Gist vs. Twilio SendGrid

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
Twilio SendGrid
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns provides users with segmentation, campaign editing, and deliverability. According to the vendor, Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns is trusted by over 80,000 customers globally, including Airbnb, Spotify and Uber. Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns aims to help users by providing: MORE EFFICIENT EMAIL BUILDING The campaign building process is free from frustrating, rigid step-by-step wizards that slow users down. The vendor says…
$15
per month
Pricing
GistTwilio SendGrid
Editions & Modules
Professional
$29.00
per month
Premium
$99.00
per month
Basic
$15
per month
Advanced
$60
per month
Free
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GistTwilio SendGrid
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
GistTwilio SendGrid
Considered Both Products
Gist
Chose Gist
Gist is a much more robust software with a variety of marketing tools in its arsenal. Things like website tracking is also extremely robust and it has many more features.

The ease of setup is also more enjoyable and intuitive in Gist so the overall result is that you can learn …
Chose Gist
Gist is much more affordable, but intercom is a better product. I recommend going for Gist to begin, and then migrating if you need more.
Chose Gist
Gist is more refined and its tools are very well integrated overall. However, its pricing is on the expensive side and this doesn't really help it stand-out. HubSpot has significantly more generous Free plan, while Dashly offers many of the Premium Gist tools at a fairer price, …
Chose Gist
My main use for Gist is live chat. I personally find their live chat to be one of the best, and their mobile app to be invaluable for small businesses on the go. I can receive and response to messages wherever I am, which is imperative for my use case.
Chose Gist
Intercom increases its price on a monthly basis. Besides they don't offer some features as Gist, specially about on forms.
We think Gist is targeted to SMB companies, differentially from Intercom that seems to be appropriate for larger companies.
One main difference between then …
Chose Gist
Gist is only a few years old, so it lacks some of the features of Drip and ActiveCampaign, but I believe they will get there.
Chose Gist
Hubspot and Salesforce are great and powerful, they are just so much more expensive than what I need.
Chose Gist
We went with Gist because it had the features we needed at a price we liked. The feature list has grown over time, which is really appreciated. We joined Gist a long time ago (it was still called ConvertFox back then) and have been happy customers for a long time. Happy with …
Chose Gist
Gist is much more than a basic mailing list system with chatbot integration and automation that connects you to your prospects in real-time live from your website.
Administering your contacts on Gist is much easier with less hassle.
And Gist can integrate with most of the major …
Chose Gist
Gist is slightly slower than ActiveCampaign but MUCH easier to use than Mailchimp. Overall, you can't beat the bang for the buck you get with Gist. And its messenger bot is the best I've used, it works on not only our main site but also our subdomains, kicking the competition …
Chose Gist
We've used Dashly and Tawk.to. Gist looks better than Tawk and that's the reason we switched from Tawk to Gist. But the feature that puts Gist above Dashly is the ability to collect user names and emails before they start the chat automatically. It is important for our business …
Chose Gist
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 …
Chose Gist
Gist is better because easy of use and pricing. Hands down. It has an unbeatable cost-benefit ratio. Customer service has been with us since we started using it. That's great. For us, shortcomings such as no CRM are manageable. We like its front end appearance and customization …
Chose Gist
Gist is my first email and chat multi-purpose automated SAAS tool so can't really comment on others I've tried. They came recommended to me by an entrepreneurial group I am a member of. Anecdotally I evaluated it against ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp and it was far better in …
Chose Gist
Gist a more integrated and unified product for Sass companies. Some competitors don't have strong chat + email automation + help desk. Other competitors have the features, but they are not well integrated. Gist has integrated complete customer contact with a very finished …
Chose Gist
Gist is much more complete than other tools like Crisp, Customerly, etc, at a cheaper price. The perfect deal for your business.
