Softwr

Software · head to head

Close vs Outreach

Close logo

Close

Software

The inside sales CRM of choice for startups & SMBs

From
$9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Outreach logo

Outreach

Software

Sales execution platform for revenue teams

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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); Outreach pricing not transparent, requiring custom quotes for most implementations
  • They diverge on capability: Close covers Built-in calling, Outreach covers Sales engagement.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Close and Outreach actually diverge.

Attributes where Close and Outreach differ
AttributeCloseOutreach
Starting price$9/month$100/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
Founded20132014

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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
  • Lead management
  • Activity tracking
  • Reporting
  • Mobile app
  • Zapier

Only in Outreach

  • Sales engagement
  • Conversation intelligence
  • Revenue intelligence
  • Analytics & reporting
  • Salesforce
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • LinkedIn
  • Zoom

Both cover

  • Pipeline management
  • Slack
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Close

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

Outreach

  • Sales outreachnot Close
  • Pipeline managementnot Close
  • Revenue forecastingnot Close
  • Team performancenot 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

Outreach

  • Pricing not transparent, requiring custom quotes for most implementations
  • Complex setup requiring deep Salesforce configuration and customization
  • Primarily designed for enterprise SDR and sales teams, less suitable for small businesses

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

Outreach

$100/month
  • Standard$100/month
    • Email sequencing
    • Task management
    • Basic analytics
  • ProfessionalFree
    • All Standard features
    • Conversation intelligence
    • Advanced analytics
  • EnterpriseFree
    • All Professional features
    • Revenue intelligence
    • Custom integrations

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 Outreach if

  • You need sales engagement.
  • You also want conversation intelligence.
Outreach review

Questions people ask

Is Close or Outreach better?
Neither clearly leads. Close starts at $9/month and Outreach at $100/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Close or Outreach?
Close starts at $9/month and Outreach at $100/month.
Does Close or Outreach run on more platforms?
Close runs on Web, iOS, Android. Outreach runs on Web.
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 Outreach is typically brought in for.
What can Close do that Outreach cannot?
Close covers Built-in calling, Email automation, SMS messaging, Lead management. Outreach covers Sales engagement, Conversation intelligence, Revenue intelligence, Analytics & reporting. Both handle Pipeline management, Slack, 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%.

Source
Outreach: What channels does Outreach support for sales engagement?

Outreach enables outreach across email, phone calls, SMS, and social media with multi-channel sequencing and automated cadences.

Source
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
Outreach: Does Outreach integrate with Salesforce?

Yes, Outreach deeply integrates with Salesforce to automatically log emails, calls, and tasks back to CRM records, keeping both platforms synchronized.

Source
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
Outreach: Can Outreach sync with calendar systems?

Yes, Outreach syncs calendar events to Salesforce as Events records, supporting two-way synchronization between Outreach meetings and Salesforce Events.

Source
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
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
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Close

More on Outreach

Keep looking

Other head to heads