Five9 vs. NICE CXone: A Detailed Comparison [2025 Guide]

Five9 and NICE CXone are two leading players in the contact center market. Both offer advanced features, uncovering key customer data to enhance customer engagement and streamline call center operations.

However, when deciding between the two (or wanting to expand your search beyond), understanding the subtle nuances and differences between these contact center software solutions is key to finding the right fit for your needs.

We’ve put together a detailed comparison of Five9 and NICE to help you decide between the two systems — or possibly explore alternatives.

Five9 vs. NICE CXone At a Glance

Before getting down to the nitty-gritty, here’s a quick comparison of Five9 and NICE CXone:

Feature	Five9	NICE CXone
Starting Price	$119/month	$71/user/month
Communication Channels	Voice, Email, Chat, SMS, Video	Voice, Email, Chat, SMS, Social Media
Phone System	HD Voice, IVR, ACD	HD Voice, IVR, ACD
Workforce Optimization	Yes	Yes
AI and Automation	Yes	Yes
Key Strength	Outbound Calling, Video Engagement	AI-Driven Analytics, High Customization
Potential Drawback	Learning Curve, User Interface Complexity	Pricing Complexity, Interface Complexity
Deployment Model	Cloud-based	Cloud-based
Target Customer Size	Mid-sized to Large Enterprises	Mid-sized to Large Enterprises
G2 Rating	4.1 out of 5	4.3 out of 5
Capterra Rating	4.2 out of 5	4.2 out of 5
Free Trial	Custom proof of concept	60 days

Overview of Five9 and NICE CXone

Here’s a closer look at what each contact center platform offers and how they differ in their approach.

Five9: A Cloud-Based Contact Center Solution

Five9 is a leading cloud contact center software that enables optimized customer experiences for various businesses across industries. The platform offers comprehensive features, including omnichannel communications, automation, and workforce optimization.

Five9 is known for its powerful outbound calling, video engagement, and reporting capabilities. The platform’s AI-powered solutions include agent-assist features that provide real-time guidance and workflow management.

Technically, Five9’s architecture works on a scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure, enabling companies to adapt to changing customer needs and business requirements. The platform integrates with key business applications and CRM systems, providing a unified view of the customer journey.

NICE CXone: A Cloud Customer Experience (CX) Management Platform

NICE CXone, a key component of NICE Systems, has also established itself in the cloud contact center market. The customer experience platform integrates contact center, workforce optimization, and analytics solutions, allowing businesses to deliver personalized customer interactions across multiple channels.

NICE CXone is best known for AI-powered analytics, offering insights into customer behavior, agent performance, and operational efficiency. The platform’s high degree of customization means that businesses can tailor solutions to their specific needs.

NICE’s solutions work well for small to large businesses and offer flexible deployment options to meet different operational requirements.

Five9 vs NICE: Feature Comparison

Now let’s see how these two platforms compare in terms of the essential features that call centers rely on.

Communication channels

Both platforms offer multichannel communication options but with some notable differences in their strengths.

Five9 supports a variety of communication channels, including voice, email, chat, SMS, and video. Its video capabilities make it a strong contender for companies that value visual customer interactions. The platform’s omnichannel approach allows agents to seamlessly transition between channels, ensuring a consistent and unified customer experience.

NICE CXone also offers omnichannel communication capabilities, including voice, email, chat, SMS, and social media integration. The platform’s social media features allow companies to monitor customer sentiment, engage in conversations, and offer support across various social media platforms. NICE CXone is ideal for companies with a strong social media presence.

Both platforms’ desktop applications allow agents to monitor multiple phone numbers simultaneously, enhancing their ability to manage customer interactions.

Business phone system

Voice capabilities remain key to contact center operations, and both platforms excel in this area with similar core features.

Both Five9 and NICE CXone offer many business phone system features, including:

• HD voice quality: Both platforms prioritize high-quality audio for clear and crisp communication.
• Interactive voice response (IVR): Both offer IVR systems that allow customers to self-serve and route calls efficiently.
• Automatic call distribution (ACD): Both platforms provide ACD functionality to distribute incoming calls to the most appropriate agents based on predefined criteria.

User feedback suggests variations in user interface intuitiveness and ease of initial setup. Some users reported that Five9’s interface can be complex, while others found NICE CXone’s interface sometimes difficult to access and navigate.

Workforce optimization

Managing agent performance and efficiency is critical for contact centers, and both platforms offer comprehensive tools in this area.

