Kevin JohnsonFive9 is a CX platform and cloud contact center solutions provider based in San Ramon, California. Ray Soto, Gus Laredo, James Southworth, John Kim, and Lovepreet Singh founded the company in 2001. Businesses use the Five9 intelligent CX platform to deliver seamless customer experiences. Five9’s cloud-native and multi-tenant platform offers contact center and workforce engagement management. It is extensible through over 1,000 partners and embedded AI, automation, and analytics. In August 2023, Five9 was named a Leader in contact center as a service (CCaaS). [1]
Five9 offers a unified cloud platform with contact and call center software for sales, support, and customer service teams. Agents can use Five9 to communicate with customers via phone, email, chat, SMS, and social apps and manage inbound and outbound communication in one place. They can leverage Five9’s AI capabilities to automate customer support tasks. Five9 also offers add-ons and integrates with other productivity and collaboration apps, including Salesforce, Zendesk, and Microsoft Teams.
Over 2,500 organizations use the Five9 to enable billions of customer engagements. However, Five9 is one of many cloud-based call center platforms on the market. The company faces stiff competition from Genesys, Talkdesk, NICE, Avaya, RingCentral, Vonage, 8×8, 3CX, Verint, Twilio, UJET, and JustCall. [2]
Here is an in-depth analysis of Five9’s top competitors and alternatives:
1. Genesys Cloud CX
Year founded: 1990
Headquarter: Menlo Park, California
Genesys is a global leader in AI-powered experience orchestration. The firm offers Genesys Cloud CX, an API-first platform that combines conversational, predictive, and generative AI. As of August 2023, Genesys Cloud CX served over 5,000 clients in over 100 countries.
Genesys offers cloud, digital, and AI technologies to help organizations deliver proactive, predictive, and personalized experiences. Companies can use the platform to boost employee productivity and enhance customer engagement and connection across marketing, sales, and service channels. In August 2023, Genesys was recognized as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CCaaS for the ninth time. Five9 was also named a Leader in the CCaaS Magic Quadrant, making Genesys the top Five9 competitor and alternative. [3]
2. Talkdesk
Year founded: 2011
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
Talkdesk is an AI-powered cloud contact center provider. The company serves enterprises of all sizes in over 100 countries. In February 2023, Talkdesk cut hundreds of jobs across its offices in 19 countries and reduced its workforce to around 2,000.
Talkdesk provides CX cloud and industry experience clouds to help enterprises improve customer service. Its contact center platform leverages AI and automation to deliver the best business outcomes and boost profits. In August 2023, the company ranked #8 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list and is one of the top competitors for Five9. [4]
3. NICE CXone
Year founded: 1986
Headquarter: Ra’anana, Israel
NICE is a leading AI-powered contact center software provider. Its CXone offers a robust self-service and agent-assisted CX solution for contact centers. As of September 2023, NICE served over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries. Its customers include 85 of the leading Fortune 100 companies.
NICE CXone is a cloud-native customer experience platform. It helps organizations create the best customer experiences and meet business targets by transforming and elevating every customer interaction. In September 2023, NICE released new capabilities for CXone. Businesses can use an all-new Integration Hub to plug in third-party apps in their CX stack seamlessly. NICE is an innovative alternative to Five9. [5]
4. Avaya Experience Platform
Year founded: 2000
Headquarter: Morristown, New Jersey
Avaya is a multinational tech company offering cloud communications and workstream collaboration tools. The company’s top-selling product is the Avaya Experience Platform, a cloud-based contact center solution. In May 2023, Avaya exited from bankruptcy with around $650 million in liquidity after restructuring its business and debt. [6]
Avaya offers videoconferencing software, collaboration tools, and apps to help organizations manage contact centers and has over 90,000 customers. In June 2023, Avaya introduced new capabilities to enhance its Enterprise Cloud and Experience Platform. Avaya’s innovative solutions can poach some customers from Five9. [7]
5. RingCentral MVP
Year founded: 1999
Headquarter: Belmont, California
RingCentral is a leading cloud-based communication and collaboration solution provider. It offers RingCentral MVP, which combines message, video, and phone. In Q1 2023, the company introduced new enhancements and features for RingCentral MVP. [8]
RingCentral’s cloud-based solutions combine phone, messaging, video meetings, and contact center platforms. In May 2023, a Forrester Consulting TEI study revealed the economic benefits of RingCentral’s solutions. Customers achieved a 211% ROI over three years after integrating RingCentral MVP and RingCentral Contact Center. RingCentral is a formidable competitor for Five9. [9]
6. Vonage
Year founded: 2001
Headquarter: Holmdel, New Jersey
Vonage is a leading cloud communications provider owned by Ericsson. Customers can integrate video, voice, chat, messaging, AI, and verification into their workflows and systems using Vonage’s fully programmable platform. According to Gartner, Vonage Contact Center has 4.5 stars out of 5 from 7 ratings.
