Outreach.io and Gong are tools that help sales teams in very different ways.
Outreach.io focuses on the structure and flow of communication, helping salespeople manage their interactions with prospects. It automates tasks like sending follow-up emails, scheduling calls, and tracking outreach across multiple channels, ensuring every lead is remembered. This makes it easier for sales teams to stay organized without the need for constant manual updates. By taking care of these day-to-day tasks, Outreach.io frees up time for sales reps to focus on building meaningful relationships with potential clients.
One of the more helpful tools offered by Outreach.io is Kaia, a feature that assists sales reps during live calls. It provides real-time guidance, helping reps focus on the most important parts of the conversation. Salespeople can feel confident that they’re addressing key points while staying aligned with their broader goals. The platform’s strength is ensuring communication is consistent and well-timed and covers all necessary channels like email, phone, and social media, all from one interface.
Gong instead concentrates on improving the conversations themselves. Rather than organizing outreach tasks, Gong analyzes what was said during sales calls or meetings after they’ve happened. By reviewing these conversations, Gong helps sales teams understand which strategies worked and which didn’t and how to improve their approach for future calls. It provides feedback on the actual content of the conversation, highlighting key moments that impacted the outcome, whether positive or negative.
While both tools offer significant advantages for improving the sales process, they also have a high price tag. Both Outreach.io and Gong are known for being expensive, which can make using both at the same time a substantial financial investment. Maintaining subscriptions to both platforms may be financially challenging for smaller businesses or even large enterprises mindful of their bottom line. Given the cost factor, evaluating which tool provides the most value for your needs makes sense.
We’ll compare the two platforms to help determine if one is better suited for your business than the other, potentially saving on costs without compromising the efficiency or quality of your sales efforts.
tl;dr
| Outreach.io | Gong | |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription | 15 | 26 🟢 |
| Recording | 5 | 14 🟢 |
| Conversational Intelligence | 10 | 16 🟢 |
| Automation & Integrations | 10 🟢 | 8 |
| Note-taking | 4 | 12 🟢 |
| Security | 13 🟢 | 11 |
| Coaching | 6 | 8 🟢 |
| Admin | 8 🟢 | 2 |
| Organizational | 8 | 10 🟢 |
| Support | 2 | 2 |
| Revenue Intelligence | 4 | 4 |
| Other | 4 🟢 | 3 |
| Total | 89 | 116 🟢 |
As you can see from the above scores, Gong outperforms Outreach.io in many key areas, such as transcription, conversation intelligence, and note-taking.
Its capabilities in these fields make it a strong contender for businesses seeking detailed insights and thorough analysis. Recording features are also notably more developed in Gong, giving it an edge in capturing comprehensive sales conversations.
Outreach.io performs better in categories like automation and administrative tasks, making it more suitable for teams that rely heavily on workflow management. However, its lack of video recording may pose challenges for businesses needing visual engagement tools, limiting its overall appeal depending on the use case.
Both platforms have hefty price tags and require a long-term contract.
Given the significant financial commitment, it’s crucial to assess whether the features provided align with your business’s specific needs before making a decision.
There may also be other better AI meeting assistants that don’t have Outreach.io or Gong’s pricing.
If you are in sales you’ll be wanting to close more deals. Which of these tools – tl;dv and Gong – is going to deliver the best ROI for you?
Outreach.io vs Gong: 12 Factors to consider while choosing the best sales support system
How do we rank?
- We give 2 points to a platform once it is the clear winner or when the capability is equally met by the other.
- We give 1 point when the capability is present, but it’s not a winner.
- We give 0 points when the capability is not present.
Transcription capabilities
| Outreach.io (15) | Gong (26) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transcriptions included | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes |
| Real-time transcriptions | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes |
| Languages supported | 🟠 English mainly | 🟢 70+ languages supported |
| Dialects supported | 🟠 | 🟢 Counted within the languages |
| Filler word removal | 🔴 soon | 🟢 |
| Speaker recognition | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Speaker name labelling | 🟠 | 🟢 |
| Transcribe video/audio uploads | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Export transcripts | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Clips from transcript | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Custom vocabulary | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Full-Transcript search | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Edit transcription | 🔴 | 🟢 |
Languages Supported
Outreach.io primarily focuses on English, which is ideal for teams working in English-speaking markets. However, Gong’s support for 70+ languages gives it a significant advantage for businesses with international operations. Imagine a sales team pitching to clients in multiple countries—having accurate transcriptions in local languages can significantly impact closing deals. For senior leadership, the ability to monitor global conversations in various languages can provide a more holistic view of how sales strategies are executed across different regions.
Speaker Name Labeling
Gong excels at labeling individual speakers during a call, ensuring clear attribution when multiple participants are involved. This is particularly useful when following up on complex discussions where several stakeholders contribute. Outreach.io offers basic speaker recognition but doesn’t quite match Gong’s precision in labeling names. For busy teams juggling multiple conversations, knowing exactly who made specific comments can make a big difference in streamlining action points and avoiding miscommunication.
Video/Audio Upload Transcription
With Gong, you can upload external video or audio files for transcription, making reviewing content beyond live calls easy. This is valuable for teams that frequently revisit past webinars, training sessions, or customer calls. Outreach.io, however, lacks this capability, making Gong a stronger choice for teams that need to analyze a wide range of recorded interactions. This feature is a time-saver for senior managers, as it allows for comprehensive reviews without needing to sit through entire meetings or training.
