Let’s be honest, AI in customer support is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s becoming the standard way to keep up. Teams everywhere are searching for tools to handle the same questions over and over, give customers instant answers, and free up agents to tackle the tougher problems. Forethought is one of the names that pops up in this conversation, building its brand around a concept it calls “agentic AI.”
But while the tech sounds impressive, figuring out the platform can be a headache. Its features are split across different products, the pricing is a mystery, and the setup process is not for the faint of heart. For teams trying to weigh their options, this can be a real roadblock. This guide will give you a clear, no-nonsense look at what Forethought offers, break down its pros and cons, and show you how it compares to more straightforward and transparent alternatives.
What is Forethought and how does it work?
The main idea behind Forethought is its “agentic AI.” This isn’t just a chatbot that follows a script. They describe it as AI that can figure out what a customer wants, think through the problem, and actually do something to fix it. Imagine a digital teammate that can handle an entire issue from start to finish on its own.
This is all done through a system of four different AI products that split the work:
- Solve: Works on automatically resolving customer problems.
- Assist: Acts as a sidekick to help human agents get work done faster.
- Triage: Sorts and sends incoming support tickets to the right place.
- Discover: Looks at conversations to find and plug gaps in your knowledge base.
How Forethought's AI products work together to handle a customer support inquiry.
A breakdown of Forethought’s AI service offerings
Forethought’s whole system is built around its four core AI “agents.” While each part is strong on its own, this segmented setup can feel like you’re juggling multiple tools instead of using one platform. Let’s look at what each one actually does.
Solve: The Forethought automated resolution agent
Solve is Forethought’s frontline troubleshooter. It’s built to automatically handle common customer issues that come in through chat, email, and even over the phone. Its main feature is “Autoflows,” a no-code tool that lets you build multi-step fixes using plain English. For instance, you could set up an Autoflow to manage a return request where the AI finds the order, checks if it’s eligible, and processes the return without a human agent needing to step in. The catch is that since it’s presented as its own product, it’s not always clear how it connects with the other agents or if you have to buy it separately.
How Forethought's Autoflow handle a return request.
Assist: The Forethought agent copilot
Assist is the tool made to help out your human agents, working right inside your help desk. It gives them a hand in real time by suggesting responses, summarizing tickets, and pulling up relevant knowledge base articles. It’s especially handy for getting new agents up to speed and making sure the whole team gives consistent, solid answers.
Forethought Assist copilot helping an agent in Zendesk.
Triage: The Forethought ticket classification agent
Triage handles the tedious work of keeping your help desk organized. When new tickets arrive, it automatically sorts, prioritizes, and routes them based on things like what the customer is asking about, their mood, and how urgent the issue is. For example, it can spot an unhappy customer with a critical billing problem and send it straight to a senior agent on the finance team. This cuts down on manual sorting and gets tickets to the right people a lot faster. They also have a “Triage Insights” feature to help you see how your tickets are being sorted.
The Forethought Triage Insights dashboard showing ticket analytics.
Discover: The Forethought content optimization agent
Think of Discover as your knowledge base manager. It scans through support conversations to find common questions that your help center doesn’t answer yet. Then, it can suggest or even write new articles to fill those gaps. The idea is to build up your self-service resources so customers can find their own answers, which means fewer tickets for your team to handle.
Forethought Discover identifying knowledge gaps and suggesting articles.
While these separate products are individually useful, managing four different “agents” can make things feel a bit overcomplicated. This is where a more unified approach, like what you find with eesel AI, can feel much simpler. It bundles an AI Agent, Copilot, and Triage into one straightforward plan, which simplifies everything from setup to daily use.
Forethought pricing and implementation
For most teams, it always comes down to two big questions: “How much is it?” and “How long to get it running?” This is where Forethought’s approach can be a showstopper for a lot of businesses.
How much does Forethought cost?
Forethought doesn’t list its prices online. If you want to know what it costs, you have to request a demo and talk to their sales team. This lack of transparency makes it tough for teams to budget properly or compare it with other options. It also usually means it’s aimed at large companies with big budgets.
And this isn’t just a guess; G2 reviews frequently mention “Cost” and “Expensive” as some of the platform’s biggest downsides. This points to a per-agent model that can get expensive quickly, especially as you add more people to your team.
A review of Forethought on G2 stating the expensive pricing.
In comparison, eesel AI’s pricing is transparent and designed to be affordable as you grow. Instead of charging for each agent, eesel AI uses an interaction-based model, so you only pay for what you actually use. This makes it much easier to predict and manage costs, even when your team expands.
| Feature | Forethought | eesel AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Not public (likely per-agent) | Interaction-based |
| Transparency | Requires a sales demo | Publicly listed on website |
| Scalability | Costs can jump as team grows | Predictable costs based on usage |
The Forethought implementation process
According to their FAQ, setting up Forethought usually takes between 30 and 90 days. So why does it take so long? A big reason is that it needs a lot of data to learn from. As we mentioned, they want at least 20,000 past tickets to train their AI, which is a huge hurdle for smaller companies or businesses that are just starting out.
eesel AI's integration in its layered approach.