Both Five9 and NICE CXone offer a range of workforce management (WFM) tools that increase agent productivity, improve efficiency, and streamline contact center operations. Some of these tools are for:

• Scheduling: Creating and managing agent schedules based on forecasted call volumes and agent availability.
• Forecasting: Capabilities for predicting future call volumes and staffing needs.
• Performance monitoring: Tracking agent performance metrics, such as call handle time, first call resolution rate, and customer satisfaction scores.

Both solutions use data points to analyze agent performance and optimize workflows, leveraging these insights to identify repetitive tasks and inform AI-driven recommendations and automation solutions.

The level of customization and reporting capabilities can vary. NICE CXone is often praised for its advanced reporting and analytics capabilities. Five9 also offers strong reporting capabilities, but they are not as advanced as those of NICE.

AI and automation

Artificial intelligence and automation are essential to modern contact centers. Both platforms use contact center AI and automation technologies to increase contact center efficiency and enhance customer experience.

Five9 includes AI-powered features such as:

• Virtual agents and chatbots for handling routine inquiries and providing self-service options
• Intelligent call routing to direct calls to the most appropriate agents
• Speech analytics to gain insights from customer conversations and improve agent performance

NICE CXone’s advanced AI-powered analytics capabilities give businesses key insights into customer behavior, employee sentiment, and emerging trends. The platform also offers:

• Highly customizable chatbots that can be tailored to specific business requirements
• Automation workflows to streamline repetitive tasks and improve agent efficiency

User interface and experience

Both NICE CXone and Five9 have intuitive user interfaces but differ in their approaches and strengths.

NICE CXone offers a unified omnichannel experience and consolidates agent tools and customer interactions into a single, streamlined platform. Omnichannel is great for agents operating multiple communication channels as it reduces context switching. NICE CXone’s user interface is also modern and customizable, allowing businesses to tailor the workspace to their unique workflows.

Five9, on the other hand, focuses on a user-friendly interface that prioritizes usability and agent efficiency. The user interface is simple with clear navigation and is relatively easy for new agents to learn. Five9’s design focuses on core call center functions, such as call handling and agent management, and is efficient in these areas.

While both platforms are developing their AI functionality, some user reviews suggest that NICE CXone Mpower is more intelligently integrated into the agent interface, offering real-time sentiment analysis and intelligent routing.

Five9 and NICE Pros and Cons

Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses. Let’s examine what each does well and where they might fall short.

Five9 pros

• Strong outbound calling capabilities: Five9 is valued for its outbound calling capabilities, making it a suitable choice for sales-focused organizations and businesses that use outbound campaigns.
• HD video conferencing: Five9’s video capabilities enable companies to connect with customers through personal interactions, improving communication and building trust.
• Scalability and reliability: The platform’s cloud-based architecture is scalable and reliable. Businesses can easily adapt to changing needs and manage fluctuating call volumes.

What users find positive about Five9

• “G2 users appreciate Five9’s robust outbound campaign management and ease of use for sales teams.”
• “Gartner highlights Five9’s ease of use and extensive feature set.

Five9 cons

Users talk about challenges around implementation, interface, and a few other things while working with Five9. 

Below are some more notable things users suggest looking out for. 

• Intermittent login issues: While Five9 offers a unified chat experience and an intuitive dashboard, many users report issues when trying to log in. Some users face intermittent login problems where they can’t log in for short periods, leading to operational disruptions. Moreover, their troubleshooting experience isn’t the best.
• Significant delays: Many businesses face a lag of up to three seconds between the time a caller picks up the phone and an agent responds. These delays can prove to be expensive, as companies can lose out on prospects because of them. 
• Steep learning curve: Five9’s advanced features often require more detailed, in-depth training to get agents up to speed. The learning curve makes training new users or teams with limited cloud contact center software experience more challenging.
• Complicated user interface: Some customers have found the interface not to be very user-friendly and have consistently asked for a better user interface. During live calls, users have limited access to the keypad/dialer.
• Complicated reports: Five9’s extensive reporting module can be a bit complex for smaller businesses that need simple reporting, making it confusing for users to understand.

NICE CXone pros

• Advanced AI-driven analytics: Provides businesses with key insights into customer behavior, agent performance, and operational efficiency.
• Highly customizable chatbots: Enables businesses to create personalized and engaging self-service customer experiences.
• Comprehensive CX Platform: Offers solutions that go beyond the call center, including workforce optimization and analytics, and provides a unified platform for managing customer interactions.

