salesnot Kore.ai
- Outbound salesnot Kore.ai
- Lead managementnot Kore.ai
- Sales engagementnot Kore.ai
- Pipeline trackingnot Kore.ai
Kore.ai
- Customer engagementnot Close
- Lead generationnot Close
- Customer supportnot Close
- Sales automationnot 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
Kore.ai
- The Internet Archive's capture of Kore.ai's site on 17 June 2020 confirmed its named products, Kora (Enterprise Virtual Assistant) and Deflect.ai (Digital Deflection Platform), are sold to enterprise buyers across banking, insurance, healthcare and retail with no published price list and a dedicated pricing path that itself 404s.
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
Kore.ai
On request- Professional$200/month
- AI chatbot
- Basic NLU
- Enterprise$500/month
- Advanced NLU
- Custom integrations
- Custom$undefined/month
- Unlimited features
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Close if
- You need built-in calling.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want email automation.
Choose Kore.ai if
- You need conversational ai.
- You work on Web, Mobile, Messaging, Voice, IVR.
- You also want advanced nlu.
Questions people ask
- Is Close or Kore.ai better?
- Neither clearly leads. Close starts at $9/month and Kore.ai at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Close or Kore.ai?
- Close starts at $9/month and Kore.ai at On request.
- Does Close or Kore.ai run on more platforms?
- Close runs on Web, iOS, Android. Kore.ai runs on Web, Mobile, Messaging, Voice, IVR.
- 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 Kore.ai is typically brought in for.
- What can Close do that Kore.ai cannot?
- Close covers Built-in calling, Email automation, SMS messaging, Pipeline management. Kore.ai covers Conversational AI, Advanced NLU, Workflow automation, Multi-language. Both handle Web support.
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%.
SourceClose: 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.
SourceClose: 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.
SourceClose: 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.
SourceClose: 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.
SourceClose: 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.
SourceRelated pages
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