Index › Customer › September 2026 Edition

Customer success platforms

Asked as “customer success platform”, and as “customer health and retention management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 56 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

ChurnZero

Contested

39% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 73 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Custify55%Clear leaderStanding →Mid-market

ChurnZero39%ContestedThis page Enterprise

Gainsight81%ConsensusStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

ChurnZero17%58endorsed leader

Vitally12%50accepted challenger

Custify5%42accepted challenger

HubSpot Service Hub13%15accepted challenger

Totango18%45accepted challenger

06Skalin7%14accepted challenger

ClientSuccess14%35accepted challenger

Catalyst14%14accepted challenger

Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Gainsight64%53criticized challenger

Planhat22%40accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

ChurnZero vs Vitally ChurnZero vs Custify Vitally vs Custify

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 →

S06

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

ChurnZero39%

Vitally23%

Custify16%

HubSpot Service Hub5%

Totango4%

06Skalin4%

ClientSuccess2%

Catalyst2%

Planhat0%

Gainsight0%

02What they warned about

Five of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. 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

64%

34 of 53 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 12 hard negative

“Gainsight - has a high risk score of 57/100 and 4 documented complaints, with issues related to aggressive subscription billing, cancellation friction” Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt

ChurnZero

17%

10 of 58 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“Platforms to AVOID on a Limited Budget | **ChurnZero** | Starts at ~$849/month + $5K-25K setup fees” Kimi K2, budget prompt

Totango

18%

8 of 45 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“Totango ⚠️ MIXED SIGNALS (Post-Merger Issues) ... 2024 merger with Catalyst created instability and uncertainty” Mistral Small, negative prompt

Planhat

22%

9 of 40 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“What to Avoid on a Budget ... generally not where you should start” DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

20 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 175 links across 74 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

usepylon.com

9 answers · 12 citations · 2 models

userpilot.com

vendor site · Userpilot9 answers · 9 citations · 2 models

gartner.com

vendor site · Gartner7 answers · 7 citations · 3 models

coworker.ai

6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

learn.g2.com

5 answers · 5 citations · 3 models

oliv.ai

vendor site · Oliv5 answers · 5 citations · 2 models

aboutmartech.com

4 answers · 5 citations · 1 model

guideflow.com

vendor site · Guideflow4 answers · 5 citations · 2 models

appcues.com

vendor site · Appcues4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

gurusup.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 1 model

g2.com

3 answers · 5 citations · 2 models

skalin.io

vendor site · Skalin3 answers · 5 citations · 1 model

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.

userpilot.com/blog/customer-success-tools

9 answers · 2 models

coworker.ai/blog/customer-success-platforms

6 answers · 2 models

usepylon.com/blog/csm-tools-2026

6 answers · 2 models

gartner.com/reviews/market/customer-success-management-platforms

5 answers · 2 models

learn.g2.com/best-customer-success-software

5 answers · 3 models

oliv.ai/blog/best-customer-success-platforms

5 answers · 2 models

aboutmartech.com/blog/best-customer-success-software

4 answers · 1 model

gurusup.com/blog/customer-success-software

4 answers · 1 model

appcues.com/blog/customer-success-software

3 answers · 2 models

ciopages.com/buyer-guides/customer-success-platform

3 answers · 2 models

04How 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.

ModelDirect“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 Haiku 4.5Vitally

Three alternatives

ChurnZero, Custify, Totango

no first choiceChanged

Two alternatives

Gainsight, Totango

against: HubSpot Operations Hub, HubSpot Service Hubno first choice

Three alternatives

ChurnZero, Gainsight, Planhat

Custify, HubSpot Service Hub

Four alternatives

Freshdesk Customer Success, HubSpot CRM, UserGuiding, ZapScale

no first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniChurnZero

Two alternatives

Gainsight, Totango

ChurnZeroHeld

Two alternatives

Gainsight, Totango

no first choice

Six alternatives

ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Gainsight, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

