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Gainsight vs Zoho CRM

Gainsight logo

Gainsight

Software

The #1 Customer Success Platform

From
$2500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho CRM logo

Zoho CRM

Software

The world's favorite CRM

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoho CRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Gainsight limited customization options; teams resort to exports and scripts when platform lacks required fields; Zoho CRM free tier limited to 3 users only
  • They diverge on capability: Gainsight covers Health scores, Zoho CRM covers Lead management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gainsight and Zoho CRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Gainsight and Zoho CRM differ
AttributeGainsightZoho CRM
Starting price$2500/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20111996

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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 Gainsight

  • Health scores
  • Churn prediction
  • Playbook automation
  • Customer 360 view
  • Journey orchestration
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • Zendesk

Only in Zoho CRM

  • Lead management
  • Deal tracking
  • Contact management
  • Sales automation
  • Analytics
  • Mobile CRM
  • Email marketing
  • AI assistant (Zia)

Both cover

  • Slack

What people use each for

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

Gainsight

  • Customer Successnot Zoho CRM
  • Retentionnot Zoho CRM
  • Health Scoringnot Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM

  • Sales automationnot Gainsight
  • Lead managementnot Gainsight
  • Customer supportnot Gainsight
  • Marketing automationnot Gainsight
  • Analytics & reportingnot Gainsight

Where each one falls short

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

Gainsight

  • Limited customization options; teams resort to exports and scripts when platform lacks required fields
  • Integration reliability issues; broken connectors and schema changes create stale health scores
  • Cannot automatically track emails within the platform; requires manual logging or third-party solutions
  • Long implementation and setup; typically requires 12-24 weeks and mandatory implementation services
  • High total cost of ownership; Year 1 costs often exceed $200K including required professional services

Zoho CRM

  • Free tier limited to 3 users only
  • Steep pricing when scaling beyond 10 users
  • Limited offline capabilities compared to some competitors
  • Setup and configuration can require significant customization

Pricing, plan by plan

Gainsight

$2500/month
  • Essentials$2500/month
    • Health scores
    • Customer 360
    • Playbooks
  • Enterprise$5000/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • AI predictions
    • Custom integrations

Zoho CRM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 3 users
    • Basic modules
    • Standard dashboards
  • Standard$14/month
    • Sales forecasting
    • Custom dashboards
    • Workflow automation
  • Professional$23/month
    • Inventory management
    • AI predictions
    • Advanced customization
  • Enterprise$40/month
    • Zia AI assistant
    • Multi-currency
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Gainsight if

  • You need health scores.
  • You also want churn prediction.
Gainsight review

Choose Zoho CRM if

  • You need lead management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want deal tracking.
Zoho CRM review

Questions people ask

Is Gainsight or Zoho CRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Gainsight starts at $2500/month and Zoho CRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gainsight or Zoho CRM?
Zoho CRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/month for Gainsight and Free for Zoho CRM.
Does Gainsight or Zoho CRM run on more platforms?
Gainsight runs on Web. Zoho CRM runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Zoho CRM for free?
Yes. Zoho CRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gainsight starts at $2500/month.
What is Gainsight best used for?
Gainsight is most often used for customer success, retention, health scoring. Of those, customer success and retention are not what Zoho CRM is typically brought in for.
What can Gainsight do that Zoho CRM cannot?
Gainsight covers Health scores, Churn prediction, Playbook automation, Customer 360 view. Zoho CRM covers Lead management, Deal tracking, Contact management, Sales automation. Both handle Slack.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gainsight: Does Gainsight offer a free tier?

Gainsight does not offer a free trial for the main Customer Success Cloud platform. Gainsight PX (product analytics) offers a free Starter tier supporting up to 100 monthly active users.

Source
Zoho CRM: Does Zoho CRM have a free tier?

Yes. Zoho CRM offers a free plan for up to 3 users that includes core CRM functionality like lead, contact, and account management, basic workflow automation, and customizable dashboards.

Source
Gainsight: How is Gainsight priced?

Gainsight prices at $150-$300 per user/month for tier plans, but the main CS Cloud pricing is based on customer records managed. Initial deployments managing 500-1,500 customer records typically cost $60,000-$120,000 annually, with Year 1 costs often exceeding $200K including mandatory implementation.

Source
Zoho CRM: What does Zoho CRM cost for a paid plan?

Zoho CRM pricing ranges from $14 per user per month for the Standard plan up to $52 per user per month for the Ultimate plan when billed annually. Most sales teams use the Professional plan around $23/user/month or Enterprise at $40/user/month.

Source
Gainsight: What are Gainsight's core features?

Gainsight offers health scoring, customer journey orchestration, playbooks, in-app engagement, reporting, customer data consolidation via Customer 360, and Staircase AI for real-time engagement insights. It also includes Skilljar for customer education and Communities for self-service support.

Source
Zoho CRM: Is Zoho CRM independent or owned by another company?

Zoho CRM is part of Zoho Corporation, which is independent and bootstrapped. The parent company was founded in 1996 as AdventNet, rebranded to Zoho in 2009, and has never accepted external venture funding.

Source
Gainsight: What CRM integrations are available?

Gainsight integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack. The Salesforce connector syncs account data, the HubSpot connector ingests engagement data, and Slack automation sends Gainsight notifications and alerts to channels.

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