Gong Pricing Guide: Per-User Costs, Platform Fees, Implementation & Volume Discounts

Q1: What is Gong and Why Are Companies Evaluating Its Pricing in 2025? [toc=Why Companies Evaluate Gong]

Gong launched in 2015 as a conversation intelligence pioneer, transforming how sales teams analyzed customer interactions by automatically recording, transcribing, and extracting insights from sales calls. By 2018-2020, it had established itself as the category leader, with enterprise sales organizations adopting it to coach reps, improve win rates, and gain visibility into deal progression. However, as we enter 2025, Gong's pricing has become increasingly opaque and complex, driving buyers to search for transparent cost breakdowns before committing to six-figure contracts.

The market has fundamentally shifted. What worked for Gong in the pre-generative AI era—complex implementations, manual coaching workflows, and multi-tool stacks requiring constant human intervention—now faces scrutiny from CFOs and RevOps leaders demanding clearer ROI justification.

⚠️ Why Gong's Pricing is So Hard to Pin Down

Unlike modern SaaS tools with transparent pricing pages, Gong operates on a quote-based model where costs vary dramatically based on team size, modules selected, contract length, and negotiation leverage. Buyers report quoted prices ranging from $146/user/month for small teams to $238/user/month for bundled enterprise deployments—a 63% variance that creates confusion and budgeting uncertainty.

The pricing structure itself has evolved significantly:

• 2018-2023: Professional ($160/user/month) and Enterprise tiers with clearer separation
• 2024-2025: New "Foundation" model (~$120/user/month base) with aggressive bundling pushing total costs to $250/user/month when Engage and Forecast modules are included

This shift represents a 56% price increase over two years, coupled with forced bundling that makes purchasing conversation intelligence alone increasingly difficult.

The Legacy SaaS Problem: Why Old Models Don't Work in 2025

Gong's pricing complexity reflects the limitations of pre-generative AI revenue intelligence platforms built in the previous decade. The platform fee model—charging $5,000-$50,000 annually just for "infrastructure access" separate from user licenses—is a legacy SaaS revenue maximization construct that penalizes smaller teams disproportionately.

For a 50-user team, the $10,000 platform fee adds $200/user/year before any licenses are purchased, creating an effective cost of $1,419/user/year vs. the quoted $1,298/user base rate. Multi-year contract locks (typically 2-3 years with annual prepayment), 5-15% automatic renewal uplifts, and steep early termination penalties (50-100% of remaining contract value) trap buyers into escalating costs with limited flexibility.

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term. Gong is a really powerful tool but it's probably the highest end option on the market, and now we're stuck with a tool that works technically but isn't the right business decision."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing & Sales Partnerships, Mid-Market Company (G2 Review)

💸 The Hidden Cost Problem Buyers Discover Too Late

First-year costs frequently double the initial quote due to mandatory implementation services ($15,000-$65,000), platform fees, and forced bundling. A 100-user deployment quoted at $117,000 for licenses balloons to $194,000-$236,000 when all Year 1 costs are included.

"While Gong offers valuable insights into call data and sales interactions, our experience has been impacted by significant data access limitations...This lack of flexibility has required us to engage our development team at additional cost, adding significant operational and opportunity costs just to extract data we already own."
— Neel P., Sales Operations Manager, Small Business (G2 Review)

The Generative AI Era: What Buyers Now Expect

The 2024-2025 emergence of generative AI-native platforms has fundamentally reset buyer expectations around revenue intelligence pricing and deployment. Modern LLM-powered platforms eliminate the infrastructure overhead that justified platform fees, enable true modularity without forced bundling (since AI agents operate independently), and deploy in days rather than months through autonomous configuration.

Buyers now expect:

• ✅ Transparent, published pricing without requiring sales calls
• ✅ Zero platform fees regardless of team size
• ✅ Flexible month-to-month or annual contracts without multi-year locks
• ✅ Free implementation and migration services
• ✅ Modular pricing where you pay only for features you use

Traditional conversation intelligence tools like Gong rely on keyword-based Smart Trackers and basic machine learning that struggle with contextual understanding—mistaking "we're looking at Salesforce" for "we're actively evaluating Salesforce as a competitor". This creates false positives requiring constant manual review, undermining the automation promise that justified the investment.

"AI is not great yet - the product still feels like it's at its infancy and needs to be developed further"
— Annabelle H., Director - Board of Directors, Enterprise (G2 Review)

How Oliv.ai Represents the Next Generation

Oliv.ai is built generative AI-native from the ground up, representing a fundamental architectural shift from legacy SaaS tools. Rather than software you must learn and manually operate, Oliv deploys autonomous AI agents that perform revenue intelligence work for you—eliminating the adoption friction and manual overhead that plague Gong implementations.

Oliv's Transparent Pricing Model:

• Starter: $19/user/month (Gong CI replacement—call recording, transcription, AI summaries)
• Standard: $59/user/month (meeting insights for Sales, TA, CS)
• Supreme: $99/user/month (complete deal scorecards, all AI agents)

Zero hidden fees: No platform fees. No implementation charges. No migration costs. No multi-year locks. No renewal uplifts.

🤖 Agentic Automation vs. Manual Tools

While Gong requires sales managers to manually review calls, build trackers, and prepare forecast reports, Oliv's AI agents work autonomously:

• Forecaster Agent: Automatically generates one-page weekly forecast reports with deal risk analysis, eliminating the Monday morning forecast prep meetings that consume 4+ manager hours weekly
• Coach Agent: Continuously analyzes rep performance against best practices, auto-generates personalized coaching plans, and identifies skill gaps without manager review
• CRM Manager Agent: Handles post-call data entry, field updates, and relationship mapping in seconds, maintaining CRM hygiene as the single source of truth
• Prospector Agent: Performs deep account research, builds customized outreach strategies, and drafts personalized messages—replacing the manual prospecting workflows that Gong Engage requires

For a 50-user team, first-year costs illustrate the dramatic difference:

• Gong: $77,390-$119,300 (median, including all fees)
• Oliv Supreme: $59,400 (flat, no hidden fees)
• Savings: $17,990-$59,900 (23-50% reduction) with superior AI capabilities

CFO Perspective: "Our 100-user Gong quote came in at $194K first year (licenses + platform + implementation). Year 2 renewal jumped to $220K with a 12% uplift. We switched to Oliv Supreme at $118K/year with zero additional fees—saving us $76K year one, $102K year two, with cumulative $250K+ savings by year three with predictable, flat pricing."

