Clari and Gong both sell forecasting and deal-risk software to revenue teams, and in 2026 they overlap more than the old shorthand suggests. Gong started from recorded customer conversations and built forecasting on top. Clari started from forecasting and pipeline inspection and, after merging with Salesloft, now sits inside a sales engagement platform.
This page compares the two as their own sites describe them on 31 October 2026. For how deal risk works in general, and what to do about a flagged deal, see our deal risk guide.
The short answer
Choose Gong if you want forecasting built on top of a conversation recording and analysis platform you will also use for call review and coaching. Choose Clari + Salesloft if you want forecasting tied to a sales engagement platform where reps run cadences and the system pushes next steps into their workflow. Both flag at-risk deals. Neither product page describes preparing the rep for the next buyer conversation on that deal, which is the gap covered at the end of this page.
What changed: Clari is now part of Salesloft
Clari and Salesloft announced on 3 December 2025 that they had completed their merger and appointed Steve Cox as CEO of the combined company, with the stated aim of building what they call "the first Predictive Revenue System" (Salesloft newsroom). As of 31 October 2026, clari.com redirects to salesloft.com, and Clari Forecast is presented as a Salesloft product page (Clari Forecast). Salesloft's own blog marks older Clari posts with an editor's note calling them "pre-merger" (Salesloft).
For a buyer, that means "Clari vs Gong" is now a comparison of two broad revenue platforms. Comparisons written before the merger, including some still widely read, compare a forecasting point tool with a conversation intelligence tool.
What Gong does for forecasting and deal risk
Gong describes itself as a "Revenue AI OS" and sells forecasting as one product on it. Gong Forecast is pitched to "spot risk early, coach effectively, and confidently call your number," and Gong says it "detects deal risk in real time" (Gong Forecast). The foundation is captured customer interactions: Gong says this produces "100x more data per opportunity than you find in CRM" (Gong Forecast). Account Boards extend the view from deals to accounts for renewals and expansion.
Beyond forecasting, Gong lists agents "for pipeline review, coaching, deal risk, and more," and Gong Enable, which turns "real customer interactions into scalable coaching, self-practice, and rep readiness programs" (Gong platform). Gong's pricing page does not list prices; it says licenses are priced per user with a platform fee based on the number of users (Gong pricing).
The strength in Gong's own description is the data source. Risk signals come from what was said on calls and in emails, alongside CRM fields.
What Clari (now Clari + Salesloft) does
Clari Forecast promises three things on its page: "Know your number," "Catch risk early" (act on "slipping deals, stalled buying activity, and execution gaps") and "Predict, then act" (Clari Forecast). Its AI Forecast Agent "analyzes all your historical deal data and live rep activity," and the page says risks, gaps and opportunities "automatically trigger next best actions in the seller workflow." It also describes week-over-week pipeline tracking and plain-language questions about revenue data without a RevOps ticket.
The merged platform frames everything as signals in, actions out: the Salesloft home page describes capturing revenue signals across the stack and pushing next steps to revenue teams through a data and AI engine, with agents for forecast summaries and deal risk plays (Salesloft). The pricing page shows packaging and customer quotes and no prices (Clari pricing).
The strength in Clari's own description is the forecast itself, now joined to an engagement workflow so a flagged deal can trigger a task or cadence for the rep.
Side by side
| Dimension | Gong | Clari (Clari + Salesloft) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it started | Conversation capture and analysis | Forecasting and pipeline inspection |
| Forecasting | Gong Forecast, AI-guided forecasts on the Revenue AI OS | Clari Forecast with an AI Forecast Agent trained on historical deal data and live activity |
| Deal risk | "Detects deal risk in real time" from interaction data | Catches "slipping deals, stalled buying activity, and execution gaps"; risks trigger next best actions |
| What happens after a flag | Visibility for managers; agents for pipeline review and deal risk | Next best actions pushed into the seller workflow and engagement cadences |
| Coaching | Gong Enable: coaching, self-practice and readiness built from recorded calls | Not described on the forecast page we read |
| What it coaches | Call delivery and skills, from recordings | No coaching product described on the pages we read |
| Method support | Not described on the pages we read | Not described on the pages we read |
| Manager view | Deal, pipeline and account boards | Team and individual forecasts in one dashboard; pipeline momentum |
| Published pricing | No; per-user licenses plus a platform fee | No |
"Not described on the pages we read" is a statement about the vendor's own pages as of 31 October 2026, and nothing more.
Which one when
- You want one system that records calls and forecasts. Gong keeps conversation data, coaching programs and the forecast in one place.
- Your reps already live in Salesloft cadences. Clari + Salesloft ties the forecast and risk signals to the engagement workflow they already use.
- Your forecast process is the main pain and your call recording is fine. Clari's page leads with the forecast and the call on the number.
- You need account-level renewal and expansion views. Gong's Account Boards are aimed at that; check what the merged Salesloft platform offers for your motion.
- You run both. Gong's partner collective lists a Clari integration, so the two can share data.
How to run the evaluation on your own deals
Both vendors will demo well on their own sample data, so the useful test uses yours. Here is a four-week evaluation a RevOps lead at a fictional 60-rep software company, Tollbridge Ledger, could run.
- Week 1: pick ten closed deals from last quarter. Take five won and five lost, and include at least two that sat in commit and slipped. You already know how these ended, which is the point.
