Best Predictive Dialer 2026: The Definitive Comparison
Every "best predictive dialer" article you've read this year was written by someone who either (a) sells one of the platforms they're reviewing, or (b) gets paid affiliate commissions for every click they send to a vendor's pricing page. The rankings are predetermined. The "reviews" are rewritten feature lists. Nobody tells you what actually matters. This article is different. We manage VICIdial deployments for a living, so yes, we have a bias — and we'll be upfront about it. But we've also migrated operations off VICIdial onto other platforms when the fit wasn't right. We've consulted for call centers running Five9, Convoso, Genesys, and Talkdesk. We've seen the invoices, the uptime reports, the actual contact rates, and the support tickets that never get resolved. We know what these platforms really do in production, not what their marketing sites claim. This is the comparison we'd want to read if we were...
Overview
Every "best predictive dialer" article you've read this year was written by someone who either (a) sells one of the platforms they're reviewing, or (b) gets paid affiliate commissions for every click they send to a vendor's pricing page. The rankings are predetermined. The "reviews" are rewritten feature lists. Nobody tells you what actually matters.
This article is different. We manage VICIdial deployments for a living, so yes, we have a bias — and we'll be upfront about it. But we've also migrated operations off VICIdial onto other platforms when the fit wasn't right. We've consulted for call centers running Five9, Convoso, Genesys, and Talkdesk. We've seen the invoices, the uptime reports, the actual contact rates, and the support tickets that never get resolved. We know what these platforms really do in production, not what their marketing sites claim.
This is the comparison we'd want to read if we were evaluating
predictive dialers from scratch in 2026. No affiliate links. No sponsored placements. Just the data, the tradeoffs, and the honest recommendations by use case.
What Makes a Predictive Dialer "Best" in 2026
Before we compare platforms, let's establish what actually matters. A predictive dialer's job is simple: maximize the number of live conversations your agents have per hour while staying compliant and keeping costs under control. Everything else is secondary.
The metrics that define a great predictive dialer in 2026:
Agent utilization rate. How much of an agent's paid time is spent in live conversation versus waiting, listening to voicemails, or dealing with dead air? The best dialers push agent talk time to 45-50 minutes per hour. Mediocre dialers hover around 25-35 minutes. That gap — 15 to 25 minutes per agent per hour — is the difference between profitability and burning cash.
Answering machine detection accuracy. AMD is the single most impactful technology in outbound dialing. A 5% improvement in AMD accuracy translates directly to 5% more live conversations per hour. The best platforms achieve 95%+ accuracy with under 2% false positive rates. The worst still ship with default settings that produce 70% accuracy and dump live humans into voicemail greetings.
Auto dial level intelligence. Predictive algorithms should adjust dialing ratios in real time based on answer rates, agent availability, and abandon rate thresholds. Static dial levels are a relic. The best dialers dynamically optimize across campaigns, time of day, and lead quality segments.
Compliance tooling. TCPA, state-level regulations, DNC management, calling hour enforcement, abandon rate caps. In 2026, a predictive dialer that doesn't have bulletproof compliance tooling isn't a dialer — it's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Total cost of ownership. Not the sticker price. The real number: licensing + infrastructure + carrier costs + integration development + ongoing management + the cost of switching if it doesn't work out. Some platforms that look cheap at $50/seat become expensive at scale. Some that look expensive at $175/seat are actually cheaper when you factor in what's included.
Cost per lead impact. This is the metric that ties everything together. Your dialer doesn't generate revenue — your agents do. The dialer's job is to put agents in front of live prospects as efficiently and cheaply as possible. The best predictive dialer is whichever one produces the lowest
cost per lead for your specific operation.
With that framework, let's look at every platform worth considering.
The Contenders: 2026 Predictive Dialer Landscape
We're covering 10 platforms in this comparison. Each one serves a different segment of the market, and lumping them all into a single "top 10 list" without context is useless. Here's how the landscape breaks down.
Tier 1: Full-Scale Predictive Dialing Platforms
These are the platforms built specifically for high-volume outbound dialing with true predictive algorithms, advanced AMD, and the configuration depth that 50-500 seat operations need.
- VICIdial — Open-source, self-hosted or managed. The workhorse of outbound call centers since 2003.
- Five9 — Cloud-native CCaaS. Enterprise-grade with enterprise pricing.
- Convoso — Cloud-based dialer built for outbound lead generation.
- Genesys Cloud CX — Enterprise omnichannel platform with predictive outbound capabilities.
Tier 2: Capable Platforms with Predictive Features
These platforms offer predictive dialing but aren't purpose-built for high-volume outbound. They're better for blended operations or teams where outbound is one part of a larger contact center strategy.
- NICE CXone — Enterprise CCaaS with personal connection (predictive) dialing.
- Talkdesk — Cloud contact center with outbound dialing add-ons.
- RingCentral Contact Center — UCaaS + CCaaS with predictive capabilities.
Tier 3: Lightweight and Niche Dialers
These serve specific segments — small teams, solo agents, or use cases where full predictive dialing is overkill.
- PhoneBurner — Power dialer (not predictive) for small teams.
- Mojo Dialer — Real estate-focused power dialer.
