Gong vs Shmeetings
Comparing a privacy-first offline meeting assistant with an enterprise revenue intelligence platform
What is Gong?
Gong is an enterprise revenue intelligence platform built for large sales organizations. It records sales calls, analyzes conversations using AI, and provides coaching insights to help teams close more deals. The platform integrates deeply with CRMs like Salesforce and offers detailed analytics on deal health and pipeline.
Gong targets enterprise customers with dedicated sales teams. Pricing starts at $1,200+ per user annually, with most deployments requiring significant annual contracts. Implementation involves IT integration, security reviews, and ongoing customer success support.
The platform is powerful for sales-focused use cases, but it's overkill for individuals who just want meeting transcription. And like all cloud services, your meeting audio goes to external servers for processing.
The Core Difference
Gong and Shmeetings serve completely different needs.
Gong is enterprise software for sales teams. It requires company approval, expensive multi-year contracts, and IT integration. Your meeting recordings go to their cloud for analysis. The features are built around revenue intelligence: deal forecasting, coaching scorecards, and pipeline analytics.
Shmeetings is personal software for anyone who attends meetings. No approval needed; no contracts; just install and start using. Everything processes locally on your Mac. The features are simple: transcription, summary, action items.
If you are building a sales team and have budget for enterprise software, Gong makes sense. But if you want meeting transcription without waiting for company approval or spending thousands, Shmeetings is the practical choice.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Shmeetings | Gong |
|---|---|---|
| Data Privacy | 100% Local Processing Never leaves your computer | Cloud-based Data sent to Gong's servers |
| Company Approval | Not Required Personal software | Always Required Enterprise sales process |
| Target User | Anyone Any meeting, any role | Sales Teams Revenue-focused only |
| Custom Prompts | Unlimited Any prompt, any length | Sales Templates Pre-built for sales use cases |
| Works Offline | Yes No internet needed | No Requires internet |
| In-Person Meetings | Full Support Records from any audio source | Limited Primarily video calls |
| Pricing | $39 once Lifetime license | $1,200+/user/year Enterprise contracts |
Privacy and Your Meeting Data
Gong is enterprise software for large sales organizations. Your call recordings live on their servers. They process it, analyze it, and build revenue intelligence features around it. If your company pays for Gong, you're part of an enterprise deployment.
This works well for sales calls tracked in a CRM. But what about any other meeting? You're sending audio to a corporate platform when you might just want a simple transcript.
Shmeetings processes everything locally. The AI runs on your Mac. Your recordings stay on your hard drive. There's no corporate platform to send data to. No approval process. No IT review.
Many companies use Gong for sales calls. Employees still need a way to transcribe other meetings without routing everything through enterprise software. That's where Shmeetings fits.
Who Should Use Each Tool
Choose Shmeetings If You:
- Work at a company without enterprise AI approval
- Attend non-sales meetings (HR, engineering, etc.)
- Handle sensitive or confidential conversations
- Want meeting transcription without spending thousands
- Need to transcribe in-person meetings
- Want custom prompts with sensitive context
Choose Gong If You:
- Run a large enterprise sales organization
- Have budget for enterprise software ($100K+)
- Need advanced sales coaching and analytics
- Want deal forecasting and pipeline analytics
- Need deep CRM integration with Salesforce
- Have dedicated IT and security teams
Pricing: One-Time vs Enterprise
Gong pricing is enterprise-level. You're looking at $1,200+ per user annually, typically sold in multi-year contracts. Most deployments cost tens of thousands of dollars. Implementation takes weeks or months.
Shmeetings costs $39 once. No contracts, no annual fees, no implementation timeline.
| Plan | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shmeetings | $39 | $39 | $39 |
| Gong (per user) | $1,200+ | $3,600+ | $6,000+ |
| Gong (10-user team) | $12,000+ | $36,000+ | $60,000+ |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gong better than Shmeetings for sales calls?
They're different tools for different needs. Gong is purpose-built for sales teams and integrates with CRM systems. Shmeetings is general-purpose transcription that works for any meeting. If you're running an enterprise sales operation, Gong offers features Shmeetings doesn't. If you're an individual contributor who wants meeting notes, Shmeetings is simpler and cheaper.
Can I use Shmeetings if my company already has Gong?
Yes. You can use Shmeetings for meetings that don't belong in your company's Gong instance. HR conversations, legal discussions, personal calls, or any meeting where you want transcription without sending data to a corporate platform.
Does Shmeetings integrate with Salesforce?
No. Shmeetings is standalone software that runs locally. It doesn't connect to CRMs or other business systems. If you need CRM integration, Gong or similar enterprise tools are the right choice.
Can Shmeetings replace Gong for a sales team?
No. Gong offers team collaboration, CRM integration, pipeline analytics and coaching features that Shmeetings does not provide. Shmeetings is for personal use, not team-wide sales intelligence.
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