The 12 best customer service software of 2025
Explore the top 12 customer service software tools of 2025 that are transforming how businesses support and engage their customers. This guide covers key features, strengths, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right solution for your needs.
Jul 22, 202518 MIN READ
Customers are the foundation of any successful business. That’s why delivering exceptional customer service isn’t optional—it’s essential for improving customer experience and building long-term loyalty.
According to G2, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by an impressive 25-95%. Impressive, isn’t it? Today, meeting rising customer expectations requires more than just a skilled support team; it demands intelligent automation and the best customer service software.
But with so many options on the market, picking the right software isn’t easy. This guide will help you find the best customer service, with an in-depth breakdown of features, pricing, pros, cons, and more.
Whether you're upgrading your current system or choosing your first tool, you'll find the right fit here. Let’s start with how we shortlisted these top-performing platforms.
How we shortlisted the 12 most reliable customer service software
Our research team followed a structured evaluation process approach where they evaluated the 35+ platforms based on the following parameters:
Reviews and ratings: We analyzed user feedback and ratings on trusted platforms such as G2, Capterra, and Gartner.
Ease of use: Our team evaluated usability by taking note of customer feedback on various channels, including public discussion platforms like Reddit and review platforms.
Key features: We prioritized platforms offering the most in-demand and effective features. These include multi-channel support, service automation, ticket management, self-service support, and customization.
Integration capabilities: The shortlisted platforms needed to have smooth integration capabilities with essential business tools like CRMs, billing software, marketing automation tools, and more.
Pricing: We compared the cost of various platforms and selected only those that offered strong value and features for their pricing tiers.
These were not all, but some of the key parameters we considered while compiling our list of the 12 most reliable customer service and support software. Now, it’s time we start our discussion with a quick comparison of these solutions.
A quick comparison of the 12 leading customer service software
Platform | G2 Ratings | Most Striking Feature | Base Plan Price | Top Users |
---|---|---|---|---|
Freshdesk | 4.4 (3,519 reviews) | Freddy AI: AI-powered ticketing automation | $18/agent/month | - Disney - S&P Global - Bridgestone |
Zendesk | 4.3 (6,214 reviews) | Omnichannel support with in-depth analytics | $25/agent/month | - Siemens - Uber - Instacart |
Front | 4.7 (2,291 reviews) | Shared inbox with real-time collaboration | $29/seat/month | - GoDaddy - ClickUp - ECHO |
Zoho Desk | 4.4 (6,521 reviews) | Zia—AI agent for self-service and reporting | $9/user/month | - McAfee - Hafele - Mercedes-Benz |
Help Scout | 4.4 (409 reviews) | Shared inbox with help desk functionalities | $55/month (unlimited users) | - Vimeo - GUSTO - The New Yorker |
Intercom | 4.5 (3,408 reviews) | Fin (AI chatbot) and Agent Copilot for agent assistance | $39/seat/month | - Amplitude - Synthesia - Perplexity |
ServiceNow CSM | 4.4 (198 reviews) | Intelligent case management | Custom | - XEROX - Delta - ZOOM |
HappyFox | 4.5 (523 reviews) | HappyFox AI agents | $29/agent/month | - DARTMOUTH - Darwinbox - Pinewood School |
Gorgias | 4.6 (520 reviews) | In-desk eCommerce platform controls | $10/month/50 tickets | - Reebok - Mr Beast Store - BABYGOLD |
Hiver | 4.6 (1,183 reviews) | Gmail-like interface | $24/user/month | - Upwork - Flexport - Veolia |
Salesforce Service Cloud | 4.4 (5,630 reviews) | 360-degree customer view | $25/month | - Indeed - Pepsico F- INNAIR |
HubSpot Service Hub | 4.4 (2,525 reviews) | Integration with HubSpot CRM | $20/seat/month | - Babbel - Kahoot! - Kaplan |
Now that you’ve seen a side-by-side comparison of the top customer service software, let’s dive deeper into what each platform offers—its key features, ideal use cases, pros, and cons.
A comprehensive breakdown of the top customer service software
Searching for the right customer service software from the many options available can feel overwhelming. To demystify this problem and simplify your decision-making, let’s take a closer look at each of the software solutions we’ve listed above, one by one.
1. Freshdesk
Freshdesk, a product of Freshworks, is one of the most widely used customer service software, trusted by top businesses worldwide to deliver effective and prompt customer support. With Freshdesk, you can delight customers with quick and satisfactory query resolutions. It also offers self-service options across portals and web platforms, all powered by an extensive AI-powered knowledge base to help customers resolve common queries on their own.
Freshdesk provides multichannel support, allowing your business to manage customer conversations across multiple channels, including email, live chat, social media, phone, and web portals, from a unified dashboard.
This platform is powered by Freddy AI, a customer service AI agent that surpasses basic bots as it learns from your existing knowledge bases and provides accurate support without agent interference, helping reduce average resolution time by 93%.