The benefit of eesel AI is its “layered” approach. Since it works right on top of the tools you already use, there’s no big, messy migration project. You can connect your help desk and other knowledge sources in a few minutes. Even better, eesel AI can learn from a much wider range of content, including Google Docs, Confluence pages, and even old Slack threads, making it usable even if you don’t have a mountain of support tickets.
Strengths and limitations of the Forethought platform
To be fair, we need to look at what Forethought does well and where it misses the mark.
What Forethought gets right
There’s no question that Forethought has built a capable platform. Its focus on agentic AI and “Autoflows” lets you build some pretty advanced workflows that can solve tricky issues on their own. They also have some impressive results to share, like helping Airtable boost self-service by 62%. On top of that, its ability to work across multiple channels, including voice, is a big plus for companies needing to support customers everywhere.
Where Forethought might not be the best fit
Despite its strengths, a few limitations make Forethought a tough sell for many teams.
- It can feel a bit disconnected: Even though the agents are strong, they are separate products. This can make the whole system feel clunky to manage compared to an all-in-one tool.
- The cost is a mystery (and likely high): The hidden, demo-only pricing is a red flag for many. When you pair that with user complaints about high costs on G2, it creates budget uncertainty that most businesses can’t afford.
- The setup is slow and demanding: A 1-3 month setup time and the need for 20,000+ tickets is not ideal for teams that need to get things done quickly.
- It’s hard to test things out: Some G2 reviewers mention that it’s difficult to test new features or workflows before pushing them live. That kind of trial-and-error approach is risky when you’re dealing with real customer conversations. In contrast, eesel AI lets you test the AI’s performance on old tickets in a safe sandbox, so you can tweak its behavior before you roll it out to customers.
Asset 8: Screenshot – The eesel AI sandbox environment for testing AI responses. Alt title: A view of the eesel AI sandbox, an alternative to Forethought testing. Alt text: A screenshot of the eesel AI sandbox showing how users can test AI-generated answers against past support tickets before deploying, a feature that provides a safe testing alternative to Forethought.
Is eesel AI a better alternative to Forethought?
The right AI platform really comes down to your team’s needs, budget, and goals. Forethought seems to be built for large companies with deep pockets and the time to go through a long, “rip-and-replace” style setup.
For teams that need something more flexible, fast, and affordable, eesel AI is a compelling option. It’s made to work with the tools you already have, not make you switch to a whole new system. This layered approach gives you all the perks of advanced AI without the usual headaches and high costs.
Here’s a quick side-by-side look:
| Feature | Forethought | eesel AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core Approach | Multi-agent system | All-in-one AI platform |
| Pricing | Hidden, per-agent model | Transparent, usage-based |
| Setup Time | 30–90 days | Minutes (no data migration) |
| Knowledge Sources | Help desk, tickets | 100+ integrations (Docs, Slack, etc.) |
| Testing | Limited pre-launch testing | Sandbox for testing on past tickets |
| Flexibility | Less control, clunky UI reported | High control over AI tone & actions |
Making the right choice for your AI support strategy
Forethought offers a capable AI platform, but its complicated structure, hidden pricing, and demanding setup make it a tool that’s really built for the enterprise world. For most teams, it’s just too slow, too expensive, and too rigid.
eesel AI offers a modern, practical alternative. It’s designed for teams that want to move fast, connect easily with the tools they already use, and keep their budget under control. By offering transparent, usage-based pricing and a setup that takes minutes instead of months, eesel AI gives you the power of AI without the traditional baggage.
If you’re looking for a flexible and cost-effective AI platform that works with your existing help desk and knowledge sources, you can book a demo of eesel AI or start a free trial today.
Frequently asked questions
Forethought does not publish its pricing publicly. You must request a demo to get a custom quote, but reviews suggest it uses an expensive per-agent model best suited for large enterprise budgets.
Setting up the platform typically takes 30 to 90 days. This is because its AI requires a large amount of historical data, ideally over 20,000 support tickets, to be trained effectively before it can work properly.
The platform is built around four separate products: Solve, Triage, Assist, and Discover. While powerful, they can feel disconnected, and it is not always clear if they must be purchased together or can be used independently.
Given its high data requirements, long setup time, and expensive, non-transparent pricing, Forethought is generally a better fit for large enterprises. Smaller teams may find it too slow and costly to implement.
