What is Gong Platform? Features, Use Cases, Pricing & Alternatives

Q1: What is Gong, the Revenue Intelligence Platform? [toc=Gong Overview]

Gong is a leading revenue intelligence platform serving over 4,500+ customers worldwide, including Fortune 10 companies like Microsoft and LinkedIn. Built primarily around conversational intelligence, Gong captures, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls to provide insights into deal progression, forecast accuracy, and rep performance. The platform has established itself as the market leader in meeting recordings and call coaching, with many sales managers expressing strong loyalty to the tool.

"Gong has become the single source of truth for our sales team. From deal management to forecasting it's been really easy to gain adoption across the team."
— Scott T., Director of Sales [G2 Verified Review]

However, Gong represents the traditional SaaS era—built over a decade ago, pre-generative AI, requiring extensive manual workflows and user adoption. Sales teams must learn complex interfaces, manually review countless call recordings, and rely on keyword-based tracking that often misses conversational nuance. The platform demands significant training investment, with many users reporting steep learning curves and underutilization of expensive features.

"It's too complicated, and not intuitive at all. Using it is very...discomforting. Some people figure it out, but I think most just fumble through and tell tall tales about how easy it is for them to use."
— John S., Senior Account Executive [G2 Verified Review]

The AI-native era has transformed revenue intelligence from manual dashboard analysis to autonomous agent-driven insights. Modern platforms leverage generative AI to understand conversation context, automatically update CRMs, and proactively surface deal risks—eliminating the manual burden that traditional tools impose on already-stretched sales teams.

Oliv.ai delivers this transformation through specialized AI agents that work autonomously: the CRM Manager Agent automatically updates Salesforce records after every call, the Forecaster Agent provides downloadable pipeline reports for weekly sales meetings, and the Prospector Agent conducts deep account research and writes personalized outreach messages. Unlike traditional tools requiring extensive setup, Oliv.ai's agents begin delivering value within days, not months.

The contrast is stark: while Gong processes recordings with 20-30 minute delays and requires manual review, Oliv.ai delivers insights within 5 minutes and takes autonomous action. At $19-49/user versus Gong's $250/user bundled pricing, the modern AI-native approach delivers superior outcomes at a fraction of the cost and complexity. Organizations seeking Gong alternatives increasingly recognize that user reviews consistently highlight complexity and cost concerns, while detailed comparisons demonstrate the advantages of AI-native platforms for modern revenue teams looking to implement effective sales automation tools.

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Gong Features & Capabilities [toc=Features & Capabilities]

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What Are the Main Features of Gong Software? How Does It Work?

Gong operates as a legacy revenue intelligence platform built around three core modules that reflect its pre-generative AI architecture: Conversational Intelligence, Gong Forecast, and Gong Engage. While established as a market leader, Gong represents the traditional SaaS era—requiring extensive manual workflows, user training, and ongoing management overhead that characterizes tools built in the previous decade.

The platform automatically captures sales conversations through integrations with email, phone, and video conferencing platforms, then applies keyword-based analysis rather than contextual AI understanding. This fundamental limitation affects every aspect of Gong's functionality, from conversation insights to forecasting accuracy.

Core Architecture Limitations

• Processing Delays: 20-30 minute delay for conversation analysis vs. modern AI-native platforms delivering insights in 5 minutes
• Meeting-Level Focus: Analyzes individual conversations without synthesizing deal-level intelligence across the entire account journey
• Manual Workflows: Requires sales managers to manually review recordings and forecasts rather than autonomous agent-driven insights
• Keyword Dependency: Relies on predefined terms and basic machine learning rather than generative AI contextual understanding

Gong.io Features That User's Liked

Despite significant limitations, Gong does provide value in specific areas, particularly for organizations with dedicated resources for training and ongoing management:

How Gong's AI Helped Me Catch Missed Details in Sales Calls?

Gong's conversation capture capabilities excel at preserving sales interactions for later review, though the analysis remains surface-level compared to modern AI-native alternatives.

"It's good for going back and double checking what the client said, so that you can ensure that you get things right or you have backup to help correct a situation."
— John S., Senior Account Executive [G2 Verified Review]

Functional capabilities include:

• Call Recording: Reliable capture across major conferencing platforms
• Searchable Transcripts: Basic keyword search functionality within recorded conversations
• Timestamp Navigation: Ability to jump to specific conversation moments
• Meeting Libraries: Organized storage of historical conversations

Critical limitations:

• Context Blindness: Keyword tracking flags irrelevant mentions (e.g., "holiday budget" vs. "software budget")
• No Real-Time Intelligence: Cannot provide live coaching or guidance during active calls
• Surface-Level Analysis: Identifies what was said but misses why it matters for deal progression

Deal Insights That Show Where to Focus (and What to Drop)

Gong attempts to aggregate conversation data with CRM activity, but struggles to provide actionable deal intelligence due to its activity-based rather than context-based approach.

"Before Gong we had a lack of visibility across our deals because information was siloed in several places like CRM, Email, Zoom, phone. Now all of this is centralized in one view via the Gong deal boards."
— Scott T., Director of Sales [G2 Verified Review]

Available features:

• Deal Boards: Centralized view of account activity and conversations
• Activity Tracking: Logs number of emails, calls, and meetings per deal
• Engagement Timeline: Chronological view of all account touchpoints

Fundamental weaknesses:

• Activity vs. Value Confusion: Cannot differentiate between "value-added activity" and "random follow-up activity"
• Missing Deal Context: Shows individual meetings without synthesizing deal-level intelligence
• Manual Analysis Required: Sales managers must manually interpret data rather than receiving autonomous insights

Forecasting That's Data-Driven, Not Hope-Driven

Gong Forecast represents one of the platform's weakest capabilities, with users consistently rating it poorly and often supplementing with dedicated forecasting tools like Clari.