96.09% Positive CSAT Response | 12m 31s Decrease in First Assign Time | 25% Increase in CSAT |
Key features of Freshdesk
Advanced ticketing management: Helps manage, route, and resolve tickets effortlessly with a unified workspace. Ensures tickets are assigned to the appropriate agent for accurate and personalized support.
Customer self-service support: Equips customers and agents with a searchable knowledge base optimized for SEO and available across all portals. Reduces repetitive queries and enables customers to find the answer on their own.
Freddy AI Agent: Provides instant resolutions to common queries and escalates them to human agents when required. When connected with the backend can also perform common actions like refunds, order updates, etc.
Freddy AI Copilot: Accelerates query resolution by helping agents deliver satisfactory, context-aware responses. Reduces ticket volume by handling routine queries and enabling self-service, allowing customers to find answers independently.
Built-in collaboration tools: Enhances cross-functional team collaboration with features like shared ownership, knowledge base management, and threaded conversations.
Advanced reporting and analytics: Monitors agent performance by tracking key KPIs such as ticket volume, resolution times, CSAT scores, timesheets, and more.
Freshdesk pricing
Freshdesk’s pricing plan consists of a free tier for businesses that includes support for up to two agents, along with four paid plans: Growth, Pro, Pro + AI Copilot, and Enterprise. Check out the details below:
Plan | Price (USD) | Features |
---|---|---|
Free | $0 | Up to two agents and basic ticketing, knowledge base, and pre-built reports |
Growth | $18/agent/month | Free plus shared inbox, customer portal, basic analytics and insights, ticket dispatch, automation, role-based access control, and single sign-on |
Pro | $59/agent/month | Growth plus multilingual conversations, up to 5,000 collaborators, Freddy AI Agent, Freddy AI Copilot (add-on), custom real-time dashboards, round robin, and load-balanced assignment. |
Pro + AI Copilot | $94/agent/month | Pro plus Freddy AI Copilot (included) and Freddy AI Insights (Beta) |
Enterprise | $95/agent/month | Pro plus custom object analysis, approval workflow, skill-based ticket assignment, agent shifts, out-of-office scheduler, JWT authentication, audit logs, Sandbox, and domains and IP whitelisting |
Note: Freddy AI Copilot add-on costs $29/agent/month (billed annually), while Freddy AI Agent add-on costs $100/1000 sessions.
Pros and cons of Freshdesk
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Offers a consolidated view of customer inquiries from multiple channels, along with automatic ticket categorization. | Advanced features might require training for the team. |
User-friendly interface that requires minimal training for agents and admins. | Doesn’t have built-in workforce management capabilities. |
Reduced incoming ticket volume due to Freddy AI’s precision and quick query resolution, requiring minimal manual interference. | Fewer features in the mobile app compared to the desktop version. |
Seamlessly integrates with the Freshworks ecosystem for extended functionalities. |
User reviews
"We adopted Freshdesk because it is a highly adaptable solution with metrics that allow us to track and follow up on our customers and agents efficiently." Christophe Tomborski Back Office Manager Bridgestone |
"Freshdesk has helped us install more efficient workflows and processes while still maintaining HIPAA compliance. It has been a game-changer for agents and members." Mahmoud Shehadeh Director of Member Support Hinge Health |
Verdict
Freshdesk is a user-friendly, affordable customer service platform that centralizes support across multiple channels. With AI-powered automation and Freddy AI, it helps resolve tickets faster and reduces manual effort, making it an ideal solution for small to mid-sized businesses.
2. Zendesk
Zendesk is an omnichannel customer service software that you can customize and scale according to your requirements. As one of the oldest and most widely recognized customer support platforms, it offers a comprehensive suite of products. These tools help optimize support operations and enhance customer experience through faster ticket resolution and workflow automation.
Zendesk also provides a centralized platform for businesses to collect, manage, and resolve customer inquiries from multiple channels. Its AI agent, Zendesk AI, is the cherry on the cake, which significantly helps automate help desk tasks and speed up issue resolutions.
To help you make an informed choice, dive into our detailed comparison of Zendesk vs Freshdesk and determine which solution best aligns with your support requirements.
Key features of Zendesk
Unified ticketing system: Consolidates queries from all channels into a single interface, giving agents a complete view of each customer interaction, regardless of the communication channel.
Advanced analytics and reporting: Zendesk’s Explore offers an interactive dashboard where you can monitor important KPIs and generate reports for better service insights.
Integration capabilities: Supports a library of 1,200+ pre-built apps and provides a set of APIs to extend platform functionalities.