Vonage offers solutions to help businesses accelerate digital transformation. Customers can use the Vonage conversational commerce app to create AI-powered omnichannel experiences to increase sales and customer satisfaction. In September 2023, Vonage was named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS). It was one of only two vendors recognized in CPaaS, UCaaS, and CCaaS Magic Quadrant reports. Vonage is one of the top competitors for Five9. [10]
7. 8×8 Inc.
Year founded: 1987
Headquarter: Campbell, California
8×8 is a leading SaaS business communications provider. The company offers 8×8 XCaaS (eXperience CaaS), an integrated contact center, voice and video, chat, and SMS platform. In 2022, 8×8 had around 2,200 employees.
8×8 eliminates the silos between UCaaS and CCaaS to improve employee communications and collaboration. In May 2023, the company won TrustRadius’ Top Rated Awards in the Contact Center, Call Center Workforce Optimization, VoIP, and UCaaS categories. 8×8 is one of the best alternatives to Five9. [11]
8. 3CX
Year founded: 2005
Headquarter: Nicosia, Cyprus
3CX is an open-standards communications solution. The platform offers a contact center, live chat, and call center infrastructure. In July 2023, 3CX won 1st place in the telephone systems category in Germany’s Connect Professional’s Products of the Year. [12]
3CX replaces proprietary PBXs and enhances business connectivity and collaboration by integrating video conferencing, live chat, apps, and the web. In August 2023, G2 awarded 45 badges to 3CX in its summer 2023 report. 3CX is one of the best alternatives to Five9. [13]
9. Verint Systems
Year founded: 2002
Headquarter: Huntington, New York
Verint is an analytics company offering customer engagement management and business intelligence solutions. Its products help businesses improve customer experiences and reduce operating costs. As of September 2023, Verint served over 10,000 organizations in 175 countries. Its clientele includes around 85 of the Fortune 100 companies.
Verint’s customer engagement platform helps businesses leverage data and AI to maximize CX automation. In September 2023, Verint was recognized in the CRM Industry Leader Awards. The company was named a leading provider in contact center interaction analytics, CCI, and workforce engagement management. Verint is one of the top competitors for Five9. [14]
10. Twilio
Year founded: 2008
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
Twilio is a leading customer engagement platform (CEP). It helps companies build and nurture personalized relationships with their customers globally. As of September 2023, Twilio employed 5,905 people.
Twilio helps companies leverage communications, data, and intelligence across the customer journey to drive sales growth. Hundreds of thousands of businesses in 180 countries use Twilio to deliver the best customer experiences. In September 2023, Twilio was named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CPaaS. The company introduced CustomerAI to unlock AI benefits for businesses. Twilio is one of the top competitors for Five9. [15]
11. UJET
Year founded: 2015
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
UJET is a cloud contact center platform. Its award-winning CX Intercloud boosts cloud contact centers’ scalability, security, and reliability. As of June 2023, UJET served innovative brands like Instacart, Turo, Atom Tickets, and Wag!
UJET offers a digital engagement suite with AI capabilities and advanced analytics. It helps organizations, agents, and supervisors enhance operational efficiency, interaction quality, and mission-critical stability. In June 2023, UJET won Cloud-Based CX Solution of the Year at the 2023 CCW Excellence Awards. UJET is one of the best alternatives to Five9. [16]
12. JustCall
Year founded: 2016
Headquarter: Palo Alto, California
JustCall is a contact center software solution offered by SaaSLabs, a fast-growing startup backed by Sequoia Capital. It competes against Five9 across five categories: autodialer, contact center, CCW, CCI, and live chat. In June 2023, the company unveiled JustCall iQ, an AI-driven conversational intelligence platform that caters to SMBs. [17]
JustCall iQ leverages AI to provide real-time coaching and sentiment analysis, allowing call center agents to optimize performance quickly. The platform uses an AI bot to automate call recording and transcribing. SMBs, like Apollo Insurance and Newity, use JustCall iQ to gain insights into customer interactions and improve operational efficiencies. JustCall iQ is an innovative alternative to Five9.