- ReadyMode (formerly XenCALL) — Mid-market cloud dialer.
For the deep-dive comparisons on each platform versus VICIdial, we've published dedicated analyses:
- VICIdial vs. Five9 — Enterprise CCaaS vs. open-source economics
- VICIdial vs. Convoso — The outbound dialer showdown
- VICIdial vs. Genesys — Enterprise omnichannel comparison
- VICIdial vs. NICE CXone — CCaaS heavyweight analysis
- VICIdial vs. Talkdesk — Cloud contact center comparison
- VICIdial vs. RingCentral — UCaaS meets outbound dialing
- VICIdial vs. PhoneBurner — Predictive vs. power dialer
- VICIdial vs. Mojo — Real estate dialer comparison
- VICIdial vs. ReadyMode — Mid-market cloud dialer analysis
- VICIdial vs. 8x8 — Unified comms vs. dedicated dialing
- VICIdial vs. Aircall — SMB cloud phone comparison
- VICIdial vs. Asterisk — Raw PBX vs. full contact center
- VICIdial vs. Dialpad — AI-native platform comparison
- VICIdial vs. GoAutoDial — Fork vs. source
- VICIdial vs. GoHighLevel — Marketing platform vs. dialer
- VICIdial vs. Twilio Flex — Build-your-own vs. ready-made
Each of those goes deep on features, pricing, and migration considerations. This article is the hub — the 30,000-foot view that helps you decide which comparison to read next.
Feature Matrix: Head-to-Head Comparison
Let's cut through the noise with a direct feature comparison across the platforms that actually matter for predictive dialing operations.
Core Dialing Capabilities
| Feature | VICIdial | Five9 | Convoso | Genesys | NICE CXone | Talkdesk |
|---|
| True predictive dialing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Progressive dialing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Preview dialing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manual TCPA-safe mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic dial level adjustment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Configurable AMD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AMD accuracy (optimized) | 96%+ | 90-93% | 92-95% | 90-93% | 88-92% | 85-90% |
| Custom dialing algorithms | Yes | No | No | Limited | No | No |
| Agentless dialing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Max lines per agent | Unlimited* | 3-5 | 5-10 | Configurable | Configurable | 3 |
| Dial timeout control | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Global |
| Auto dial level granularity | Per-campaign, real-time | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign | Per-campaign |
*VICIdial's max lines per agent is configurable without artificial caps. In practice, operations run 1.5-3.0 lines per agent for compliance. The point is you're not hitting a vendor-imposed ceiling.
Lead Management and Recycling
| Feature | VICIdial | Five9 | Convoso | Genesys | NICE CXone | Talkdesk |
|---|
| List-level management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lead recycling rules | Advanced | Basic | Advanced | Moderate | Basic | Basic |
| Hopper prioritization | Yes | Limited | Yes | Limited | No | No |
| Custom lead scoring integration | Yes (SQL) | API only | API only | API only | API only | API only |
| Real-time list filtering | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Callback scheduling | Advanced | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| Lead source tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time zone filtering | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Compliance and TCPA
| Feature | VICIdial | Five9 | Convoso | Genesys | NICE CXone | Talkdesk |
|---|
| DNC list management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| State-level calling rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Cell phone scrubbing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Abandon rate monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calling hour enforcement | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STIR/SHAKEN support | Via carrier | Via carrier | Via carrier | Via carrier | Via carrier | Via carrier |
| SOC 2 Type II | Self-managed | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| HIPAA compliance | Configurable | Certified | Not standard | Certified | Certified | Certified |
| PCI DSS | Configurable | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 | Level 1 |
Reporting and Analytics
| Feature | VICIdial | Five9 | Convoso | Genesys | NICE CXone | Talkdesk |
|---|
| Real-time dashboards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pre-built reports | ~50 | 140+ | 80+ | 100+ | 90+ | 60+ |
| Custom report builder | SQL-based | Visual | Visual | Visual | Visual | Visual |
| Direct database access | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| API data export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BI tool integration | Direct SQL | API | API | API | API | API |
| AI-powered analytics | Via ViciStack | Native | Native | Native | Native | Native |
| Historical data retention | Unlimited | Plan-based | Plan-based | Plan-based | Plan-based | Plan-based |
Pricing Comparison: The Numbers Nobody Else Publishes
This is where most "best predictive dialer" articles fall apart. They either list the vendor's starting price (meaningless) or say "contact for quote" (unhelpful). Here's what these platforms actually cost in production, based on publicly available data, industry analysis, and what we've seen in client invoices.