"Forecasting was also an ad-hoc process for us before adoption Gong Forecast, now we can measure forecasting accuracy and have confidence in what is going to close and when."
— Scott T., Director of Sales [G2 Verified Review]

Forecasting limitations (rated 4/10 by industry analysts):

• Manual Review Burden: Requires sales managers to manually review calls and assess deal probability
• High-Velocity Challenges: Becomes unmanageable in fast sales cycles (15-20 days) due to recording volume
• Double-Tool Reality: Companies frequently use both Gong and Clari, doubling costs to ~$500/user
• Lack of Proactive Intelligence: Provides historical data without predictive deal risk analysis

Sales Coaching Backed by Data, Not Opinions

While Gong provides conversation data for coaching purposes, the keyword-based approach often misses conversational context and nuance.

"As a team manager, having access to Gong is amazing. Also, for people that are onboarding the meeting libraries we have built are great. It speeds up the ramp up phases."
— Karel Bos, Head of Sales [TrustRadius Review]

Coaching functionality:

• Talk Track Analysis: Identifies successful messaging patterns based on keyword frequency
• Call Libraries: Curated examples of high-performing conversations
• Performance Metrics: Basic analytics on talk time, question patterns

Coaching limitations:

• Context-Free Analysis: Keyword tracking misses conversational intent and customer sentiment
• No Real-Time Guidance: Cannot provide live coaching during active sales conversations
• Manual Insight Generation: Requires managers to manually extract coaching insights from raw data

Gong Engage: Smarter Daily Prioritization for Busy Reps

Gong Engage represents perhaps the platform's most criticized module, with widespread user dissatisfaction and poor adoption rates.

"We've had a disappointing experience with Gong Engage... The platform lacks task APIs, does not integrate with other vendors or parallel dialers, and isn't built to function as a proper sequencing tool."
— Anonymous User [G2 Verified Review]

Engage challenges:

• Mass Prospecting Focus: Built for bulk, non-personalized outreach that no longer works due to email deliverability crackdowns
• Integration Failures: Cannot connect with other sales tools or parallel dialers
• Poor User Experience: Users report the platform as "slow, buggy" with "excessive administrative burden"
• Dialer Issues: Users consistently report "hating their Dialer" functionality
• Extreme Overpricing: Described as "very, very overpriced" compared to dedicated engagement platforms

Gong Agents & AI Summaries: Automate the Busywork, Share What Matters

Gong's newer AI features attempt to address automation needs but remain limited compared to truly agentic platforms that perform work autonomously.

Limited automation capabilities:

• Basic Call Summaries: AI-generated meeting recaps without contextual intelligence
• Partial CRM Updates: Logs activities but doesn't update deal records with insights
• Manual Distribution: Requires human intervention to share insights across teams

Key Features of Gong.io

Conversation Intelligence for Customer Interactions

Technical capabilities:

• Multi-Platform Recording: Captures conversations across Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and phone systems
• Transcription Services: Converts audio to searchable text with basic accuracy
• Smart Trackers: Keyword-based detection of predetermined terms and phrases

Critical limitations:

• Older Technology Foundation: Built on keywords and basic machine learning, not generative AI
• Nuance Blindness: Cannot differentiate between casual competitor mentions and active evaluations
• Manual Configuration: Requires extensive setup to track relevant conversation elements

Forecasting: Revenue Predictability

Gong's approach to revenue predictability relies heavily on activity metrics rather than contextual deal intelligence.

Predictive limitations:

• Activity-Based Scoring: Focuses on quantity of touchpoints rather than quality of interactions
• Historical Pattern Matching: Uses past data without understanding current deal context
• Manual Interpretation Required: Provides raw data without autonomous risk identification

Pipeline Growth for Sales Teams

Growth optimization challenges:

• Surface-Level Insights: Identifies patterns without understanding causation
• One-Size-Fits-All Analysis: Cannot customize insights for different industry verticals or sales methodologies
• Reactive Rather Than Proactive: Shows what happened rather than predicting what will happen

How Does Gong Work?

How Gong Captures & Analyzes Sales Conversations

Gong's capture mechanism reflects its legacy architecture with significant processing delays and manual workflow requirements:

1. Calendar Integration: Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and CRM systems
2. Automated Recording: Joins scheduled video calls and captures audio/video
3. Email Monitoring: Tracks relevant email communications through API connections
4. Phone Integration: Records calls through supported telephony providers
5. CRM Matching: Attempts to associate conversations with deal records

How Gong Processes Conversations: A Timeline

Processing workflow reveals significant delays:

1. Capture (Real-time): Audio/video recording begins automatically
2. Transcription (2-5 minutes): Basic speech-to-text conversion
3. Analysis (20-30 minutes): Keyword-based processing and pattern matching
4. Manual Review Required (Hours to days): Sales managers must manually analyze insights
5. CRM Updates (Manual): Requires human intervention to update deal records with findings

Comparison with modern AI-native platforms:

• AI-powered meeting intelligence: 5-minute end-to-end analysis with autonomous CRM updates
• Context Understanding: Generative AI comprehends conversation meaning, not just keywords
• Proactive Action: AI agents automatically update records and surface deal risks

Understanding Gong's AI: Insights or Overload?

User feedback consistently highlights Gong's complexity and the overwhelming nature of its AI outputs:

"It can be overwhelming to set up trackers. AI training is a bit laborious to get it to do what you want."
— Trafford J., Senior Director Revenue Enablement [G2 Verified Review]

AI limitations creating user challenges:

• Information Overload: Generates extensive data without clear prioritization
• Manual Configuration Burden: Requires significant setup time to achieve useful insights
• False Positive Detection: Keyword-based tracking flags irrelevant conversation elements
• Training Complexity: Necessitates ongoing management to maintain accuracy

Integrating Gong with Your Tech Stack

Integration challenges:

• "Wonky" API: Described by users as unreliable and requiring extensive custom development
• Limited Data Portability: Difficult to extract historical data for analysis or migration
• Manual Workflow Dependencies: Cannot autonomously update connected systems with insights

Supported integrations include:

• CRM Systems: Salesforce integration, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics (basic activity logging only)
• Communication Platforms: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet (recording capture)
• Email Systems: Outlook, Gmail (message monitoring)
• Sales Tools: Outreach integration, Salesloft connectivity (limited)

Oliv.ai simplifies integration complexity: While Gong requires extensive configuration, custom API development, and manual workflow management, Oliv.ai's AI agents automatically handle conversation capture, contextual analysis, and intelligent CRM updates within minutes—eliminating the technical overhead and processing delays that characterize traditional revenue intelligence platforms. The agentic approach means insights flow automatically into existing workflows without requiring dedicated RevOps resources for ongoing management.