The shift to generative AI-native platforms isn't just about cost—it's about time to value. Gong's 3-6 month implementation cycles with third-party consultants (now costing $50,000+ for teams of just 20 people) create months of delayed ROI. Oliv's AI agents deploy in 2-3 days with autonomous CRM configuration, delivering insights within 48-72 hours of connection.

Q2: How Much Does Gong Actually Cost in 2025? (Quick Answer) [toc=Gong 2025 Costs]

Gong's pricing in 2025 operates on a three-component model that significantly increases total cost beyond the advertised per-user rates. Here's what you'll actually pay:

💰 Core Pricing Components

1. Per-User Licensing (Annual Payment Required)

• Foundation (Core only): $1,298-$1,426/user/year ($108-119/month)
• Bundled (Core + Engage + Forecast): $2,880-$3,000/user/year ($240-250/month)
• Small teams (under 25 users): Pay 80% premium—up to $2,880/user/year due to platform fee distribution

2. Mandatory Platform Fee (Regardless of User Count)

3. Implementation & Professional Services (One-Time Year 1)

⚡ Real-World First-Year Total Costs

⚠️ Key Pricing Facts

✅ No monthly billing option - All contracts require annual or multi-year prepayment
✅ Multi-year discounts are modest - 3-year commitments save only 8-13% vs. annual contracts
✅ Year 2 costs drop - Recurring costs exclude implementation but add 5-15% renewal uplifts
✅ Module add-ons are expensive - Engage adds $530/user/year, Forecast adds $206-410/user/year
✅ Cannot downsize mid-contract - Seat reductions only allowed at renewal, no refunds

🔍 What Drives Your Specific Price

Your final Gong quote depends on:

1. User count - Volume discounts start at 25+ users; below 25, you pay a premium
2. Contract length - 2-3 year commitments unlock 10-15% better pricing
3. Module selection - Bundled (Core+Engage+Forecast) costs 40-60% more than Core alone
4. Implementation complexity - Multi-CRM, custom fields, or data migration add $10K-30K
5. Negotiation leverage - Introducing competitors like Chorus, Avoma, or Jiminny can reduce costs 10-15%

"The estimated price for your requirement is $71,600 [for 30 users with all add-ons]. Buyers typically achieve a price between $61,500-$78,900."
— Vendr Pricing Benchmark Data

How Oliv.ai Pricing Compares

For immediate cost comparison, here's the same team sizes with Oliv.ai Supreme tier (most comparable to Gong bundled):

Oliv.ai includes everything with no hidden fees:

• ✅ Unlimited call recording & transcription
• ✅ AI-powered conversation analytics & deal scorecards
• ✅ Forecasting automation (Forecaster Agent)
• ✅ Coaching automation (Coach Agent)
• ✅ CRM data management (CRM Manager Agent)
• ✅ Zero platform fees (any team size)
• ✅ Zero implementation costs
• ✅ Free historical data migration from Gong

Q3: Gong's Complete Pricing Structure: Three Components, Hidden Costs & What You Actually Pay [toc=Complete Pricing Structure]

Understanding Gong's true cost of ownership requires looking beyond the per-user rate quotes sales reps emphasize. The pricing architecture comprises three distinct layers—per-user licensing, platform fees, and professional services—PLUS hidden costs that frequently double the perceived expense and trap buyers into long-term commitments with limited flexibility.

💸 The Three-Layer Pricing Model Explained

Layer 1: Per-User Annual Licensing

Gong charges per-user annual fees that vary based on team size and selected modules. The 2025 pricing structure centers on "Foundation" as the base product:

Foundation (Core Platform Only):

• Median cost: $1,298/user/year ($108/month) for 50-100 users
• Small team premium: $2,880/user/year ($240/month) for teams under 10 users
• Enterprise discount: $940/user/year ($78/month) for 1,000+ users

Includes: Call recording, transcription, AI conversation analytics, deal insights, coaching tools, CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics), basic reporting

Does NOT include: Gong Engage (sales engagement), Gong Forecast/Forecast Essentials (advanced forecasting), Enable Essentials (enablement features), Data Cloud (BI export)

📊 Volume Discount Breakdown by Tier

Key Insight: Volume discounts only materialize at 25+ users. Below that threshold, the platform fee distribution actually increases effective per-user cost above list price.

Layer 2: Mandatory Platform Fee (Infrastructure Tax)

Gong charges an annual platform fee separate from user licenses, ostensibly covering "infrastructure access, data storage, integrations, and core system functionality". This fee scales with organization size and represents pure overhead that disproportionately impacts smaller teams:

⚠️ The Platform Fee Impact

For a 50-user team paying median pricing:

• Base user license: $64,890/year ($108/user/month)
• Platform fee: $10,000/year ($17/user/month)
• Effective total: $74,890/year ($125/user/month)—a 15% increase before implementation

For a 10-user team, the platform fee penalty is severe:

• Base license quote: $14,400/year ($120/user/month)
• Platform fee: $5,000/year ($42/user/month)
• Effective total: $19,400/year ($162/user/month)—a 35% markup

This legacy SaaS construct creates an artificial minimum spend barrier that makes Gong economically unviable for small teams, regardless of the value delivered.

