Softwr

Customer Support · head to head

Forethought vs Streak

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
Streak logo

Streak

CRM

CRM superpowers for Gmail

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Streak has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real 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.; Streak the free tier is email tools only, with pipelines, contact records and automation all requiring the Pro plan
  • They diverge on capability: Forethought covers Solve, Streak covers Pipeline management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Forethought and Streak actually diverge.

Attributes where Forethought and Streak differ
AttributeForethoughtStreak
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 Forethought

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

Only in Streak

  • Pipeline management
  • Email tracking
  • Automation
  • Document tracking
  • Live engagement metrics
  • Gmail
  • Outlook
  • Google Sheets

What people use each for

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

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 Streak
  • 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 Streak
  • 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 Streak
  • A support leader who needs to know which questions have no knowledge article behind them, ranked by the volume of tickets they generate.not Streak

Streak

  • Managing sales pipelines directly inside Gmailnot Forethought
  • Tracking email opens and running mail merges from an inboxnot Forethought

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Streak

  • The free tier is email tools only, with pipelines, contact records and automation all requiring the Pro plan
  • Free mail merge is capped at 50 a day
  • The entry paid plan is $49 per user per month, which is high for a CRM that lives inside Gmail
  • Integrations require a paid plan

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Streak

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Email tracking
    • Mail merge 50 per day
    • Snippets
  • Pro$49/month
    • Core CRM features
    • Mail merge
    • Shared pipelines
  • Pro+$69/month
    • Advanced reports
    • Integrations and automations
    • Archived users
  • Enterprise$129/month
    • Custom roles
    • Data validation
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Forethought if

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

Choose Streak if

  • You need pipeline management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want email tracking.
Streak review

Questions people ask

Is Forethought or Streak better?
Neither clearly leads. Forethought starts at On request and Streak at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Forethought or Streak?
Streak has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Forethought and Free for Streak.
Does Forethought or Streak run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Streak for free?
Yes. Streak has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Forethought starts at On request.
What is Forethought best used for?
Forethought is most often used for 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., 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., 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., a support leader who needs to know which questions have no knowledge article behind them, ranked by the volume of tickets they generate.. Of those, 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. and 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. are not what Streak is typically brought in for.
What can Forethought do that Streak cannot?
Forethought covers Solve, Autoflows, Custom Actions, Triage. Streak covers Pipeline management, Email tracking, Automation, Document tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Streak: Is there a free version of Streak?

Yes, Streak offers a free tier with email tracking, mail merge up to 50 per day, snippets, and other basic features forever at no cost.

Source
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.

Streak: What discount is available for annual billing?

Streak offers a 20% discount when you pay annually instead of monthly on all paid plans.

Source
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.

Streak: What is the difference between Pro and Pro+ plans?

Pro+ costs $69 per month versus $49 for Pro and adds advanced reports, integrations, automations, and increases AI credits from 20 to 150 per user per month.

Source
Forethought: How is it priced?

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

Share

Related pages

More on Forethought

More on Streak

Keep looking

Other head to heads