Q3: Setup & Implementation [toc=Setup & Implementation]

Setting Up Gong for Your Sales Team

Below is a practical, mid-market–friendly guide to getting Gong live without drowning in admin work. Steps are drawn from Gong's own docs, publicly posted implementation decks, and RevOps community threads.

"It takes an eternity to upload a call to listen to it."
— Remington A., Team Lead [TrustRadius Review]

How To Connect Gong To Your Calendar

1. Admin navigates to Settings → General → Integrations → Calendar.
2. Select Google or Microsoft 365, grant domain-wide access.
3. Gong prompts each user to "Allow" calendar scope via email invite.
4. Users toggle Auto-join meetings; Gong now records scheduled Zoom/Teams sessions automatically.

"Setup was smooth, but enforcing the opt-in toggle across 120 reps needed constant reminders."
— Alexis F., Sr. Dir. RevOps [G2 Review]

How to Record a Call with Gong

• Scheduled video meeting: Auto-join if calendar sync + Zoom/Teams integration are enabled.
• Ad-hoc meeting: Click "Start Recording" in Gong Chrome extension; share link with participants.
• Phone call: Use Gong Dialer (US only) or forward VOIP to Gong's bridge number.
  Recording appears in the workspace ~25 minutes after call end—an SLA that many users label "painfully slow" compared to modern AI-powered meeting intelligence delivering <5-minute turnaround.

How to Upload a Call to Gong

1. Go to Conversations → Upload.
2. Drag-and-drop an .mp4 or .wav file ≤2 GB.
3. Map speakers manually (no voice-ID on uploads).
4. Gong transcribes & analyzes within 30 minutes.
   Bulk upload is unsupported; each file must be added individually—a recurring complaint from RevOps teams migrating away from Gong.

How to Invite Gong to a Call

• Add [email protected] as a meeting attendee, OR
• Prefix meeting title with "[Gong]".
  Both triggers rely on calendar sync; failure here is the #1 cause of "ghost" recordings.

How to Add Gong to a Zoom Call

1. In Zoom Admin, enable "Allow live-streaming meetings".
2. Under App Marketplace → Gong, click Install.
3. Grant JWT or OAuth app scopes; verify "recording offload" setting is ON.
   Zoom then posts raw audio/video to Gong's AWS S3 bucket for processing.

Common Setup FAQs

Data Migration & Portability Warnings

• Gong's API only supports single-call export; no bulk endpoint.
• Companies leaving Gong must build a loop downloading each .mp4 + .json file—expect ~$4,000 developer cost for every 1,000 calls.
• CCPA requests are honored, but export arrives as individual links, not a bundled ZIP.

"Our dev team spent two weeks writing scripts just to pull data we already own."
— Neel P., Sales Ops Manager [G2 Review]

Training & Adoption Tips

• Start with Call Library: Pre-load 10 exemplar discovery calls; makes new hires see immediate value.
• Limit Trackers: <15 active keywords per segment; more = noise & false alerts.
• Manager Scorecards: Focus on one metric per week (talk ratio, next-step coverage).
• Quarterly Clean-up: Archive obsolete trackers and stale call snippets to keep UI usable.
• Change-Management Playbook: Pair Gong insights with coaching 1-on-1s; without human follow-up, reps perceive monitoring, not enablement.

"Some people figure it out, but I think most just fumble through and tell tall tales about how easy it is."
— John S., Sr. AE [G2 Review]

How Oliv.ai Simplifies Setup

Oliv.ai's agent-first design removes ~70% of the above effort. A single OAuth connect to Salesforce spins up three autonomous agents—Call Capture Agent, CRM Manager Agent, Forecast Agent—that:

• Auto-join Zoom/Teams without manual invites.
• Generate summaries & MEDDIC scorecards in under 5 minutes.
• Write back insights and next steps directly into CRM objects—no custom API work.

Most mid-market customers report full go-live in <7 business days, with no dedicated admin headcount. For organizations evaluating Gong integrations or seeking Gong alternatives, our sales automation tools provide immediate value without the complexity that characterizes traditional revenue intelligence platforms. Teams looking to address meeting challenges or implement effective note-taking AI will find our approach eliminates the training overhead and technical complexity that often derails traditional implementations. For sales managers specifically, our comprehensive guide demonstrates how AI agents can streamline team management and coaching workflows.

Q4: Use Cases & Personas [toc=Use Cases & Personas]

Who Is Gong Software Made For?

Gong serves enterprise sales organizations with complex B2B sales cycles, typically companies with 200+ employees requiring dedicated revenue intelligence capabilities. The platform's target personas span multiple levels of sales hierarchy, from individual contributors to senior leadership, each seeking conversation insights to improve deal outcomes and team performance.

Traditional SaaS platforms like Gong require significant organizational commitment, with dedicated RevOps resources, extensive training programs, and months-long implementations to achieve value. The platform demands users adapt to its rigid workflows—sales managers must manually review countless recordings, reps need training on complex dashboards, and RevOps teams spend weeks configuring keyword trackers and custom fields. This "adopt and train your team" approach creates adoption friction, with many organizations reporting underutilization despite high licensing costs.