13. Zoom
Year founded: 2011
Headquarter: San Jose, California
Zoom is a global video conferencing vendor. The video telephony company offers a contact center as a service (CCaaS) platform. As of September 2023, Zoom has over 8,400 employees.
Zoom started as a videotelephony app and expanded into the CCaaS market. In September 2023, the company also added workforce optimization and management tools to its CCaaS platform. Teams can use generative AI and automation to analyze customer interactions to pinpoint areas of improvement. These capabilities increase Zoom’s competitive advantage over Five9. [18]
14. CloudTalk
Year founded: 2018
Headquarter: Bratislava, Slovakia
CloudTalk is a remote-ready cloud call center software provider. The company serves sales and customer support teams. According to G2, CloudTalk has a 4.3-star rating out of 5 from 798 reviews.
The main selling point of CloudTalk is its seamless integration with CRMs and helpdesks. This feature enhances the visibility of the customer or prospect base for sales reps and agents. In February 2023, G2 named CloudTalk the Best Software for Customer Service. CloudTalk is a worthy alternative to Five9. [19]
15. Aircall
Year founded: 2014
Headquarter: Paris, France, and New York City, New York
Aircall is a cloud-based business phone and call center software provider. The company has over 600 employees and offices in Paris, New York, London, Sydney, Madrid, and Berlin. Since its founding, Aircall has raised over $226 million in funding.
Aircall offers a call center, phone system, and voice platform that integrates seamlessly with productivity tools and helpdesks. In December 2021, Aircall became a unicorn after a $120-million Series D funding round increased its valuation to over $1 billion. The company has over 10,000 customers in over 100 countries and is a fast-growing competitor for Five9. [20]
16. Calabrio, Inc.
Year founded: 1995
Headquarter: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Calabrio is a workforce performance company. It offers Calabrio ONE and Teleopti WFM, which compete against Five9. In September 2023, Calabrio was named an Exemplary Vendor in Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Agent Management. [21]
Calabrio ONE helps businesses analyze and understand customer-employee interactions. The platform leverages data, AI-fueled analytics, and automation to maximize performance and workforce efficiency. In June 2023, Calabrio won Workforce Innovation of the Year at the CCW Excellence Awards. Calabrio is an innovative competitor for Five9. [22]
17. WalkMe
Year founded: 2011
Headquarter: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
WalkMe is a SaaS company specializing in digital adoption platform (DAP) and workforce engagement management. The company went public via a $286 million IPO on NASDAQ in June 2021 at a $2.5 billion valuation. In 2023, WalkMe laid off 10% of its staff, including 43 employees in January and 112 workers in April. [23]
WalkMe switched its focus in early 2023 by reducing its activity with SMBs and doubling down on organizations with over 500 employees. The company is best known as a DAP provider. In September 2023, WalkMe was named a Leader and Star Performer in Everest’s DAP Products PEAK Matrix assessment. WalkMe is a worthy alternative to Five9. [24]
18. OpenText
Year founded: 1991
Headquarter: Waterloo, Canada
OpenText is a Canadian software company offering enterprise information management. Its OpenText Qfiniti solution has a 4.2-star rating on Gartner.com and competes with Five9. In January 2023, OpenText had 24,100 employees.
Organizations use OpenText Qfiniti for quality monitoring in BPO-like environments. The solution helps users review and analyze interactions and attain data-driven feedback. In August 2023, the company unveiled opentext.ai and AI-powered products, including OpenText Aviator and IDOL. OpenText is a worthy alternative to Five9. [25]
19. Mitel Networks Corporation
Year founded: 1971
Headquarter: Ottawa, Canada
Mitel is a world leader in business communications. It offers VoIP, UCaaS, collaboration, and contact center solutions. As of May 2023, Mitel served customers in over 100 countries and powered over 2 billion business connections.
Mitel offers MiContact to help companies engage with remote teams and monitor customer interactions. It also provides hardware for contact centers and workforce management. In May 2023, Mitel’s 6900w IP Phone series won the Unified Communications Product of the Year Award from TMC. Mitel is one of the top competitors for Five9. [26]
20. Enghouse Interactive
Year founded: 1984
Headquarter: Phoenix, Arizona
Enghouse Interactive is a business communications arm of Enghouse Systems. Its parent company is a vertical enterprise software provider. On Gartner.com, Enghouse’s workforce optimization product has a 4.5-star rating out of 5.
