Customer success platforms
Asked as “customer success platform”, and as “customer health and retention management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 59 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
42%
Clear leader
42ChurnZero19Vitally10HubSpot Service Hub29others
42% of first choices, clear leader.
Since September 2026▲+2Since September 2026: 39% → 41%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.ChurnZero held the lead, +2 points on 39%, inside the 12-point floor.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01
ChurnZero42%17%64endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 39% → 41%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.39% → 41%
ChurnZero42%17%64endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 39% → 41%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.39% → 41%02
Vitally19%9%57accepted challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 23% → 18%, −6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.23% → 18%
Vitally19%9%57accepted challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 23% → 18%, −6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.23% → 18%03
HubSpot Service Hub10%26%27criticized challenger▲+6Since September 2026: 5% → 12%, +6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.5% → 12%
HubSpot Service Hub10%26%27criticized challenger▲+6Since September 2026: 5% → 12%, +6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.5% → 12%04
Custify8%0%37accepted challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 16% → 8%, −8 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 8%
Custify8%0%37accepted challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 16% → 8%, −8 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 8%05
Totango7%22%55accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 4% → 8%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 8%
Totango7%22%55accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 4% → 8%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 8%06
Skalin5%0%12accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 4% → 6%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 6%
Skalin5%0%12accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 4% → 6%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 6%07
Planhat3%18%40accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 0% → 4%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 4%
Planhat3%18%40accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 0% → 4%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 4%08
Gainsight Customer Success2%54%59criticized challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Gainsight Customer Success2%54%59criticized challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
09
ClientSuccess0%21%29accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
ClientSuccess0%21%29accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%10Catalyst0%13%15accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
All fifteen head-to-head pages: the top six products, each against each
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
010203040506070809C10
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01ChurnZero42%
ChurnZero42%02Vitally19%
Vitally19%03HubSpot Service Hub10%
HubSpot Service Hub10%04Custify8%
Custify8%05Totango7%
Totango7%06Skalin5%
Skalin5%07Planhat3%
Planhat3%08Gainsight Customer Success2%
Gainsight Customer Success2%09ClientSuccess0%
ClientSuccess0%10Catalyst0%
What they warned about
A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Gainsight Customer Success54%
32 of 59 labels negative · 14 of 6 models · 8 hard negative
“Gainsight is the most complex, most expensive platform, and one most likely to fail adoption tests at companies that aren't ready for it” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt
Totango22%
12 of 55 labels negative · 10 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“But I would specifically steer clear of: Totango right now (post-merger uncertainty is a real business risk)” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
ChurnZero17%
11 of 64 labels negative · 9 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Avoid enterprise platforms like Gainsight or ChurnZero initially” Kimi K2, budget prompt
ClientSuccess21%
6 of 29 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Red flags: Reports of poor customer service (e.g., "worst customer service I have encountered," auto-renew traps, unresponsive support post-sale)” Grok 4.20, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
80 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1073 links across 200 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Userpilot44 answers · 44 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Zapier33 answers · 33 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Appcues32 answers · 32 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Guideflow30 answers · 38 citations · 11 models
29 answers · 31 citations · 11 models
vendor site · HubSpot28 answers · 42 citations · 11 models
vendor site · ClientSuccess25 answers · 29 citations · 12 models
23 answers · 62 citations · 13 models
vendor site · Rework23 answers · 38 citations · 10 models
21 answers · 24 citations · 7 models
21 answers · 21 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Skalin19 answers · 29 citations · 12 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
44 answers · 12 models
33 answers · 12 models
27 answers · 11 models
27 answers · 11 models
21 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 7 models
16 answers · 8 models
15 answers · 7 models
15 answers · 9 models
15 answers · 8 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best customer success platform”, “customer success platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChurnZero churnzero.com | 42% | 221 | 2,900 | 39 | 11,534 | $2,558 | 19 | |
| Vitally vitally.io | 19% | 144 | 4,400 | 40,641 | 3,154 | $138 | 25 | 5 |
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Service Hub 10%, HubSpot Free or Starter 2% | 12% | 235 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| Custify custify.com | 8% | 114 | 260 | 1 | 8,585 | 0 | 1 | |
| Totango totango.com | 7% | 158 | 1,600 | 20 | 1,885 | 5 | ||
| Skalin skalin.io | 5% | 16 | 20 | 3 | 15 | |||
| Planhat planhat.com | 3% | 161 | 2,900 | 45 | 3,971 | $4,492 | 6 | |
| Customerscore.io customerscore.io | 2% | 11 | ||||||
| Gainsight Customer Success gainsight.com | 2% | 179 | 210 | 14 | 59,569 | 58 | 4 | |
| ClientSuccess clientsuccess.com | 0% | 97 | 720 | 6 | 7,636 | 12 | 3 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 12 sites; 3 of them are among the sites the models cited here (clientsuccess.com, usepylon.com, userpilot.com). The first result for “best customer success platform” is gartner.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best customer success platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which customer health and retention management tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top customer success platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best customer success platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a customer success platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which customer success platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Gainsight read as Gainsight Customer Success
Gainsight Essentials read as Gainsight Customer Success
HubSpot read as HubSpot Customer Success Workspace
Salesforce read as Salesforce Service Cloud
Unresolved, counted raw
HubSpot CSM
RingCentral’s AI Conversation Expert (ACE) and Customer Engagement Bundle
Staircase AI
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.