# Category Compare: Customer Success vs. Customer Experience Software | Capterra > We define and compare customer success vs. customer experience software so you can determine which tool is right for your business. Source: https://www.capterra.com/resources/customer-success-vs-customer-experience --- Customer Acquisition and RetentionCustomer Services & Support # Category Compare: Customer Success vs. Customer Experience Software By Ashish Upadhyay Ashish Upadhyay Ashish Upadhyay is a writer at Capterra. He provides insights to help small businesses identify the right software for their needs by analyzing over 550,000 ... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/aupadhyay/) Published April 27, 2022 3 min read Table of Contents - [What is customer success software?](#1-what-is-customer-success-software) - [What is customer experience software?](#2-what-is-customer-experience-software) - [What do they have in common?](#3-what-do-they-have-in-common) - [Customer success software features](#4-customer-success-software-features) - [Customer experience software features](#5-customer-experience-software-features) - [Which tool is right for you?](#6-which-tool-is-right-for-you) ## In this report, we define and compare customer success software and customer experience software so you can decide which tool is better suited for your business requirements. Both customer success and customer experience software are built to prioritize one thing for customer success managers and salespeople—their audience. However, despite both software categories focusing on your customers, their functions differ from each other. This report will identify the similarities and differences between the two software categories and help you select the right one for your business requirements. ## 1\. What is customer success software? Customer success software helps companies ensure that their clients achieve the outcomes intended by these companies, such as customer retention and satisfaction. ## 2\. What is customer experience software? Customer experience software (also known as CXM or CEM) helps collect, organize, and track customer feedback. This software includes a variety of applications for collecting customer opinions to tools for converting text-based feedback into numeric information, which can later get used for marketing purposes and improving customer satisfaction. ## 3\. What do they have in common? Customer success is a part of customer experience, and customer success software helps improve customer experience. Customer success software can offer feedback management with the help of surveys and Net Promoter Score (NPS) with a focus on tracking a customer's experience. Customer experience software also focuses on collecting, tracking, and organizing customer feedback. Both customer success and customer experience software are customer-centric tools used by client-facing and client-focused teams to strategize and optimize the management of customer relationships and interactions and improve customer engagement. Both software types are used with the goal of giving the customer a positive experience and leaving them with a good impression. ## 4\. Customer success software features ## 5\. Customer experience software features ## 6\. Which tool is right for you? If improving overall customer experience is your priority throughout their interaction with your business or online platform, you should go for a customer experience software solution. However, if you wish to solely improve customer interactions and improve customer loyalty support, customer success software should be the ideal choice. The question now is: Which _specific_ tool is right for your business? To start your search, head over to our [customer success software](https://www.capterra.com/customer-success-software/) or [customer experience software](https://www.capterra.com/customer-experience-software/) pages. There you’ll find a sortable list of products, software reviews from verified users, and comprehensive buyers guides. If you wish to narrow down your search to only the most popular and highest-rated solutions, visit Capterra’s Shortlist report for the top [customer experience](https://www.capterra.com/customer-experience-software/#shortlist) tools, based on an analysis of thousands of user reviews. ## Capterra's 2026 Software Buying Trends Report ### Download our 2026 Software Buying Trends Report to see how successful software adopters avoid disappointment and how your business can, too. * * * Looking for CRM software?Check out Capterra's list of the [best CRM software](https://www.capterra.com/customer-relationship-management-software/) solutions. ### Was this article helpful? * * * ## About the Author [### Ashish Upadhyay](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/aupadhyay/) Ashish Upadhyay is a writer at Capterra. He provides insights to help small businesses identify the right software for their needs by analyzing over 550,000 Capterra user reviews and nearly 48,000 interactions between Capterra software advisors and buyers. 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