Who are Conversica's competitors? If you are reading this article, you are probably doing research on Conversica alternatives or reviews in the market. Undoubtedly, Conversica is one of the pioneers of the Intelligent Virtual Sales Assistant / AI assistants space.
It can be intimidating to know where to begin in your research into Conversica alternatives. I mean, look at how competitive the martech space is:
There are over 7,000+ marketing technology tools in the market today. Source: Chief Marketing Technologist Blog
Google "Conversica alternatives" and you will see this:
However, while many of the results are known as Conversica competitors, they are not true alternatives.
The true Conversica alternatives are really just these two:
Phew, that's a lot of nuance! Some of the tools above even have overlapping and competing feature sets.
Well, marketing technology is a fragmented and noisy space, so I am not surprised if you are overwhelmed.
To help you untangle this mess, let's first take a look at what Conversica does. Conversica’s core features boil down to these:
AI-powered email conversations that mimic human-interaction, with the goal of qualifying and converting leads at scale.
The idea is to reach out to neglected leads in your CRM. Leads that sales reps have no time to reach out to. Conversica's AI assistant sifts out hand-raisers and high-intent leads who are ready for a sales conversation, then routes them to the sales team.
With this premise established, you realize that there are only three established players in the space:
Now, what are the differences amongst them?
It's hard to distinguish the differences among their offerings from a cursory glance at their website homepages.
Exceed.ai has the same value proposition as Saleswhale and Conversica...or does it?
However, if you dig deeper, you will realize they each focus on different target segments. Each platform works better for different types of companies, with different needs. Hint: look at the kind of customers they serve, from the logos on their website and on G2.
So, what are the main differences? Let’s dive in!
Conversica has amassed over 1,500 customers since 2007. Their customers include Epson, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Many different AI assistants for a variety of use cases: Automotive Sales, Automotive Services, Higher Education, Sales and Marketing, and Customer Success
Great for large enterprises (>5,000 to 10,000+ employees) with very high volume of leads that are homogeneous and don’t need much customization in messaging or brand voice
Supports multiple channels other than email, such as SMS
Dozens of different connectors with Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, and Dealership Management System (DMS). DMSes that they support include DealerSocket, VinSolutions, ELEAD1ONE, AutoLoop XRM, and ProMax
Conversica pricing costs significantly more than its competitors, from US$2,999/mo to US$6,999/mo. They also charge discretionary setup fees. Each additional use case costs US$1,000/mo, which can add up quickly, making it prohibitive to mid-market and SMB customers. Hence, their focus on large enterprises
Limited messaging and use case customization, which are chargeable on top of their already high base cost
Somewhat “odd and confusing interface and awkward customizations”. This can be tricky for marketers who are used to modern UI/UX like HubSpot and Intercom
Here are some of the G2 reviews about Conversica that highlight the points above:
Conversica has great customer support. They are willing to work closely with your team, almost like a dedicated resource. This is a must for enterprise customers who are using Conversica to replace or augment a key part of their lead workflows.
However, Conversica is not an easy tool to setup and customize. Spinning up new conversations for different use cases do require a significant time investment. This makes it hard to create and test new use cases or ideas independently.
It can also be hard to extend use cases or customize conversations without paying significant additional costs.
Conversica pricing is “eye wateringly expensive”. How much does Conversica cost? According to GetApp, their pricing starts from US$2,999 per month based on functionality needs.
Source: GetApp
As mentioned above, Conversica excels if you have a very high volume of leads that are homogeneous, and don’t need much or any customization. You also have to be willing to cede a certain amount of control over your brand voice.
Saleswhale, is a relatively new entrant to the space. The startup graduated from the prestigious Y Combinator program, and approaches the space with a fresh and modern perspective.
Despite being founded a few years ago, they are growing rapidly. Saleswhale has over 600 customers, such as Zendesk, General Assembly, Cisco, Nutanix, WeWork, and Monster, making it one of the top Conversica competitors in the market.
Offers a fully-featured free trial and proof of concept to test the platform in a low-risk manner. They won the Easiest To Do Business With Winter 2020 Award and High Performer Spring 2021 Award from G2
Reasonable pricing that scales with your needs.