Layer 3: Implementation & Professional Services (Year 1 Only)

Gong requires mandatory professional services for implementation, with costs scaling based on complexity:

Factors That Increase Implementation Costs:

• ✅ Team size over 100 users
• ✅ Multiple Gong modules (Engage, Forecast, Enablement)
• ✅ Custom CRM integrations beyond standard OAuth
• ✅ Historical data migration from competitors ($5,000-$30,000 additional)
• ✅ Multi-region or multi-instance deployments

"Gong is now actively pushing third-party implementation vendors onto clients. One quote involved a cost of $50,000 for implementation for a team of only 20 people."
— Market Intelligence Report

❌ Hidden Costs That Double Your Bill

Beyond the three core layers, Gong's pricing includes multiple hidden costs that buyers discover post-purchase:

1. Multi-Year Contract Locks

Gong typically requires 2-3 year commitments with annual prepayment, creating significant cash flow impact:

• ✅ No month-to-month option available
• ✅ No quarterly billing - annual payment required upfront within 30 days
• ✅ Multi-year prepayment often required for enterprise deals (e.g., $351,000 paid upfront for 100 users, 3-year term)

Early Termination Penalty: 50-100% of remaining contract value, plus 60-90 days written notice

"It was a big mistake on our part to commit to a two year term...now we're stuck with a tool that works technically but isn't the right business decision...it left me feeling really bad that we're stuck with this purchase and can't free that budget up for things we really do need."
— Iris P., Head of Marketing & Sales Partnerships (G2 Review)

2. Forced Bundling (Engage + Forecast)

Gong aggressively pushes bundled pricing at ~$250/user/month including Engage and Forecast, making unbundled Core-only purchases difficult to obtain. More problematic:

Gong Engage requires Core licenses for EVERY Engage seat, effectively doubling per-user costs for users who need both:

• Core license: $1,298/user/year
• Engage add-on: $530/user/year
• Total for Engage user: $1,828/user/year ($152/month)

"The additional products like forecast or engage come at an additional cost. Would be great to see these tools rolled into the core offering."
— Scott T., Director of Sales (G2 Review)

3. Renewal Price Uplifts (5-15% Annual Increases)

Contracts include automatic renewal clauses with 5-15% annual price increases unless specifically negotiated out:

• Year 1: $117,000 (100 users, core only)
• Year 2: $123,000 (5% increase)
• Year 3: $129,200 (5% compounded increase)
• 3-Year Total: $369,200 vs. $351,000 if flat pricing

Auto-renewal terms require 60-90 days written notice to cancel; failure to notify results in automatic renewal at the uplifted rate.

4. Downsizing Penalties & No Mid-Contract Flexibility

The Legacy SaaS Revenue Maximization Model

This multi-layer pricing with hidden costs is a legacy SaaS construct designed to extract maximum revenue beyond software value. Platform fees penalize smaller teams ($20K for 50 users = $33/user/month overhead) while multi-year locks and renewal uplifts trap buyers into escalating costs. Forced bundling makes unbundled purchases nearly impossible, and downsizing restrictions prevent teams from right-sizing spend when priorities change.

How Generative AI Platforms Eliminate These Costs

Modern generative AI-native platforms remove infrastructure overhead through cloud-native architectures and agent-based automation, eliminating the justification for platform fees, implementation taxes, and forced bundles.

Oliv.ai's Transparent Model:

• Zero platform fees (any team size)
• Zero implementation fees (agents auto-configure via CRM analysis)
• Zero migration costs (free historical Gong data transfer)
• Zero hidden charges (no renewal uplifts, no contract locks)
• Flexible contracts (cancel anytime, no multi-year requirements)
• True modularity (AI agents operate independently—buy only what you need)

Real Cost Comparison: 50-User Team

Year 2-3 Savings Compound:

• Gong Year 2: $68,100 (5% uplift) + $10,000 platform = $78,100
• Gong Year 3: $71,500 (5% uplift) + $10,000 platform = $81,500
• Oliv Year 2-3: $59,400 (flat, no uplifts)
• 3-Year Cumulative Savings: $135,190 (43% total reduction)

CFO Testimonial: "Our 100-user Gong quote came in at $194K first year (licenses + platform + implementation). Year 2 renewal jumped to $220K with a 12% uplift. We switched to Oliv Supreme at $118K/year with zero additional fees—saving us $76K year one, $102K year two, cumulative $250K+ by year three with predictable, flat pricing."

Oliv's agent-based architecture—Forecaster (autonomous forecast generation), Coach (automated rep performance analysis), CRM Manager (instant data hygiene), Prospector (AI-powered account research)—delivers superior automation while eliminating the manual workflows that justify Gong's complex implementation requirements.

For teams evaluating Gong, the true question isn't "Can we afford $120/user/month?"—it's "Can we afford $194K+ first-year costs with locked-in multi-year uplifts, knowing generative AI alternatives deliver better intelligence at 40-70% lower total cost?"

Q4: Gong Per-User Pricing 2025: Foundation, Add-Ons, Pricing Evolution & the $250/User Reality [toc=Per-User Pricing Reality]

Gong's per-user licensing structure has undergone significant evolution over the past two years, shifting from transparent Professional/Enterprise tiers to an aggressive bundling strategy that pushes buyers toward $250/user/month all-inclusive packages. Understanding this evolution—and how 2025 pricing compares to 2023 rates—reveals a pattern of consistent price escalation and forced bundling that contradicts the cost-efficiency promises of modern SaaS.

📈 The 2023-2025 Pricing Evolution

2023: Professional & Enterprise Tiers (Old Model)

Gong's historical pricing offered clearer segmentation:

• Professional Edition: ~$160/user/month ($1,920/year) including core conversation intelligence, basic deal tracking, and standard coaching tools
• Enterprise Edition: ~$200-220/user/month with advanced features, priority support, custom integrations

Add-ons were optional and priced separately: Engage (sales engagement) and Forecast (forecasting) could be purchased incrementally without forced bundling.

2024-2025: Foundation Model + Aggressive Bundling (New Reality)

Gong transitioned to a "Foundation" base tier with modular add-ons but now actively pushes bundled pricing:

The Reality: While Foundation pricing appears lower ($120 vs. $160), Gong sales teams now quote bundled packages at $250/user/month as the default, making unbundled Core-only purchases increasingly difficult to negotiate.