Per-Seat Monthly Pricing (2026)
| Platform | Entry Price | Mid-Tier | Enterprise | Minimum Seats | Contract |
|---|
| VICIdial | $0 (open source) | $0 | $0 | None | None |
| VICIdial + ViciStack | ~$35-60/seat | ~$35-60/seat | ~$35-60/seat | None | Month-to-month |
| Five9 | $159/seat | $175/seat | $229+/seat | 50 | 12-36 months |
| Convoso | ~$90/seat | ~$130/seat | Custom | 10 | 12 months |
| Genesys Cloud CX | $75/seat | $115/seat | $155/seat | 10 | Annual |
| NICE CXone | $71/seat | $110/seat | $169+/seat | 25 | 12-36 months |
| Talkdesk | $85/seat | $115/seat | $145/seat | 20 | Annual |
| RingCentral CC | $65/seat | $95/seat | $135/seat | 20 | Annual |
| PhoneBurner | $140/seat | $170/seat | Custom | 1 | Annual |
| Mojo Dialer | $99/seat | $149/seat | N/A | 1 | Monthly |
| ReadyMode | ~$150/seat | ~$175/seat | Custom | 5 | Monthly |
Notes: VICIdial + ViciStack pricing reflects managed hosting, optimization, and infrastructure costs divided across agents. Actual per-seat equivalent drops significantly above 50 seats. All cloud platform prices exclude carrier/telecom surcharges, implementation fees, and add-on modules.
Total Cost of Ownership: 100-Agent Outbound Operation
This is the comparison that matters. Not per-seat list price — total annual cost with everything included.
| Platform | Annual TCO (100 agents) | What's Included |
|---|
| VICIdial + ViciStack | $40,800 - $73,200 | Infrastructure, managed optimization, carrier, AI AMD, analytics |
| Genesys Cloud CX | $138,000 - $186,000 | Platform licensing, basic support, standard features |
| NICE CXone | $136,800 - $202,800 | Platform licensing, WFM add-ons, standard support |
| Convoso | $156,000 - $210,000 | Platform licensing, enhanced dialing features, standard carrier |
| Talkdesk | $138,000 - $174,000 | Platform licensing, outbound add-on, standard support |
| Five9 | $190,800 - $274,800 | Platform licensing, WEM add-ons, premium support, implementation |
| RingCentral CC | $114,000 - $162,000 | Platform licensing, outbound module, standard support |
For a detailed breakdown of VICIdial's cost structure — infrastructure, carrier, and management line items — see our
VICIdial cost analysis for 2026.
The pattern is clear: cloud CCaaS platforms cluster between $138K and $275K annually for 100 agents. VICIdial with professional management comes in at $41K to $73K. The gap isn't subtle. It's $65,000 to $200,000 per year — enough to fund an entire new campaign, hire additional agents, or invest in lead acquisition that actually moves revenue.
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Platform Deep Dives: What Each Dialer Actually Does Well
VICIdial
Best for: High-volume outbound operations (25-500+ seats) that prioritize cost efficiency, customization, and data ownership.
VICIdial has been the backbone of outbound call centers since 2003. Over 14,000 installations across 100+ countries. Open-source, runs on Linux/Asterisk, and gives you complete control over every aspect of the dialing engine.
Where it wins:
The predictive algorithm is the most configurable in the industry. You control
auto dial level at the campaign level with real-time adjustment. You set
dial timeouts per campaign. You configure AMD thresholds, lead recycling rules, hopper prioritization, and callback logic — all without asking a vendor for permission. The 3,000+ configuration settings aren't a bug; they're the reason operations that take the time to tune VICIdial consistently outperform operations running "easier" platforms with default settings.
Direct database access changes everything about how you can use your data. Every call attempt, every agent state change, every lead interaction lives in MySQL tables you can query, join, replicate, and pipe into any analytics tool. Operations running VICIdial build proprietary lead scoring models, predictive analytics dashboards, and custom reporting that simply isn't possible on platforms that only expose data through rate-limited APIs.
Cost structure is unbeatable at any scale. The software is free. Infrastructure runs $50-$88/month per server, each supporting roughly 25 agents. Add
SIP trunking at wholesale rates and you're looking at a per-agent all-in cost that's a fraction of any cloud platform.
Where it loses:
The default agent interface looks dated. Admin training takes 2-4 weeks versus 1-2 weeks on cloud platforms. Native omnichannel is limited to voice, email, and chat — social media channels require custom integration. Enterprise compliance certifications (SOC 2, HIPAA) require you to build and maintain the posture yourself. There's no vendor to call at 2 AM unless you have a managed hosting provider.
The ViciStack factor: ViciStack bridges VICIdial's gaps with AI-powered
AMD optimization (96%+ accuracy), automated quality control, real-time analytics dashboards, compliance auditing, and
carrier optimization — all on VICIdial's cost structure. It's the enterprise feature layer that makes VICIdial competitive with platforms costing 3-5x more.
For the full analysis, see our comparisons against
Five9,
Convoso, and
Genesys.
Five9
Best for: Enterprise inbound/blended operations (100+ seats) with dedicated IT budgets, multi-channel requirements, and compliance certifications already mandated by corporate.
Five9 is the Gartner Magic Quadrant leader, publicly traded (NASDAQ: FIVN), and legitimately strong. Their Genius AI suite, omnichannel routing, workforce engagement management, and 140+ pre-built reports are impressive and well-integrated.
Where it wins: Omnichannel is native and polished — voice, email, chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social media with unified agent desktop and cross-channel reporting. AI agent assist with real-time transcription,
sentiment analysis, and automated call summaries. Enterprise compliance certifications (SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Level 1, HITRUST, ISO 27001) are already done. Onboarding and support structure is genuinely smooth for non-technical teams.
