The best Gong alternative depends on what you actually need. For simple notes, an AI note taker is enough. For help during the call, an AI sales copilot that gives live answers fits better. Gong remains strong for large teams that need forecasting and org-wide call analytics. Small B2B teams usually need the rep helped first.
Key takeaways
- Gong is built for revenue leadership at scale. Small teams often pay for analytics they never use.
- Gong doesn't publish its prices. Third-party estimates include a yearly platform fee on top of per-user costs.
- Note takers capture calls. AI sales copilots help during them. They're different jobs.
- Choose by the problem: visibility for leaders, or help for the rep in the moment.
Full disclosure before we start: I'm the founder of Sunnyside, so I have an opinion. But I've also used Gong and Fireflies as a seller, so it's an opinion built from the user's side of the screen.
Here's my honest take.
What I liked, and what I missed
Gong is impressive for leadership. Recordings, dashboards, deal boards. But as a rep, I found it gave me very little. It felt like a tool that watched me rather than helped me. There was no real self-learning for the seller, and even the manager insights I saw were fairly basic for the price. And the price is the other part.
Fireflies is a solid note taker. It does that job. But a note taker is a note taker. It tells you what happened after the call, not what to say during it. (Our Sunnyside vs Fireflies comparison goes into detail.)
What neither gave me was help in the moment, when the buyer asks the hard question and I have three seconds to answer.
How much does Gong cost?
Gong doesn't publish its pricing. According to a third-party breakdown from MarketBetter (itself a competitor, so treat it as an estimate), teams report a platform fee of $5,000 to $50,000 a year plus $1,300 to $1,920 per user per year.
For a 10-person team, that's a serious line item. For a founder selling alone, it's usually a non-starter.
The three kinds of Gong alternatives
| Type | What it does | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI note takers (e.g. Fireflies) | Record, transcribe, summarise | Cheap, simple notes | No help during the call; usually a bot joins |
| Conversation intelligence platforms (Gong and similar) | Team-wide recording, analytics, forecasting | Large teams with managers and RevOps | Cost, setup, little direct value for the rep |
| AI sales copilots (e.g. Sunnyside) | Prep, live answers on the call, notes and follow-up | Small teams, founders, technical products | Not a forecasting tool |
For a longer list, see our Gong alternatives page.
Sunnyside vs Gong, plainly
From our own comparison page:
- Live help: Sunnyside shows live, sourced answers on the rep's screen. Gong's public pages don't document a live assistant for reps.
- Bot: Sunnyside never joins the meeting. Gong records through integrations.
- Who buys it: One person can start Sunnyside alone today. Gong is typically bought by revenue leadership for the whole organisation.
- Price: Sunnyside publishes it, and you can try it free.
When you should still pick Gong
I'll say this clearly, because it's true. If you run a large team and you need forecasting, org-wide conversation analytics and structured coaching programmes at scale, Gong is built for exactly that. Sunnyside's after-call analysis is lighter by design.
But if you're a small team, and your real problem is reps getting stuck on calls, follow-ups slipping and nobody having time to prep, you don't need a surveillance system. You need a teammate.
Next in the AI sales assistant series: Don't Wait for Your Company to Buy AI: How Salespeople Can Start Using an AI Sales Assistant Today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Gong alternative for small teams?
It depends on the problem. If you only need notes and transcripts, an AI note taker is the cheapest option. If reps need help during calls, such as live answers to technical or pricing questions, an AI sales copilot fits better. Large teams needing forecasting may still prefer Gong.
How much does Gong cost?
Gong does not publish its pricing. Third-party estimates, such as one from MarketBetter, report a yearly platform fee of about $5,000 to $50,000 plus roughly $1,300 to $1,920 per user per year. Actual pricing depends on negotiation, team size and contract terms.
Does Gong offer real-time help during calls?
According to Sunnyside's comparison page, Gong's public pages don't document a live assistant for reps. Gong's strength is recording, analysing and coaching from calls across a team. Tools built as AI sales copilots focus on live help during the conversation.
What is the difference between an AI note taker and an AI sales copilot?
An AI note taker records and summarises the call for later. An AI sales copilot helps during the call by showing answers, objection help and reminders on the rep's screen, and usually also handles notes and follow-ups afterwards.