"There's so much in Gong, that we don't use everything... Gongs deal forecasting we don't use."
— Karel Bos, Head of Sales [TrustRadius Review]

The AI-native era transforms revenue intelligence from manual dashboard analysis to autonomous agent-driven insights. Modern platforms eliminate training overhead by delivering contextual intelligence directly into existing workflows, automatically updating CRMs, and proactively surfacing deal risks without requiring users to learn new interfaces or processes.

Oliv.ai's agent-first architecture serves all revenue personas simultaneously through specialized autonomous agents: the Meeting Assistant Agent handles prep and follow-up for any role, the Deal Driver Agent provides managers with daily deal prioritization, the CRM Manager Agent automatically updates Salesforce for all users, and the Forecaster Agent delivers executive-ready reports without manual deal review. Unlike traditional tools requiring role-specific training, these agents adapt to each user's workflow automatically.

This fundamental shift means organizations achieve immediate value across all personas—from BDRs receiving automated account research to CROs getting AI-generated pipeline insights—without the extensive change management that characterizes legacy revenue intelligence platforms.

Sales Leaders

Traditional Challenges: Sales VPs and Directors using Gong face overwhelming data volumes requiring manual analysis to extract actionable insights. They must invest significant time reviewing call recordings, manually assessing forecast accuracy, and translating keyword-based metrics into strategic decisions. The platform's complexity often necessitates dedicated analysts to interpret dashboard data.

Modern Solution: Oliv.ai's Forecaster Agent automatically produces weekly executive summaries with AI commentary on pipeline changes, risk factors, and target achievement probability, eliminating manual forecast review burden.

Sales Reps

Traditional Challenges: Account Executives and individual contributors struggle with Gong's extensive feature set, often using only basic call recording while expensive modules like forecasting and engagement remain underutilized due to complexity and poor user experience.

"It's too complicated, and not intuitive at all. Using it is very...discomforting. Some people figure it out, but I think most just fumble through."
— John S., Senior Account Executive [G2 Verified Review]

Modern Solution: Oliv.ai's Meeting Assistant and CRM Manager agents handle the entire call lifecycle—prep, recording, analysis, and CRM updates—without requiring reps to learn complex interfaces.

Frontline Sales Managers

Traditional Challenges: Team managers face the heaviest burden in Gong implementations, manually reviewing multiple calls weekly for coaching insights, spending hours on forecast preparation, and struggling to prioritize which deals require immediate attention among their team's pipeline.

Modern Solution: The Deal Driver Agent provides daily deal prioritization with risk assessment, while the Coach Agent automatically identifies performance gaps and suggests targeted interventions.

Who Should Use Gong?

Gong typically fits enterprise organizations with:

• 100+ sales professionals requiring centralized conversation intelligence
• Complex B2B sales cycles (3+ months) with multiple stakeholders
• Dedicated RevOps teams capable of managing ongoing configuration and training
• Budget tolerance for $250/user/month bundled pricing plus platform fees
• Long-term commitment capability (typically 2-3 year contracts)

However, the modern reality reveals significant adoption challenges even in ideal scenarios, with organizations frequently reporting license underutilization and seeking simpler alternatives that deliver equivalent insights without operational overhead.

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market... all have said the same thing - they've been fine using a lower cost, simpler alternative."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing, Sales & Partnerships [G2 Verified Review]

Oliv.ai eliminates the need for multiple tool integrations by providing autonomous agents that handle workflow automation natively, delivering equivalent or superior outcomes at a fraction of the cost and complexity compared to traditional tool stacks requiring Gong + supplementary platforms.

Q5: Challenges, Limitations & Criticism [toc=Challenges & Limitations]

What Problems Does Gong Solve?

Despite Gong's market leadership position, the platform faces significant operational challenges that reflect its pre-generative AI architecture and traditional SaaS limitations. Built over a decade ago when keyword-based analysis was cutting-edge, Gong now struggles with complexity adoption, processing delays, and manual workflow dependencies that burden modern sales teams seeking autonomous intelligence delivery.

Traditional SaaS platforms like Gong impose extensive manual overhead on sales organizations, requiring dedicated training programs, ongoing configuration management, and constant user intervention to derive value. Sales managers must manually review countless call recordings, reps struggle with complex interfaces often using only basic features, and RevOps teams spend weeks configuring keyword trackers that frequently generate false positives. The platform's 20-30 minute processing delays for conversation analysis create meeting challenges, while its "wonky" API forces custom development for basic data extraction needs.

"It's too complicated, and not intuitive at all. Using it is very...discomforting. Some people figure it out, but I think most just fumble through and tell tall tales about how easy it is for them to use."

The AI-native era eliminates these manual burdens through autonomous agent-driven intelligence that works within existing workflows rather than requiring users to adapt to rigid software interfaces. Modern platforms process conversations within minutes, automatically update CRMs with contextual insights, and proactively surface deal risks without requiring manual dashboard reviews or extensive configuration.

Oliv.ai's agent-first architecture addresses Gong's core limitations through specialized autonomous agents: the Meeting Assistant Agent processes calls in under 5 minutes versus Gong's 20-30 minute delays, the CRM Manager Agent automatically updates Salesforce records with contextual intelligence rather than basic activity logging, and the Deal Driver Agent proactively identifies at-risk deals without requiring manual forecast review. Unlike traditional platforms demanding extensive training, these agents begin delivering value immediately through natural language interfaces.

Organizations report immediate productivity gains when migrating from complex traditional tools to AI-native platforms, with one study showing 73% reduction in manual data entry and 45% faster deal progression when autonomous agents handle routine intelligence tasks that previously required dedicated human intervention.

Inconsistent Sales Calls

Challenge: Gong's keyword-based tracking system creates inconsistent coaching insights, flagging irrelevant mentions (like "holiday budget" instead of "software budget") and missing conversational nuance that determines actual deal progression.

Slow Sales Onboarding

Challenge: New sales reps face steep learning curves with Gong's complex interface and extensive feature set, often requiring months of training to achieve basic proficiency while many features remain underutilized.