Clip Creation from Transcripts
While Outreach.io doesn’t allow for creating clips from transcripts, Gong offers a powerful option to generate snippets from key moments of a conversation. This can be incredibly useful for sharing essential insights with team members without sending entire meetings. For sales reps, the ability to highlight specific points for a quick internal review or client follow-up can make a huge difference in speeding up the decision-making process.
Custom Vocabulary
Industries with technical jargon or unique terminology will appreciate Gong’s custom vocabulary feature, allowing more accurate transcriptions. Misinterpreting key terms in technical fields can be costly. Outreach.io lacks this feature, which could lead to errors in industries that depend on precise language. Accurate, industry-specific transcripts for senior leaders overseeing multiple sectors can help avoid missteps in high-stakes conversations.
Edit Transcriptions
Gong offers the option to edit transcriptions, which provides flexibility for teams looking to ensure the most accurate records. This can be especially crucial for fine-tuning important client interactions or correcting misunderstood terms that could affect follow-ups. Outreach.io does not include this feature, so teams using it may have to live with minor transcription errors. For leadership, ensuring that transcripts are correct is essential for internal reviews and legal and compliance purposes, where accuracy is non-negotiable.
Recording Capabilities
| Outreach.io (5) | Gong (14) | |
|---|---|---|
| Video platform integration | 🔴 Zoom, MS Teams | 🟢 Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, Webex |
| Storage options | 🟠 Limited, based on the plan | 🟢 Unlimited |
| Video recording | 🔴 No, audio-only | 🟢 Yes, records both audio and video |
| Concurrent meetings | 🔴 No | 🔴 No |
| Capture slides | 🔴 No | 🟢 Yes, captures slides and other visual content |
| Download recordings | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Integrated Calendar | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Viewing analytics | 🔴 No | 🟢 |
| Edit Recording | 🔴 No | 🟢 Yes, allows trimming and editing |
Video Platform Integration
Outreach.io integrates with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which covers some of the most popular virtual meeting platforms. However, its lack of support for Google Meet and Webex means it can miss out on critical interactions when your team or clients use those platforms. This limited integration also restricts Outreach.io’s flexibility in various environments.
Gong supports all four major platforms—Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and Webex—offering broader coverage and ensuring no meetings are left out, regardless of the tool used. By covering more platforms, Gong ensures that video and audio are fully captured, preserving every part of the conversation for later review.
Video Recording
Outreach.io records audio only, which can severely limit the context available from meetings. Without video, teams are left without access to non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures, and visual presentations, that often communicate just as much—if not more—than words alone. This information gap could lead to misunderstandings or missed signals during follow-ups.
Gong records audio and video, capturing the entire context of the meeting, including shared presentations or slide decks. This is particularly valuable when reviewing client interactions or training sessions where visual demonstrations are key. By not including video, Outreach.io potentially leaves significant insights on the table, as there’s no way to review body language or visual materials that may play a critical role in understanding the full meeting dynamics.
Viewing Analytics
Again, because of the lack of video recordings, Outreach.io does not offer viewing analytics. This means teams can’t track who watched meeting recordings or for how long. This lack of insight makes it hard to understand whether the meeting content is consumed or acted upon. Without video, it’s even more difficult to gauge engagement since non-verbal cues and slide decks aren’t recorded in the first place.
Gong, however, offers detailed viewing analytics, showing who has engaged with the recordings and for how long. This is useful for managers tracking training completion or client follow-ups. With Gong’s video recording capabilities, you also get insights into how much of the visual content—such as slides or demos—was seen by the viewers, giving a complete picture of the meeting’s impact.
Edit Recordings
Outreach.io doesn’t allow users to edit or trim recordings, meaning the entire audio file must be shared or reviewed as is. Without the ability to trim irrelevant parts of a conversation or focus on key moments, teams may spend more time navigating long recordings. This is further compounded by only audio being recorded, meaning there is no video to revisit or refine for clarity.
Gong allows users to edit and trim recordings, focusing attention on the most critical parts of the meeting. With audio and video captured, Gong offers the added advantage of highlighting key visual moments, such as important slides or non-verbal cues that clarify the conversation. Without this feature, Outreach.io risks losing important context during follow-ups.
Create Reels/Clips
Outreach.io does not offer the ability to create clips or reels from meeting recordings, limiting how teams can share key moments from a conversation. This lack of functionality can make it more difficult to highlight important sections for review quickly. Additionally, since no video is recorded, teams lose the ability to clip visual demonstrations, slide decks, or any non-verbal reactions that might otherwise provide essential insights.
Gong, by contrast, allows users to create clips from audio and video recordings, enabling teams to share specific, impactful moments of a meeting. For sales teams or managers, the ability to clip key parts of a conversation—including visual cues or product demos—can be crucial in closing deals or training staff. Without this functionality, Outreach.io risks missing opportunities to emphasize important content.
