Is EspoCRM or Gong better?

Neither clearly leads. EspoCRM starts at Free and Gong at $1600/user-per-year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, EspoCRM or Gong?

EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for EspoCRM and $1600/user-per-year for Gong.

Does EspoCRM or Gong run on more platforms?

EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android. Gong runs on Web, Cloud-based SaaS.

Can I use EspoCRM for free?

Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gong starts at $1600/user-per-year.

What is EspoCRM best used for?

EspoCRM is most often used for a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data, a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm, a developer or agency needing a crm whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configuration, an organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the crm twice a month. Of those, a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data and a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm are not what Gong is typically brought in for.

What can EspoCRM do that Gong cannot?

EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline. Gong covers Call recording, AI transcription, Deal intelligence, Market intelligence.

CRM · head to head

EspoCRM vs Gong

EspoCRM

CRM

AGPL open source CRM in PHP that you can self-host free or buy as cloud with seat minimums

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Gong

CRM

Revenue intelligence platform

From: $1600/user-per-year
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only EspoCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: EspoCRM the AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.; Gong pricing not published; custom quotes and high platform fees make budget forecasting difficult
They diverge on capability: EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Gong covers Call recording.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which EspoCRM and Gong actually diverge.

Attributes where EspoCRM and Gong differ
Attribute	EspoCRM	Gong
Starting price	Free	$1600/user-per-year
Pricing model	Per user per month	Unknown
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android	Web, Cloud-based SaaS
Founded	Unknown	2016

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (CRM).

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 EspoCRM

Entity manager
Dynamic logic
Email integration
Sales pipeline
Case management
Reports and dashboards
Workflow automation
REST API

Only in Gong

Call recording
AI transcription
Deal intelligence
Market intelligence
Team coaching
Salesforce
HubSpot
Zoom

What people use each for

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

EspoCRM

A small business that wants a CRM on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer datanot Gong
A public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out US-hosted commercial CRMnot Gong
A developer or agency needing a CRM whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configurationnot Gong
An organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the CRM twice a monthnot Gong

Gong

Call analysisnot EspoCRM
Deal forecastingnot EspoCRM
Sales coachingnot EspoCRM
Win/loss analysisnot EspoCRM

Where each one falls short

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

EspoCRM

The AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
Cloud plans carry seat minimums of three, five and ten users, so a two-person consultancy pays for three seats and a small team wanting the Ultimate features pays for ten.
Record ceilings are real on the cheaper cloud tiers, with Basic capped at 100,000 records, and hitting the cap means a tier upgrade rather than a small overage charge.
Marketing automation, sequences and native telephony are thin compared with HubSpot or Zoho, so most deployments end up wiring in a separate mailing tool and a separate dialler.
Self-hosting shifts the entire cost to your own team: PHP version upgrades, database backups and security patching are yours, and a neglected instance becomes an internet-facing liability holding your customer list.

Gong

Pricing not published; custom quotes and high platform fees make budget forecasting difficult
Built for sales calls only; limited contact center and multi-channel conversation coverage
Forecasting and Engage modules use keyword-based analysis with 20-30 minute processing delay, not generative AI
Conversation analysis cannot capture internal buyer meetings or decision-making discussions

Pricing, plan by plan

EspoCRM

Free

Self-hostedFree
- AGPLv3 licence, no fee
- Runs on PHP with MySQL or MariaDB
- Advanced Pack, Sales Pack and other extensions sold separately as one-off purchases
Cloud Basic$15/month
- Three-user minimum
- 3GB storage per user
- Up to 100,000 records
Cloud Enterprise$25/month
- Five-user minimum
- 10GB storage per user
- Up to 10 million records, extendable for a fee
Cloud Ultimate$69/month
- Ten-user minimum
- 400GB total storage
- Unlimited records

Gong

$1600/user-per-year

No published plan breakdown. See the Gong review.

Which should you pick?

Choose EspoCRM if

You need entity manager.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
You also want dynamic logic.

EspoCRM review

Choose Gong if

You need call recording.
You work on Web, Cloud-based SaaS.
You also want ai transcription.

Gong review

Questions people ask

Is EspoCRM or Gong better?: Neither clearly leads. EspoCRM starts at Free and Gong at $1600/user-per-year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, EspoCRM or Gong?: EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for EspoCRM and $1600/user-per-year for Gong.
Does EspoCRM or Gong run on more platforms?: EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android. Gong runs on Web, Cloud-based SaaS.
Can I use EspoCRM for free?: Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gong starts at $1600/user-per-year.
What is EspoCRM best used for?: EspoCRM is most often used for a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data, a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm, a developer or agency needing a crm whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configuration, an organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the crm twice a month. Of those, a small business that wants a crm on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer data and a public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out us-hosted commercial crm are not what Gong is typically brought in for.
What can EspoCRM do that Gong cannot?: EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline. Gong covers Call recording, AI transcription, Deal intelligence, Market intelligence.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

EspoCRM: Is the self-hosted version really full featured?

The core CRM is, but several paid extension packs including Advanced Pack for reports and BPM are sold separately as one-off purchases and are not in the free download.

Gong: How much does Gong cost?

Gong pricing starts around $1,600 per user per year, with a mandatory platform fee of $5,000-$50,000 annually. Exact pricing is custom and requires a sales consultation.

Source

EspoCRM: What are the cloud seat minimums?

Three users on Basic, five on Enterprise and ten on Ultimate, so the advertised per-user rate is not the smallest bill you can pay.

Gong: Does Gong integrate with Salesforce?

Yes. Gong integrates with Salesforce via REST API to import account data and export conversation summaries, enabling searchable calls by CRM fields.

Source

EspoCRM: What does it need to run?

PHP, MySQL or MariaDB and a web server. It installs on ordinary shared hosting or a small VPS, which is unusual for a modern CRM.

Gong: What conversations can Gong capture?

Gong was built primarily for sales call analysis and captures calls through integrations with major dialer systems. Coverage for contact center and multi-channel conversations is limited.

Source

EspoCRM: Can I move from cloud to self-hosted later?

Yes. EspoCRM states customers own their database and data files, so an export and reinstall is possible, though you take on all maintenance when you do.

Gong: Does Gong have an on-premise option?

Gong is a cloud-based SaaS platform without an on-premise deployment option. All conversation analysis and storage occurs in Gong's cloud infrastructure.

Source

EspoCRM vs Gong

EspoCRM

Gong

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in EspoCRM

Only in Gong

What people use each for

EspoCRM

Gong

Where each one falls short

EspoCRM

Gong

Pricing, plan by plan

EspoCRM

Gong

Which should you pick?

Choose EspoCRM if

Choose Gong if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on EspoCRM

More on Gong

Keep looking

Other head to heads