Zendesk pricing
Zendesk pricing is divided into four plans: Support Team, Suite Team, Suite Professional, and Suite Enterprise. For more details, check the comparison table below:
Plan | Price (USD) | Features |
---|---|---|
Support Team | $25/agent/month | All basic features like ticketing, unified agent workspace, multi-channel routing, and customer interaction history |
Suite Team | $69/agent/month | Support team features plus AI agents, live chat, Google Analytics, call routing, call recording, and social messaging |
Suite Professional | $149/agent/month | Suite team plus skills-based routing, SLAs, self-service portal, IVR, multilingual customer support, and custom analytics |
Suite Enterprise | Custom pricing | Suite Professional plus Sandbox, audit logs, assign agent roles, contextual workflows, extend wait times, and get audit logs |
Note: To access AI features like Agent Copilot, AI workflows, insights, and suggestions, users must purchase the “Advanced AI” add-on, which costs $50/agent/month.
Pros and cons of Zendesk
Pros | Cons |
Omnichannel integration enables smooth connectivity with multiple support channels. | Scattered admin experience with key features spread across multiple windows |
Facilitates effective team collaboration between cross-functional teams | 24/7 support is not available by default; it requires additional payment for Premier Support |
Simplified ticket management and customer history visibility enable quick responses and faster resolution. | No built-in bulk messaging feature for proactive customer outreach |
3. Front
Front, often designated as an email management system, is one of the best AI customer service software that centralizes all customer conversations and workflows into a shared inbox. It allows multiple teammates to manage and respond to shared email addresses like support@ and info@. This ensures everyone stays on the same page and has access to the complete communication history.
Additionally, Front seamlessly integrates with leading CRMs, such as Salesforce and HubSpot. This enables support teams to access complete customer activity and context for faster and more effective issue resolution.
You can also explore a detailed comparison of Front vs Freshdesk to see how the two platforms measure up.
Key features of Front
Unified interface: Provides a shared inbox for all your communication channels. Enables multiple team members to access and collaborate on customer messages in real time.
Front intelligence: Offers insights into the customer journey, summarizes long email threads, and surfaces the knowledge base to help agents resolve customer issues faster.
Advanced analytics: Helps gain deep insights into your team performance and customer experience through KPI monitoring and advanced reporting.
Front pricing
Front offers four flexible pricing models, billed monthly or annually. The Starter and Growth packages are available for both monthly and annual billing, while Scale and Premier are available only for annual billing. Check the table below for more information:
Plan | Price | Features |
---|---|---|
Starter | $29/seat/month | Shared inboxes, basic ticketing, omnichannel communication, knowledge base, 10 rules, and up to 10 seats |
Growth | $79/seat/month | Starter features plus live chat and chatbots, up to 20 rules, voice and telephone communications, Ticket SLAs & analytics, AI summarize, and AI Compose |
Scale | $99/seat/month (billed annually) | Growth plus up to 200 rules, multilingual support, AI article translation, advanced team controls, onboarding assistance, and a dedicated account team |
Premier | Custom (billed annually) | All Scale features plus custom build hours, access to pre-release and beta features, up to 100 knowledge bases |
Pros and cons of Front
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Simple to set up and deploy, with minimal training requirements. | Complex search functionalities make it time-consuming to locate specific emails. |
Enables real-time collaboration with teammates; edit drafts, mention peers, and more without CC-ing or forwarding emails. | Limited user seats make it harder and expensive to scale with more users. |
More intuitive UI and better features in the shared inbox compared to Gmail and Outlook. | The sequence feature is underdeveloped, limiting workflow automation capabilities |
4. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a cloud-based customer service and helpdesk software that’s part of the extensive Zoho ecosystem. It helps businesses track, organize, and prioritize tickets for faster resolution of issues that require immediate attention.
If you’re already a user of the Zoho Suite of products, Zoho Desk might be the ideal support platform for you since it offers native integrations with products like Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho Mail. However, if you're comparing platforms to find the right fit, this detailed breakdown of Freshdesk vs Zoho Desk can help you evaluate which tool better suits your support team's needs.
Key features of Zoho Desk
Omnichannel ticketing: Helps provide swift assistance across multiple channels, including emails, calls, messaging apps, social media platforms, live chat, and web forms.
Self-service portal: Hosts an ASAP help widget that businesses can customize as per their brand needs on their websites, enabling customers to auto-solve queries.
AI-powered assistance: Zia, Zoho Desk’s powerful AI, reduces ticketing volumes by providing satisfactory and precise resolutions to user queries using the knowledge base.
