Softwr

CRM · head to head

Daylite vs Forethought

Daylite logo

Daylite

CRM

CRM and project management built exclusively for Mac, iPhone and iPad

From
$15/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Forethought logo

Forethought

Customer Support

AI resolution and ticket triage layered on top of an existing helpdesk

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Daylite it is Apple-only. There is no Windows client, so a single team member on a Windows machine, or a client-facing contractor who is not on a Mac, makes the product unworkable for the whole organisation.; Forethought forethought needs roughly 20,000 historical tickets and around 2,000 a month to train usefully, so a support team below that volume is not simply a smaller customer, it is ineligible, and the sales process will tell you so late.
  • They diverge on capability: Daylite covers Native Apple apps, Forethought covers Solve.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Daylite and Forethought actually diverge.

Attributes where Daylite and Forethought differ
AttributeDayliteForethought
Starting price$15/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
PlatformsmacOS, iOS, iPadOSWeb
CategoryCRMCustomer Support

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 Daylite

  • Native Apple apps
  • Apple Mail Assistant
  • Projects as first-class objects
  • Pipelines
  • Linked records
  • Smart lists
  • Offline working
  • Delegation

Only in Forethought

  • Solve
  • Autoflows
  • Custom Actions
  • Triage
  • Assist
  • Discover
  • AI QA and Insights
  • Solve and Analytics APIs

What people use each for

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

Daylite

  • An all-Mac law firm or architecture practice wants a CRM that behaves like Mac software and files emails from Apple Mail rather than forcing everyone into a browser tab.not Forethought
  • A consultancy needs client relationships and delivery projects in one system, where the project is a real record with its own tasks and meetings rather than a custom object bolted onto a deal.not Forethought
  • A team works frequently without connectivity, on site or in transit, and needs a CRM with a genuine local data store rather than a web app that degrades to nothing offline.not Forethought
  • A small business already standardised on Apple hardware wants to avoid paying for a CRM whose Mac experience is an afterthought.not Forethought

Forethought

  • A retailer with 40,000 tickets a year in Zendesk wants order status, returns and refunds resolved end to end without an agent, including the API calls into the order system.not Daylite
  • A support operation that already abandoned a rules-based chatbot because the decision trees rotted, and wants resolution logic that does not need rebuilding every time a policy changes.not Daylite
  • A team drowning in triage where tickets sit in a general queue for hours before a human reads them and routes them to the right specialist group.not Daylite
  • A support leader who needs to know which questions have no knowledge article behind them, ranked by the volume of tickets they generate.not Daylite

Where each one falls short

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

Daylite

  • It is Apple-only. There is no Windows client, so a single team member on a Windows machine, or a client-facing contractor who is not on a Mac, makes the product unworkable for the whole organisation.
  • The web experience is secondary to the native apps, so remote access from a borrowed or non-Apple computer is limited in a way buyers used to browser CRMs do not anticipate.
  • It has no built-in marketing automation, email campaigns or lead scoring, so anything beyond one-to-one email means a separate tool and a Zapier connection.
  • Plan caps are hard rather than advisory: Leap is a single user with 500 contacts, and crossing twenty users forces you from Growth to Scale, which is a 50 per cent increase in the per-user rate for capacity you may not need.
  • Third-party integrations are thin compared with HubSpot or Pipedrive, and much of what does exist runs through Zapier, so accounting, telephony and support connections are indirect and add their own subscription cost.

Forethought

  • Forethought needs roughly 20,000 historical tickets and around 2,000 a month to train usefully, so a support team below that volume is not simply a smaller customer, it is ineligible, and the sales process will tell you so late.
  • Billing is outcome based per resolution on top of a platform fee, so the invoice rises precisely when the product performs, and forecasting a year of spend requires forecasting your own deflection curve.
  • Channels are tier gated: email, voice and Slack agents sit above the entry tier while the Solve API, Analytics API and knowledge gap detection are Enterprise only, and buyers routinely scope a tier that turns out not to include the channel they came for.
  • Ease of setup is the lowest scored dimension in independent reviews, with 30 to 90 day rollouts, no self-serve path and continual configuration effort to keep flows accurate, which means a named internal owner rather than a set-and-forget deployment.
  • Zendesk acquired Forethought in March 2026, so anyone running a multi-helpdesk estate on Salesforce, Freshdesk or Intercom is buying their neutral AI layer from a direct competitor of their helpdesk vendor, and should get contractual commitments on non-Zendesk connector parity.

