Top Five9 Alternatives and Competitors in 2025

Five9 has a capable, enterprise-grade contact center platform. As an early company in the CCaaS space, Five9 has deep domain knowledge that is known across the industry.

Yet, even with its leadership position, smart technology leaders consistently look into Five9 alternatives.

Why?

Well, some users mention poor audio at times, dropped calls, and general bugs. And aside from the pricing model was also mentioned to be a little complex.

The best Five9 alternatives take on this common problem directly with enterprise-grade features and, in some cases, a lot more transparency in pricing. We’ll cover these Five9 competitors and alternatives in detail to help you make your choice.

What is Five9?

Five9 was one of the first companies to supply contact center solutions over the cloud. This happened long before CCaaS became a standard term, making them a pioneer in the field.

Five9 goes up against many other industry heavyweights like Genesys and NICE CXone. Its go-to-market plan is built around its Intelligent CX Platform. 

This platform uses a proprietary Genius AI. The AI helps to arrange a more proactive and personalized customer journey. The company's importance was shown by a notable $14.7 billion acquisition agreement with Zoom in 2021

Five9 Pros and Cons

Benefits of Five9

• Platform Stability. Users frequently praise Five9 for its back-end stability and high uptime. This performance lines up with its 99.999 percent guarantee.
• Good Support and Ease of Use. At the administrative level, the platform is often found to be intuitive. Many find it easy to learn. The vendor's support is pointed out as a major strength. Setup teams are described as responsive. They are also seen as genuinely helpful partners.
• Practical AI. The company puts an emphasis on Practical AI. This method aims for real business outcomes instead of just technology hype. Its AI tools, particularly the IVA, are backed up by users in the healthcare industry. They say the tools genuinely improve patient experience and operational results.
• Effective Outbound Dialing. A traditional strength, the platform has four adjustable dialing modes. These modes are predictive, progressive, power, and preview. User reviews on G2 consistently rate the Preview Dialing feature as a standout function.
• Full WEM Suite. Five9 has a complete Workforce Engagement Management suite. This is made up of Quality Management and Gamification. G2 has recognized Five9 as a Leader in the WEM category. G2 praises its overall ease of use.

Limitations of Five9

• Agent Tool Instability. The most significant and persistent weakness is the agent-facing toolset. Agent-centric forums are filled with complaints of poor audio quality. Users also talk about dropped calls, echoes, and a buggy softphone. This points to a flaw in the client application that directly gets in the way of productivity.
  
• Difficult Connections. Despite promoting an open API, users talk about significant difficulties with connections to other systems. The Salesforce connection is a common point of frustration. Users describe it as over-promised and under-delivered. They also say it is plagued by technical glitches.
  
• Split Pricing Structure. The entry-level pricing pushes you to make a choice. The Digital plan for chat and email leaves out voice. The main plan is voice-only. This split forces businesses to immediately move up to a more expensive tier. This is needed to get true omnichannel features. This setup makes the total cost of ownership more complicated.
  
• Dated Reporting. Some users find the reporting system to be old. One review compared it to Crystal Reports. Access to advanced analytics is restricted to higher-tier plans. This is a limitation for data-heavy companies.
  
• Inconsistent Support Quality. In contrast to the praise, a subset of users reports unresponsive or lacking support. This suggests the quality of support may depend on the customer's size or contract level. A smaller company may not get the same white-glove partnership experience.

10 Best Five9 Alternatives and Competitors

1. Thunai

Your CCaaS platform is strong, but its AI is limited. Your virtual agents lean on static scripts. They cannot carry out real actions. This pushes simple issues up to live agents. Your company's knowledge is spread out across documents, videos, and slide decks. This makes it impossible for any system to give truly intelligent answers. Thunai sorts out this exact problem.

Thunai should not be seen as a direct replacement for Five9. Instead, its service is defined as agentic experience middleware. You could also call it an Agentic AI Platform. Its position is to function as an intelligent AI layer.

This layer links with and improves your existing enterprise systems. These systems include CCaaS platforms like Five9, CRMs like Salesforce, and ITSM tools like ServiceNow. This technology is supplemental. The design is meant to augment your CX stack, not replace it.

This is the best Five9 alternative for companies wanting to add a capable AI automation layer to their existing contact center.