Where it loses: Per-seat pricing ($159-$229/month) destroys margins for outbound operations where cost per lead is king. 50-seat minimum locks out smaller operations. No direct database access — you get their API and their reports, period. Customization lives within their boundaries. Seat reductions are contractually limited to 15% with 30 days notice. When Five9 has an outage (and they do — their dependency on Google Cloud Platform means their SLA is bounded by Google's reliability), you're waiting on their support queue while burning payroll.
For the complete teardown, see
VICIdial vs. Five9 and our
in-depth blog analysis.
Convoso
Best for: Outbound lead generation teams (20-200 seats) that want cloud convenience, aggressive dialing capabilities, and don't mind paying a premium for a turnkey solution.
Convoso is purpose-built for outbound. Their DX5 dialer engine, smart voicemail detection, workflow automation, and speed-to-lead features are tailored for the exact operations where VICIdial also excels. They know their market.
Where it wins: Fast implementation. Aggressive dialing algorithms designed for high-volume outbound. ClearCallerID reputation monitoring is genuinely useful. Workflow dialer adds automation that goes beyond traditional predictive logic. The interface is modern and built for outbound agents specifically.
Where it loses: Pricing is opaque and aggressive — expect $90-$165+/seat/month with annual contracts. Their "competitive moat" is largely features that VICIdial does natively (because Convoso's early codebase was built on VICIdial's open-source foundation, a history they don't advertise). No direct database access. Vendor lock-in with proprietary data formats. Operations frequently report billing disputes and aggressive contract renewal tactics.
Genesys Cloud CX
Best for: Large enterprise contact centers (200+ seats) with complex omnichannel requirements, workforce management needs, and the budget to match.
Genesys is the other Gartner leader alongside Five9 in the CCaaS space, but with a stronger heritage in on-premises contact center technology. Their cloud migration (from PureConnect/PureEngage to
Genesys Cloud CX) is one of the most significant platform shifts in the industry.
Where it wins: The most complete omnichannel platform in the market. AI-powered routing and predictive engagement (proactive outbound triggered by customer behavior). Workforce engagement management is deeply integrated. AppFoundry marketplace provides 400+ pre-built integrations. The architecture handles massive scale — Genesys processes billions of interactions annually.
Where it loses: Complexity matches the capability. Implementation takes months, not weeks. Pricing is opaque for the higher tiers. The outbound predictive dialer, while capable, isn't as deeply configurable as purpose-built outbound platforms like VICIdial or Convoso. If your primary use case is outbound lead generation, Genesys is like buying a commercial kitchen when you need a grill.
NICE CXone
Best for: Mid-to-large enterprises (100+ seats) with strong inbound needs and analytics-heavy operations.
NICE (formerly NICE inContact, rebranded to CXone) competes directly with Five9 and Genesys in the enterprise CCaaS space. Their strength is analytics — NICE's heritage in interaction analytics and quality management gives CXone a genuine edge in post-call analysis and agent coaching.
Where it wins: Interaction analytics is best-in-class. Enlighten AI automates quality management with granular behavioral scoring. Workforce management is mature and well-integrated. Personal Connection (their predictive dialer) handles compliance requirements well with built-in TCPA safeguards.
Where it loses: Outbound-specific features lag behind VICIdial and Convoso in configurability. Pricing at the higher tiers gets aggressive. Implementation can be lengthy. The interface has improved but still carries legacy UX debt from the inContact era. Support quality varies significantly between account tiers.
Talkdesk
Best for: Mid-market operations (20-200 seats) that want modern UX, fast implementation, and AI features without Genesys/Five9 pricing.
Talkdesk has positioned itself as the "modern" alternative to legacy CCaaS platforms. Their interface is clean, their AI features are growing fast, and their implementation timeline is genuinely shorter than Five9 or Genesys.
Where it wins: The cleanest UI in the CCaaS space. Talkdesk Copilot (AI agent assist) is well-implemented. Implementation in days to weeks, not months. App marketplace (AppConnect) with 80+ integrations. Pricing is more transparent than Five9 or Genesys.
Where it loses: Predictive outbound is an add-on, not a core competency. The dialer is functional but not deeply configurable — operations accustomed to VICIdial's granularity will feel constrained. Limited dialing lines per agent. Reporting is growing but still behind Five9 and NICE in depth.
The Tier 3 Platforms: Quick Takes
RingCentral Contact Center — Strong UCaaS platform that bolted on contact center features. Good for operations already on RingCentral's phone system. Predictive dialing exists but isn't the platform's strength. See
VICIdial vs. RingCentral.
PhoneBurner — Power dialer, not predictive. One line per agent. Great for small sales teams doing 80-150 dials per day. Not designed for call center operations. See
VICIdial vs. PhoneBurner.
Mojo Dialer — Built for real estate agents and small teams. Multi-line power dialing (up to 3 lines). Copper-line technology for higher answer rates is an interesting differentiator. Not a full contact center platform. See
VICIdial vs. Mojo.
ReadyMode (XenCALL) — Mid-market cloud dialer with CRM integration. Decent predictive capabilities for teams of 5-50. Gets expensive at scale. See
VICIdial vs. ReadyMode.