Pricing, plan by plan

Daylite

$15/month
  • Leap$15/month
    • One user only
    • 500 contacts
    • One email integration
  • Growth$30/month
    • Up to 20 users
    • 25,000 contacts
    • Three email integrations per user
  • Scale$45/month
    • Up to 100 users
    • 250,000 contacts
    • Ten email integrations per user
  • Custom$undefined/month
    • For teams of ten or more with specific requirements
    • Quoted on application

Forethought

On request
  • Team$undefined/year
    • Solve for chat
    • Triage
    • Standard reporting
  • Professional$undefined/year
    • Adds email, voice and Slack agents
    • Assist for human agents
    • Multibrand add-on available
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Solve API and Analytics API
    • Discover knowledge gap detection
    • Multibrand up to 20 brands

Which should you pick?

Choose Daylite if

  • You need native apple apps.
  • You work on macOS, iOS, iPadOS.
  • You also want apple mail assistant.
Daylite review

Choose Forethought if

  • You need solve.
  • You also want autoflows.
Forethought review

Questions people ask

Is Daylite or Forethought better?
Neither clearly leads. Daylite starts at $15/month and Forethought at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Daylite or Forethought?
Daylite starts at $15/month and Forethought at On request.
Does Daylite or Forethought run on more platforms?
Daylite runs on macOS, iOS, iPadOS. Forethought runs on Web.
What is Daylite best used for?
Daylite is most often used for an all-mac law firm or architecture practice wants a crm that behaves like mac software and files emails from apple mail rather than forcing everyone into a browser tab., a consultancy needs client relationships and delivery projects in one system, where the project is a real record with its own tasks and meetings rather than a custom object bolted onto a deal., a team works frequently without connectivity, on site or in transit, and needs a crm with a genuine local data store rather than a web app that degrades to nothing offline., a small business already standardised on apple hardware wants to avoid paying for a crm whose mac experience is an afterthought.. Of those, an all-mac law firm or architecture practice wants a crm that behaves like mac software and files emails from apple mail rather than forcing everyone into a browser tab. and a consultancy needs client relationships and delivery projects in one system, where the project is a real record with its own tasks and meetings rather than a custom object bolted onto a deal. are not what Forethought is typically brought in for.
What can Daylite do that Forethought cannot?
Daylite covers Native Apple apps, Apple Mail Assistant, Projects as first-class objects, Pipelines. Forethought covers Solve, Autoflows, Custom Actions, Triage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Daylite: Does Daylite run on Windows?

No. It is macOS, iPadOS and iOS only. This is the single most common reason buyers rule it out.

Forethought: Does Forethought replace my helpdesk?

No. It installs on top of Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Freshdesk or Intercom and reads their ticket history. You keep paying for the helpdesk.

Daylite: Is there a web version?

There is browser access, but the product is designed around the native Mac app and the web view is not a full replacement.

Forethought: Is there a free trial?

No. Forethought runs a Proof of Value programme instead, which is a scoped paid or sales-managed pilot rather than a self-serve trial.

Daylite: What does it cost?

Leap is 15 US dollars a month for one user billed annually, Growth 30 per user and Scale 45 per user, rising to 20, 40 and 60 on monthly billing.

Forethought: Is it still sold to non-Zendesk customers after the acquisition?

Zendesk says yes. Treat that as a commitment to negotiate rather than a guarantee, and ask for connector parity terms in writing.

Daylite: Does it work offline?

Yes. The Mac app keeps a local store and syncs through Marketcircle Cloud when a connection returns.

Forethought: How is it priced?

Platform access fee plus outcome-based charging per resolution, with usage overages. Nothing is published; every deal is quoted.

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