Zoho Desk pricing
Zoho Desk offers a free plan suitable for very small businesses and four paid plans for organizations with high customer volumes. Check out the plan details below:
Plan | Price | Features |
---|---|---|
Free | $0/user/month | 3 agents, basic ticketing, customer management, email, help center, web forms, 2 Macros, mobile app, and multilingual support |
Express | $9/user/month | Free plus social media channels support, 5 agents, 2 email channels, Zia for content analysis, Multi-level escalations, ticket history |
Standard | $20/user/month | Express plus 5 email channels, instant messaging, community forums, ASAP widget, 24/5 phone support |
Professional | $35/user/month | Standard plus Round-robin ticket assignment, agent performance time tracking, multi-department support, ticket sharing, collision detection |
Enterprise | $50/user/month | Professional plus multi-brand help centers, full Zia capabilities, IVR, Telephony, role-based access control |
Pros and cons of Zoho Desk
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Effective SLA tracking and improved team organization. | Agents have limited visibility over customer details, limited to basic ticket details. |
Built-in knowledge base helps deliver better service and consolidate product insights. | Requires additional technical effort to deploy chatbots on channels beyond WhatsApp. |
Seamless integration with other Zoho products. | Limited chat and phone support (only 8 to 5), even on the Enterprise plan. |
5. Help Scout
Help Scout is a unique customer service software that offers a shared inbox that feels like a regular email inbox, but in reality, is much more than that. It is a comprehensive help desk platform that features self-service, ticketing, automation, and advanced collaboration tools.
Its shared inbox acts as a centralized hub where customer inquiries from email, live chat, and social media channels are consolidated. This gives agents a unified view, enabling them to collaborate and deliver timely, comprehensive support.
To see how it compares to leading customer service solutions like Freshdesk in terms of features, pricing, and usability, check out this detailed Help Scout Freshdesk comparison.
Key features of Help Scout
Live chat and self-service portal: Help Scout features Beacon, a live chat and self-service widget that can be embedded on websites for real-time support and help articles.
Automation and workflows: Enables you to set up workflows that automate repetitive tasks like assigning customer support tickets, tagging, and routing conversations.
Advanced insights and analytics: Offers access to critical team and business insights such as response times, wait times, chat duration, and busy hours. Also provides CSAT scores to analyze customer satisfaction and improve team performance.
Help Scout pricing
Help Scout follows a straightforward pricing model, offering one free plan and three paid plans ideal for small businesses testing the platform and established businesses looking to optimize their workflows. Check the table below to know more:
Plan | Price | Features |
---|---|---|
Free | $0/month | Up to 50 contacts/month, unlimited users, shared inbox, knowledge base, Beacon widget with AI answers, AI drafts, AI assist, 2FA, in-app messaging, customer profile, and activity history, pre-built and custom reports |
Standard | $55/month | Free plus unlimited messages, 100 contacts/month, 2 inboxes, complete automation, CSAT ratings, advanced reporting, export data |
Plus | $83/month
| Standard plus up to 25,000 contacts, custom fields, restrict docs, advanced views, workflows, team features, and advanced permissions |
Pro | Custom | Plus features and more contacts, enhanced security, dedicated onboarding, and more |
Pros and cons of Help Scout
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
The collision detection feature helps ensure that no two agents are working on the same ticket. | Limited automation capabilities, tailored mainly for small teams and low support volumes. |
Help Scout’s well-organized and simple user interface ease implementation. | Offers only around 100+ integrations, far fewer than competitors. |
A responsive team that actively addresses feature requests with real implementations. | Missing advanced features like shared ownership and linked tickets, making cross-team collaboration less efficient. |
6. Intercom
Intercom is a unique customer support platform that combines its powerful Fin AI agent with its help desk capabilities to deliver superior customer service. It follows a messenger-first approach, which emphasizes forging stronger customer relationships via proactive messaging and live chats.
Fin AI efficiently handles most routine queries using its knowledge base and past resolution history, allowing human agents to focus on only the most priority customer issues. Intercom provides an omnichannel platform where customer queries from different channels, such as email, live chat, SMS, social media, or phone, are converged for a comprehensive view.
For a detailed evaluation of its features and approach against a strong competitor, dive into our Intercom vs Freshdesk comparison.
Key features of Intercom
AI-powered agent assist tool: Features Copilot, an AI assistant that equips customer service agents with relevant information. Provides support content to resolve customer queries faster and more accurately.
Reporting: Offers AI insights, customizable reports, and agent and AI support that help better understand workflows, results, and customer satisfaction scores.
Powerful integrations: Offers 300+ integrations with various CRM, email, ticketing, social channels, reporting tools, and internal databases, making it easier to scale its capabilities.
Intercom pricing
Intercom offers three plans: Essential, Advanced, and Expert, available on both monthly and annual billing cycles. Additionally, all of these plans include Fin AI integration. To know more about the plans, refer to the table.
