Evaluating Five9 for your contact center? It’s a solid enterprise platform with strong outbound dialing and AI capabilities.
But Five9’s pricing structure requires careful analysis. The 50-seat minimum, quote-based pricing for higher tiers, and extensive add-on requirements mean your actual costs may look very different from the advertised rates.
This guide breaks down what you’ll actually pay.
Quick Answer: How Much Does Five9 Cost?
Published pricing (per concurrent user, billed monthly):
- Five9 Digital: $119/user/month (digital channels only)
- Five9 Core: $159/user/month (voice only)
- Five9 Plus, Pro, Enterprise: Contact sales (custom quotes)
What you need to know:
- 50-seat minimum on all plans
- Per concurrent user pricing (not named users)
- Usage-based charges apply beyond included minutes
- CRM integrations, IVR, and AI features are paid add-ons
- Standard contracts are 36 months
For a 50-agent contact center on Core, the base cost is $7,950/month—but your total investment will be higher once you add CRM integrations, AI tools, and usage overages.
Five9 Digital — $119/user/month
The entry point for digital-only operations. No voice capabilities.
What’s included:
- Email routing and response
- Live chat and web messaging
- SMS and MMS messaging
- Social media channels
- AI summaries and live transcription
- Agent desktop and recording
What’s missing:
- No voice calling whatsoever
- No phone support capability
- Limited AI features
- No workforce management
The reality: Operations that genuinely don’t need phones are rare. Most contact centers need at least some voice capability, making this plan a non-starter.
Five9 Core — $159/user/month
Voice-focused plan for traditional call centers.
What’s included:
- Inbound and outbound voice
- Blended call handling
- Power and predictive dialer
- Geographic redundancy
- Call recording
- 3,000 minutes per seat included
What’s missing:
- No email, chat, or SMS channels
- No social media integration
- AI features limited to basics
- Advanced analytics extra
The trade-off: Robust voice infrastructure, but digital channels require upgrading or adding Digital separately. In 2026, most contact centers need both.
Five9 Premium, Optimum & Ultimate — Custom Pricing
Higher tiers bundle voice and digital with advanced features, but Five9 doesn’t publish these prices. You’ll need to contact their sales team for a custom quote.
What these tiers add:
- Premium: Blended inbound/outbound with digital channels
- Optimum: Adds workforce engagement management (WEM)
- Ultimate: Full AI suite and interaction analytics
Pricing for these tiers varies based on seat count, contract length, and negotiation. Contact Five9 directly for current rates.
The 50-Seat Minimum
Five9 requires a minimum of 50 seats on all plans. This matters:
If you have fewer than 50 agents:
- You pay for 50 seats regardless of actual usage
- At $159/month (Core), that’s $7,950/month minimum
- A 25-agent team pays double the effective per-user rate
If you’re near 50 agents:
- Plan for growth before committing
- Adding seats mid-contract may require renegotiation
Bottom line: Five9 targets mid-market and enterprise. Contact centers under 50 agents should look elsewhere.
Add-On Costs Beyond Base Pricing
Five9’s base plans are relatively bare. Many essential features require add-ons:
CRM Integrations
Connecting to your CRM isn’t included. Five9 offers adapters for:
- Salesforce
- ServiceNow
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Oracle
- Zendesk
Each integration requires separate pricing—contact Five9 for current rates.
AI and Automation
Five9’s AI capabilities are sold separately:
- Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA): Self-service voice and chat bots
- Agent Assist: Real-time suggestions and knowledge surfacing
- AI Insights: Sentiment analysis and interaction scoring
None include published pricing—contact Five9 for quotes on AI add-ons.
Advanced IVR
Basic call routing is included, but IVR with speech recognition is an add-on. If customers need to speak responses rather than press buttons, you’ll pay extra.
Workforce Management
Full workforce management with forecasting, scheduling, and quality monitoring requires the Optimum tier or higher—or a third-party WFM tool.
Usage-Based Charges
Beyond per-seat pricing, Five9 charges for usage:
Voice minutes:
- Core plan includes 3,000 minutes per seat
- Overages billed per minute (rates vary by region)
- High-volume operations see significant overage costs
SMS and messaging:
- Per-message charges apply
- Rates vary by country and carrier
Storage and recording:
- Extended retention may incur additional charges
Understanding Total Cost of Ownership
Your actual Five9 costs will depend on which add-ons you need. Here’s what to factor in:
Base licensing (what’s published): 75 agents × $159/month (Core) = $11,925/month
Additional costs to budget for:
- CRM integration fees (custom quoted)
- AI and automation tools (custom quoted)
- Voice minute overages beyond 3,000/seat
- Advanced IVR with speech recognition
- Workforce management (if not on Optimum+)
Many organizations find their total Five9 investment is significantly higher than the base per-seat rate once they add the integrations and features they need.
For comparison, Platform28 pricing for 75 agents at $65/user/month = $4,875/month with CRM integrations and AI features included in the base price.
Contract Considerations
Contract length:
- Standard contracts are 36 months (3 years)
- Shorter terms may be available at higher rates
- Early termination fees apply
Scaling:
- Adding seats mid-contract requires amendment
- Reducing seats typically not permitted until renewal
Who Should Choose Five9?
Five9 makes sense if you:
- Have 75+ agents and need enterprise-grade infrastructure
- Prioritize outbound dialing with predictive capabilities
- Want geographic redundancy and high availability
- Can commit to 3-year contracts
- Have budget for add-ons and integrations
Who Should Look Elsewhere?
Consider alternatives if you:
- Have fewer than 50 agents
- Need predictable, all-inclusive pricing
- Want CRM integration included (not as an add-on)
- Prefer shorter contract commitments
- Need to scale up or down flexibly
Five9 Alternatives
Platform28
Built for growing contact centers that need enterprise features without enterprise complexity or minimums.
Pricing: $65/user/month, no seat minimum
What’s included that Five9 charges extra for:
- CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zendesk)
- AI-powered IVR and intelligent routing
- Predictive dialer with answering machine detection
- Omnichannel (voice, SMS, email, chat)
- Workforce management tools
- No per-usage fees for standard features
See Platform28 pricing | Request a demo
Genesys Cloud
Enterprise competitor with similar capabilities. Pricing starts at $75/user/month but requires $2,000 monthly minimum. Strong in workforce management.
NICE CXone
Workforce optimization leader. Quote-based pricing similar to Five9. Best for large operations prioritizing WFM and quality management.
Making Your Decision
Before committing to Five9 (or any enterprise platform):
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Confirm your seat count. If you’re under 50 agents, Five9’s minimum makes it cost-prohibitive.
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List every integration you need. CRM connectors, WFM tools, and AI features all carry separate costs.
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Estimate your usage. Calculate expected voice minutes, messages, and storage to avoid overage surprises.
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Model the 3-year cost. Five9 contracts are long. Calculate total commitment including expected growth.
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Get competing quotes. Five9 pricing is negotiable, and you need leverage.
The right contact center platform balances your current needs with room to grow—without locking you into costs you can’t sustain.
Pricing information current as of February 2026. Five9 pricing varies by region, seat count, and negotiation. Contact Five9 directly for a custom quote, and contact Platform28 for a transparent comparison.
Related reading: How AI Contact Centers Stay Ahead — moving from reactive to proactive support.