Key Features:

• Thunai Brain. This is the Five9 alternative’s central intelligence system. This system acts as a smart knowledge management system. It takes in and works through information from multiple sources and formats. These include documents, presentations, audio files, and videos. The system is specifically designed to cut down on internal contradictions. This helps to prevent AI hallucinations.
• Specialized AI Agents. The platform's functionality is sent out through distinct agents. Each has a specialized purpose. A Voice Agent carries out calls automatically. A Chat Agent answers queries without static scripts. An Email Agent kicks off workflows. An Application Agent turns documents into automated actions.
• Action-Based Workflow Automation. A key differentiator is the platform's ability to carry out real actions within other systems. Unlike simple chatbots, Thunai's agents can natively handle tasks. For example, they can book a meeting on a calendar. They can also update a lead's status in a CRM. They do this without needing external automation tools like Zapier.
• Different Pricing Model. Thunai bills for AI use and storage, not for user access. Every plan, including the free tier, comes with unlimited seats. This is a different economic proposition compared to the incumbent per-agent licensing model.

How Thunai Augments Your Existing Contact Center

Thunai acts as a capable AI augmentation layer for your existing technology stack. A company using Genesys for call routing can use Thunai to take on complex automation. The Thunai Brain takes in the company's entire knowledge base. 

This information operates its autonomous agents. When a customer calls, Thunai's Voice Agent can handle tasks like troubleshooting or setting up meetings. The agent performs the actions directly in your backend systems. 

This Five9 alternative is a forward-looking method for building a next-generation, AI-based customer service operation.

2. Nice CXone

NICE is an undisputed global leader in the CCaaS market. In fact, NICE has even been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for eleven consecutive years. The CCaaS company aims for large enterprise customers with its CXone platform.

CXone is a complete, unified platform. The design is meant to bring together omnichannel routing, WEM, analytics, and AI into a single, proven workhorse at enterprise scale.

This is one of the best Five9 alternatives for large enterprises needing a complete, all-in-one platform with deep customization.

Key Features:

• Enlighten AI. The Five9 competitor is infused with NICE's proprietary AI engine. This engine operates features like Enlighten Copilot for agent assistance. The AI uses over 1,000 pre-built models. The models are made for the nuances of CX interactions.
• Complete WEM Suite. NICE has one of the industry's most complete WEM suites. The suite is made up of AI-based forecasting and scheduling. It also has a Quality Management solution. The QM solution can automatically check 100 percent of all agent interactions.
• Effective Omnichannel Routing. A main strength is its universal queue. The queue intelligently routes all interactions, regardless of channel, to the best agent. The platform frequently gets good feedback for its strong digital-first tooling for managing chat, email, and social media.

Pros:

• A strong, feature-rich platform that successfully brings together all important contact center functions. This cuts down on vendor complexity.
• The underlying Five9 alternative platform is widely looked at as stable and dependable at enterprise scale.
• The platform is purpose-built to take on the complexity of large, global companies. These companies require deep, connected functionality.

Cons:

• This top Five9 alternative’s immense breadth of features leads to a steep learning curve. The platform is often too much for simpler needs.
• Pricing is consistently called out for being complex, opaque, and expensive. This requires careful TCO modeling.
• A successful setup depends heavily on the assigned team. This leads to what users call a high-risk setup lottery.

RingCentral

RingCentral is a dominant global leader in the UCaaS market. This top Five9 alternative uses this position to supply an all-in-one AI-based communications platform. Its key market differentiator is a single, unified solution. 

This solution works for both internal employee collaboration with RingEX and external customer engagement with RingCX. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses looking to bring together their communication stacks with one vendor.

This is the best Five9 alternative for businesses wanting to bring together their internal and external communications with a single vendor.

Key Features:

• Unified UCaaS and CCaaS. The native connection between RingEX and RingCX is the main feature. The connection allows contact center agents to easily team up in real-time with back-office experts. This helps to sort out customer issues faster.
• Global Voice and Stability. Using its extensive history, RingCentral gives a highly dependable global voice network. The network has a 99.999 percent uptime SLA. This strong telephony backbone is a significant asset.
• RingSense AI. This Five9 alternative platform gives real-time call transcriptions. It also gives automated summaries and sentiment analysis. The platform has AI-based coaching tools for supervisors across all RingCentral products.