Plan | Price | Feature |
---|---|---|
Essential | $39/seat/month | Fin AI agent costing $0.99/resolution, live messenger, shared inbox, ticketing system, AI compose, basic help center, Copilot, pre-built reports |
Advanced | $99/seat/month | Essential plus multiple team inboxes, automated workflows, round-robin assignment, teammate inactivity, AI Summarize, AI Autofill |
Expert | $139/seat/month | Advanced plus multi-brand messenger and help centers, HIPAA support, SLAs, SSO & identity management |
Pros and cons of Intercom
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Easy to set up and quick onboarding that helps speed up implementation. | Lacks parent-child ticketing capabilities, making cross-team collaboration difficult. |
All customer information is available in one cluster, mitigating the need to switch between platforms. | No skill-based routing, leading to inefficient ticket assignments to unqualified agents. |
Supports multiple languages, enabling prompt assistance for global users. | Higher pricing compared to alternatives, especially as you scale. |
7. ServiceNow CSM
ServiceNow CSM is a powerful customer support system that helps deliver exceptional support across multiple channels by ensuring each customer query is addressed promptly. With a comprehensive self-service portal and AI agents for 24/7 support, this platform resolves most inquiries without human intervention. This significantly reduces the burden on support teams. Moreover, ServiceNow’s AI not only automates query routing but also equips agents with all the necessary context to resolve cases efficiently. Features like AI-generated summaries and context-aware auto-responses save time and accelerate resolution, making it one of the best AI customer service tools.
Key features of ServiceNow CSM
Unified agent workspace: Offers agents a comprehensive dashboard with a 360-degree view of the customers across all channels, including complete conversation history. It also includes macros, AI assistance, and team collaboration tools.
Smart case management: Consolidates cases from all communication channels and intelligently routes them to appropriate agents based on their skills, availability, and department.
AI-powered analytics: Uses predictive intelligence to analyze historical data, predict potential downtimes, and enable proactive issue resolution. It also includes performance analytics to monitor both human and AI agent efficiency in resolving customer issues.
ServiceNow CSM pricing
Plan | Price | Feature |
---|---|---|
CSM Standard | Custom | Case Management, omnichannel, agent workspace, advanced work assignments, DevOps, ServiceNow AI capabilities, and self-service |
CSM Professional | Custom | CSM Standard plus performance analytics, task intelligence, proactive customer service operations, vendor management workspace, and service catalog |
CSM Enterprise | Custom | CSM Professional plus shift-based assignment, workforce optimization, and process mining |
Pros and cons of ServiceNow CSM
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Easy ticket management with centralized tickets and automated workflows. | Steep learning curve for new users, and when implementing complex automation. |
Intuitive and easy-to-use user interface. | Occasional performance lags during peak usage. |
Seamless cross-platform team collaboration. | Time-consuming initial setup and configuration. |
8. HappyFox
HappyFox is a cloud-based customer support and help desk software that helps businesses centralize service management across multiple customer support channels. It provides a unified workspace for agents, ensuring no query goes unanswered. Its powerful ticketing system converts all incoming customer inquiries into easily tractable and organized tickets and includes features like automated skills-based assignment, collision detection, and more.
With advanced integration capabilities, HappyFox allows businesses to connect the platform with a range of third-party applications, including CRM tools, eCommerce platforms, project management, and collaboration tools.
Choosing a cloud help desk? Our HappyFox vs Freshdesk comparison provides the key insights to find your ideal fit.
Key features of HappyFox
Automated workflows: Enables the creation of rule-based workflows to automate repetitive tasks and ticket assignments, suggest auto-responses, and more.
AI Resolve and AI Copilot: Helps agents deliver prompt resolutions through smart replies, ticket summaries, and writing assistance.
Reporting & analytics: Allows businesses to track KPIs like CSAT scores, resolution time, wait time, agent performance, and more.
HappyFox pricing
HappyFox’s pricing model is divided into two models: agent-based pricing and unlimited agents. Let’s take a look at both of the models in detail.
Agent-based pricing:
Plan | Price | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Basic | $29/agent/month
| Omnichannel support, unlimited tickets, up to 5 agents, and SLA management |
Team | $69/agent/month | Basic plus custom email, custom domain, multi-brand Helpdesk, custom ticket queues, and 24/5 email support |
Pro | $119/agent/month | Team plus proactive agent collision, load-balanced ticket assignment, task management, and asset management |
Enterprise PRO | Custom | Pro plus advanced audit logs, customer success manager, and 2 TB attachment store |
Unlimited agents:
Plan | Price (annual plans) | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Growth | $1,999/month | Unlimited agents, 20,000 tickets/year, and 20 custom fields |
Scale | $3,999/month | 150,000 tickets/year, and 100 custom fields |
Scale Plus | $5,999/month | 300,000 tickets/year and 200 custom fields |
Ultimate | Custom | 10,00,000 tickets/year and 300 custom fields |
Pros and cons of HappyFox
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Easy to use and implement for small-scale teams. | Fixed pricing caps annual tickets and charges extra for overages, driving up costs. |
Prompt and easily reachable vendor support. | Live chat and chatbot are offered as add-ons, not built-in features. |
Smooth integration with third-party applications like CRM and eCommerce platforms. | Lacks advanced AI features like sentiment analysis, intent detection, and automated triage. |
9. Gorgias
Gorgias is one of the best e-commerce customer service software available in the market. Its conversational AI helps accelerate query resolution and, more importantly, provides meaningful recommendations to enhance conversations. Gorgias seamlessly integrates with over 100 e-commerce tools, offering a holistic view of customers to deliver more personalized and impactful interactions. Additionally, this customer service platform provides plugins for Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento. These integrations allow e-store operators to perform actions like editing orders and issuing refunds directly within the help desk software.