8x8 Contact Center — Another UCaaS-with-CCaaS platform. Better known for business phone systems than outbound dialing. See
VICIdial vs. 8x8.
Aircall — Cloud phone system for SMBs. Power dialer, not predictive. Clean interface, easy setup, limited ceiling. See
VICIdial vs. Aircall.
Dialpad AI Contact Center — AI-native platform with real-time coaching. Growing fast but outbound predictive dialing is still maturing. See
VICIdial vs. Dialpad.
GoAutoDial — Open-source GUI wrapper around VICIdial/Asterisk. Easier to set up than raw VICIdial, but with less flexibility and a smaller community. See
VICIdial vs. GoAutoDial.
GoHighLevel — Marketing automation platform with a built-in power dialer. Not a contact center platform. Good for agencies managing multiple small clients. See
VICIdial vs. GoHighLevel.
Twilio Flex — Programmable contact center. You build everything from components. Maximum flexibility, maximum development cost. See
VICIdial vs. Twilio Flex.
AMD Performance: The Feature That Matters Most
Answering machine detection deserves its own section because it's the single highest-impact technology in predictive dialing — and the feature where platform differences create the biggest real-world performance gaps.
Here's the problem: roughly 60-75% of outbound calls in 2026 go to voicemail. If your AMD misidentifies a voicemail as a live person, an agent gets connected to a recording and wastes 5-15 seconds before hanging up. If AMD misidentifies a live person as a voicemail, you just burned a live connection — the most valuable thing your dialer produces.
AMD Accuracy by Platform (Optimized Settings)
| Platform | AMD Accuracy | False Positive Rate | Detection Speed | Notes |
|---|
| VICIdial + ViciStack AI | 96%+ | <2% | 800-1200ms | AI-powered, continuously tuned |
| VICIdial (default) | ~70% | ~30% | 1500-2500ms | Untuned default settings |
| Convoso | 92-95% | 3-5% | 1000-1500ms | Smart voicemail detection |
| Five9 | 90-93% | 4-7% | 1000-1800ms | Configurable but limited |
| Genesys | 90-93% | 4-7% | 1200-1800ms | Standard AMD engine |
| NICE CXone | 88-92% | 5-8% | 1200-2000ms | Personal Connection AMD |
| Talkdesk | 85-90% | 6-10% | 1500-2500ms | Basic AMD implementation |
The difference between 70% AMD accuracy (VICIdial defaults) and 96% (VICIdial + ViciStack AI) is transformative. For a 100-agent operation making 30,000 calls per day:
- At 70% accuracy with 30% false positive rate: ~6,300 wasted agent connections per day
- At 96% accuracy with 2% false positive rate: ~420 wasted agent connections per day
That's 5,880 more productive agent connections per day. At an average talk time of 2 minutes per wasted connection, that's 196 agent-hours per day recovered — the equivalent of adding 24 full-time agents to your floor without hiring anyone.
This is why we keep hammering this point: most "VICIdial problems" are configuration problems. Operations running default AMD settings and blaming the platform are leaving massive performance gains on the table. The same applies to Five9 and Genesys — their AMD is configurable too, but most operations never tune it beyond defaults.
Verdict by Use Case: Which Dialer Wins Where
Stop looking for the "best" predictive dialer. Start looking for the right one for your operation. Here's our honest recommendation by use case.
High-Volume Outbound (50-500+ seats, lead generation, appointment setting)
Winner: VICIdial + ViciStack
This is VICIdial's home turf. When your operation lives or dies on contact rates,
cost per lead, and agent utilization — and when you need the flexibility to customize dialing logic, lead management, and analytics — nothing else comes close at the price point. The annual cost savings versus Five9 or Convoso fund significant investments in leads, agents, or technology. With ViciStack's optimization layer, you get enterprise-grade AMD,
AI quality control, and analytics without enterprise pricing.
Runner-up: Convoso. If you absolutely need cloud convenience and are willing to pay 2-3x more for a turnkey outbound platform, Convoso understands the outbound use case better than Five9, Genesys, or any UCaaS-with-CCaaS platform.
Enterprise Inbound/Blended (100+ seats, omnichannel, Fortune 500)
Winner: Five9 or Genesys Cloud CX
If your operation is primarily inbound with omnichannel requirements spanning voice, chat, email, SMS, and social media — and if your corporate procurement requires named vendor certifications (SOC 2, HIPAA, HITRUST) — Five9 and Genesys are purpose-built for this. The per-seat cost is justified when your operation needs sophisticated skills-based routing, workforce engagement management, and cross-channel customer journey analytics. VICIdial handles inbound well, but it wasn't designed as an inbound-first platform.
Mid-Market Blended (20-100 seats, inbound + outbound)
Winner: VICIdial + ViciStack or Talkdesk (depending on technical comfort)
If your team has technical capability (or a managed provider), VICIdial gives you the best of both worlds — powerful outbound dialing with solid inbound ACD — at a fraction of cloud pricing. If your team is entirely non-technical and you need fast implementation with a modern UI, Talkdesk offers the best balance of capability and usability in this segment. NICE CXone is also strong here if analytics is a top priority.
