Five9 vs Genesys is a common debate for contact center teams, but both platforms solve the same problem: call infrastructure. This guide compares them head-to-head, then shows how Alpharun adds the coaching layer that turns those calls into better sales performance.

Five9 vs Genesys vs Alpharun: At a glance

Key difference: Five9 and Genesys manage your calls. Alpharun analyzes those calls and coaches your reps. They solve different problems and work best together.

Meet the contenders

The Five9 vs Genesys debate comes down to what your team needs most: outbound dialing power or omnichannel flexibility. Here's what each platform brings to the table.

Five9: The outbound dialing workhorse

Five9 is a cloud contact center platform built for high-volume calling. It handles call routing, outbound campaigns, CRM integrations, and multi-channel conversations. Thousands of contact centers use it to process inbound and outbound calls at scale.

Five9 requires a 50-seat minimum and annual contracts. Pricing starts at $119/user/month for digital channels.

We cover all the details in our Five9 pricing breakdown.

Genesys: The omnichannel enterprise platform

Genesys Cloud CX is an AI-powered contact center platform that handles voice, email, chat, SMS, and social media. It includes workforce management, quality assurance tools, and predictive routing.

Genesys offers four pricing tiers, starting at $75/user/month for voice-only teams. Advanced features like workforce management and analytics are available only on higher tiers ($155+/user/month).

For a full breakdown, read our Genesys Cloud CX pricing guide.

Alpharun: The AI coaching layer

Alpharun isn't a contact center platform. It's the coaching layer that sits on top of Five9 or Genesys. 

Think of it this way: your top closer just handled a tough pricing objection and walked away with a signed deal. Alpharun captures exactly what she said, when she said it, and coaches your other 50 reps to do the same thing on their next call. No more hoping new hires figure it out on their own.

Five9 vs Genesys: Contact center platform comparison

Before adding Alpharun, you need to pick your contact center foundation. Here's how Five9 and Genesys compare:

Call routing and dialing

• Five9: The predictive dialer powers outbound-heavy teams running thousands of calls daily. It handles high volumes without dropping connections, which matters when every missed call means a missed sale.

• Genesys: Predictive routing goes a step further by matching customers to the agents most likely to close them. It handles inbound and outbound equally well, with more sophisticated logic for teams juggling both.

Winner: Five9 for outbound-heavy teams. Genesys for balanced inbound/outbound operations.

Pricing and minimums

• Five9: Starts at $119/user/month (digital) or $159/user/month (voice). Requires 50-seat minimum and annual contracts. Many advanced features sit behind Pro tier pricing.

• Genesys: Starts at $75/user/month for voice-only (CX 1). No published seat minimums. Quality management and workforce tools require CX 3 ($155/user/month) or higher.

Winner: Genesys for smaller teams or those wanting flexibility. Five9 for teams already at 50+ seats committed to annual deals.

Quality assurance tools

• Five9: QA features include AI Summaries and basic reporting, but full quality management sits behind the Pro tier with custom pricing. Compared to dedicated QA tools, the capabilities feel limited.

• Genesys: Quality management comes built into CX 2 and above, with speech and text analytics added at CX 3. The QA features go deeper than Five9, though the focus stays on compliance and monitoring rather than coaching reps to sell better.

Winner: Genesys has more built-in QA features. Neither platform coaches reps to replicate top performer behaviors.

Ease of use

• Five9: Users report a steep learning curve and dated interface. Setup requires significant admin resources. Configuration takes weeks before teams feel comfortable.

• Genesys: Agents handle voice, chat, and email in a single interface and pick it up quickly. The platform scales well and regularly adds new AI and analytics features.

Winner: Genesys for agent experience. Both require dedicated admin resources for full optimization.

CRM integrations

• Five9: Connects with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, and others. Strong integration ecosystem.

• Genesys: Over 600 apps available through AppFoundry Marketplace, though you're limited to one CRM connection at a time. That's a problem for teams working across multiple systems.

Winner: Tie. Both integrate well with major CRMs.

Where Five9 and Genesys fall short

Five9 and Genesys move calls efficiently, but they don't make reps better at closing them.

Every week, your contact center records thousands of calls. Buried in those files, a winning rep just navigated an objection that others keep losing to. The hesitation got handled before the deal slipped away.