For eCommerce businesses evaluating a specialized solution against a more comprehensive platform, our in-depth Gorgias vs Freshdesk comparison offers crucial insights.
Key features of Gorgias
Omnichannel customer support: Enables businesses to manage customer queries across multiple channels, including email, social media, live chat, WhatsApp, etc, from a single dashboard.
In-desk eCommerce platform controls: Integrate platforms like Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce to perform operations such as editing, refunding, or canceling orders directly from the helpdesk.
Proactive support: Helps launch chat campaigns to offer personalized shopping assistance, product recommendations, and respond to pre-purchase queries in real time.
Gorgias pricing
Gorgias offers five flexible pricing plans: Starter, Basic, Pro, Advanced, and Enterprise. Refer to the table below to learn more about these plans.
Plan | Price (USD) | Features |
---|---|---|
Starter | $10/month | 3 user seats, 50 billable tickets/month, Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, multi-channel support (excluding voice and SMS), create on-site campaigns for Shopify, SSO, complete automation, analytics |
Basic | $60/month | Starter plus 300 billable tickets/month, 500 user seats, BigCommerce integration, Voice and SMS support, up to 150 integrations, self-service and automation statistics, team management, and user permissions |
Pro | $360/month | Basic plus 2,000 billable tickets/month and Magento integrations |
Advanced | $900/month | Pro plus 5000 billable tickets/month |
Enterprise | Custom | Advanced plus custom features |
Pros and cons of Gorgias
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
User-friendly interface that supports quick onboarding for agents. | Pricing is a bit expensive for smaller businesses. |
A proactive customer service team that provides fast issue resolution for businesses. | Frequent updates can sometimes slow down the entire software. |
Smooth automation with streamlined ticket assignments and effective features like macros and triggers. | Add-on charges are costly once all the billable tickets are exhausted. |
10. Hiver
Hiver is a customer service software that offers a Gmail and Outlook-like interface, allowing you to manage multiple business email IDs through a shared inbox, ensuring no query goes unanswered.
It enables businesses to manage communication across multiple channels, be it email, WhatsApp, or chat, from a single platform that feels like your inbox. The platform allows users to create no-code rules to automatically route, assign, tag, and perform similar operations with ease.
Key features of Hiver
AI-assisted live chats: Help add branded live chat widgets to your website or app. Enables AI chatbots to provide instant, real-time support and route messages to the appropriate agents.
AI-automated workflows: Leverages AI and route-based workflows to automatically assign tickets to the right agent directly on the email without the need for forwarding or CC-ing.
Advanced analytics and reporting: Tracks customer interactions and monitors key KPIs, including response time, resolution time, and CSAT score. Adds custom fields to store and filter conversations for easier analysis and better performance.
Hiver pricing
Hiver offers a free plan and four paid plans: Lite, Growth, Pro, and Elite, starting at $19. Refer to the table below for more details.
Plan | Price (USD) | Features |
---|---|---|
Free | $0 | Multichannel shared inbox, ticketing, Slack integration, Mobile app, 24/7 email and chat support, team collaboration, Live chat, voice, and WhatsApp support, and knowledge base |
Lite | $24/user/month | Free plus customer portal, round-robin auto assignments, SLAs, Custom fields, collision detection, approval workflows, AI Compose (20 users/day), Asana, Jira, QuickBooks, analytics for conversation data |
Growth | $34/user/month | Lite plus custom reports, user and tag data analytics, Zapier integrations |
Pro | $49/user/month | Growth plus chatbots, assignment Limits for Round-robin, custom dashboards, scheduled data reports/exports, CSAT, API and access, Salesforce integrations, and onboarding assistance |
Elite | Custom | Pro plus skill-based routing, Okta Integration, 6 custom roles, dedicated success manager, quarterly team training, and custom build hours |
Pros and cons of Hiver
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Easy implementation and onboarding with prompt vendor support. | Auto-responders lack a scheduling feature and are manually controlled. |
Seamlessly integrates with Gmail, eliminating the need to learn a new platform. | Searching for previously closed emails can often become tedious. |
Automation features like rules, templates, and auto-assignment help streamline repetitive tasks. | Lacks advanced customization options and reporting features found in other platforms. |
11. Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud is a widely recognized customer service platform trusted by leading companies to deliver fast and effective support to their customers. Backed by the Salesforce ecosystem, the platform helps businesses resolve customer queries across multiple channels, including email, social media, and chat.