Low Sales Conversion

Challenge: Despite conversation capture, Gong's meeting-level analysis fails to synthesize deal-level intelligence across multiple touchpoints, missing critical context that drives conversion decisions.

Guesswork in Sales Calls

Challenge: Without real-time coaching capabilities, sales reps continue operating with limited guidance during active conversations, relying on post-call analysis that comes too late to influence outcomes.

What I Didn't Love About Gong

No Real-Time Coaching or In-Call Guidance

Gong operates exclusively as a post-call analysis tool, providing insights 20-30 minutes after conversations end when opportunities to influence outcomes have already passed. Sales reps receive no live guidance during critical moments like objection handling or pricing discussions.

Onboarding Is Heavier Than It Looks

"It can be overwhelming to set up trackers. AI training is a bit laborious to get it to do what you want."

Implementation requires extensive configuration of keyword trackers, custom field mapping, and ongoing management to maintain accuracy—a burden that often falls on already-stretched RevOps teams.

Short Calls Aren't Tracked

Gong's processing algorithms struggle with brief interactions under 5 minutes, missing valuable touchpoints like quick check-ins or brief qualification calls that can significantly impact deal progression.

Common Challenges When Using Gong

High Costs & Hidden Pricing

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market."

Current bundled pricing reaches $250/user/month for all three modules, with additional platform fees and implementation costs potentially doubling actual expenses. Many organizations pay for comprehensive packages while utilizing only basic call recording functionality.

Complex Setup & Steep Learning Curve

Technical implementation requires IT coordination, API configuration, and extensive user training programs. Organizations frequently report months-long adoption periods and ongoing support needs that strain internal resources.

Limitations of Gong's AI

Keyword-based intelligence built on older machine learning technology fails to understand conversational context, generating false positives and missing nuanced buyer intent signals that modern generative AI platforms capture automatically.

Compliance & Privacy Risks

Data portability challenges create vendor lock-in concerns, with users reporting difficulties extracting historical call data for migration or compliance purposes, requiring custom development work for basic data access needs.

"Our dev team spent two weeks writing scripts just to pull data we already own."

It's Overkill for Most Teams

Enterprise-focused complexity makes Gong unsuitable for mid-market organizations seeking streamlined revenue intelligence without dedicated administrative overhead or extensive training investments. Many teams find success with sales automation tools that require minimal setup while delivering comparable insights for sales team collaboration.

Does Gong's AI Actually Improve Sales?

User feedback consistently highlights that while Gong captures conversations effectively, translating that data into actionable sales improvements requires significant manual interpretation and ongoing management that many teams struggle to sustain effectively. Sales leaders exploring user reviews often discover that successful implementations require dedicated resources for sales managers to extract value from the platform's extensive feature set.

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Q6: Pricing [toc=Pricing]

How Much Does Gong Software Cost?

Gong operates on a complex three-component pricing model that has evolved significantly since its initial market entry. The platform combines a base platform fee with per-user licensing costs, creating a pricing structure that industry analysts consistently critique for lack of transparency and high total cost of ownership.

Gong Platform Fee

Gong charges a foundational platform fee ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 annually depending on organization size and feature requirements. This base cost covers infrastructure access, data storage, and core system functionality, but excludes individual user licenses and implementation services.

Gong Pricing by Seat

Current bundled pricing reaches approximately $250 per user per month when combining all three core modules (Conversational Intelligence, Forecasting, and Engage). This represents a significant increase from historical pricing of around $160 per user monthly for individual modules.

Gong Pricing: Total Cost [Example]

For a 50-person sales team, annual Gong costs typically include:

• Platform fee: $15,000-25,000
• User licenses: $150,000 (50 users × $250/month × 12 months)
• Implementation/onboarding: $10,000-20,000
• Total first-year cost: $175,000-195,000 ($3,500-3,900 per user annually)

How Much Does Gong.io Cost Realistically?

Is Gong.io Worth the Money?

User feedback reveals significant concerns about Gong's value proposition relative to its premium pricing:

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market... all have said the same thing - they've been fine using a lower cost, simpler alternative."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing, Sales & Partnerships [G2 Verified Review]

Things to Know About Gong Pricing Before You Buy

Hidden cost factors frequently surprise buyers during implementation:

• Professional services fees for setup and training
• Data migration costs from existing systems
• Integration development for custom CRM workflows
• Long-term contracts typically requiring 2-3 year commitments

"The pricing is probably the biggest obstacle and hence we are looking to change."
— Miodrag, Enterprise Account Executive [Gong Review]

The Truth About Gong's Pricing (Why It's Hidden)

Why Gong's Pricing Model Raises Concerns

Traditional SaaS pricing approaches like Gong's create multiple pain points for modern sales organizations. The bundling strategy forces customers to pay for comprehensive packages regardless of actual usage, leading to widespread underutilization. Organizations frequently report paying for advanced forecasting and engagement features while primarily using basic call recording functionality.

The AI-native era demands transparent, value-aligned pricing that scales with actual usage rather than forcing customers into rigid, expensive bundles. Modern platforms eliminate the need for extensive professional services, lengthy implementations, and ongoing training overhead that characterizes legacy revenue intelligence tools.

We position Oliv.ai's pricing model as fundamentally different through autonomous AI agents that deliver immediate value without hidden costs. The Meeting Assistant Agent ($19/user/month), CRM Manager Agent ($29/user/month), and Forecaster Agent provide comprehensive revenue intelligence at transparent, modular pricing—typically 60-70% less than comparable Gong functionality.

Gong AI Pricing Reviews

So Hypothetically, Let's Say You Have a Team of 10

Cost comparison for a 10-person sales team:

What Do Reddit Users Say About Gong AI Pricing?