Pros:

• Users consistently praise the platform's stability and clear call quality. This comes from its mature global network.
• The Five9 alternative is frequently described as user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to administer.
• The ability to smoothly hand over a live call from a desktop app to a mobile device is highly valued.

Cons:

• A significant and recurring complaint has to do with predatory contract practices. Users mention aggressive auto-renewal clauses. These clauses lock users into new multi-year terms.
• A substantial number of users describe a frustrating call center experience. They mention poor customer service and a lack of resolution.
• Multiple users talk about recurring billing errors. These errors require a long and arduous process to get credits issued.

Genesys

Genesys is a perennial leader in the CCaaS market. The company is recognized for its AI-Powered Experience Orchestration.

This top Five9 alternative aims for mid-market to very large global enterprises. Its main service, Genesys Cloud CX, is an all-in-one, API-first platform built on AWS.

The platform often stands out for its strong journey management functions. It also stands out for its highly expandable, open platform.

This is the best Five9 alternative for global enterprises with complex routing needs that require AI-based journey orchestration.

Key Features:

• Journey Orchestration. A main strength of Genesys is its tools. These tools let businesses link up data from different systems. This lets them visualize and optimize end-to-end customer journeys.
• Advanced AI and Automation. AI is deeply built in. The platform includes features like Predictive Routing. This matches customers to the best-fit agent. Agent Copilot gives real-time assistance. This top Five9 alternative also has advanced Speech and Text Analytics.
• Open Platform and Connections. Built with an API-first architecture, the platform is highly extensible. The intuitive, drag-and-drop Architect tool is for designing IVR flows. The tool frequently gets good feedback from technical users for its power and ease of use.

Pros:

• Users consistently describe the platform as strong, stable, and highly expandable. Uptime goes well past five 9s.
• Technical users praise the Genesys Architect flow builder. They call the builder an intuitive tool. It simplifies complex routing configuration.
• Many users talk about a smooth and logical setup process. The process can be done with minimal vendor support.

Cons:

• A recurring complaint is the poor quality of Genesys customer support. The support can take a long time to sort out important tickets.
• Users talk about persistent audio problems. These problems include static, dropped calls, and a noticeable 2-second delay. This delay leads to people talking over each other.
• Some users find the native WFM features to be very poor. They say the features lack essential functions like capacity planning.

Amazon Connect

Amazon Connect is a unique player. The CCaaS is positioned as a highly flexible, expandable, and customizable builder's platform. Amazon Connect is built on the same technology that operates Amazon.com's own customer service operations.

The Five9 alternative platform is ideal for companies with existing AWS expertise. Its disruptive pay-as-you-go pricing model makes it an attractive option. The option is good for businesses of all sizes wanting to get around per-agent license fees.

This is the best Five9 alternative for technically proficient companies with in-house AWS expertise seeking a customizable builder's platform.

Key Features:

• Pay-As-You-Go Pricing. A fundamental differentiator is its usage-based billing. Costs are based on use, such as per-minute for voice. Costs are not based on per-agent licenses. This top Five9 alternative can be highly cost-effective for businesses with changing demand or many part-time agents.
• Deep AWS Ecosystem Connection. Its greatest strength is its native connection with the entire suite of AWS services. This allows for nearly limitless customization. This is done by triggering services like AWS Lambda or storing data in Amazon S3.
• Contact Lens AI. This feature gives ML-based conversational analytics. The analytics include transcription, sentiment analysis, and automated contact categorization. Amazon Q in Connect is a generative AI assistant for agents.

Pros:

• Universally well-liked for its ability to grow. Users also like this Five9 alternative’s smooth connection with the AWS ecosystem.
• The pay-as-you-go model is a major draw. The model is seen as highly cost-effective and flexible.
• The drag-and-drop interface for building contact flows is looked at as intuitive. This allows for quick setup of basic call experiences.

Cons:

• As one user pointed out, AWS is for builders. Moving past basic functionality requires developer resources. It also requires in-house technical skills.
• The platform is seen as barebones out of the box. The platform requires custom setup or third-party tools for features like WFM or voicemail.
• Despite being built on AWS, some users talk about fundamental stability problems. These problems include randomly dropped calls and DNS issues.