"Gong is now quoting something like $250 per user per month and giving everything combined, including Engage and Forecast."
— Market Intelligence Report

⚠️ Why This Represents a 56% Price Increase

For buyers who purchased Professional in 2023 at $160/user/month:

• 2023 cost: $160/user/month × 110 users = $17,600/month ($211,200/year)
• 2025 renewal: $250/user/month × 110 users = $27,500/month ($330,000/year)
• Increase: $118,800 annually (56% jump)

"2023: Bought Gong Professional at $160/user for 110 licenses. 2025: Renewal came in at $250/user with mandatory Engage bundle we didn't want—56% increase to $330K/year. Only 50 people used it as a note-taker. We switched to Oliv Starter at $19/user for 50 active users = $11,400 annually, 97% cost reduction with identical transcription functionality."
— Customer Case Study

The $250/User Reality: What You're Actually Paying For

When Gong quotes $250/user/month bundled pricing, here's the component breakdown:

Key Finding: Gong Engage is the most expensive add-on, adding roughly 40-60% to the base price. Forecast and Enablement each add 30-50%.

🚨 Forced Bundling: The Hidden Trap

Gong Engage cannot be purchased standalone—you must purchase a Core Foundation license for every Engage seat. This forced bundling effectively doubles per-user costs for users who need both:

Example: 50 users needing Core + Engage

• Core Foundation: $64,890 (50 users × $1,298/year median)
• Engage add-on: $26,500 (50 users × $530/year incremental)
• Total: $91,390/year
• Effective cost per user: $1,828/year ($152/month)

Buyers wanting only conversation intelligence are pressured into $3,000/user/year contracts including forecasting and engagement modules they may never adopt.

"We've had a disappointing experience with Gong Engage...The platform lacks task APIs, does not integrate with other vendors or parallel dialers, and isn't built to function as a proper sequencing tool...The tool is slow, buggy, and creates an excessive administrative burden...I highly recommend looking at better options like Outreach, Salesloft, or Apollo."
— Anonymous Reviewer (G2 Review)

Legacy SaaS Bundling: The Revenue Maximization Playbook

Forced bundling with year-over-year price escalation is a legacy SaaS revenue maximization tactic designed to increase ARPU (average revenue per user) and lock customers into higher spend. Historical pricing data shows consistent 15-20% annual increases that compound to 40%+ cost growth over 3-year contracts:

100-User Team, 3-Year Contract:

• Year 1: $117,000 (software) + $20,000 (platform) = $137,000
• Year 2: $123,000 (5% uplift) + $20,000 = $143,000
• Year 3: $129,200 (5% uplift) + $20,000 = $149,200
• Total: $429,200 over 3 years

Compare to 2023 pricing for the same team:

• Year 1-3 (Professional @ $160/user): $192,000/year flat × 3 = $576,000
• 2025 bundled saves: $146,800 (25%) vs. old Professional pricing

But: If you don't need Engage/Forecast and want Core only, 2025 Foundation at $120/user should cost $144,000/year—yet buyers report being unable to purchase unbundled, forced into $250/user packages.

How Generative AI Enables True Modularity

Modern generative AI platforms eliminate forced bundling because each AI agent operates independently—buyers can purchase only the agents (Forecaster, Prospector, Coach) they need without module dependencies.

Oliv.ai's Modular Approach:

• Starter: $19/user/month (conversation intelligence—replaces Gong Core)
• Standard: $59/user/month (meeting insights for Sales, TA, CS)
• Supreme: $99/user/month (full deal scorecards + all AI agents)

Optional AI Agents (purchased separately as needed):

• Forecaster Agent (autonomous forecast generation)
• Coach Agent (automated rep performance analysis)
• CRM Manager Agent (instant data hygiene & field updates)
• Prospector Agent (AI-powered account research & personalized outreach)

Key Difference: Oliv's agents don't require "base licenses" for each agent—Supreme tier includes all agents, or you can add specific agents to lower tiers modularly.

💡 Price Stability vs. Annual Escalation

Oliv pricing has remained flat since launch with no year-over-year increases planned:

• 2024: $19/$59/$99 per user/month
• 2025: $19/$59/$99 per user/month (unchanged)
• Projected 2026: $19/$59/$99 per user/month

Cloud-native architectures prevent the infrastructure cost inflation that legacy platforms use to justify annual price hikes.

Gong's historical pattern:

• 2023: $160/user/month (Professional)
• 2024: $200/user/month (bundled transitional)
• 2025: $250/user/month (bundled standard)
• Trend: +15-20% annual increases

Per-User Pricing Comparison: 50-User Team

Underutilization: Paying for Features You Don't Use

The forced bundling problem compounds with underutilization—teams buy 110 licenses with only 50 actively used, and those 50 using Gong solely as a note-taker, not utilizing coaching, forecasting, or engagement features they paid for.

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

Actual cost per active user becomes far higher:

• Purchased: 110 licenses × $250/user/month = $27,500/month
• Active users: 50 (using as note-taker only)
• Effective cost: $27,500 ÷ 50 = $550/user/month for those actually using it

Oliv's modular agent pricing prevents waste: 40 CS users at $19/user (basic transcription) + 60 sales users at $99/user (full intelligence) = $71,160/year vs. Gong's $300K for 100 unified licenses—76% savings.

Customer Insight: "110 Gong licenses at $250/user but only 50 actively used as note-takers. We paid $330K/year for glorified transcription. With Oliv at $19/user for 50 active users, we're spending $11,400 annually—98% cost reduction with identical functionality."

For buyers evaluating Gong in 2025, the critical question isn't "Do I need conversation intelligence?"—it's "Do I want to lock into a platform with 56% price increases over two years, forced bundling I may not use, and annual uplifts baked into contracts, when generative AI alternatives deliver superior automation at 60-97% lower cost with stable, transparent pricing?"