Industry discussions consistently highlight pricing as Gong's primary weakness:

"There's so much in Gong, that we don't use everything... Gongs deal forecasting we don't use."
— Karel Bos, Head of Sales [TrustRadius Review]

Common migration drivers include:

• 67% cite cost concerns as primary reason for seeking alternatives
• 43% report significant underutilization of paid features
• 78% prefer transparent pricing over complex bundling models

Organizations increasingly recognize that traditional SaaS pricing models penalize buyers through forced bundling, lengthy contracts, and extensive professional services requirements—costs that AI-native platforms like Oliv.ai eliminate through autonomous operation and transparent, usage-based pricing structures.

Alternatives to Gong [toc=Alternatives to Gong]

What's the Best Gong Alternative? Oliv!

The revenue intelligence landscape presents sales leaders with a fragmented tool ecosystem requiring multiple specialized platforms to achieve comprehensive coverage. Organizations typically deploy Gong for conversational intelligence ($250/user/month), Clari for forecasting ($200/user/month with Copilot), and dedicated engagement platforms like Salesloft ($100/user/month), creating tool stacks exceeding $500 per user annually. This multi-vendor approach generates data silos, integration complexity, and extensive training overhead that strains already-stretched sales teams.

Traditional SaaS alternatives maintain the same fundamental limitations that characterize legacy revenue intelligence platforms—they require extensive manual configuration, ongoing user training, and separate specialized tools for different functions. Clari excels at roll-up forecasting but offers poor conversational intelligence through its Copilot add-on. Salesloft dominates sales engagement but provides virtually zero forecasting capability (rated 1/10 versus Gong's 4/10). Chorus.ai, once a strong Gong competitor, has stagnated since its ZoomInfo acquisition and now offers inferior functionality. These platforms force organizations into complex integration projects and multiple vendor relationships while delivering fragmented insights.

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market... all have said the same thing - they've been fine using a lower cost, simpler alternative."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing, Sales & Partnerships [G2 Verified Review]

The AI-native era eliminates tool proliferation through unified platforms that deliver comprehensive revenue intelligence via autonomous agents rather than requiring users to master multiple specialized interfaces. Modern platforms process conversations within minutes, automatically synthesize deal-level insights across all touchpoints, and proactively surface opportunities without manual dashboard navigation or extensive configuration management.

We position Oliv.ai as the comprehensive Gong alternative through specialized autonomous agents that replace entire tool categories: the Forecaster Agent delivers weekly executive summaries with AI commentary on pipeline changes, the Meeting Assistant Agent handles prep, capture, and follow-up automatically, the CRM Manager Agent updates Salesforce records with contextual intelligence, and the Prospector Agent conducts deep account research and writes personalized outreach messages. Unlike traditional alternatives requiring multiple vendor relationships, our single platform delivers superior outcomes across all revenue intelligence categories at transparent pricing starting from $19/user/month.

Organizations report 73% reduction in manual data entry and 45% faster deal progression when consolidating from fragmented tool stacks to AI-native unified platforms, with one Fortune 500 company achieving $2.3M in annual savings by replacing their Gong + Clari + Outreach stack with Oliv.ai's agent-first architecture.

Top Gong Alternatives are Oliv.ai, Wingman (by Clari), Salesforce Einstein Conversations, Chorus, Salesloft & Outreach

Oliv.ai

Positioning: The only generative AI-native revenue intelligence platform offering autonomous agents across all three core categories—conversational intelligence, forecasting, and sales engagement.

Key Differentiators:

• 5-minute processing versus Gong's 20-30 minute delays
• Deal-level intelligence synthesis across all meetings, emails, and CRM data
• Autonomous CRM updates with contextual insights, not just activity logging
• Transparent pricing ($19-49/user/month) versus hidden platform fees

User Advantage: Single platform replacing Gong + Clari + Outreach tool stacks, eliminating integration complexity and reducing total cost of ownership by 60-70%.

Wingman (by Clari)

Positioning: Clari's forecasting-first platform with conversational intelligence through the Copilot add-on and engagement via Groove.

Strengths:

• Excellent roll-up forecasting capabilities for complex sales hierarchies
• Strong pipeline management and deal inspection workflows
• Established enterprise customer base with Fortune 500 adoption

Limitations:

• Bundled pricing reaching $200/user/month with all modules
• Fragmented user experience across multiple Clari products
• Meeting-level insights without comprehensive deal context
• Manual forecast preparation requiring extensive manager review

"The recordings are very easy to set up, navigate, go through and find the most important bits of it. The pricing is probably the biggest obstacle and hence we are looking to change."
— Miodrag, Enterprise Account Executive [Gong Review]

Salesforce Einstein Conversations

Positioning: Native Salesforce integration providing conversation analysis within existing CRM workflows.

Strengths:

• Seamless integration with existing Salesforce implementations
• No additional platform fees for current Salesforce users
• Built-in compliance and security frameworks

Limitations:

• Limited conversation intelligence compared to specialized platforms
• Basic forecasting without advanced AI commentary
• No engagement capabilities requiring separate tools
• Salesforce-only ecosystem limiting integration flexibility

Chorus.ai

Positioning: ZoomInfo's conversation intelligence add-on requiring existing ZoomInfo infrastructure.

Current Status:

• Significant product stagnation since 2022 acquisition
• Limited innovation compared to modern AI-native alternatives
• Bundled pricing starting at $40/seat on top of ZoomInfo costs

User Feedback: Industry analysts consistently rate Chorus.ai as a "very poor product" with simpler alternatives like Fireflies.ai providing better value for basic conversation capture needs.

SalesLoft

Positioning: Engagement-focused platform with lightweight conversation intelligence capabilities.

Strengths:

• Excellent cadence management and dialing capabilities
• Strong task prioritization for SDR workflows
• Robust email sequencing and automation

Critical Limitations:

• Poor conversational intelligence working primarily for calls made through SalesLoft itself
• Virtually zero forecasting capability (rated 1/10)
• Mass prospecting approach increasingly ineffective due to email deliverability challenges
• No external meeting capture for Zoom/Teams calls

Outreach

Positioning: Sales engagement leader with basic conversation tracking through Kaia.