Talkdesk

Talkdesk is a global cloud contact center leader. This CCaaS sets itself up as an AI-first innovator. Talkdesk is breaking new ground in a category it calls Customer Experience Automation. 

Targeting customers from SMBs to large enterprises, the Five9 alternative plays up speed and agility. It also plays up a consumer-simple user experience combined with enterprise-grade scale.

This is the best Five9 alternative for mid-market companies that value a modern user experience and AI automation.

Key Features:

• Customer Experience Automation. A key differentiator is its work on automation. The platform uses a system of specialized AI agents. These agents carry out complex workflows automatically across both front- and back-office functions.
• Industry-Specific Clouds. Talkdesk has pre-built Experience Clouds made for industries like healthcare and retail. These solutions come with pre-configured workflows, connections, and compliance features.
• Connections and Customization. The Five9 competitor features over 100 out-of-the-box connections. The platform also gives a suite of low-code and no-code tools called Talkdesk Builder for customization.

Pros:

• A dominant theme in positive reviews is the platform's ease of use. Users mention its clean, intuitive, and easy-to-get-around UI.
• Main functionalities like call recording and routing are looked at as dependable. Its Salesforce connection is a major strength.
• As a cloud-native solution, some users find it has a cleaner user experience compared to legacy vendors.

Cons:

• A significant number of users talk about persistent technical problems. These include frequent call drops, call delays, and software bugs. One Reddit user stated, Stay away from Talkdesk. We've had nothing but problems with them for years.
• Many users talk about slow response times from customer support. They feel that quality can be inconsistent.
• The platform is thought to be expensive. Some users feel that essential features are half-baked or locked behind higher-priced tiers.

Cisco Webex

Cisco positions the Webex Contact Center as a main component of its unified collaboration platform. Its primary market differentiator is giving a single-vendor solution. 

This is one of the top Five9 alternatives for a company's entire communication and collaboration stack. This CCaaS aims for mid-market to large enterprises that value security, stability, and deep connection within the broader Cisco ecosystem.

This is one of the best Five9 competitors for enterprises heavily invested in the Cisco ecosystem, looking for a single-vendor solution.

Key Features:

• Unified Platform and Collaboration. A key strength is the native connection with the Webex App. This expert collaboration lets agents easily kick off calls or chats with back-office subject matter experts. This helps them sort out issues on the first contact.
• AI-Based Experiences. Cisco has a Webex AI Agent for conversational self-service. The company also has a Webex AI Assistant. This assistant gives real-time agent guidance, conversation summaries, and intelligent coaching.
• Security and Stability. Using Cisco's legacy in networking, the platform is built on a foundation of enterprise-grade security. The foundation also includes stability and global growth potential.

Pros:

• Users on G2 praise the Five9 competitor for its stability and clear call quality. This gives a smooth and professional experience.
• The smooth connection with the broader Webex suite is a major advantage. This is for companies looking to bring together vendors.
• The agent desktop is often described as intuitive and user-friendly. The desktop has a modern interface that is easy to pick up.

Cons:

• A recurring complaint is that the Five9 competitor can feel disjointed. This is particularly true for non-voice channels. These channels are less connected than the main voice product.
• When compared to competitors like Genesys, users point out that Webex lacks some advanced features and granular reporting.
• Users moving from Cisco's legacy on-premise solutions say the transition was not very smooth. They say the cloud product feels underdeveloped.

8x8

8x8 gives a single, connected Platform for CX. This platform works for both unified communications and contact center needs. This Five9 alternative primarily goes after SMBs and mid-market enterprises. 8x8 goes up against other connected services like RingCentral. 

The CCaaS does this by giving a cost-effective solution that combines internal and external communications. A key value proposition is its extensive global reach. The platform has unlimited calling to up to 48 countries.

This is the best Five9 alternative for small to mid-sized businesses looking for an affordable, connected communication solution with strong global calling features.