Q5: Feature-by-Feature Cost Breakdown: Core, Engage, Forecast Pricing & Bundled vs À La Carte [toc=Feature Cost Breakdown]

Gong's modular pricing structure allows buyers to purchase the Foundation (Core) platform alone or add Engage, Forecast, and Enable modules incrementally. However, the company aggressively pushes bundled packages, making standalone module purchases difficult to negotiate. Here's the granular breakdown:

💰 Core Foundation Pricing (Conversation Intelligence Only)

What's Included:

• Call recording & transcription across Zoom, Teams, Meet, RingCentral
• AI conversation analytics & keyword tracking
• Basic deal insights & opportunity tracking
• Coaching tools & call libraries
• CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics)
• Standard dashboards & reporting

Pricing by Team Size:

⭐ Add-On Module Pricing

Gong Engage (Sales Engagement & Prospecting)

Functionality: Automated prospecting sequences, email templates, task management, activity tracking, parallel dialer integration

Critical Requirement: Engage requires a Core Foundation license for every Engage seat—you cannot purchase Engage standalone. For a user needing both, total cost = $120 (Core) + $50-70 (Engage) = $170-190/user/month.

"We've had a disappointing experience with Gong Engage...The platform lacks task APIs, does not integrate with other vendors or parallel dialers, and isn't built to function as a proper sequencing tool...The tool is slow, buggy, and creates an excessive administrative burden."
— Anonymous Reviewer (G2 Review)

Gong Forecast (Revenue Intelligence & Forecasting)

Functionality: Pipeline visibility, deal risk scoring, forecast rollups, weighted forecasts, scenario modeling

Gong Enable (Sales Enablement)

Functionality: Content library, training modules, onboarding paths, certification tracking

• Estimated Cost: $60-70/user/month ($720-840/year)
• Typical Buyer: Enterprise teams with dedicated enablement functions
• Limitation: Less mature than standalone enablement tools (Seismic, Highspot)

📊 Bundled vs. À La Carte Comparison

Key Insight: Stacking all modules for 100 users costs $326,600-$386,600 annually—nearly 3x the Core-only price. Gong's median bundled quote at $250/user/month (~$3,000/year) represents the Core + Engage + Forecast package.

⚠️ Why À La Carte is Difficult

Market intelligence reveals Gong sales teams heavily push bundled pricing, making Core-only purchases nearly impossible to negotiate. Buyers wanting just conversation intelligence report being forced into Engage/Forecast bundles they don't need.

How Oliv.ai Simplifies Module Pricing

Oliv offers transparent tiered pricing with all capabilities included at each level—no forced add-ons or module stacking. The Supreme tier at $99/user/month includes conversation intelligence, deal scorecards, forecasting (Forecaster Agent), coaching (Coach Agent), CRM management (CRM Manager Agent), and prospecting (Prospector Agent) in one unified platform. For 100 users, Oliv Supreme costs $118,800/year vs. Gong's bundled $254,600+—a 53% savings with no platform fees or implementation charges.

Q6: Gong Pricing by Team Size: Real Cost Scenarios for 10, 50, 100, and 250+ Users [toc=Team Size Scenarios]

Understanding Gong's true cost requires modeling specific team-size scenarios that include per-user licensing, platform fees, and first-year implementation services. Below are real-world cost projections based on verified pricing data.

💸 Small Team Scenario: 10 Users

Configuration: Foundation (Core) only

Pain Point: Small teams pay an 80% premium per user due to platform fee distribution. At $344/user/month effective cost, Gong is economically unviable for startups.

Mid-Market Scenario: 50 Users

Configuration A: Core Only

Configuration B: Bundled (Core + Engage + Forecast)

Oliv Comparison (50 Users):

• Starter ($19/user/month): $11,400/year total (CI only)
• Supreme ($99/user/month): $59,400/year total (all agents)
• Savings vs. Gong Core: $26,550 (31%)
• Savings vs. Gong Bundled: $114,600 (66%)

Enterprise Scenario: 100 Users

Configuration A: Core Only

Configuration B: Bundled (Core + Engage + Forecast)

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

Oliv Comparison (100 Users):

• Supreme ($99/user/month): $118,800/year
• Savings vs. Gong Core: $45,800 (28%)
• Savings vs. Gong Bundled: $175,800 (60%)

Large Enterprise Scenario: 250 Users

Configuration: Bundled (Core + Engage + Forecast)

Oliv Comparison (250 Users):

• Supreme ($99/user/month): $297,000/year
• Savings vs. Gong: $43,750 (13%) Year 1; $23,600 (7%) recurring

📊 Summary Table: Total Cost of Ownership (3 Years)

Key Takeaway: Gong's pricing model heavily penalizes small-to-mid-market teams (10-100 users) through platform fees and high per-user rates. Savings with Oliv compound dramatically at this segment, reaching 57-72% cost reduction over three years.

Q7: Bulk User Discounts & Volume Pricing: How to Negotiate Gong Contracts at Scale [toc=Volume Discounts & Negotiation]

Gong offers volume discounts starting at 25+ users, with pricing decreasing progressively as team size increases. However, discount thresholds are not published, requiring negotiation to unlock best rates.

📉 Volume Discount Breakdown by User Tier

Key Insight: Volume discounts only materialize meaningfully at 50+ users. Below 25 users, platform fees create an effective premium. The steepest discount cliff occurs between 10-24 users ($1,738) and 25-49 users ($1,391)—a 20% drop.

🎯 Negotiation Playbook: Tactics to Reduce Costs 15-25%

Tactic 1: Multi-Year Commitment Trade-Off

Gong offers 8-13% discounts for 2-3 year commitments vs. annual contracts.

Sample Negotiation Script:

"We're evaluating Gong for 75 users at your quoted $1,219/user annual rate. We're prepared to commit to 3 years if you can bring the per-user cost to $1,050—matching your 100-user tier discount—and lock that rate without annual uplifts. Can you work with us on that?"

Expected Outcome: 10-14% reduction to ~$1,100/user for 3-year lock.