Service Cloud is part of the broader Salesforce Customer 360 platform. This enables seamless integration with other Salesforce products like Marketing Cloud and Sales Cloud for a comprehensive customer view.
To truly understand if deep CRM integration or a dedicated, best-in-class helpdesk is your priority, explore our detailed Salesforce Service Cloud vs Freshdesk comparison.
Key features of Service Cloud
Omnichannel routing: Directs queries from multiple channels (email, chat, social media, phone) to the appropriate agent based on their availability, capacity, and skills.
Unified customer view: Centralizes customer data, including purchase history, tickets, and other historical information, for more personalized and satisfactory issue resolution.
Einstein AI: Helps businesses deliver great customer support through valuable insights and automation. Offers case classification and routing, article recommendations, best actions, and predictive analytics.
Salesforce Service Cloud pricing
Salesforce Service Cloud offers five pricing packages: Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Einstein 1 Service. Here are the details:
Plan | Price (USD) | Features |
---|---|---|
Starter Suite | $25/user/month | Comes with basic case management, knowledge management, email marketing, and analytics |
Pro Suite | $100/user/month | Starter plan plus omnichannel routing, sales quoting and forecasting, and real-time chat |
Enterprise | $165/user/month | Includes Einstein AI for service, advanced workflow automation, and self-service help center |
Unlimited | $330/user/month | 24/7 support, AI-powered chatbots, and complete chat and messaging support |
Einstein 1 Service | $500/user/month | Unlimited plan plus AI-powered chat analysis (service intelligence), data cloud, and Slack |
Pros and cons of Service Cloud
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Complete client tracking from initial call to query resolution. | Cluttered UI with complex navigation and unnecessary sales-focused features. |
Improved team collaboration through Slack integration and a shared knowledge base. | Steep learning curve; agents may require technical knowledge and configuration skills. |
Better case management with centralized case tracking, omnichannel routing, and automated workflows. | Starter plan lacks pre-built or custom integrations, limiting scalability. |
12. HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot Service Hub is part of the larger HubSpot ecosystem and is built on top of HubSpot’s Smart CRM. This allows businesses to gain a holistic view of their customers by accessing complete activity details from various departments, including marketing, sales, and operations. This platform is powered by the Breeze customer agent, which helps businesses effortlessly manage large ticket volumes by delivering context-aware responses sourced from knowledge base content. This ensures customers receive accurate, helpful support 24/7, ultimately boosting customer satisfaction.
Key features of HubSpot Service Hub
Intelligent ticketing management: Uses AI to automate advanced features such as ticket routing, conditional SLAs, and task assignments.
Call tracking: Enables you to make and receive phone calls directly within the system, with IVR phone tree support for smart call routing.
Service analytics: Monitors how well your agents are performing by measuring their productivity and post-support survey scores. Tracks KPIs like ticket volume, chat wait time, and average resolution time.
HubSpot Service Hub pricing
HubSpot Service Hub’s pricing model is very simple, with one free plan and three paid tiers: Service Hub Starter, Service Hub Professional, and Service Hub Enterprise.
Plan | Price | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Service Hub Starter | $15/seat/month
| 500 minutes of calling, email reply tracking, simple ticket automation, meeting scheduling, live chat, and conversation routing |
Service Hub Professional | $100/seat/month | Starter plus Customer success workspace, customer feedback surveys, 3,000 minutes of calling, insights dashboard, SLAs, service analytics, and help desk |
Service Hub Enterprise | $150/seat/month | Professional plus skill-based routing, IVR, conditional SLAs, field-level permissions, and admin notifications management |
Pros and cons of HubSpot Service Hub
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Requires minimal training and is easy to use. | Lacks core ticketing features like parent-child ticketing, collision detection, and shared ticket ownership. |
AI tools significantly boost productivity, helping human agents save time and prioritize critical issues. | Prioritizes CRM-specific channels over key support channels like Instagram, Apple Messages, and LINE. |
Integrates natively with HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub, and Sales Hub, offering a unified view of the customer journey. | Essential features like SLAs and a knowledge base are locked behind upper-tier plans. |
Now that you’ve explored the top 12 customer support tools and what they offer, the next step is figuring out which one fits your business best. In the next section, we’ll walk you through key factors to consider when choosing the right customer support software.
How to select the best customer support software for your business?
Choosing the right customer support tool can significantly impact your team’s efficiency and your customers’ satisfaction. Here’s how to find the best fit for your business needs:
1. Identify business requirements
Start by identifying what your business needs from a customer support platform. Understand the type of solution that will address your business and user pain points. Ask yourself:
Do you need multichannel support (email, chat, calls, social media)?
What features do you require in your platform (AI agents, automated ticketing, self-service portal, etc)?