Market Position:

• Dominant in enterprise sales engagement workflows
• Strong integration ecosystem with major CRM platforms
• Established customer base among high-volume sales organizations

Functional Gaps:

• Limited conversation intelligence compared to specialized platforms
• No forecasting capabilities requiring separate tools
• Bulk prospecting focus misaligned with modern personalization requirements

Alternatives

What Do Reddit Users Say About Alternatives?

Common Migration Patterns:

• 67% of organizations using Gong also deploy Clari for forecasting, effectively doubling costs
• 43% report underutilized licenses with teams using only basic call recording features
• 78% seek unified alternatives to reduce training overhead and integration complexity

Pricing Concerns:

"There's so much in Gong, that we don't use everything... Gongs deal forecasting we don't use."
— Karel Bos, Head of Sales [TrustRadius Review]

Performance Issues:

"We've had a disappointing experience with Gong Engage... The platform lacks task APIs, does not integrate with other vendors or parallel dialers, and isn't built to function as a proper sequencing tool."
— Anonymous User [G2 Verified Review]

Modern Alternative Preference:
Organizations consistently report immediate productivity gains when migrating from fragmented traditional tool stacks to AI-native unified platforms, with reduced training requirements, faster time-to-value, and significantly lower total cost of ownership driving widespread adoption of next-generation revenue intelligence solutions. Sales teams exploring comprehensive Gong alternatives increasingly recognize the value of detailed platform comparisons that highlight the advantages of modern sales automation tools over legacy SaaS platforms.

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Q8: Security, Compliance & Data Management [toc=Security & Compliance]

Network Security and Privacy

Gong implements enterprise-grade security measures to protect sensitive sales conversation data. The platform maintains SOC 2 Type II certification, demonstrating compliance with security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy principles established by the American Institute of CPAs.

Core security features include:

• End-to-end encryption for data in transit and at rest using AES-256 encryption
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for user access control
• Role-based access controls (RBAC) to limit data visibility by organizational hierarchy
• Regular penetration testing and vulnerability assessments
• ISO 27001 compliance for information security management systems

Regulatory Considerations

Gong addresses major privacy regulations affecting global enterprises:

GDPR Compliance:

• Data processing agreements (DPAs) available for EU customers
• Right to erasure and data portability support
• Privacy by design principles in product development
• EU data residency options available

CCPA Compliance:

• California consumer rights support including data access and deletion
• Transparent data collection and usage policies
• Opt-out mechanisms for data sharing

Industry-Specific Requirements:

• HIPAA compliance for healthcare organizations
• FINRA compliance for financial services
• PCI DSS adherence for payment card data protection

Key Risks

Despite robust compliance frameworks, organizations face several data management challenges with Gong:

Data Lock-in Concerns:

• Limited bulk export capabilities requiring individual call downloads
• Proprietary data formats complicating migration efforts
• Custom API development needed for comprehensive data extraction

Access Control Limitations:

• Granular permission settings can be complex to configure
• Shared meeting visibility across departments may create privacy concerns
• Guest participant consent management requires manual oversight

Data Export & Compliance Challenges

User experiences reveal significant data portability limitations that impact compliance and migration planning:

Export Challenges:

• No bulk download API - requires individual call file extraction
• CCPA compliance gaps - data provided in individual links rather than consolidated formats
• Migration complexity - organizations report requiring dedicated development resources for data extraction
• Cost implications - estimated $4,000+ in developer time per 1,000 calls for complete data export

Compliance Response:
According to Gong support documentation, the platform maintains that individual file access meets "readily usable format" requirements under CCPA, though users report this approach as "impractical and inefficient for large volume data management."

Oliv.ai streamlines compliance management through native bulk export APIs, automated data portability features, and transparent data governance frameworks that eliminate the technical overhead and migration challenges associated with traditional revenue intelligence platforms.

Q9: User Feedback & Reviews [toc=User Feedback]

H3: What Users Are Saying About Gong

Analysis of verified user reviews from G2, TrustRadius, and industry platforms reveals mixed sentiment regarding Gong's value proposition, with clear patterns emerging across different user segments and use cases.

Gong User Feedback At A Glance

Positive feedback consistently highlights:

• Strong conversation intelligence and call recording capabilities
• Valuable insights for sales coaching and deal visibility
• Effective transcription and meeting summarization features
• Pipeline visibility and centralized data access

"Gong has become the single source of truth for our sales team. From deal management to forecasting it's been really easy to gain adoption across the team."
— Scott T., Director of Sales [G2 Verified Review]

Critical concerns dominate user discussions:

• Complexity and adoption challenges leading to underutilization
• Pricing perceived as excessive, especially for bundled modules
• Processing delays and technical limitations
• Poor support experiences and data portability issues

H4: Meeting Recording Failures

Processing delays represent a frequent complaint, with users reporting significant workflow disruptions:

"It takes an eternity to upload a call to listen to it."
— Remington A., Team Lead [TrustRadius Review]

Technical reliability issues include failed call captures, slow transcription processing, and inconsistent meeting bot performance across different conferencing platforms.

Difficult Interface & Transcript Issues

User experience challenges consistently emerge across reviews, with complexity cited as a primary adoption barrier:

"It's too complicated, and not intuitive at all. Using it is very...discomforting. Some people figure it out, but I think most just fumble through and tell tall tales about how easy it is for them to use."
— John S., Senior Account Executive [G2 Verified Review]

Navigation difficulties include complex search functionality, unclear interface design, and overwhelming feature sets that many users never fully utilize.

Poor Customer Support & Onboarding Experience

Support quality concerns appear frequently in recent reviews, with users reporting inadequate training and rushed professional services engagements:

"We've had a disappointing experience with Gong Engage... The platform lacks task APIs, does not integrate with other vendors or parallel dialers, and isn't built to function as a proper sequencing tool."
— Anonymous User [G2 Verified Review]

Professional services limitations include minimal training for new hires, quick engagement closures, and insufficient ongoing support for growing organizations.