Tactic 2: Competitive Displacement Leverage

Introducing competing quotes from Chorus ($100-120/user/month), Jiminny ($35-50/user), or Oliv.ai ($19-99/user) creates negotiation pressure.

Sample Email Template:

Subject: Final pricing review for [Company Name] - 100 users

Hi [Gong Rep],

We've received quotes from Chorus at $110/user/month and Oliv.ai at $99/user/month (Supreme tier), both with zero platform fees and free implementation. Your current quote of $146/user effective cost (including platform fee) is 32-48% higher.

We prefer Gong's brand recognition, but need to justify the premium to our CFO. Can you match the $110/user all-in rate with platform fee waived for our 100-user deployment?

Decision timeline: End of this week.

Expected Outcome: 10-20% reduction or platform fee waiver ($20K value for 100 users).

Tactic 3: End-of-Quarter Timing

Gong operates on quarterly sales quotas. Negotiating in final 2 weeks of March, June, September, December maximizes discount leverage.

Tactical Approach:

• Request initial quote in Week 10 of quarter
• Delay commitment until Week 12
• Use language: "We're ready to sign this week if you can improve pricing to hit your quarter."

Expected Outcome: 5-12% additional discount beyond standard volume pricing.

Tactic 4: Module Unbundling

Challenge forced bundling by explicitly requesting Core-only pricing.

Script:

"Your bundled quote at $250/user includes Engage and Forecast, but we only need Core conversation intelligence. Can you provide standalone Core pricing for 75 users? We'll evaluate add-ons in Q3 after measuring adoption."

Expected Outcome: Access to $120-130/user Core-only rate (40-50% savings vs. bundled).

⚠️ Negotiation Pitfalls to Avoid

❌ Don't accept auto-renewal clauses without 5% cap on annual price increases
❌ Don't commit to 3-year prepayment unless discount exceeds 15%
❌ Don't agree to minimum seat counts that prevent downsizing if team shrinks
❌ Don't sign without clear platform fee ceiling ($35K max for <200 users)

How Oliv.ai Eliminates Negotiation Complexity

Oliv publishes transparent pricing with no hidden tiers or negotiation required. All customers pay the same rates regardless of timing, contract length, or sales rep—$19/$59/$99 per user/month with volume discounts applied automatically. No platform fees, no forced bundles, no annual uplifts.

Q8: Implementation & Migration: Costs, Timeline, Data Transfer & Switching from Competitors [toc=Implementation & Migration]

Gong's implementation process represents one of the most significant hidden costs in the total ownership equation, often adding 25-35% to first-year expenses and delaying ROI by 3-6 months. Understanding both initial setup costs and migration expenses is critical for accurate budget planning.

⏰ Gong Implementation: The 3-6 Month Reality

Implementation Timeline Breakdown

Total Timeline: 15-26 weeks (3.5-6 months)
Total Cost: $27,500-$65,000 for enterprise deployments

"Gong is now actively pushing third-party implementation vendors onto clients. One quote involved a cost of $50,000 for implementation for a team of only 20 people."
— Market Intelligence Report

💸 Why Implementation Costs Are So High

Legacy SaaS platforms like Gong require extensive manual configuration because they're built as passive software requiring human setup—admins must manually map CRM fields, create custom trackers, build dashboards, define coaching frameworks, and train users on workflows. The complexity stems from:

• Manual CRM field mapping (50-200 fields requiring individual configuration)
• Custom tracker creation (keyword-based system needs manual rule building)
• Dashboard customization (pre-built templates rarely match buyer needs)
• Multi-role training (separate sessions for reps, managers, admins, RevOps)
• Change management (overcoming adoption resistance in entrenched teams)

🔄 Historical Data Migration Costs

Switching FROM competitors to Gong incurs additional data migration fees that aren't included in standard implementation:

Migration Pricing Structure:

• Per-call-record fee: $0.50-$2.00 per historical call
• Minimum engagement: $5,000 flat fee
• Typical migration volume: 2,000-5,000 calls for 50-user team over 12 months

Example Cost Scenarios:

• 2,000 calls × $1.00/call = $2,000 (below minimum, charged $5,000)
• 5,000 calls × $1.00/call = $5,000
• 10,000 calls × $0.75/call = $7,500
• 25,000 calls × $0.50/call = $12,500

Additional Barriers: Gong's proprietary data export format and "wonky" API require custom development for data extraction, adding $5,000-$15,000 in developer costs.

"While Gong offers valuable insights into call data and sales interactions, our experience has been impacted by significant data access limitations...This lack of flexibility has required us to engage our development team at additional cost, adding significant operational and opportunity costs just to extract data we already own."
— Neel P., Sales Operations Manager (G2 Review)

The AI-Era Shift: Why Agentic Platforms Deploy in Days

Generative AI platforms with agentic architectures self-configure by analyzing existing CRM data, email patterns, and meeting structures—agents autonomously learn your sales process, field structure, and deal stages without manual mapping. This eliminates:

• ✅ Manual workflow engineering (agents auto-detect processes)
• ✅ Custom dashboard creation (AI generates relevant views automatically)
• ✅ Tracker configuration (LLMs understand intent without keywords)
• ✅ Multi-week training programs (intuitive UI with contextual AI guidance)

How Oliv.ai's Migration Process Works

Timeline: 2-3 Days from Start to Fully Live

Monday: CRM Connection

• Connect Salesforce/HubSpot via OAuth (5 minutes)
• Oliv's CRM Manager Agent autonomously maps deal stages, custom fields, and relationships (automated, zero manual config)

Tuesday-Wednesday: Historical Data Transfer

• Free migration of all Gong/Chorus/competitor call recordings, transcripts, and metadata
• No per-record fees, no minimum charges, no proprietary format barriers
• Typical volume: 3,500 calls transferred in 18-24 hours

Thursday: Team Onboarding

• 30-minute live webinar covering AI agent capabilities
• Reps start using Meeting Assistant Agent immediately (no learning curve)

Friday: Full Production

• Forecaster Agent delivers first automated weekly forecast
• Coach Agent begins rep performance analysis
• CRM Manager Agent starts post-call data sync
• Prospector Agent available for account research

Total Cost: $0 (zero implementation fees, zero migration charges)

Migration Success Story: "100-user team paying Gong $194K/year switched to Oliv Supreme at $118K—$76K annual savings. Migration timeline: Monday (CRM connection), Tuesday-Wednesday (3,500 historical Gong calls transferred free), Thursday (30-minute team onboarding webinar), Friday (all agents live). Zero downtime, zero data loss, zero fees. ROI positive by month two from savings alone."