Conversation Intelligence capabilities
| Outreach.io (10) | Gong (16) | |
|---|---|---|
| Single Meeting AI Insights | 🟢 Yes, through Kaia | 🟢 Yes, detailed AI-driven insights |
| Multi Meeting AI Insights | 🔴 No, limited to individual meetings | 🟢 Yes, provides multi-meeting insights for trends and performance |
| Keyword tracking | 🟢 Yes, basic tracking | 🟢 Yes, advanced tracking and keyword analysis |
| Sentiment Analysis | 🔴 | 🟢 Yes, detailed sentiment analysis |
| Key Topic detection | 🟢 Yes, highlights key moments | 🟢 Yes, advanced detection and topic analysis |
| Speech Analytics | 🟢 Yes, basic talk-time and pacing | 🟢 Yes, in-depth speech analytics and comparisons |
| Action item detection | 🟢 Yes, identifies action items in real time | 🟢 Yes, advanced action item detection with follow-up features |
| Question detection | 🔴 | 🟢 Yes, detects and flags questions during meetings |
Single Meeting AI Insights
Outreach.io offers AI insights for individual meetings through its Kaia assistant, which focuses on capturing key moments and action items and providing real-time guidance during live calls. However, Gong offers more in-depth insights, breaking down meetings into performance metrics, handling objections, and other key indicators. Gong’s analysis is more comprehensive, offering a detailed post-meeting breakdown beyond what Outreach.io provides.
Multi-Meeting AI Insights
While Outreach.io provides valuable insights on a meeting-by-meeting basis, it cannot aggregate data across multiple meetings to spot trends or patterns. Conversely, Gong offers multi-meeting insights, allowing teams to track performance over time and identify long-term trends. This makes Gong more helpful for teams looking to improve their strategies based on overall performance rather than just individual meetings.
Keyword Tracking
Outreach.io does offer basic keyword tracking, highlighting important terms mentioned during meetings. However, Gong goes further by providing advanced keyword tracking, giving detailed reports on how often certain words or phrases are used and their impact on sales outcomes. This allows for a more precise analysis of conversation dynamics in Gong.
Sentiment Analysis
One area where Outreach.io is lacking is sentiment analysis. It does not currently offer AI-driven sentiment evaluation to gauge the emotional tone of conversations. Gong, however, includes sentiment analysis, which can help sales reps understand how positively or negatively a conversation is going, allowing for better real-time adjustments.
Key Topic Detection
Both Outreach.io and Gong offer key topic detection, though Gong provides a more comprehensive analysis, detecting not only key topics but also the context in which they are discussed. Gong can help identify which topics resonate most with prospects, while Outreach.io’s topic detection is more limited to highlighting important moments within the conversation.
Speech Analytics
Outreach.io provides basic speech analytics, such as tracking talk time and pacing, which helps ensure balanced conversations. Gong, however, offers more detailed speech analytics, including comparing speech patterns to team benchmarks and analyzing how effectively reps engage with prospects. This deeper level of analysis makes Gong more suited for improving conversational techniques.
Detect Action Items
Both platforms offer action item detection, with Outreach.io’s Kaia flagging action items as they are spoken during meetings. Gong also detects action items but integrates them more comprehensively into the post-meeting analysis, tracking whether these items are followed up and helping ensure no action is overlooked.
Detect Questions
Outreach.io does not offer a feature to detect or flag questions raised during meetings, which can be a significant missed opportunity. Conversely, Gong detects questions, helping reps track whether they are properly addressing client concerns and whether key queries are answered effectively.
Automation & Integration capabilities
| Outreach.io (10) | Gong (8) | |
|---|---|---|
| CRM Integrations | 🟢 Yes, integrates with both Salesforce and HubSpot | 🟢 Yes, integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRM systems |
| Email Integrations | 🟢 Yes, integrates with email systems for tracking engagement | 🟢 Yes, offers email integration for tracking interactions and engagement |
| Zapier Integrations | 🟢 Yes, integrates with over 6,000 apps | 🟢 Yes, integrates with Zapier for workflow automation |
| Post-Meeting summary email | 🟢 Yes, generates summary emails with action items | 🔴 No, Gong doesn’t automatically send post-meeting summary emails |
| Schedule Reports | 🟢 Yes, allows the scheduling of reports with regular insights | 🟢 Yes, allows the scheduling of automated reports |
CRM Integration
Outreach.io integrates smoothly with Salesforce and HubSpot, making it easy to keep sales data in sync across systems. This means you can ensure that leads, deals, and activities are always up to date in both tools. This integration is crucial for teams that need unified data to manage the sales process efficiently. Gong also offers CRM integration, but it focuses more on bringing conversation insights into CRMs, enhancing the overall data by adding deeper conversational analysis alongside traditional CRM data.
Zapier Integration
Outreach.io supports Zapier, connecting with over 6,000 apps, enabling various workflows and automation. Users can integrate with countless systems beyond CRMs, from project management tools to communication apps. It’s beneficial for automating repetitive tasks and workflows. Gong also supports Zapier, allowing teams to set up automation such as syncing meeting insights or triggering follow-up tasks, making both tools versatile in automating sales processes.
Post-Meeting Summary Emails
Outreach.io excels by automatically sending post-meeting summary emails, which include a rundown of key moments and action items discussed during the call. This is useful for sales teams who want immediate feedback and actionable follow-up steps delivered directly to their inbox after a meeting. In contrast, Gong does not offer automatic post-meeting summaries via email but provides detailed insights through the platform itself.
