Gist vs. MessageGears

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gist
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Gist is a unified marketing, sales, and support platform. It includes live chat, a help desk, knowledge base, email marketing, marketing automation, opt-in forms, and more.
$29
per month
MessageGears
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
MessageGears is a hybrid email marketing service built around deliverability, actionable customer data, and audience segmentation and targeting.N/A
Pricing
GistMessageGears
Editions & Modules
Professional
$29.00
per month
Premium
$99.00
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GistMessageGears
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GistMessageGears
Features
GistMessageGears
Chat Analytics and Reports
Comparison of Chat Analytics and Reports features of Product A and Product B
Gist
8.9
Ratings
3% above category average
MessageGears
-
Ratings
Chat history and transcripts8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Chat reporting8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Chat and web analytics8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Gist
-
Ratings
MessageGears
3.3
Ratings
83% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings1.50 Ratings
Dynamic content00 Ratings3.80 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings2.20 Ratings
A/B testing00 Ratings2.70 Ratings
Mobile optimization00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings3.80 Ratings
List management00 Ratings2.10 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings2.20 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gist
-
Ratings
MessageGears
1.1
Ratings
150% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings1.10 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings1.10 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Gist
-
Ratings
MessageGears
3.7
Ratings
73% below category average
URL Validation00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings2.80 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GistMessageGears
Small Businesses
Olark
Olark
Score 10.0 out of 10
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.4 out of 10
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User Ratings
GistMessageGears
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.7
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GistMessageGears
Likelihood to Recommend
Gist is perfect for SaaS I'd say, and perfect for long sales cycles with lots of lead nurturing involved, and for scenarios where you re-market via FB ads, because there's FB custom audience integration built into the workflows. Perfect for customer service and support. Really outstanding there. It's a little less suited to ecom but they're hammering out the finishing touches to make ecom cart recovery easier.
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Unless you have someone on your team who is an expert in writing SQL queries and APIs, this platform is not for you.
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Pros
  • Gist provides endless ways of interacting with customers. I can chat and email with them, track their usage on my site, qualify them, add tags and other profile information, and so much more.
  • There is even an awesome live view that lets me spy on visitors to see how they're using the site.
  • The tools are powerful, easy to use, and constantly getting improvements. It seems like every week there is another update being rolled out that substantially extends the functionality or usability of the features in Gist.
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  • Solid customer service
  • Inexpensive solution
  • Flexibility in setup
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Cons
  • Free plan limits are too low.
  • Chatbots should work not only for Gist's native online chat, but also for the other chat-based channels such as Facebook. (instead of having to use another software for that purpose)
  • Pricing structure - Support bot should not be an add-on but a core feature.
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  • The platform is extremely literal. Every possible scenario (included unsubscribes) must be written into every audience query.
  • Messy user interface
  • Email development is overly complicated.
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Likelihood to Renew
Gist is a quite reliable service with a lot of added values. We don't need to pay for different Saas for these important features. If I had an issue the team was super responsive and helpful, that is essential for every business. The email delivery is great, so virtually no email has landed into spam folder
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No answers on this topic
Usability
Gist does pretty much anything you want it to when it comes to managing your contacts. Sometimes I wish it updated faster, but wait a few beats and it gets there. I really love that I can show a colleague how to use the chat messenger and they understand it right away. Very user friendly!
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Our situation is unique so I believe we are working on a semi-outdated UI which needs a tune up / version upgrade. Similarly, our custom connection means that we do not have access to the full feature set so I've never experienced MessageGears' best functionality
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Support Rating
I have communicated with their team multiple times and every time they have been very responsive, knowledgeable, and polite. They work to make sure you are happy and informed of what is going on. Better their team keeps up to date with their app, giving you new features, and keeping you notified and educated about what they are and how to use them. A+
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MessageGears support is always quick to respond when we have an issue, which is rare. Gail has been our main rep and she has been great. We don't have many issues so luckily, we don't need to lean on their customer support team much. That said, it would be beneficial to hear from upper management more.
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Alternatives Considered
They both seem to have parity with each other with each having their own small advantages. I went with Gist because it was more affordable. Infusionsoft customer for almost 5 years and it seemed I was always working more on getting it to work instead of getting work done. Gist is so intuitive I had it setting up and running the basics in a few hours.
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Bronto is a much better email service provider, though our choice to use MessageGears is based on our unique database situation, our partnership with them, and our deal structure. The automation and functionality within Bronto is superior, but it also comes with a hefty price tag; MessageGears provides the scale we need
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Return on Investment
  • Our ROI has increased significantly because of Gist's chat and app integration into our website. Contact forms are great but a real-time conversation means you can be more effective in meeting your customer's needs.
  • The additional features in the recent upgrade mean we can use Gist for more. They have always been effective for email campaigns, but the addition of the knowledge base and more effective workflows means we can automate more. This has saved us from buying more software.
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  • Sending more email!
  • Onboarding handoff was a little rough
  • Great control on who we are sending to
  • Dynamic content is very easy!
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ScreenShots

Gist Screenshots

Screenshot of Live ChatScreenshot of Email MarketingScreenshot of Marketing Automation WorkflowsScreenshot of Knowledge BaseScreenshot of Meetings