ChurnZero, HubSpot Customer Success Workspace

Three alternatives

Airtable, Catalyst, Notion

against: Gainsight CS, Totangono first choiceagainst: Shape/Hatch

Gemini 3.5 FlashVitally

Three alternatives

ChurnZero, Planhat, Totango

against: GainsightChurnZeroChanged

Three alternatives

ClientSuccess, Custify, Vitally

against: Gainsight, HubSpot Customer Success Workspace, Planhat, Salesforce Service CloudGainsight

Seven alternatives

Catalyst, ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Custify, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

HubSpot Service Hub

Eight alternatives

Airtable, ClientSuccess, Custify, Customerscore.io, Notion, Skalin, Trello, ZapScale

against: ChurnZero, Gainsight, PlanhatCatalyst, ChurnZero, Custify, Skalin, Vitally

Two alternatives

HubSpot Service Hub, Salesforce Client 360

against: Gainsight, Planhat, Totangoagainst: ChurnZero, Gainsight, Totango, Vitally

Perplexity SonarChurnZero

Four alternatives

ClientSuccess, Gainsight, Planhat, Vitally

ChurnZeroHeld

Three alternatives

ClientSuccess, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, monday.com Customer Success

against: Gainsightno first choiceCustify

Two alternatives

HubSpot Service Hub, Totango

no first choiceagainst: Gainsight

Grok 4.1 FastChurnZero

Five alternatives

ClientSuccess, Custify, Gainsight, Planhat, Vitally

against: SkalinChurnZeroHeld

Three alternatives

Custify, Totango, Vitally

against: GainsightChurnZero, Gainsight

Five alternatives

ClientSuccess, Custify, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

HubSpot Service Hub

Three alternatives

Akita, Freshchat, Totango

against: ChurnZero, Custify, Gainsight, VitallyChurnZero, Vitallyagainst: Gainsight, Planhat, Totango

Mistral SmallChurnZero, Vitally

Four alternatives

ClientSuccess, Custify, Gainsight, Planhat

VitallyChanged

Two alternatives

ChurnZero, Custify

against: Freshsuccess, Gainsight, HubSpot Service HubGainsight

Seven alternatives

ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Custify, Oliv, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

Custify, Skalin

Two alternatives

HubSpot Service Hub, Vitally

no first choice

Five alternatives

ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

against: Gainsightagainst: Catalyst, ChurnZero, Gainsight, Planhat, Totango

DeepSeek V4 FlashVitally

Three alternatives

Catalyst, ChurnZero, Planhat

against: GainsightVitallyHeld

Five alternatives

Catalyst, ChurnZero, Custify, Planhat, Totango

against: GainsightGainsight

Five alternatives

ChurnZero, Custify, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

against: HookCustify

Three alternatives

GainTrace, Skalin, Totango

against: Catalyst, ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Gainsight, Intercom Customer Success, Planhat, Vitallyno first choiceagainst: Gainsightagainst: ChurnZero, CustomerSuccessBox, Gainsight, Totango, Vitally

Llama 4 MaverickChurnZero

Three alternatives

ClientSuccess, Planhat, Vitally

ChurnZero, Custify, VitallyChangedno first choiceCustify

One alternative

Cuoral

Totango

Three alternatives

ChurnZero, Gainsight, Vitally

against: ChurnZero, Gainsight, Planhat

Qwen 3.7 FlashChurnZero, ClientSuccess

One alternative

Skalin

ChurnZeroChanged

Seven alternatives

HubSpot Customer Success Hub, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Totango, monday.com Customer Success

against: Gainsightno first choice

Five alternatives

ChurnZero, Gainsight, Oliv, Totango, Vitally

Akita

Three alternatives

HubSpot Service Hub, Retain, Totango

against: ClientSuccess, VitallyChurnZero, Vitally

Four alternatives

ClientSuccess, Oliv, Totango, Userpilot

against: Gainsightagainst: Gainsight, HubSpot Customer Success Workspace, Intercom, Procentrix, Salesforce Service Cloud, SuccessCompass, Zendesk

Kimi K2ChurnZero

Four alternatives

ClientSuccess, Custify, Planhat, Vitally

against: GainsightChurnZeroHeld

Three alternatives

Custify, Planhat, Vitally

against: GainsightGainsight

Six alternatives

ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Custify, Skalin, Totango, Vitally