Small Team Outbound (5-20 seats)
Winner: VICIdial (self-hosted or managed) or ReadyMode
At this scale, every dollar counts. VICIdial runs on a single server supporting 20+ agents at roughly $50-$88/month in infrastructure. That's $2.50-$4.40 per seat per month for infrastructure before carrier costs. No other platform touches that. ReadyMode is the best cloud alternative for small teams that don't want infrastructure management — but expect $150+/seat/month.
Solo Agents and Micro-Teams (1-5 seats)
Winner: PhoneBurner or Mojo Dialer
You don't need a predictive dialer. You need a power dialer with a clean interface. PhoneBurner or Mojo gives you one-click dialing, basic CRM, and local presence — which is all you need at this scale. VICIdial is overkill for a solo agent, and cloud CCaaS platforms are absurdly overpriced for teams this small.
Real Estate Specific
Winner: Mojo Dialer
Mojo's copper-line technology, real estate CRM integration, and triple-line dialing are purpose-built for this vertical. VICIdial can do everything Mojo does and more, but Mojo's out-of-the-box real estate workflow saves setup time for teams that just want to dial and close. See
VICIdial vs. Mojo for the full breakdown.
Build-Your-Own / Developer-First
Winner: Twilio Flex or VICIdial
If you have a development team and want to build a custom contact center from components, Twilio Flex gives you the programmable primitives. But you'll pay for every minute of development time and every API call. VICIdial gives you a complete working system that you can then customize at the code level — often faster and cheaper than building from scratch on Twilio. See
VICIdial vs. Twilio Flex.
Not Sure Which Platform Fits Your Operation? Let's Figure It Out.
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The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About
Every predictive
dialer comparison focuses on per-seat pricing. Here are the costs that actually blow up your budget.
Implementation and Migration
Cloud platforms advertise "set up in minutes." In reality:
- Five9: Implementation runs $5,000-$20,000+ depending on complexity. Multi-site deployments with CRM integrations can exceed $50,000 in professional services. Timeline: 4-12 weeks.
- Genesys: Implementation typically starts at $25,000 and scales with complexity. Timeline: 8-16 weeks for full deployment.
- Convoso: Implementation is faster (1-3 weeks) but customization beyond defaults costs consulting hours at $150-$250/hour.
- VICIdial: Self-deployment is free (if you have the expertise). Managed deployment with ViciStack includes implementation in the service agreement. Timeline: 1-2 weeks for a standard deployment.
Carrier and Telecom Costs
Cloud platforms include "basic" telecom, but the details matter:
- Five9 and Genesys include calling minutes in their seat licenses, but international calling, toll-free numbers, and high-volume outbound may incur overage charges.
- Convoso charges for telecom separately. Expect $0.02-$0.04/minute for outbound calls on top of seat licensing.
- VICIdial lets you choose your own SIP trunk providers at wholesale rates. Operations we manage typically pay $0.005-$0.012/minute — 2-8x cheaper than what cloud platforms charge. Over millions of monthly minutes, this gap adds up to tens of thousands of dollars.
The Switching Cost Tax
This is the cost nobody calculates until they're already locked in. Migrating off a cloud CCaaS platform means:
- Rebuilding campaigns, routing logic, IVR flows, and agent configurations from scratch
- Exporting data within the constraints of the vendor's API (if they let you export at all)
- Retraining admins and agents on the new platform
- 2-6 weeks of reduced productivity during transition
- Contract termination fees (Five9's early termination clause is notoriously expensive)
VICIdial's migration cost is essentially lower because your data lives in a MySQL database you own. Moving to a different hosting provider means copying files and databases to new servers. Your campaigns, configurations, lead data, recordings, and custom development come with you. There's no proprietary format to escape.
The Opportunity Cost of Vendor Limitations
This one is impossible to put a dollar figure on, but it's real. Every time you can't implement a custom dialing algorithm, can't build the exact report you need, can't integrate with a niche CRM, or can't adjust a setting because your vendor's platform doesn't expose it — you're paying an opportunity cost. Operations that compete on process optimization and data-driven lead management are structurally disadvantaged on platforms that limit customization.
What Changed in the Predictive Dialer Market in 2025-2026
The predictive dialer market isn't static. Here are the shifts that matter for your buying decision in 2026.
AI Everywhere (But Results Vary)
Every platform now claims AI capabilities. The reality:
- Real-time transcription and agent assist is genuinely useful and mature on Five9, Genesys, and Talkdesk. It reduces handle times and improves consistency. ViciStack's AI layer brings equivalent capabilities to VICIdial.
- AI-powered quality management (automated call scoring, compliance detection) is replacing manual QA sampling across all platforms. Five9's Agentic Quality Management and ViciStack's AI Quality Control both evaluate 100% of interactions versus the traditional 2-5% manual sample.
- AI-generated analytics and insights are still more marketing than substance on most platforms. Natural-language querying of contact center data sounds impressive in demos but rarely produces actionable insights that a good analyst couldn't get from SQL in less time.