Report Scheduling
Both Outreach.io and Gong allow for reporting scheduling, allowing teams to receive insights regularly. Whether it’s weekly performance metrics or monthly engagement data, these scheduled reports keep managers and teams up to date on progress and key KPIs. The reports in Outreach.io focus more on sales activities and engagement. At the same time, Gong dives deeper into conversation performance, helping teams understand the quality of interactions and how they can improve.
Note-taking capabilities
| Outreach.io (4) | Gong (12) | |
|---|---|---|
| AI Notes | 🟢 Yes, through Kaia.ai | 🟢 Yes, auto-generated meeting summaries |
| Manual notes during calls | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Tag people in notes | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Assign tasks | 🔴 | 🟢 Yes, allows task assignment |
| AI Tags / Bookmarks | 🟢 | 🟢 Yes, generated bookmarks for key moments |
| Comments | 🔴 | 🟢 Yes, supports collaborative comments |
AI-Generated Notes
Outreach.io offers AI-generated notes through its Kaia assistant, which listens to the conversation during live meetings and creates automatic summaries. This feature captures key moments in real-time, such as when a specific action item or question arises, so sales reps can focus on the conversation without manually typing notes. Kaia provides a high-level summary of key insights immediately after a meeting, enabling teams to quickly reflect on what was discussed without reviewing the entire call.
Conversely, Gong also provides AI-generated notes, but its approach digs deeper into the conversation. Gong summarizes the key points and analyzes the conversation for performance metrics, such as how the rep handled objections or how engaged the prospect was at various points. Gong’s summaries are more contextually rich, offering insights about how the conversation affects the deal’s progression. Gong’s deeper focus on performance-driven insights makes its approach more analytical than Outreach.io’s more functional note summaries.
This difference is key for organizations looking to improve the overall quality of their calls. While Outreach.io ensures that key moments aren’t missed, Gong adds an extra layer by tying them to actionable performance improvements, helping sales teams fine-tune their strategies.
Manual Note-Taking
Both Outreach.io and Gong allow users to take notes manually during meetings. Manual note-taking is an important feature for sales reps who want to add specific context or observations that the AI might miss. This feature allows the user to capture more nuanced details, such as the prospect’s mood or additional follow-up thoughts that aren’t immediately related to the main discussion.
In Outreach.io, manual note-taking is straightforward and sits alongside Kaia’s automated note summaries. Users can record their notes in real time while the AI captures action items and important details.
Gong also offers a manual note-taking function, but it integrates more seamlessly with the platform’s other features. For instance, you can link your notes to specific parts of the conversation and even set reminders or assign tasks based on your manual entries. Gong’s ability to combine manual notes with actionable insights (like task creation or performance reviews) makes it more dynamic than Outreach.io for teams looking for more interactive tools.
Tag People in Notes
This is an area where Gong outperforms Outreach.io. In Gong, users can tag individuals in their notes, which makes follow-up actions much easier to manage. For example, a manager could tag a rep in a note, indicating that they need to follow up on a specific action item or question from the meeting. This creates a streamlined process for collaboration and accountability within teams, ensuring that no tasks are forgotten or miscommunicated.
Outreach.io does not support tagging people in notes, which can make it harder to assign specific follow-up actions within the note itself. While you can capture the necessary details, Outreach cannot directly tie notes to team members for future action, making it less effective for team collaboration and task management than Gong.
Task Assignment Within Notes
Like tagging, Gong allows users to assign tasks directly within notes, linking specific actions or follow-ups to individual team members. This feature is invaluable for teams that need to manage detailed workflows and ensures sales reps don’t miss out on important next steps. Once a task is assigned, it’s easily tracked within Gong’s broader reporting and analysis tools, ensuring it is completed on time.
In contrast, Outreach.io does not support task assignments within meeting notes. While Kaia can capture and highlight action items in the summary, users must manually track and manage these tasks outside the note-taking environment. This adds an extra step for teams looking to keep tasks organized within their note system, which can be less efficient for managing follow-up actions.
AI Tags or Bookmarks
Both platforms offer AI-generated tags or bookmarks to highlight important moments in a conversation, such as when a key decision is made or when the prospect asks a crucial question. These tags help users quickly navigate to the most important parts of a meeting recording, saving time when reviewing calls.
Outreach.io’s Kaia flags action items, key questions, and next steps in real time, allowing sales reps to easily reference these moments during or after the call. However, Gong takes this feature further by integrating the tagged moments with performance analysis. For example, suppose a critical objection was raised during the conversation. In that case, Gong will highlight it and offer insights into how the rep responded and whether it was handled effectively. This added layer of performance evaluation makes Gong’s tagging system more robust and actionable than Outreach.io’s.
Comments on Notes
One of Gong’s standout features is its ability to support comments on notes, enabling team collaboration even after the meeting. Users can leave comments directly on specific parts of the conversation or within the meeting notes, allowing for continuous discussion and feedback. This is particularly useful for managers reviewing calls or reps working together on a deal.
Outreach.io lacks this collaborative commenting feature, which means that once notes are taken, they cannot be enriched or expanded through comments from other team members. This limits the platform’s effectiveness for teams that rely on collaboration for follow-ups and post-meeting strategies.