Key Features:

• Connected UCaaS and CCaaS. The standout feature is the native connection of 8x8 Work for UCaaS and 8x8 Contact Center for CCaaS. This makes quick collaboration between agents and other employees possible.
• Global Calling. The Five9 competitor has unlimited international calling to as many as 48 countries depending on the plan. This is a significant value for global businesses.
• Microsoft Teams Connection. 8x8 has a certified contact center solution. The solution uses Direct Routing to add full contact center functionality directly within the Microsoft Teams environment.

Pros:

• Praised as an intuitive and strong all-in-one solution. This is for managing both hard phones and softphones across remote and in-office teams.
• This top Five9 competitor is often described as user-friendly and easy to administer. The application has simple processes for managing users.
• For its feature set, especially with unlimited international calling, 8x8 is often seen as giving good value at a reasonable price.

Cons:

• Terrible Customer Support is the most consistent and severe complaint across all review platforms. Users bring up long wait times and an inability to sort out issues.
• In contrast to some praise, many users talk about frequent outages and instability. These cause major business disruptions.

Dialpad

Dialpad is a strong player in the SMB and mid-market segments. The company sets itself up as the leading AI-based platform. 

This Five9 alternative’s primary value proposition is giving real-time AI insights, transcriptions, and coaching. 

This is meant to improve every conversation. The company seeks to stand out from other connected platforms. The company does this through the depth and real-time nature of its proprietary AI.

This is the best Five9 alternative for SMB and mid-market sales and support teams that value real-time, AI-based insights and coaching.

Key Features:

• Real-Time AI Transcription and Analysis. This Five9 competitor’s Dialpad's standout feature. Its proprietary AI transcribes calls in real-time. This operates live sentiment analysis. It also runs Ai Live Coach Cards that pop up on an agent's screen with guidance.
• Unified App. Dialpad brings together calling, messaging, meetings, and contact center controls. These are all in a single application. This cuts down on app-switching and complexity for users.
• Ease of Use and Setup. This Five9 alternative is consistently praised for its modern, clean interface. Users also like its ease of setup. This makes the platform accessible for users without extensive technical knowledge.

Pros:

• Users consistently laud Dialpad's AI functions. The real-time transcription and call summaries are a key differentiator. They are also a major productivity booster.
• Widely praised for its intuitive, modern interface and simple setup process. This shortens the training curve for new agents.
• The support team is frequently described as outstanding. Users call them responsive, knowledgeable, and proactive in solving problems.

Cons:

• A recurring complaint is inconsistent audio quality. Some users on Gartner talk about muffled sound even on high-speed wired connections.
• While praised, the AI transcription accuracy is not perfect. The accuracy is around 80 percent. This can limit its use for compliance without manual review.
• The Five9 competitor lacks a few advanced call management features common in other enterprise systems. These include call barging, monitoring, and whispering.

CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a voice-centric CCaaS solution. The solution is set up mainly for SMBs. The platform has a strong concentration on sales and support teams. The platform competes by emphasizing an extensive feature set even in lower-tier plans. 

This is one of the top Five9 alternatives that also has strong international calling options and good connection abilities. Its availability of local numbers in over 160 countries makes it an excellent choice for businesses with global operations.

This is the best Five9 alternative for voice-centric sales and support teams in SMBs that have a heavy need for international calling.

Key Features:

• Advanced Calling Features. CloudTalk has a rich set of tools. The platform includes a visual Call Flow Designer for custom IVR. The platform also has skills-based routing and unlimited call queuing.
• Sales Dialers. This Five9 alternative has a strong concentration on outbound sales teams. The platform has a capable AI Sales Dialer. The dialer is made up of multiple modes like Power Dialer and Smart Dialer. The dialer comes with Voicemail Drop to improve agent results.
• International Reach. A key differentiator is its extensive global presence. The platform has local numbers in over 160 countries. This makes the platform an excellent choice for businesses with international customer bases.

Pros:

• Praised for giving advanced features like smart dialers and analytics on its entry-level plans. Five9 competitors often gate these features behind expensive tiers.
• The interface is often described as user-friendly. The platform has a drag-and-drop call flow designer that simplifies the creation of complex IVR menus.
• The availability of local numbers in over 160 countries is a major advantage for global businesses.