- Week 2: ask each vendor to replay them. In a trial or proof of concept, ask when each tool would have flagged the slipped deals, and on what evidence. A flag that arrives the week the deal closes lost is a report.
- Week 2: check the data each one needs. Gong's signals depend on calls being recorded. If half your buyer meetings happen off platform or in regions where reps cannot record, ask how the forecast behaves on those deals. Clari's depend on CRM and activity data, so ask the same question about deals with thin CRM history.
- Week 3: watch one forecast call with each tool. Run your real weekly call with the trial dashboards open. Note which view the manager uses and which questions it answers without a RevOps ticket.
- Week 4: write down what happens after the flag. For each flagged deal, record who did what next, and whether it changed the buyer conversation.
Step five is where Tollbridge would find out whether it is buying visibility or buying change in the deals. Picture one of its slipped commit deals: both tools flag it two weeks before the quarter closes, the rep gets a task to "re-engage the champion", sends a check-in email and hears nothing. The flag was right and the deal still slipped, because nobody worked out that the CFO had never heard the case. If that pattern shows up across the ten deals, Tollbridge is buying visibility. Both are fair purchases. Pricing will not settle it, since neither vendor publishes prices.
How a sales forecast gets built, whichever tool you buy
Both tools sit on top of the same process, and in our view the process decides most of the accuracy. A sales forecast usually combines three inputs:
- The rep's call. Each rep puts deals into categories such as commit and best case. This is only as good as the definitions behind the categories.
- The pipeline math. Deal amounts weighted by stage or category, compared with the target. This is where coverage and weighted pipeline come in.
- The signals. Activity, engagement and history that a tool reads to flag deals whose category looks wrong.
We think forecasting software helps most with the third input and with rolling the numbers up. The first input still comes from a conversation. If "commit" means different things to different reps, the tool rolls up those differences faithfully. Writing the forecast categories down in terms of buyer evidence, and checking each moved deal on the forecast call, is work either tool assumes someone is doing.
What neither page claims: the next conversation
Both products are built to tell a team which deals are at risk and, increasingly, to push a task to the rep. Neither product page we read describes helping the rep work out what the deal is missing and what to say to the buyer next. A "next best action" in a workflow is a prompt. The rep still has to diagnose the gap (often an economic buyer who has never heard the case, or a close date the buyer never owned) and plan the conversation that fixes it.
- 01Flag the at-risk deal
- 02Push a task to the repA next best action in a workflow
- 03Diagnose the gapOften an economic buyer who never heard the case
- 04Plan the conversationThe opening line for the next buyer call
That is the problem our AI sales experts are built for. On Replicate Labs, the expert checks the buyer's words against the team's method, names what the deal is missing and flags it in Slack, email and the Workbench, and Bryce's Monday read shows the manager which deals need attention this week. One click starts a call with Caty, where they talk the deal through and leave with the opening line for the next buyer conversation, in the team's method: MEDDPICC, SPIN or a house playbook. Gap Selling teams work the deal with Keenan, and ValueSelling Framework® teams with Val. Gong and Clari flag the risk. Caty works out the next step with the rep and helps them take it.
It sits alongside either platform. The difference between flagging and coaching is laid out in deal risk score vs deal coaching, and the wider category in our AI sales coaching guide. If your forecast call keeps ending on a list of flagged deals with no plan for any of them, see how Bryce preps the manager.
FAQ
What is the difference between Clari and Gong?
Gong started as a conversation intelligence platform and added forecasting, so its risk signals come from recorded calls and emails. Clari started as a forecasting and pipeline platform and, after merging with Salesloft in December 2025, connects its forecast to a sales engagement workflow. Both now forecast and flag at-risk deals.
Is Clari part of Salesloft now?
Yes, Clari is now part of Salesloft. Clari and Salesloft announced the completion of their merger on 3 December 2025, with Steve Cox as CEO of the combined company. As of October 2026, clari.com redirects to salesloft.com and Clari Forecast is presented as a product on the Salesloft site.
Does Gong do forecasting?
Yes, Gong does forecasting. Gong sells Gong Forecast on its Revenue AI OS, described as AI-guided forecasting that spots risk early and helps teams call their number. It draws on Gong's captured customer interactions alongside CRM data, and Gong also offers Account Boards for account-level health.
Which is better for deal risk, Clari or Gong?
Gong is better for deal risk when most buyer calls are recorded, and Clari is better when the CRM and sequence activity are the most complete record. Gong reads risk from recorded conversations and emails; Clari reads it from historical deal data and live rep activity and pushes next best actions into the seller workflow. A team that records nearly every buyer call gets more from a tool that reads the calls. A team with a disciplined CRM and many reps working sequences gets more from one that reads activity and history. Both flag at-risk deals.
How much do Clari and Gong cost?
Clari and Gong do not publish prices, so cost comes from a quote. Gong's pricing page says licenses are priced per user plus a platform fee based on the number of users, and asks for a form to prepare a proposal. The Clari pricing page, now on the Salesloft site, shows packages and quotes from customers without prices.
Can you use Clari and Gong together?
Yes, you can use Clari and Gong together. Some teams use Gong for conversation capture and Clari for the forecast, and Gong's partner collective lists a Clari integration. After the Clari and Salesloft merger, check how the integration fits with the Salesloft platform before renewing either contract.