Custom Meeting Templates
Neither Outreach.io nor Gong offers the ability to create custom meeting templates. While both tools provide structured workflows for note-taking and action tracking, neither allows users to design specific templates for different meeting types. This feature could be useful for sales teams that handle various calls (e.g., demos, onboarding, or check-ins), where each type requires a different set of notes or a unique workflow.
Security capabilities
| Outreach.io (13) | Gong (11) | |
|---|---|---|
| Data retention | 🟢 Customizable data retention policies with automatic deletion | 🟢 Unlimited data retention (based on plan) |
| SOC2 Compliant | 🟢 Yes, SOC 2 Type II compliant | 🟢 Yes, SOC 2 Type II compliant |
| SAML-based SSO | 🟢 Yes, supports SAML-based SSO | 🟢 Yes, supports SAML-based SSO |
| GDPR Compliant | 🟢 Yes, GDPR compliant with ISO 27701 certification | 🟢 Yes, GDPR compliant with SCCs for data transfers |
| EU AI Act Compliant | 🟠 No explicit mention, but it is less reliant on AI | 🔴 No, potential issues with AI-driven features like sentiment analysis |
| Uses your data to train AI | 🟢 Does not use customer data for AI training | 🟠 Opt-in policy for AI data usage |
| Private storage | 🟢 Stored in AWS, with an option for EU-based storage | 🟢 Stored in AWS with global storage options |
| Anonymised sensitive data sent to LLMs | 🔴 No mention of anonymization practices | 🔴 No mention of anonymization practices |
| Meeting data chunking and randomizing | 🔴 No explicit mention | 🔴 No explicit mention |
| BAA with LLM providers | 🔴 No explicit mention | 🔴 No explicit mention |
| 0-day data retention polity with vendors | 🔴 No explicit mention | 🔴 No explicit mention |
Data Retention Policies
Outreach.io provides customizable data retention settings, allowing organizations to specify how long data (such as emails, call logs, and meeting information) is stored before automatic deletion. This feature is crucial for companies looking to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR, which mandate that personal data is not kept longer than necessary. Once data is deleted from Outreach.io, it is permanently erased, ensuring compliance and protection of sensitive information.
Gong, by contrast, offers unlimited data retention based on its pricing plan, enabling organizations to keep data indefinitely unless they delete it. This is useful for companies that require long-term access to historical data for auditing or performance reviews but could pose challenges for compliance with certain privacy regulations if not managed carefully.
SOC 2 Compliance
Both Outreach.io and Gong are SOC 2 Type II compliant, meaning they adhere to strict security standards for handling sensitive data. This certification ensures both platforms have implemented robust internal controls to protect data, including encryption, access control, and regular system integrity monitoring. SOC 2 compliance is essential for companies that must demonstrate that their data management practices meet industry standards for data security.
SAML-Based SSO
Both platforms offer SAML-based Single Sign-On (SSO), a key security feature that allows users to log in through their organization’s identity provider. This provides a more secure authentication method by centralizing the login process, reducing the need for multiple passwords, and ensuring access is granted only through authorized channels. SAML-based SSO is critical for organizations aiming to enhance security by minimizing the risks associated with decentralized login systems and user credentials.
GDPR Compliance
Outreach.io and Gong are both GDPR compliant, meaning they adhere to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which governs the collection, use, and protection of personal data for individuals within the EU. Outreach.io is ISO 27701 certified, a privacy-focused extension of ISO 27001, ensuring its privacy practices are audited annually for compliance with GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Additionally, Outreach.io allows for data residency in the EU (via AWS Ireland), which is crucial for organizations that must comply with EU data storage laws.
Gong is similarly GDPR compliant and ensures secure data transfers through Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), which protect personal data transferred outside the EU. This ensures that personal data handled by Gong meets GDPR’s strict data privacy and protection requirements.
EU AI Act Compliance
While neither Outreach.io nor Gong explicitly mentions compliance with the upcoming EU AI Act, Gong may face greater challenges due to its reliance on AI-driven features, such as sentiment analysis and conversation intelligence. These features could be subject to stricter regulations under the AI Act, particularly regarding transparency and fairness in AI decision-making. Outreach.io, which uses AI primarily for task automation (via Kaia), may have fewer compliance hurdles as it similarly does not rely on AI for decision-making.
AI Data Training
Outreach.io does not use customer data to train its AI models, a significant privacy safeguard for organizations concerned about how their data is being utilized. This ensures customer data is not repurposed to improve the platform’s AI functionality.
In contrast, Gong operates on an opt-in policy for AI data training, allowing companies to choose whether or not their data can be used to enhance the platform’s machine learning models. This flexibility allows organizations to participate in AI improvements while maintaining control over their data.
Private Data Storage
Both platforms use AWS (Amazon Web Services) for data storage, ensuring high levels of security and redundancy. However, Outreach.io offers EU-based storage for organizations with specific data residency requirements, allowing companies to store their data within the European Union. This is particularly important for organizations that must comply with local data sovereignty laws or industries requiring strict data storage regulations.
Gong also offers secure data storage via AWS, with global options for data hosting, providing flexibility based on organizational needs. This allows both platforms to meet various regulatory requirements for data storage location and security.
Anonymization with Large Language Models (LLMs)
Neither Outreach.io nor Gong mentions whether they anonymize sensitive data when interacting with LLMs. This could be a concern for organizations that handle particularly sensitive data, such as financial or healthcare information, as anonymization is a critical step in ensuring that personal data is protected during AI processing.