Cons:

• In a starkly negative review, a Director of Customer Service described their interaction as the worst vendor experience of my 20 year career. This suggests a significant risk in vendor stability.
• The pricing model is heavily called out for its many hidden costs. These costs are for features like AI and unlimited recording storage. These can significantly increase the TCO.
• The entry-level plan is seen as extremely limited. This forces an upgrade to the more expensive Essential plan to get main contact center functionality.

Five9 Alternatives and Competitors Compared

The financial investment in a CCaaS platform goes way past the advertised per-user price. A planned analysis of the Total Cost of Ownership requires understanding the three main pricing models used by the vendors in this report.

1. The Tiered, Per-User Model. This Five9 alternative is the standard SaaS model. This model is put in place by Five9, NICE CXone, Genesys, and most others. Its primary challenge is feature gating. This is where important functions like omnichannel support or AI are reserved for higher, more expensive tiers. This can make entry-level plans seem affordable but functionally incomplete. This forces upgrades that significantly increase TCO.
2. The Usage-Based, Pay-as-you-go Model. Championed by Amazon Connect, this model gets around per-user licenses entirely. Instead, the Five9 alternative bills are based on actual use, like per minute for voice or per message for chat. This gives unparalleled flexibility. But the model comes with the risk of unpredictable costs. The model also requires a more complex calculation to find out the fully loaded cost.
3. The Hybrid and Augmentation Model. Represented by Thunai, this distinct model is not a full CCaaS solution. But its pricing philosophy is disruptive. Pricing is based on AI use and storage. The model uniquely has unlimited seats across all plans. By billing for the value of the AI's work instead of for human access, the model presents a highly effective way to augment an existing CCaaS investment.

Why Choose Thunai for AI Support and Automation

For the AI-forward innovator whose primary goal is to push the boundaries of automation, the best method is a hybrid one. This means augmenting a best-in-class CCaaS platform with Thunai.

Thunai changes your customer experience with an agentic AI layer. This layer sorts out problems traditional CCaaS platforms cannot. The platform goes past simple chatbots to deploy autonomous AI agents. 

These agents carry out real, multi-step workflows in your existing software. They are operated by a central Brain that picks up information from your company's entire knowledge base.

• Execute, Don't Just Escalate. Thunai's agents carry out real tasks. They can qualify leads in your CRM. They can also create support tickets in your ITSM tool. They do this without human intervention.
• Create a Single Source of Truth. The Thunai Brain takes in and understands everything from documents and slide decks to videos. The Brain creates a unified intelligence system. This system gives instant, accurate answers and gets rid of information silos.
• Deploy Advanced AI Cost-Effectively. Thunai’s disruptive unlimited seat pricing model lets you give your entire workforce its functions. You can do this without paying prohibitive per-user license fees. You pay for the value the AI delivers, not for human access.
• Augment, Don't Replace. Thunai is designed to link with and improve your current CCaaS platform. The platform adds a capable layer of automation and intelligence to your existing investment. This is a forward-looking plan for building a next-generation, AI-based customer service operation.

FAQs on Five9 Alternatives

What are the main disadvantages of Five9?

The most significant disadvantages are the persistent complaints about its front-end agent tools. These tools suffer from poor audio quality and bugginess. This is very different from its back-end stability. Other major issues include difficult third-party connections, particularly with Salesforce. 

How much does Five9 cost?

Five9's pricing starts at approximately $149 per user per month. This entry-level price, however, is for either a voice-only plan or a digital-only plan. To get true omnichannel functions like voice, email, and chat, you must move up to the Premium plan at $169 per user per month which can be expensive for a full team.

What is the difference between Five9 and a platform like RingCentral?

The main difference is their market position. Five9 is a dedicated, enterprise-focused Contact Center as a Service leader. The company is known for its deep, standalone feature set. RingCentral is a dominant leader in Unified Communications as a Service. Its key strength is giving a single, tightly connected platform. This platform is for both internal employee collaboration and external customer engagement.

What is an AI augmentation platform like Thunai?

An AI augmentation platform like Thunai is not a standalone contact center. Instead, the platform acts as an intelligent AI layer. This layer connects with and improves existing CCaaS and CRM systems. The platform uses a central knowledge base to operate autonomous AI agents. These agents can carry out complex workflows automatically and execute real tasks. This is a function that goes a step beyond typical built-in virtual agents.