STIR/SHAKEN and Caller ID Reputation
The STIR/SHAKEN framework and carrier-level spam labeling continue to reshape outbound dialing. Answer rates on calls labeled "Spam Likely" drop 60-80%. This affects every platform equally — it's a carrier and regulatory issue, not a dialer issue. However, platforms that offer
caller ID reputation management (Convoso's ClearCallerID, or third-party tools integrated with VICIdial) provide a genuine operational advantage.
The CCaaS Consolidation
The cloud contact center market is consolidating. Acquisitions, mergers, and pivots mean the platform you choose today may look very different in two years. Genesys acquired Bold360 and Pointillist. NICE acquired LiveVox. Talkdesk raised $230M at a $10B+ valuation and is expanding aggressively. The risk: your vendor gets acquired, your roadmap changes, and your feature requests get deprioritized in favor of the acquiring company's strategy.
VICIdial's open-source model is immune to this. The codebase doesn't disappear if a company gets acquired. Your deployment runs on your infrastructure regardless of what happens in the vendor landscape. For operations that plan to run their contact center for 5+ years, this stability matters.
Remote Agent Infrastructure
Post-2020, every platform supports
remote agents. The question is how well. VICIdial's VICIphone (WebRTC) lets agents work from any browser with any headset — no VPN, no softphone installation, no firewall configuration. Cloud platforms generally handle remote well, but some (particularly older Five9 deployments and NICE CXone) still require Java applets or downloaded agent applications that create IT support overhead.
The Decision Framework: 5 Questions That Determine Your Platform
Stop reading feature matrices. Answer these five questions and your platform choice becomes obvious.
1. What's your primary volume — inbound or outbound?
If 70%+ of your volume is outbound: VICIdial, Convoso, or ReadyMode.
If 70%+ of your volume is inbound: Five9, Genesys, or NICE CXone.
If roughly balanced: VICIdial (best value), Talkdesk (best UX), or Five9 (most features).
2. How many seats do you need?
1-5 seats: PhoneBurner, Mojo, or self-hosted VICIdial.
5-25 seats: VICIdial (managed) or ReadyMode.
25-100 seats: VICIdial + ViciStack (best value) or Convoso (cloud convenience).
100-500 seats: VICIdial + ViciStack (significant cost advantage) or Five9/Genesys (enterprise requirements).
500+ seats: VICIdial cluster (maximum cost control) or Genesys (maximum feature breadth).
3. Do you have technical staff or a managed provider?
Yes: VICIdial is the clear choice. The cost savings and flexibility are too significant to ignore.
No, and unwilling to hire one: Cloud CCaaS (Five9, Talkdesk, Convoso) trades money for convenience. Budget accordingly.
4. Is cost per lead your primary KPI?
Yes: VICIdial. No other platform's cost structure supports margin-sensitive outbound operations at scale. The annual savings fund significant lead acquisition or agent hiring.
No, customer satisfaction or NPS is primary: Five9 or Genesys. Their omnichannel, AI, and WEM stacks are designed for experience optimization over cost optimization.
5. Do you need enterprise compliance certifications?
Yes, mandated by corporate or regulatory requirements: Five9, Genesys, or NICE CXone. The certifications are included.
Yes, but can build it: VICIdial with proper infrastructure and audit support.
No: VICIdial. You still need TCPA compliance (every platform does), but you don't need to pay enterprise pricing for SOC 2 Type II certification.
Migration Considerations: Switching Platforms Without Burning Down Your Operation
If this comparison has you considering a switch — in any direction — here's what to plan for.
Migrating TO VICIdial (from any cloud platform)
Timeline: 1-3 weeks for a standard deployment, 3-6 weeks for complex operations with custom integrations.
What transfers cleanly: Lead data (exported from your current platform's API, imported into VICIdial's MySQL database). Call recordings (most platforms allow bulk export). Campaign logic (rebuilt from documentation).
What doesn't transfer: Proprietary integrations built on your current vendor's API. Custom reports built in the vendor's reporting tool. Agent familiarity with the current UI (retraining takes 2-4 hours for agents, 1-2 weeks for admins).
Risk mitigation: Run both platforms in parallel for 1-2 weeks. Migrate campaigns one at a time, starting with the simplest. Validate reporting accuracy before decommissioning the old platform.
Migrating FROM VICIdial (to a cloud platform)
Timeline: 4-12 weeks depending on the destination platform.
What transfers cleanly: Lead data (MySQL export is straightforward). Call recordings (files on your servers). Documentation of campaign logic and configurations.
What doesn't transfer: Custom SQL reports and database integrations. Custom agent screen modifications. Custom AGI scripts and Asterisk dialplan modifications. Direct database access workflows. Your institutional knowledge of the VICIdial configuration framework.
The honest assessment: Most operations that migrate from VICIdial to a cloud platform regret the loss of flexibility within 6 months. The grass looks greener until you realize you can't tune your AMD thresholds, can't build the exact report your VP wants, and can't modify your dialing algorithm without submitting a feature request. If you're migrating because VICIdial feels clunky or underperforming, fix the configuration first — it's cheaper and faster than migrating.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a predictive dialer, and how is it different from a power dialer or auto dialer?