Custify

Six alternatives

Akita, HubSpot CRM, HubSpot Service Hub, Skalin, Totango, Vitally

against: ChurnZero, Gainsight, PlanhatVitally

Two alternatives

ChurnZero, Planhat

against: Akita, Custify, Gainsightagainst: Catalyst Software, ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Gainsight, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

GLM 4.7 FlashXVitally

Three alternatives

ChurnZero, Custify, Planhat

against: GainsightChurnZeroChanged

Three alternatives

Custify, HubSpot Service Hub, Totango

against: GainsightChurnZero, Gainsight CS

Six alternatives

Catalyst, Custify, Planhat, Salesforce Service Cloud, Totango, Vitally

Custify, Successifier

Five alternatives

Crisp, Freshchat, HubSpot Service Hub, Tidio, Vitally

against: HookChurnZero

Three alternatives

ClientSuccess, Planhat, Vitally

against: ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Gainsight, Salesforce Service Cloud, Totango

MiniMax M2.5ChurnZero, Vitally

Two alternatives

ClientSuccess, Planhat

against: GainsightChurnZeroChanged

Four alternatives

ClientSuccess, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

against: GainsightOliv

Seven alternatives

ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Custify, Hook, Planhat, Totango, Vitally

against: GainsightTotango

Two alternatives

Custify, HubSpot Service Hub

no first choiceagainst: ClientSuccess, Gainsight

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The 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

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 02:50	yes	8	8 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:45	yes	4	5 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:13	yes	16	17 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:52	yes	20	19 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 00:40	yes	0	9 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:25	yes	0	5 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 04:19	yes	0	17 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 03:27	yes	0	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 00:50	yes	0	16 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:19	yes	0	35 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 03:42	yes	0	42 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 04:57	yes	0	13 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-14 22:54	no	0	5 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:14	yes	5	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:49	yes	8	17 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:13	yes	20	4 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 01:29	yes	0	9 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-14 23:32	yes	0	10 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 02:37	yes	0	18 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 02:09	yes	0	2 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 00:33	yes	0	21 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:54	yes	0	31 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:24	yes	0	63 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 01:07	yes	0	14 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-14 23:23	yes	8	7 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:07	yes	5	7 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 01:44	yes	16	28 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 01:25	yes	20	7 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 03:55	yes	0	8 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 03:03	yes	0	8 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 00:19	yes	0	40 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-14 22:54	yes	0	1 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:51	yes	0	34 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 00:41	yes	0	22 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:51	yes	0	20 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:57	yes	0	14 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 02:31	yes	8	10 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 04:06	no	0	4 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:50	yes	13	20 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 01:34	yes	20	6 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:46	yes	0	7 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 04:56	yes	0	10 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 01:08	yes	0	17 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:41	yes	0	1 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:04	yes	0	49 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 02:50	yes	0	26 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 00:06	yes	0	24 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:38	yes	0	11 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 03:15	no	0	5 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:24	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 00:32	yes	11	25 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:10	yes	19	11 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 04:42	yes	0	7 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 02:50	yes	0	9 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 00:14	yes	0	14 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-14 23:48	yes	0	2 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 23:59	yes	0	47 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-14 23:17	yes	0	47 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:15	yes	0	51 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:16	yes	0	15 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 03:13	yes	15	8 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 04:52	yes	3	6 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-14 23:48	yes	27	24 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:21	yes	20	9 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 02:44	yes	0	8 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:10	yes	0	10 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 01:42	yes	0	45 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 04:38	yes	0	3 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:59	no	0	50 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:28	yes	0	72 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:48	yes	0	29 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 04:13	yes	0	18 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

HubSpot read as HubSpot Customer Success Workspace

Salesforce read as Salesforce Service Cloud

Unresolved, counted raw

Catalyst Software

Cuoral

Freshsuccess

HubSpot Customer Success Hub

Nativity/Zendesk

Pebble

Procentrix

Retain

Salesforce Client 360

Salesforce Service Cloud + Einstein

Shape/Hatch

SuccessCompass

Territory Management

Workona

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Customer success platforms

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in customer