Flexible and powerful customization with a modern and easy-to-use user interface. This allows your AI assistant to represent your brand accurately across a large universe of use cases, without incurring additional costs
Innovative AI-powered features including a powerful AI Conversation Flow builder and data collection that goes beyond just lead engagement or conversion
Only one type of AI assistant that caters to a specific use case: engaging neglected leads for sales and marketing teams. Doesn’t support automotive services, customer, or technical support like Conversica does
Only supports AI-powered emails. Doesn’t do SMS or chatbots
Only supports Salesforce (SFDC), Zapier connectors or API integrations, compared to the dozens of different native connectors that competitors have
Moderate learning curve in setting up campaigns, a side effect of the flexible and powerful customization available
Here are some of the G2 reviews about Saleswhale that highlight the points above:
Extremely sleek design and seamless UX paired with easy integration with other applications. Cut down on the need to sift through and trudge through lead after lead and really streamlined the inbound sales process to qualify leads slipping through the cracks.
It works like a charm and the customer service team is excellent. They will help you through every step. The back end is super easy to navigate so you are able to see the activities and how your program is working. Also the prospects do not know that it is an AI technology they are communicating with so it makes it a lot more attractive for prospects and that is why the response rate is much higher than just sending out an email blast.
Here's how Saleswhale stacks up against Conversica based on customer reviews on G2:
Source: G2
Saleswhale seems to be a more modern and usable product across the board, according to G2. They excel in Product Direction, with a score of 10.0 / 10.0. Some possible reasons:
The singular focus on helping sales and marketing teams work better, instead of being distracted by other opportunities. This leads to more powerful and robust conversation customization and product innovation.
Saleswhale's pedigreed technical product and engineering team hailing from the prestigious Y Combinator. That's the startup accelerator program that produced companies such as Dropbox, AirBnB, and Stripe.
Exceed.ai, an U.S.-Israel headquartered company, was founded in 2016. They're the latest entrant to the space. Exceed.ai works with customers such as Comeet, Guardicore, Maxsold, and ChannelSight.
The only alternative to offer a website live chat/chatbot similar to Conversica
Good value for money. It offers a suite of services, including chatbots, that would require purchasing different best-of-breed solutions like Drift, Intercom etc.
Provides a cost-effective solution for small businesses with less than 50 employees. These are typically under-served by more established players like Saleswhale and Conversica
Platform can be inflexible, and have limited customization. This requires customers to go outside of the box to solve their needs adequately
Usability can be clumsy sometimes. Occasional bugs and gaps that are nevertheless addressed quickly by the nimble software development team
Needs more robust and mature reporting capabilities
Here are some of the G2 reviews about Exceed.ai that highlight the points above:
Exceed.ai supports chatbots (similar to Drift and Intercom), which their customers really like. Its integrated solution allows for a single source of truth and lead flow.
Exceed.ai, being a young and new entrant, is willing to go out of their way to make customers happy. They give customers unfettered access to their CEO, CTO, and senior-level executives.
Exceed.ai’s suite of products is an advantage and cost-effective alternative. They offer email assistants, chatbots, and scheduling in one solution. Exceed.ai probably has the broadest offering compared to Conversica and Saleswhale, despite their relatively smaller team size.
Hopefully, this (admittedly biased, but factual) review helped you understand the AI assistant space better! Or at least give you a starting point to do your research.
When in doubt, you can try to ask your vendor for a free trial or proof-of-concept (POC). Then you can test out and/or pilot all 3 different software in a low-risk manner, and evaluate which vendor is the best fit for your needs.
Automate your conversion of neglected leads into sales meetings. No favors from your sales team required.
Head of Product at Saleswhale
Sign up for cutting edge ideas on conversational marketing, AI assistants and martech.
Saleswhale for Salesforce allows you to build powerful automated lead conversion workflows. This allows you to re-engage with your neglected marketing leads at...
19 APR 2021
Demand generation and marketing teams generate more leads at the top of the funnel than ever in this new digital-first world. Saleswhale helps ensure those...
1 MAR 2021
Marketers that focus on MQLs end up doing the wrong things in order to achieve the metrics. So I changed it.
16 JUN 2020
Conversica isn't the only player out there. Learn how Saleswhale and Exceed.ai compare and make an informed decision.
15 APR 2021