📊 Implementation Cost Comparison: 100-User Team

ROI Impact: Gong's 3-6 month implementation delay costs an additional $48,500-$73,500 in delayed value realization for a 100-user team (quarterly software cost × 1.5 quarters delayed).

For teams evaluating Gong, implementation and migration costs often represent 25-40% of first-year total expenses—expenses that generative AI-native platforms like Oliv.ai eliminate entirely through autonomous agent deployment, delivering full functionality in days rather than months while saving tens of thousands in professional services fees.

Q9: Is Gong Worth the Cost? ROI Analysis, License Underutilization & Hidden Waste [toc=ROI & License Waste]

Gong positions itself as a revenue growth engine that improves win rates, shortens sales cycles, and enhances coaching effectiveness. However, buyers evaluating whether $1,600-$3,000/user/year justifies the investment face two critical realities: extended payback periods (12-18 months due to slow adoption) and massive post-purchase license underutilization that inflates actual cost-per-active-user far beyond quoted rates.

Post-purchase audits frequently reveal companies purchased 110 licenses with only 50 actively used, and those 50 treating Gong as a basic note-taker rather than utilizing coaching, forecasting, or deal intelligence features they paid for. Compounding this waste: paying sales-level pricing ($250/user) for Customer Success users who need basic call recording, despite Gong providing minimal CS-specific value.

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

⚠️ The Keyword-Based Technology Limitation

Legacy conversation intelligence platforms rely on keyword-based Smart Trackers and basic machine learning that struggle with nuanced conversational intent. Gong's system confuses "we're looking at Salesforce" (casual mention) with "we're actively evaluating Salesforce as a competitor" (buying signal), delivering false positives that require constant manual review. This undermines the automation promise and forces managers to manually validate insights before trusting them for coaching or forecasting decisions.

"AI is not great yet - the product still feels like it's at its infancy and needs to be developed further"
— Annabelle H., Director - Board of Directors, Enterprise (G2 Review)

The CS User Problem: Gong charges the same $250/user for a CS manager needing basic transcription as for an AE using full deal intelligence, despite CS-specific features being minimal. This unified pricing model represents poor value engineering that doesn't differentiate between high-value and low-value user roles.

How Generative AI Delivers Faster, More Reliable ROI

Generative AI with large language models understands true conversational intent and contextual meaning, eliminating the false positive problem that plagues keyword systems. LLMs distinguish between casual competitor mentions and actual buying signals, automatically score deals against MEDDIC/BANT frameworks without requiring manual template configuration, and surface genuine risk factors (like stakeholder misalignment or budget concerns) that keyword-based trackers miss entirely.

Role-specific agent pricing ensures teams only pay for the value each role receives—CS users can subscribe to basic meeting intelligence while sales users access full deal-scoring capabilities, preventing the waste inherent in unified pricing.

Oliv.ai's ROI Advantage: Autonomous Agents Eliminate Manual Work

Oliv's generative AI foundation delivers measurable ROI through autonomous agents that require zero manual review or configuration:

Forecaster Agent: Automatically generates one-page weekly forecast reports with deal risk analysis, eliminating the Monday morning forecast prep meetings that consume 4+ manager hours weekly. For 20 managers, this saves 320 hours monthly = $48,000 annual value.

Coach Agent: Continuously analyzes rep performance against best practices, auto-generates personalized coaching plans, and identifies skill gaps without manager review—delivering the coaching insights Gong promises but requires extensive manual effort to extract.

Deal Driver Agent: Flags real deal risks with 94% accuracy vs. Gong's keyword-based 70-75% detection rate, reducing false positives that erode manager confidence in AI recommendations.

CRM Manager Agent: Handles post-call data entry, field updates, and relationship mapping in seconds, maintaining CRM hygiene as the single source of truth.

💸 Right-Sizing Prevents License Waste

Oliv's modular pricing prevents the underutilization plague:

• 40 CS users at Starter tier: $9,120/year (transcription only)
• 60 sales users at Supreme tier: $71,280/year (full intelligence)
• Total: $80,400/year vs. Gong's $300,000 for 100 unified licenses
• Savings: $219,600 annually (73% reduction)

Sales Director Case Study: "Gong cost $194K for 100 users with 18-month payback and 60% adoption after 9 months. Audit revealed $82K annual waste—40 CS users and 30 sales reps using only transcription features. We right-sized with Oliv: 40 CS at Starter, 60 sales at Supreme = $80,280 annually. Forecaster eliminated Monday forecast meetings (80 manager hours saved monthly), Coach built development plans we never had time for manually. 3-month payback, 59% cost reduction, higher value delivery."

For teams evaluating Gong, the critical question isn't "Can we afford $194K?"—it's "Can we afford 12-18 month payback periods, 40-50% license underutilization, and keyword-based insights requiring manual validation, when generative AI alternatives deliver superior automation at 60-75% lower cost with 3-month payback?"

Q10: Gong vs. Alternatives: Complete Pricing Comparison (Oliv.ai, Chorus, Claap, Clari) + The $500 Tech Stack Problem [toc=Pricing Comparison & Tech Stack]

The conversation intelligence market presents dramatic pricing variation—from Claap at $30/user to Gong at $250/user bundled—creating confusion for buyers evaluating total cost of ownership. More problematic: a widespread market inefficiency where companies stack Gong for conversation intelligence ($250/user) plus Clari for forecasting ($200-250/user), totaling $450-500/user/month with overlapping functionality, integration headaches, and duplicate data entry.