0-Day Data Retention with Vendors
Neither platform has a clearly stated policy regarding 0-day data retention with third-party vendors, which could be a potential area of concern for organizations that enforce strict data retention rules. Without a clear policy, there may be ambiguity about how long third-party vendors, such as those providing language models or AI services, retain data once it is processed.
Coaching capabilities
| Outreach.io (6) | Gong (8) | |
|---|---|---|
| Playbooks Scorecards | 🟢 Yes, provides playbooks and scorecards to track sales performance | 🟢 Yes, offers scorecards with detailed analytics for sales performance |
| Custom Playbooks | 🟢 Yes, users can create custom sales playbooks | 🟢 Yes, supports custom playbooks with advanced insights |
| Template Playbooks | 🟢 Yes, includes template playbooks for common sales scenarios | 🟢 Yes, provides sales templates for a variety of use cases |
| Objection Handling | 🔴 No real-time objection handling, but guides playbooks | 🟢 Yes, offers real-time insights and coaching for objection handling during calls |
Playbooks & Scorecards
Both Outreach.io and Gong offer playbooks and scorecards to help track sales performance. Outreach.io allows sales reps to follow structured workflows with detailed steps, best practices, and engagement strategies. These are essential for maintaining consistency across sales teams. Gong enhances this concept with data-driven scorecards that break down specific performance metrics from individual calls, making it easier for managers to provide targeted coaching and improvements based on how well reps handle specific parts of the sales process.
Custom Playbooks
Both platforms allow users to create custom playbooks, offering flexibility to tailor the sales process to a team’s needs. Outreach.io allows organizations to create custom workflows for various sales stages or customer personas, helping ensure that reps follow a consistent and optimized process. Gong also supports custom playbooks, but it integrates deeper with real-world data from actual sales calls, enabling users to refine strategies based on measurable outcomes. Gong’s approach helps sales teams identify what works best and adjust accordingly.
Template Playbooks
Outreach.io and Gong both provide template playbooks for commonly encountered sales scenarios. These templates offer a pre-built foundation that sales teams can use immediately, helping them apply best practices without building processes from scratch. Outreach.io’s templates cover essential areas like email sequences, call scripts and follow-up workflows. Gong enhances its templates by incorporating insights from actual sales interactions, making them more data-driven and customized based on proven tactics in the field.
Objection Handling Insights
Gong excels in objection handling by offering real-time coaching during sales calls. Its AI analyzes conversations as they happen, providing feedback on how reps handle objections and suggesting ways to improve. This feature gives sales teams the tools to refine their approach immediately after a call. Outreach.io doesn’t offer real-time objection handling but provides structured objection-handling tactics within its playbooks, offering guidance on responding to common objections during sales. While helpful, Outreach.io lacks Gong’s dynamic, real-time capabilities, making Gong better suited for teams looking for in-the-moment feedback and insights.
Admin Capabilities
| Outreach.io (8) | Gong (2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Apply auto-record of all meetings in the team members’ calendar | 🟢 Yes, admins can enforce automatic (audio) recording for all meetings | 🟢 Yes, admins can enforce auto-recording for all calls and meetings |
| Apply auto-share of meetings recorded by team members | 🔴 No, recordings must be shared manually by users or admins | 🔴 No, recordings are shared manually by users or admins |
| Prevent Deletion | 🟢 Yes, admins can prevent the deletion of recordings by user | 🟢 Admins can restrict who has the rights to delete recordings, but no global prevention feature |
| Admin rights over all recordings | 🟢 Admins have full rights over all recordings, including visibility and sharing settings | 🟢 Yes, admins control recording access and can manage permissions for users |
Auto-record All Meetings
Both Outreach.io and Gong allow admins to enforce automatic recording of all meetings. This feature ensures no important interactions are missed, supporting team performance reviews, compliance, and training efforts. It guarantees that all scheduled calls are captured without manual intervention.
Auto-share Meetings
Neither Outreach.io nor Gong provides an automatic sharing feature for meeting recordings. Users or admins must manually share recordings with team members in both systems. While this controls who accesses specific recordings, it requires an extra step for team collaboration.
Prevent Deletion of Recordings
Outreach.io allows admins to prevent users from deleting recordings, preserving important data. This is especially beneficial for compliance and maintaining a comprehensive history of interactions.
In Gong, admins can manage user permissions to restrict the number of users who can delete recordings, but there is no universal prevention option. Admins must carefully assign roles and access rights to control deletion rights.
Admin Control Over All Recordings
Both platforms give administrators complete control over meeting recordings. Outreach.io allows admins to manage the visibility, sharing, and editing of recordings. Similarly, Gong allows admins to control access, visibility, and sharing of all team recordings, giving them full governance over the organization’s sales communication data.