Chose Gist
Having a support ticket system is good and will help you resolve issues but, having an all-in-one tool that can let you not only resolve an issue but also to go above and beyond with customer support that later on translates into sales is priceless. That is the kind of tool …
Chose Gist
You can do everything you can with AC or Mailchimp (minus dynamic cart recovery for ecom) at a fraction of the cost, and you can do MORE -- better integration with FB ads than MailChimp, more powerful workflows, unified inboxes, live chat and chatbot, etc. It's just a more …
Chose Gist
I have a lifetime deal with Gist so I may be a bit biased, but Gist is quite easy to use and has a free tier so it's worth a serious look compared to the other players on the market. Personal preference does play a big role in your final decision, as feature-wise, Gist has most …
Chose Gist
Intercom was pricy and less user-friendly in comparison to Gist. It did have a broader range of features that we could use in our plan. However, we didn't see any return of investment in having many features to choose from if the price was too high for what was being offered at …
Twilio SendGrid
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Twilio SendGrid stacks up against sharpspring and adobe advertising cloud because it resolves sending emails in a easy way with a low cost and a lot free quotas. So if you need to only integrates a list register, a easy newsletter send or even a smtp integration, Twilio …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Twilio SendGrid is generally economical and thus can give better ROI compared to competitors and in a short period of time. Twilio SendGrid can be used for mass email campaigns and thus any marketer would prefer that for mass email marketing compared to say Outreach because …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Twilio SendGrid stacks up well to its direct competiros like Mailgun and BigMailer, but it doesnt stack up again more complex marketing automation tools like HubSpot and ActiveCampaign. That is understandable as it doesnt seem to be the purpose of the platform, but it is worth …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Brevo was cheaper and doesn't support the spam testing but in my experience their support was much , much better.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
I have been using Sendgrid for a while now, and the main reason to select it in the first place was because of the data analytics it offered and data security. Its high deliverability and rates and the pricing offered for our requirement suited our budget; hence, we chose it …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
SendGrid has added features and allows to add unique unsubscribe links.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Sendgrid has a lot of features that other providers have and a few more - like the dynamic template builder, which AWS SES doesn't have. We choose the provider based on the scenario of use and the provider we're using. If we're going to be making regular changes to a template, …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Originally our engineering team selected SendGrid because it was a well-known brand and highly regarded as the leader in email deliverability services. My executive team at the time was familiar with the brand as well, and had worked with key stakeholders at SendGrid prior to …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
We here it is good but has this huge issue with customer service. We wanted to go with SendGrid because it was recommended, but we have had three months of grief.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
I use both. SendGrid as I stated before I use in a very simple manner - just as an email server basically- because the
email list I’m using is originates through ClickFunnels. They have enough reporting for me. Although I could definitely use click tracking so I may implement …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Twilio SendGrid is a great all around email marketing solution. It does everything that Mailchimp can do but offers a whole host of other features a professional marketeer would require. Mailchimp does not support email campaigns that promote gambling products.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
MailGun answers support tickets inside of 24 hours and has as good as or better deliverability, and their team is knowledgeable and responsive.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
We also have Kartra, which is not in your list. Seriously, if I’m running the campaign, it’s SendGrid. I’m not a tech guy, but I can use it and can even design something and get the HTML code out if I need to.
My biggest gripe is that it’s so hard to move data across platforms, …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
I use this software along with Sendwithus too. Both the software I use for different sets of people.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
We prefer Twilio SendGrid as a solution, simpler installation, very low failure rate (less than 1%) Our goal is a 1 step solution that we never have to go back to, that way the client is only billed once and their ROI remains high.