Enghouse offers contact centers, video communications, and workforce optimization tools. In February 2023, the company acquired Qumu and Navita. Qumu provides a video engagement platform for video creation, content management, and highly scalable delivery solutions. This acquisition increases Enghouse’s competitive advantage over Five9. [27]
21. Sharpen Technologies, Inc.
Year founded: 2011
Headquarter: Indianapolis, Indiana
Sharpen is an omnichannel cloud contact center platform. The company offers voice and software solutions. According to Gartner, Sharpen’s workforce engagement management product only has 3.0 stars out of 5 from 1 customer rating.
SharpenCX offers an all-in-one unified contact center platform with two portals to handle IVR and telecommunications. In May 2023, Sharpen acquired omnichannel messaging software provider Webtext to enhance its agent-first solutions and analytics backbone. Sharpen is an emerging competitor for Five9. [28]
References & more information
- Five9 (2023, Aug 7). Five9 Named a Leader in the 2023 Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service. Yahoo Finance
- Main, K. (2023, May 31). Five9 Review: Features, Pricing & More. Forbes
- Genesys (2023, Aug 9). Genesys Named a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service for Ninth Consecutive Year. PRNewswire
- Talkdesk, Inc. (2023, Aug 9). Talkdesk Secures #8 Spot in Forbes’ Cloud 100 list for 2023. Talkdesk.com
- NICE (2023, Sep 20). NICE CXone Summer 2023 Release unlocks new levels of openness and flexibility to deliver CX at scale. Business Wire
- Kerner, S. (2023, Jun 23). “Avaya is back,” the CEO declares. A look at its rise from bankruptcy. SDX Central
- Deutscher, M. (2023, Jun 19). Avaya debuts new cloud capabilities at Engage 2023. Silicon Angle
- Kirstel, E. (2023, Mar 20). RingCentral Q1 2023 Feature Drop: Enhancing Communications for a Better Enterprise Experience. Telecom Reseller
- RingCentral (2023, May 31). A new Study shows that using RingCentral MVP and Contact Center together helps customers realize an ROI of 211% over three years. Business Wire
- Vonage (2023, Sep 21). Vonage Positioned a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Communications Platform as a Service. Business Wire
- 8×8, Inc. (2023, May 23). 8×8 Contact Center Wins TrustRadius 2023 Top-Rated Awards. Business Wire
- Kogel, M. (2023, Jul 25). 3CX is Product of the Year 2023! 3CX.com
- Leventis, C. (2023, Aug 9). 3CX Leads Across 5 Categories in G2 Summer 2023 Reports. 3CX.com
- Verint (2023, Sep 13). Verint Open CCaaS Platform Recognized for Innovation in the 2023 CRM Industry Leader Awards. Business Wire
- Twilio, Inc. (2023, Sep 22). Twilio was recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Magic Quadrant for CPaaS. Twilio.com
- UJET, Inc. (2023, Jun 21). UJET Wins Cloud-Based CX Solution of the Year at 2023 CCW Excellence Awards. Business Wire
- Dey, V. (2023, Jun 15). JustCall launches an AI-driven platform to improve call center ops via sentiment analysis. VentureBeat
- Reines, M. (2023, Sep 18). Zoom releases work management tools for the contact center. TechTarget
- CloudTalk (2023, Feb 9). CloudTalk named Best Software for 2023 in G2’s Customer Service Products category. LinkedIn
- Aircall (2021, Dec 15). Aircall Gains 26% Revenue Growth in North America 6 months after $120M Series D Funding. Business Wire
- Calabrio (2023, Sep 14). Calabrio Named an Exemplary Vendor in Ventana Research Buyers Guide 2023: Agent Management. Business Wire
- Calabrio (2023, Jun 21). Calabrio Awarded Workforce Innovation of the Year at Customer Contact Week Excellence Awards. Business Wire
- Shulman, S. (2023, Apr 19). WalkMe axes another 112 employees, reducing the workforce by 10%. Calcalis Tech
- WalkMe Inc. (2023, Sep 28). WalkMe Named A Leader and Star Performer in Everest Group DAP PEAK Matrix Assessment 2023. FOX 2
- Open Text Corporation (2023, Aug 3). OpenText Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Results. PRNewswire
- Mitel (2023, May 3). Mitel’s new IP Phone Series wins the 2023 Unified Communications Product of the Year Award. Business Wire
- Enghouse Systems (2023, Jun 13). Enghouse Releases Second Quarter Results. Yahoo Finance
- FS Staff (2023, May 24). Sharpen Technologies Acquires Webtext. Fin-SMEs
- Featured Image by Arlington Research
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