That call is sitting in storage. Five9 and Genesys recorded it, routed it, and logged it. What they didn't do is:

• Figure out why it worked

• Teach other reps to replicate it

• Coach anyone in real time when the same situation comes up tomorrow

Neither platform analyzes what makes your top 10% different. Neither builds playbooks from your actual calls or scores every conversation against your standards. Alpharun does.

How Alpharun completes your tech stack

Alpharun integrates directly with Five9 and Genesys. Your call recordings flow into Alpharun for analysis. Coaching insights flow back to reps in real time.

What Alpharun adds to Five9 or Genesys

• Custom playbooks from your calls: Most teams train on generic best practices. Alpharun studies your actual top performers and finds the specific behaviors that drive their results. Those become your playbook.

• 100% call coverage: Sampling a few calls per week misses too much. Alpharun scores every conversation, so managers see exactly where each rep struggles and why.

• Sentence-level coaching: Telling a rep to "improve discovery" doesn't move the needle. Alpharun points to the exact moment: "This is where your top closers confirm the spouse is on the line."

• Compliance built into scoring: For Medicare, insurance, and financial services teams, compliance failures have real consequences. Alpharun builds your rules into the scoring model so you track closes and compliance together.

• AI agents for repetitive work: Reps lose hours to scheduling and qualification calls. Alpharun's AI agents handle those tasks automatically, freeing your team to focus on selling."

The integration advantage

Your Five9 or Genesys setup stays exactly as it is for routing, channels, and recording. Alpharun simply layers on top to handle the coaching side, from playbook development to performance optimization. Setup takes about one week and doesn't require replacing anything you already have.

Which combination should you choose?

Choose Five9 with Alpharun if you:

• Run outbound-heavy sales campaigns

• Have 50+ reps and can commit to annual contracts

• Need a proven dialer that handles high volumes

• Want coaching that turns Five9 recordings into custom playbooks

Choose Genesys with Alpharun if you:

• Handle both inbound and outbound calls

• Need omnichannel capabilities (voice, chat, email, social)

• Want built-in workforce management tools

• Need coaching that analyzes Genesys calls and coaches reps in real time

Skip Alpharun if you:

• Have fewer than 50 reps

• Only need basic call recording without coaching

• Don't have a performance gap between top reps and the rest

• Aren't ready to invest in scaling top performer behaviors

Pair your infrastructure with coaching that works

When it comes to Five9 vs Genesys, both platforms deliver solid infrastructure. Five9 for outbound-heavy teams. Genesys for omnichannel with workforce tools. You can't go wrong with either.

Where you can go wrong is stopping there. Your best reps have already figured out what works, from handling objections to reading hesitation to knowing when to push. Five9 and Genesys store that expertise in recordings but don’t analyze it for you.

Alpharun connects to your existing setup, pulls those insights out, and coaches every rep to match your top performers. AI agents take over scheduling and qualification, so your team spends more time on calls that actually close.

The complete stack is infrastructure plus coaching, not one or the other.

Ready to add the coaching layer? Book a demo to see Alpharun working with your Five9 or Genesys setup.

Frequently asked questions

1. Is Alpharun a competitor to Five9 and Genesys?

No. Alpharun is a coaching layer that integrates with Five9 and Genesys. Five9 and Genesys handle your contact center infrastructure (routing, dialing, channels). Alpharun analyzes the calls those platforms record and coaches your reps to sell better. They solve different problems and work best together.

2. Can I use Alpharun without Five9 or Genesys?

Alpharun integrates with Five9, Genesys, and other major contact center platforms. You need an existing phone system that captures call recordings. Alpharun pulls those recordings and analyzes them for coaching insights.

3. How long does Alpharun take to set up with Five9 or Genesys?

Setup takes about one week. Alpharun connects to your existing Five9 or Genesys environment through direct integration. Your call data flows into Alpharun for analysis, and coaching insights flow back to reps in real time.

4. Which is better for high-volume B2C sales: Five9 or Genesys?

Five9 works best for outbound-heavy teams that need a reliable predictive dialer. Genesys works best for omnichannel operations that handle voice, chat, email, and social. Both platforms serve high-volume B2C sales teams well. The choice depends on your channel mix and feature needs.