Chose Twilio SendGrid
We selected SendGrid for the flexibility it offered us where we could set up APIs from our own database and CDP to trigger one-to-one messages, automate campaigns, personalize comms and save money over other systems that require you to host your data in their systems and charge …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
We considered using Mailchimp from the beginning but we weren't in a place where we needed everything Mailchimp had to offer and we needed a simpler solution that was easy to implement and use. SendGrid served us well as a bigger stage company with limited funds and needs but …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Some of the other platforms we have used in the past appeared to be cheaper up front, but in the long run... they were a lot more costly than Twilio SendGrid. Some of the other email marketing tools did not offer drag and drop features that make building an email campaign easy …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
The only other transactional email program I've used inside of Dinely was Mailgun. Mailgun is great with deliverability and relatively cost effective as well. The only issue is it's not able to be rapidly implemented. If we wanted to design up transactional emails that wow our …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
Before using SendGrid we used MailChimp and were very limited with segmenting our users. Then we moved to ActiveCampaign and paid a ton of money for sending a few promotional emails per month. Then we got SendGrid - letting us rid both of ActiveCampaign and Mailgun and having …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
All of the aforementioned competing services don't have a transactional email component along with their email marketing campaign services. Also, SendGrid is the most economical value of the 4, while 2nd place goes to MailChimp with regard to pricing. I liked SendGrid out of …
Chose Twilio SendGrid
If I consider the the easiness in functionality of Email Editor in SendGrid Marketing Email software, it matches my expectations. I don't need to train my colleagues for the usage of this software. In my absence also anyone can create email campaigns and send it very easily. So …
Features
GistTwilio SendGrid
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
Twilio SendGrid
-
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
Twilio SendGrid
7.1
Ratings
11% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Dynamic content00 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings5.60 Ratings
Landing pages00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
A/B testing00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Mobile optimization00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
List management00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gist
-
Ratings
Twilio SendGrid
7.6
Ratings
1% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Gist
-
Ratings
Twilio SendGrid
8.1
Ratings
1% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GistTwilio SendGrid
Small Businesses
Olark
Olark
Score 10.0 out of 10
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 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
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GistTwilio SendGrid
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.7
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GistTwilio SendGrid
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.
Read full review
I think Sendgrid is a great tool for sending out emails of all types. I've primarily used it for transactional emails as we've had other solutions for marketing emails, but I'm sure it would do just a good job - there is a "Marketing" section within the app you can use. Sendgrid integrates really easily with the development frameworks I've used, such as Laravel and Lumen; I've also integrated it with Moodle with ease.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
  • Drag and drop email designer for transactional emails - super nice even though I do code, it's much quicker and easier to implement without code.
  • Very simple implementation. Only a few lines of code need to be added in our backend and boom we were up and running in less than a day.
  • Listening to customer feedback. They regularly send emails about new features and ask for feedback to improve their software.
  • Some of the cheapest and best dedicated IPs.
  • Easy integration and setup between marketing and transactional emails. Super helpful to have everything in one place.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
  • Actually viewing previous emails dispatched. SendGrid does not have this feature - although it provides numbers on emails dispatched within 3 days for the cheapest plan.
  • The service asks you to pay more (although a minimal amount) to have visibility on email activity upto 30 days in the past.
  • The API doesn't allow an export of a report of email activity over a period of time. It can be quite frustrating at times to be limited in this way.
  • Their customer support isn't the best. Certainly some room for improvement there.
Read full review
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
Read full review
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!
Read full review
It has the potential to be really cool. However, it feels as if it was created by developers for developers (and I work with developers, yet even for me the instrument was somewhat not easy to use - just read SendGrid's help manuals...) However, if you are into data and your way of thinking is more mathematical rather than lyrical, you'll enjoy this instrument
Read full review
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+
Read full review
Twilio SendGrid Email API is everything we want it to be, and we have no reason to look for any other solution. Features and pricing match exactly what we need. As developers for SaaS products, Twilio SendGrid Email API provides a great service. I hope that they stay this way and don't inflate the service with too many marketing oriented features, because there are other tools for that and Twilio SendGrid Email API is a API for sending email first and foremost.
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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.
Read full review
Twilio SendGrid is generally economical and thus can give better ROI compared to competitors and in a short period of time. Twilio SendGrid can be used for mass email campaigns and thus any marketer would prefer that for mass email marketing compared to say Outreach because Outreach is more of a sales tool and suitable for sending lesser emails.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
  • Switching to Sendgrid has saved us over $3000/year compared to using other platforms.
  • Sendgrid has saved us time as the process for creating email campaigns is so easy.
  • Because of the time and financial savings, we have been able to spend more time/money on creating more appropriate marketing strategies which, in turn, has generated more revenue.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Gist Screenshots

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