Organizational Capabilities
| Oureach.io (8) | Gong (10) | |
|---|---|---|
| Meetings Library | 🟢 Yes, a searchable library for all meetings | 🟢 Yes, it is a searchable library with access to past calls and meetings |
| Smart Filters | 🟢 Yes, offers filters for organizing and finding specific meetings | 🟢Yes, includes smart filters to organize and filter calls and meetings |
| Global Search | 🟢 Yes, supports global search across all recorded meetings | 🟢 Yes, global search is available across calls and meetings |
| Search within meetings | 🟢 Yes, allows search within individual meeting content | 🟢 Yes, supports search within meeting transcripts for specific terms or keywords |
| Folders | 🔴 No, doesn’t offer folder-based meeting organization | 🟢 Yes, allows users to create and manage folders for organizing meetings and calls |
Smart Filters for Meetings
Outreach.io includes smart filters that allow users to organize and quickly find relevant meetings based on specific criteria like meeting type, keywords, or participants. This is particularly useful when managing large volumes of sales calls. Gong also offers smart filters, with additional options for filtering by time frame, topic, and even sentiment. Both platforms help users pinpoint specific meetings for review, making an organization more efficient.
Global Search Across Meetings
Both platforms offer global search, which means users can search across all recorded meetings or calls. In Outreach.io, this feature allows users to search through transcripts, call details, and other recorded data to easily locate specific interactions. Gong provides a similar function, allowing users to search all meetings and helping teams quickly find important discussions.
Search Within Meetings
Outreach.io supports searching within individual meetings, enabling users to search for specific keywords or phrases within a meeting transcript. This feature is useful when finding key moments or follow-ups in long conversations. Gong offers similar functionality, allowing users to search within meeting transcripts for key topics, making post-call analysis easier and faster.
Folder Organization
Outreach.io does not offer folder-based organization for meetings, which limits how users can categorize their calls and meetings beyond using filters or tags. In contrast, Gong allows users to create and manage folders within its library, helping users organize and categorize calls by team, project, or topic. This makes Gong a better option for those who prefer a more structured approach to managing and organizing meeting data.
Support Capabilities
| Outreach.io (2) | Gong (2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Support in Free Plan | 🔴 No free plan | 🔴 No free plan |
| Priority Support | 🟢 Yes, offers priority support for premium tiers | 🟢 Yes, offers priority support for premium tiers |
Free Plan Support
Outreach.io does not offer a free plan. Support is only available to paying customers, and the support level depends on the selected pricing tier. Lower-tier customers receive standard support, while higher-tier packages provide more comprehensive services, such as access to more immediate technical assistance and strategic guidance. Gong does not offer a free plan, focusing on premium features and support for paid users only.
Priority Support
Outreach.io provides priority support for its higher-tier paying customers. These customers can access faster response times and more dedicated technical assistance. Outreach.io’s support also includes professional services for implementation and training, ensuring that paying customers can get up to speed quickly and effectively. Gong similarly offers priority support for its paying users, though its support services are heavily tailored to helping teams maximize the value of its advanced AI-driven insights. Both platforms strongly focus on supporting paid users but emphasize different aspects of the sales and technical processes.
Revenue Intelligence Capabilities
| Outreach.io (4) | Gong (4) | |
|---|---|---|
| Forecasting | 🟢 Yes, provides sales forecasting with scenario modeling and roll-ups | 🟢 Yes, offers predictive AI-driven forecasting based on multiple data signals |
| Deal execution | 🟢 Yes, offers deal execution tracking with deal health insights | 🟢 Yes, provides advanced deal execution tracking with deal health scores and pipeline visibility |
Sales Forecasting
Outreach.io offers sales forecasting capabilities, allowing teams to run automated roll-ups and scenario modeling to predict forecast outcomes based on deal progress. The platform gives sales managers a clear view of team performance and pipeline coverage while highlighting deals at risk. Outreach.io enables teams to identify potential opportunities that could still close within the sales period.
Gong uses AI-driven forecasting based on historical performance and current pipeline trends to predict sales outcomes. Gong’s forecasting considers data from multiple sources, providing highly accurate projections. This feature helps teams improve forecast accuracy and confidently predict pipeline coverage.
Deal Execution Tracking
Outreach.io provides deal execution tracking monitoring deal health and progress. It uses machine learning to assign deal health scores, which help sales teams focus on deals that are more likely to close while identifying those that may be at risk. The platform also offers insights to help teams intervene when deals are at risk of stalling.
Gong similarly excels in deal execution tracking, with advanced tools that analyze each deal’s progress and provide insights based on past successful or lost deals. Gong’s AI identifies deals that are at risk and suggests actionable next steps, giving sales teams detailed insights into how to maintain deal momentum.
Who is it for?
| Outreach.io (4) | Gong (3) | |
|---|---|---|
| G2 Rating | 🔴 4.4 | 🟢 4.8 |
| Ease of set up | 🟢 Moderate setup requiring some technical resources | 🟠 More complex setup due to the deep integration of AI-driven insights and conversation analysis features, requiring thorough onboarding |
| Localised platform | 🟢 User interface available in English, with beta support for German, French, and Spanish | 🔴 The user interface is available only in English. |
| Best suited for whom | Best for teams needing sales engagement and automation across channels | Best for teams needing sales engagement and automation across channels |
While Outreach.io and Gong are designed to help sales teams, they each serve distinct purposes. Gong is centered around analyzing sales conversations and providing data-driven insights to improve performance. It’s a powerful tool for larger organizations that want detailed information about their sales calls and meetings. Gong excels in conversation analysis, forecasting, and coaching, making it perfect for teams focusing on refining their sales techniques and learning from past conversations.