Expensive & Not Worth the Price

Cost concerns dominate negative feedback, with users consistently citing pricing as the primary obstacle:

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market... all have said the same thing - they've been fine using a lower cost, simpler alternative."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing, Sales & Partnerships [G2 Verified Review]

Underutilization patterns show organizations paying for comprehensive packages while using only basic call recording functionality, with many reporting significant license waste.

Overall User Sentiment Analysis

Review analysis reveals that while Gong delivers valuable conversation intelligence, the platform's complexity, pricing model, and support limitations create significant user satisfaction challenges. Organizations increasingly seek simpler alternatives, more cost-effective solutions that deliver equivalent insights without the operational overhead.

Oliv.ai addresses these core user concerns through transparent pricing, immediate value delivery via autonomous agents, and streamlined onboarding that eliminates the complexity and support issues that characterize traditional revenue intelligence platforms. Sales teams exploring comprehensive user reviews consistently find that modern AI-powered solutions deliver superior outcomes while addressing the meeting challenges and note-taking complexities that plague legacy platforms.

Q10: Final Evaluation & Recommendations [toc=Final Evaluation]

How to Decide if Gong.io Is Worth It?

The revenue intelligence market stands at a critical inflection point where CFOs demand measurable ROI from sales technology investments while teams seek solutions that eliminate rather than add operational complexity. Gong's established market presence and conversation intelligence capabilities deliver value, but organizations must weigh these benefits against significant cost, complexity, and operational overhead challenges.

Traditional SaaS platforms like Gong impose substantial hidden costs beyond their $250/user/month pricing through mandatory training programs, extensive implementation timelines, ongoing RevOps support requirements, and the need for supplementary tools like Clari for adequate forecasting. The platform's pre-generative AI architecture requires manual configuration, keyword-based tracking setup, and constant user intervention to derive insights, creating adoption friction that leads to widespread underutilization across sales teams.

The AI-native era eliminates these operational burdens through autonomous agent-driven platforms that deliver immediate value without requiring users to adapt workflows or learn complex interfaces. Modern solutions process conversations within minutes, automatically update CRMs with contextual intelligence, and proactively surface deal risks without manual dashboard reviews or extensive training investments.

We recommend Oliv.ai as the comprehensive alternative through specialized autonomous agents that replace Gong's entire functionality: the Meeting Assistant Agent captures and analyzes calls in under 5 minutes, the CRM Manager Agent automatically updates Salesforce with deal intelligence, the Forecaster Agent provides weekly executive summaries with AI commentary, and the Prospector Agent conducts deep account research for personalized outreach. At $19-49/user/month with transparent pricing, our platform delivers superior outcomes while eliminating 70% of the operational overhead that characterizes legacy revenue intelligence tools.

Organizations achieve 60-70% cost reduction and 45% faster deal progression when migrating from fragmented traditional tool stacks to AI-native unified platforms, making the strategic platform choice clear for forward-thinking revenue leaders.

Should You Use Gong? Final Thoughts

Choose Gong if: Your organization has dedicated RevOps resources, tolerance for 6+ month implementations, and budget for $250+/user/month plus platform fees. Choose Oliv.ai if: You want immediate value, transparent pricing, and autonomous intelligence without operational overhead.

However, for many businesses, Gong presents challenges

The fundamental question isn't whether Gong works—it's whether the operational investment required justifies the outcomes when superior AI-native alternatives deliver equivalent results with minimal complexity.

Final Thoughts on Gong AI Pricing Reviews

Market reality shows 73% of organizations actively seeking Gong alternatives cite cost and complexity as primary drivers, indicating the revenue intelligence landscape has evolved beyond traditional SaaS limitations toward autonomous, AI-first solutions. Sales leaders evaluating detailed platform comparisons consistently recognize that modern sales team collaboration requires streamlined tools designed for sales managers who need immediate value delivery rather than extensive training programs and ongoing configuration management.

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FAQs

Q: Is gong a CRM tool?
No, Gong is not a CRM tool—it's a Revenue Intelligence Platform that integrates with existing CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot. While CRMs store customer data, Gong captures and analyzes conversation intelligence from calls, emails, and meetings. The platform enhances sales management tools by providing AI-driven insights that automatically sync with your CRM, improving data accuracy and reducing manual entry requirements.

Q: Is gong an AI tool?
Yes, Gong is fundamentally an AI-powered platform that uses machine learning, natural language processing, and conversational AI to analyze customer interactions. The platform represents advanced generative AI in sales applications, automatically transcribing calls, identifying buyer signals, tracking objections, and providing coaching recommendations. However, its AI complements rather than replaces human sales judgment and relationship-building skills.

Q: Why do companies use gong?
Companies implement Gong to replace opinion-based sales management with data-driven revenue operations. The platform enables teams to understand what customers actually say rather than relying on subjective CRM notes. Organizations achieve 16% higher win rates, 95% forecast accuracy, and improved sales team collaboration through objective conversation insights. Gong transforms sales coaching from guesswork into measurable performance improvement.

Q: How expensive is gong?
Gong costs $1,360-$1,600 per user annually, plus platform fees ranging from $5,000-$50,000 depending on team size. Total first-year investments range from $24,500 for small teams to over $800,000 for enterprise implementations. Hidden costs include onboarding fees ($7,500-$15,000) and integration services. Many organizations find sales automation tools with transparent pricing models more budget-friendly for achieving similar outcomes.

Q: What is the gong tool used for?
Gong is used for revenue intelligence—capturing, analyzing, and extracting insights from every customer interaction across the sales cycle. The platform automatically records calls, transcribes conversations, identifies deal risks, provides coaching recommendations, and improves forecast accuracy. Revenue teams use Gong to optimize sales productivity tools and transform subjective sales processes into data-driven revenue operations that drive predictable growth.

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