A
predictive dialer uses algorithms to dial multiple numbers simultaneously, predicting when agents will become available based on historical answer rates, average talk times, and current agent availability. It adjusts the
auto dial level dynamically to maximize agent utilization while keeping abandon rates within compliance thresholds. A power dialer dials one number at a time per agent — it's faster than manual dialing but dramatically less efficient than predictive for high-volume operations. An auto dialer is a generic term that covers both predictive and power dialing modes. For operations with more than 10 agents doing outbound, predictive dialing is the standard.
How much does a predictive dialer cost in 2026?
It depends entirely on the platform and your scale. Cloud CCaaS platforms (Five9, Genesys, Convoso, NICE CXone) run $71-$229 per seat per month, plus implementation fees of $5,000-$50,000+, plus carrier costs and add-on modules. VICIdial is free open-source software — your costs are infrastructure ($50-$88/month per server supporting ~25 agents), carrier/SIP trunking ($0.005-$0.012/minute at wholesale rates), and optional managed services. For a 100-agent outbound operation, annual total cost of ownership ranges from roughly $41,000 (VICIdial + ViciStack) to $275,000 (Five9 with add-ons). See our
VICIdial cost breakdown for detailed infrastructure pricing.
Is VICIdial still relevant in 2026?
VICIdial runs over 14,000 installations in 100+ countries and processes billions of call minutes annually. It's in active development (version 3.4 shipped significant updates), and its open-source model means the platform isn't dependent on any single company's financial health or product roadmap. For high-volume outbound operations, VICIdial's combination of predictive dialing depth, complete customizability, direct database access, and unbeatable cost structure makes it not just relevant but often the optimal choice. The operations that dismiss VICIdial as "outdated" are usually looking at the default agent interface and ignoring everything that actually drives performance — dialing algorithms, AMD accuracy, lead management, and data access.
Which predictive dialer has the best answering machine detection?
Out of the box, Convoso's Smart Voicemail Detection leads the cloud platforms at 92-95% accuracy. Five9 and Genesys cluster at 90-93%. VICIdial's default AMD settings are poor (~70% accuracy), which is one of the most common complaints from operations running unoptimized deployments. However, VICIdial with properly tuned AMD settings and ViciStack's AI-powered AMD layer achieves 96%+ accuracy — the highest in the industry. The key insight:
AMD performance is as much about configuration and continuous tuning as it is about the underlying technology. Any platform running default AMD settings is underperforming.
Can I use a predictive dialer and stay TCPA compliant?
Yes, but compliance is about configuration and process, not the platform itself. Every Tier 1 predictive dialer (VICIdial, Five9, Convoso, Genesys, NICE CXone) provides the tools needed for TCPA compliance: manual dial modes for cell phones without prior consent, DNC
list management, state-level calling restrictions, calling hour enforcement, and abandon rate monitoring. The risk isn't the technology — it's misconfiguration. An improperly configured predictive dialer on any platform can violate TCPA. A properly configured one on any platform can be fully compliant. ViciStack's compliance auditing specifically checks every TCPA-critical setting in VICIdial deployments because we've seen the lawsuits that result from "set it and forget it" configurations.
How do I calculate whether switching dialers is worth it?
Calculate your current fully loaded cost per agent per month (licensing + infrastructure + carrier + management + integration maintenance). Multiply by your agent count and 12 for annual cost. Then calculate the same number for the platform you're considering. The difference is your potential savings (or additional cost). But don't stop at the sticker price — factor in implementation costs ($5K-$50K+), migration downtime (2-6 weeks of reduced productivity), retraining costs, and the switching cost tax of rebuilding integrations and configurations. For most operations already running VICIdial, optimizing the current deployment costs 10-20% of what a platform migration costs and delivers results in days, not months.
What's the minimum number of agents where a predictive dialer makes sense?
True predictive dialing requires enough agents for the algorithm to make statistically meaningful predictions about agent availability. In practice, you need a minimum of 5-10 agents per campaign for predictive mode to work effectively. Below that threshold, the algorithm can't predict with enough accuracy, and you'll either get excessive abandon rates or minimal efficiency gains over progressive dialing. For 1-4 agents, progressive or power dialing is more appropriate. VICIdial supports all modes — you can run predictive on your large campaigns and progressive on smaller ones simultaneously.
Can I run multiple dialing platforms simultaneously?
Yes, and some operations do — especially during migrations or when different teams have different requirements. You might run VICIdial for high-volume outbound and Five9 for your inbound customer service desk. The complexity is in unified reporting and
agent management across platforms. VICIdial's direct database access makes it easier to build unified dashboards that pull data from multiple sources. If you're considering a multi-platform approach, factor in the operational overhead of managing two systems, two vendor relationships, and two sets of training materials.
This comparison was last updated in March 2026. All pricing is based on publicly available information, industry analysis, and operational data from ViciStack-managed deployments. We update this article as platforms release new features and pricing changes take effect. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements, no vendor payments influenced any recommendation. If any vendor wants to dispute a claim, we welcome the conversation — our contact information is on every page of this site.
Resources
- Read the full article on ViciStack
- ViciStack - VICIdial hosting and optimization
- Free VICIdial Audit