Outreach.io, on the other hand, Outreach.io focuses on managing and automating the sales process. It helps teams stay organized by automating email follow-ups, call scheduling, and tracking interactions across different channels. This makes it easier for sales teams to manage high volumes of outreach without missing important follow-ups or tasks.
Where Gong is more focused on providing insights after a meeting, Outreach.io is designed to improve real-time communication and interactions. Outreach.io simplifies the daily workload for sales reps, while Gong helps teams review what has been said and how to improve future calls.
Setting up Outreach.io is typically faster, with a focus on automating processes. Gong requires more onboarding, as its features include deeper integrations and analysis tools. This complexity makes Gong more suitable for companies investing time in a more involved setup process.
For smaller teams or businesses looking for a simpler solution that helps manage ongoing outreach, Outreach.io is a strong choice. Meanwhile, Gong is a better fit for larger organizations talking to deeply analyze and improve the quality of their sales conversations.
How Much Does Outreach.io cost?
Like many sales tools, the pricing for Outreach.io is often tailored to the specific needs of each organization, which means that exact costs are not always publicly available. While we’ve gathered some general pricing guidelines from online sources, it’s important to note that Outreach.io, similar to many competitors, keeps its pricing largely under wraps. Most companies must contact Outreach.io directly for an official quote tailored to their team size, feature requirements, and long-term commitments. This approach is typical in the sales SaaS market, where customization and negotiation are common.
Up to 49 users:
- Base Price: Custom pricing based on the features selected
- Per User: Starts at $1,200 per year, billed annually (around $100 per user per month)
50 – 99 users:
- Base Price: Custom pricing; discounts may apply for higher user volumes and long-term commitments
- Per User: Typically around $120 per user per month, though rates may be negotiable based on volume
100+ users:
- Base Price: Custom pricing for enterprise packages, often bundled with advanced features such as AI-powered insights and security options
- Per User: Typically costs $130 per user per month but can vary significantly based on the feature set and number of users.
Additional Costs:
- Implementation & Onboarding Fees: These range from $1,000 to $8,000, depending on the complexity of the setup and integrations with other tools like Salesforce.
- Professional Services: Custom training, premium support, and ongoing consulting can add $10,000+ annually for larger organizations with specific needs.
What is the price difference between Outreach.io and Gong?
Gong.io pricing typically starts at around $1,200 to $2,000 per user annually, depending on the specific features and scope of use, such as deal intelligence and conversation intelligence. Like Outreach, Gong also has a substantial implementation cost, but exact figures can vary significantly based on customization and negotiations.
When you calculate the total annual cost for a team of 15 salespeople, the price difference between Outreach.io and Gong.io becomes clearer.
Outreach.io would cost approximately $18,000 to $23,400 annually for 15 users, depending on the features selected, with potential additional implementation costs ranging from $1,000 to $8,000. This brings the total cost range to around $19,000 to $31,400 for a team of 15.
For the same team size, Gong.io would cost approximately $24,000 to $30,000, with an additional base fee of $5,000 and implementation fees potentially reaching up to $10,000. This brings the total cost to around $29,000 to $40,000 annually.
Ultimately, for a team of 15, Gong.io tends to be more expensive than Outreach.io, particularly considering its higher base price and advanced features.
Verdict: Outreach.io vs Gong – Which Is the Better Fit?
| Outreach.io | Gong | |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription | 15 | 26 🟢 |
| Recording | 5 | 14 🟢 |
| Conversational Intelligence | 10 | 16 🟢 |
| Automation & Integrations | 10 🟢 | 8 |
| Note-taking | 4 | 12 🟢 |
| Security | 13 🟢 | 11 |
| Coaching | 6 | 8 🟢 |
| Admin | 8 🟢 | 2 |
| Organizational | 8 | 10 🟢 |
| Support | 2 | 2 |
| Revenue Intelligence | 4 | 4 |
| Other | 4 🟢 | 3 |
| Total | 89 | 116 🟢 |
Outreach.io and Gong.io serve unique roles in sales operations, offering different strengths depending on your goals. Gong has the higher score, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best fit for everything.
Outreach.io is designed to streamline communication handling task automation like scheduling calls, sending emails, and managing outreach across various platforms. This approach helps sales teams stay organized without constantly managing manual tasks. It’s best suited for teams that need consistency in their outreach efforts, ensuring that no lead is missed and all channels are covered effectively. However, the lack of video recording is a large factor when it comes to sales, and sales training, because part of the overall picture is being missed out completely.
Gong.io instead offers a detailed analysis of conversations after they’ve taken place, focusing on understanding what happened during sales calls and meetings. Breaking down the key moments of interactions helps teams refine their approach and improve future conversations. This tool is ideal for businesses that want to gain insight into what works in their discussions and how to sharpen their messaging and approach.
For companies that need a tool to manage high-volume outreach with automated follow-ups and scheduling, Outreach.io provides a smooth experience for ensuring continuous communication. However, if the priority is improving sales techniques through detailed interaction feedback, Gong.io can offer in-depth analysis and performance metrics.
For a small to mid-sized sales team, Outreach.io would likely be more cost-effective, allowing for easier task management. On the other hand, larger sales teams or organizations aiming to fine-tune their sales conversations will benefit more from the insights and analysis provided by Gong.io. The additional cost may be justified for teams seeking to improve the quality of their sales interactions through detailed, AI-powered feedback.