What users find positive about NICE

• “G2 reviews point to NICE CXones powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, enabling data-driven decision-making.”
• “Gartner highlights its flexibility and customization options, allowing businesses to tailor the platform to their specific needs.”

NICE CXone cons

NICE inContact’s reporting and forecasting module is tricky for some users to understand and navigate. 

Below are a few things you should consider before moving ahead. 

• Price: NICE inContact comes at a premium price with advanced features, making it expensive for many small businesses. Its pricing details are only available on request, making it more challenging for businesses to compare with other solutions.
• Usability: Customers feel NICE inContact’s user interface is a bit outdated and clunky. The platform has limited third-party integrations, making it challenging for companies to sync with other business applications. 
• Reliability: NICE inContact sometimes faces connectivity issues and downtime, making it challenging for businesses to continue operating. 

Pricing Comparison: NICE CXone vs. Five9

Contact center software pricing is complex and requires direct contact with vendors. However, here’s a general overview of the two solutions’ pricing structures.

NICE CXone has a tiered pricing model (per user per month) and offers various packages to meet different business needs. Entry-level prices for individual agent features range from $71 for the Digital Agent to $94 for the Voice Agent and $110 for the Omnichannel Agent.

Comprehensive packages with more extensive features start at $135 for the Essential Suite, $169 for the Core Suite, $209 for the Complete Suite, and $249 for the CXone Mpower Ultimate Suite. These entry-level prices may vary depending on the features selected and the number of agents. For exact, customized quotes, please contact NICE sales directly.

In contrast, Five9 uses a quote-based pricing structure. For customized pricing information, you need to contact their sales team directly. Five9’s pricing depends on factors such as the number of employees, required features, and agreed-upon service-level agreements. Five9 doesn’t publicly publish all its prices, so for accurate pricing information, you should contact Five9 directly.

Final Verdict: NICE CXone provides greater transparency by publishing prices for its tiered offerings, giving potential customers an initial overview of costs. Five9, on the other hand, has more personalized offerings and tailors its solutions to individual business needs. Both platforms offer scalable and customizable solutions, but you can only determine final pricing through their sales teams.

Should You Choose Five9 or NICE?

Finding the right fit for your business needs requires understanding which solution aligns best with your priorities.

Who is Five9 best for?

• Sales-focused companies: Five9 is ideal for sales teams and companies that extensively use outbound campaigns.
• Companies that prioritize video engagement: The platform’s video conferencing features enable companies to enhance customer interactions through visual communication.
• Companies with complex integration requirements: Five9 offers strong integration options with CRM and other business applications.

Who is NICE CXone best for?

• Companies requiring advanced analytics: NICE CXone’s AI-powered analytics provide valuable insights for companies that value data-driven decision-making.
• Companies with high demands for customized solutions: The platform’s customization options tailor the solution to specific workflows and business needs.
• Omnichannel-focused organizations: NICE CXonet’s omnichannel capabilities create smooth customer experiences across multiple touchpoints.

Choosing the Right Contact Center Solution

When choosing any communications platform, you need to know your needs, priorities, and budget first. And that goes with choosing between Five9 and NICE, too.

Five9 is a strong choice for businesses that value outbound calling, video engagement, and CRM integrations. Its scalable architecture and reporting capabilities work well for growing businesses that need a reliable contact center infrastructure.

NICE CXone features advanced AI-powered analytics, highly customizable solutions, and an omnichannel platform. Its strengths in social media integration and data-driven insights make it ideal for businesses that want to build personalized customer experiences across multiple touchpoints.

An Alternative You Should Consider

While evaluating the market leaders, it’s worth considering other options that might offer a different balance of features and value.

While Five9 and NICE CXone offer comprehensive contact center solutions, Nextiva combines the positives of both. It offers easy-to-use and AI-powered contact center software that small businesses prefer because of its intuitive interface and simplified reporting capabilities.

Nextiva adds affordability to advanced features. It offers several pricing plans to help companies choose one based on their needs.

For mid-market and enterprise businesses, Nextiva delivers a comprehensive set of features with the advanced capabilities that bigger companies require. It offers call recordings, APIs to integrate with other business systems, workforce engagement features, and a robust cloud platform to deliver decent customer engagement and support.

Nextiva also provides a comprehensive knowledge base to promote self-service and enable customers to resolve issues faster.