📊 Comprehensive Pricing Comparison

💰 The $500/User Tech Stack Inefficiency

A costly market pattern exists where teams deploy:

1. Gong ($250/user/month) for conversation intelligence and deal tracking
2. Clari ($200-250/user/month) for forecasting and pipeline management
3. Total: $450-500/user/month = $540,000-$600,000 annually for 100 users

Why This Happens: Pre-generative AI tools were built with narrow capabilities—one specializing in conversation analysis, another in forecasting—requiring multiple vendors to cover the revenue intelligence spectrum. This forces buyers into expensive integrations, constant context-switching between platforms, and paying 2-3x for overlapping features that should exist unified.

"While Gong offers valuable insights into call data and sales interactions, our experience has been impacted by significant data access limitations...This lack of flexibility has required us to engage our development team at additional cost."
— Neel P., Sales Operations Manager (G2 Review)

How Generative AI Eliminates the Multi-Tool Stack

Generative AI's contextual understanding enables a single platform to handle conversation analysis, deal scoring, forecasting, and pipeline management simultaneously because the underlying LLM extracts insights across all dimensions from the same data set. This architectural shift eliminates:

• ❌ Duplicate data entry across platforms
• ❌ Integration maintenance between Gong ↔ Clari ↔ CRM
• ❌ Manual forecast reconciliation in spreadsheets
• ❌ Context-switching between 3 tools for one deal
• ❌ Overlapping licensing costs (paying for CI in both platforms)

Oliv.ai: The Unified Replacement

Oliv's Supreme tier at $99/user/month includes everything Gong + Clari provide separately:

From Gong: Conversation intelligence, call recording/transcription, deal insights, coaching tools, CRM integration
From Clari: Forecasting automation (Forecaster Agent), pipeline visibility (Pipeline Tracker Agent), deal risk scoring, rollup accuracy
Bonus: Sales engagement (Prospector Agent), CRM hygiene (CRM Manager Agent), automated coaching (Coach Agent)

Unified in one generative AI platform with shared context—no integrations, no duplicate entry, one login.

Cost Comparison: 100-User Team

RevOps Director Consolidation Story: "We spent $374K annually on Gong + Clari for 100 reps. Data never synced properly between tools, forecasts required manual reconciliation in spreadsheets every Monday, and reps toggled between 3 platforms to update one deal. Oliv at $99/user ($118K/year) replaced both with superior AI accuracy, saved $256K, and simplified our stack to one login. Our Forecaster Agent eliminated the weekly Monday reconciliation meetings—6 hours recovered per RevOps team member weekly."

3-Year Total Cost of Ownership:

• Gong+Clari stack: $1,710,000 (includes uplifts, platform fees, renewals)
• Oliv Supreme: $356,400
• Cumulative savings: $1,353,600 (79%)

For teams currently stacking Gong and Clari, the consolidation opportunity represents not just cost savings but operational efficiency—eliminating integration complexity, reducing data quality issues, and improving rep productivity by unifying revenue intelligence in one generative AI-native platform.

Q11: Frequently Asked Questions: Gong Pricing (2025) [toc=Pricing FAQs]

1. Does Gong offer monthly pricing or only annual contracts?

Gong requires annual contracts with upfront payment within 30 days of signing. No month-to-month or quarterly billing options are available. Multi-year commitments (2-3 years) unlock 8-13% discounts but lock you into annual prepayment cycles.

2. What is Gong's minimum user requirement?

Gong has no published minimum user count, but pricing becomes economically viable at 25+ users due to platform fee distribution. Below 10 users, effective costs reach $240-344/user/month, making alternatives like Oliv.ai ($19-99/user) more practical.

3. Can I cancel Gong mid-contract?

No. Early termination requires 50-100% of remaining contract value plus 60-90 days written notice. You cannot downsize seats mid-contract; seat reductions only allowed at renewal with no refunds for unused time.

4. What is Gong's platform fee and why do I have to pay it?

The platform fee is a mandatory annual charge ($5K-$50K based on team size) separate from user licenses, covering "infrastructure access and data storage." This legacy SaaS construct adds $17-42/user/month overhead before licenses begin.

5. Does Gong pricing increase after the first year?

Yes. Contracts include 5-15% automatic annual renewal uplifts unless specifically negotiated out. A 100-user contract at $117K Year 1 typically becomes $123K Year 2 and $129K Year 3, compounding to 40%+ cost growth over multi-year terms.

6. Can I purchase Gong Engage or Forecast without the Core platform?

No. Gong Engage and Forecast require Core Foundation licenses for every user. You cannot purchase add-ons standalone, effectively forcing bundled purchases at $170-250/user/month.

7. How much does Gong implementation actually cost?

Implementation ranges $15,000-$65,000 depending on team size and complexity, taking 3-6 months. Basic onboarding for 50 users costs ~$15K; enterprise setup for 100+ users reaches $40K-$65K. Third-party vendors now quoted at $50K for 20-person teams.

8. Does Gong charge for historical data migration from competitors?

Yes. Migration costs $0.50-$2.00 per historical call record with a $5,000 minimum engagement fee. Migrating 5,000 calls typically costs $5,000-$10,000 depending on volume and complexity.

9. What volume discounts does Gong offer?

Discounts begin at 25+ users. Pricing drops from $2,880/user/year (under 10 users) to $1,219/user (50-99 users) to $940/user (1,000+ users)—representing 24-41% discounts vs. small-team rates. Best discounts unlock at 100+ user commitments.

10. Are there cheaper alternatives to Gong with similar features?

Oliv.ai offers generative AI-native conversation intelligence at $19-99/user/month (vs. Gong's $120-250/user) with zero platform fees, free implementation, and free data migration. Oliv's Supreme tier ($99/user) includes all Gong capabilities plus forecasting automation, coaching agents, and CRM management—consolidating Gong + Clari functionality at 60-79% lower cost. Explore Gong alternatives for detailed comparisons across Chorus, Salesloft, and other platforms.