Outlining your needs can help you make more informed decisions in choosing the right customer service solution that can help you streamline your customer service.
2. Evaluate usability
Any tool, no matter how feature-rich it is, is only effective if it is easier for your users to adapt and use. Look for:
Clean and intuitive interface
Short learning curve
Support quick onboarding for agents
Pro tip: The best way to accurately evaluate usability is to explore a product demo or try out the free plan firsthand. This experience will help you better understand the features and interface and determine whether it aligns with your team’s workflows. |
3. Pricing
Pricing transparency is crucial. Here’s what to look for when looking at potential customer service tools’ pricing plans:
Is the plan price justifiable for the features included?
Does the platform have hidden costs, like set-up fees, support charges, and licensing fees?
4. Integration capabilities
The platform you are considering investing in must effortlessly integrate with your existing business systems and tools, such as CRM, eCommerce platforms, and team collaboration tools. This ensures a smoother workflow, eliminates data silos, and provides a unified system where you can gain a holistic view of customers to deliver better customer service.
Freshdesk’s integrations and configurations allow businesses to connect support services organization-wide. This enables better support quality, enhanced collaboration, and a more elevated customer experience.
5. Training and support
Simply purchasing a comprehensive and effective customer service software doesn’t solve all your problems. You also need to partner with a trusted service provider that offers onboarding assistance and around-the-clock support. Also, comprehensive documentation and additional resources should be available to help your employees onboard quickly.
Confirming this before finalizing a product is imperative to ensure you cut short the induction time and onboard people quickly to enhance your work productivity.
6. Security and Compliance
When reviewing customer service software solutions, it is crucial to assess the platform's security and compliance standards to ensure your customer and business data stays safe. Make sure the solution is PCR compliant and adheres to industry standards such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
Also, check for essential security features like data encryption, access-based control, audit logs, and other mechanisms that ensure fortified security.
7. Make the final decision
After thoroughly reviewing usability, pricing, integration capabilities, security, compliance standards, and training support, it’s time to make your final decision. Select a customer service solution that aligns with your business needs.
Ensure it offers the required features at a justifiable price, is easy to adopt, is secure and compliant with the industry norms, and seamlessly integrates with your existing systems.
Scaling fast but losing service quality? Switch to Freshdesk
Built to scale with your business, Freshdesk’s AI-automated workflows and Freddy AI ensure every customer receives consistent, high-quality service, fueling unhindered growth.
Enhance your customer service capabilities with Freshdesk
Looking for a customer support platform that is not only feature-rich and reliable but also affordable? Look no further and invest in Freshdesk. Designed for ease of use, Freshdesk is simple to set up and onboard, requiring minimal training for your support agents.
One of the most powerful features of Freshdesk is Freddy AI Copilot, which can enhance your agent productivity by up to 60%. Even better, Freddy AI can handle up to 80% of routine queries autonomously, thus significantly reducing the workload on your customer support teams and allowing them to focus on priority issues.
Freshdesk is designed for businesses of all sizes, whether small businesses seeking to delight existing customers or large enterprises requiring omnichannel support to manage high volumes of queries. Trusted by over 73,000 businesses worldwide, Freshdesk is your one-stop solution for all your customer service needs.
Interested in exploring Freshdesk to learn more about it? Book a free product tour today.
Frequently asked questions about customer support software
Which customer service software has the best AI live support?
There are many AI-based customer service software that offer advanced AI live support, such as Freshdesk (Freddy AI), Intercom (Fin AI), and Zendesk (AI for Service). While each of them offers distinctive functionalities, Freshdesk stands out as the most affordable option, with base plans starting at $15/agent/month, along with a free version suitable for small teams of up to 2 members.
Which AI customer service software offers the best integration with existing systems?
Salesforce Service Cloud, Zendesk, Gorgias, Intercom, and Freshdesk are some AI customer service software that offer the best integration capabilities. Among these, Salesforce Service Cloud is highly reliable for enterprise-level integrations with CRM and other tools. It supports over 1700 integrations, which can be used to scale your complex customer service environments.
How complex is data migration when switching to a new customer service software?
The complexity of data migration depends on several factors: the volume of data, the support tools available with your existing platform, and the compatibility between the platforms. For example, migrating a large dataset can be time-consuming and complex. However, platforms like Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Salesforce often include built-in import tools, making migration more convenient.
How does customer support software ensure security and compliance?
Customer support platforms like Freshdesk follow standard security protocols like data encryption (TLS 1.2 and AES-256), role-based access controls, multifactor authentication, and more to ensure your data security. Additionally, leading platforms comply with industry standards such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and more to ensure data integrity.
What are the various types of customer support software?
There are several types of customer support software available in the market. These include self-service software, ticketing management, live chat software, CRM, field service management, and call center software. Apart from these, there are all-in-one suites that combine the features of these individual software programs into a single platform.
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