10 Best AI Chatbots for Customer Service Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 32 tools reviewed.
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
With so many different AI chatbots for customer service available, figuring out which is best for your business is tricky. You know you want a chatbot to help you provide quick and consistent responses to simple customer queries, but you need to figure out which option is best. In this article, I'll help you make your choice easier by sharing my insights on the best AI chatbots to help customer service teams work more effectively and offer customer support around the clock.
What is an AI Chatbot for Customer Service?
AI chatbots for customer service are digital tools that use an automated method of responding to customer requests. These tools are delivered via a cloud-based software platform, and connected to your customer-facing website. When a customer visits your website, the chatbot option would allow them to immediately "speak to" a representative by typing their request into a chat window. AI chatbots are programmed to provide customized support based on your organization's unique specifications.
Using an AI chatbot for your customer service operations can reduce your labor costs, speed up your response times, and allow you to offer support 24/7. Many also offer multilingual support and the ability to learn and adapt based on previous customer interactions, improving customer satisfaction levels. They can also help organizations scale their operations to meet rising demands, without needing to add more customer service agents to their workforce.
Overviews of the 10 Best AI Chatbots for Customer Service
Here are brief descriptions of the 10 best AI chatbots for customer service that made it into my shortlist. I’ve explained what each one does best and included a screenshot for each to demonstrate their user interface.
Plus, there are 22 additional bonus options below if you’d like even more AI-based chatbots to consider.
CoSupport AI is an advanced generative AI copilot, engineered to elevate customer support experiences and enhance the efficiency of support teams with its AI-powered solutions. It consists of several components designed to assist businesses in managing customer support by leveraging artificial intelligence. The CoSupport Customer, an AI-powered chatbot, delivers precise, instant answers from its knowledge base, handling more inquiries with less effort and making support scalable. Meanwhile, CoSupport Agent enhances agent productivity by providing context-aware suggestions, cutting support costs.
In January 2024, CoSupport AI secured a patent for its customer support solutions. CoSupport AI distinguishes itself in customer support with its rapid responses, precise training on specific products for accuracy, a cost-effective subscription model, and secure, anonymized data handling..
It seamlessly integrates with your existing CRMs, such as Zendesk or Freshdesk, ensuring your workflow is not disrupted.
CoSupport AI provides pricing upon request. A free demo is also available upon request.
Tidio is a customer service platform that helps your team level up your customer support and generate more sales. With an easily accessible live chat widget, Tidio makes your business available 24/7, while AI-powered chatbots engage your customers in real-time.
Tidio is currently trusted by 300,000+ websites worldwide.Tidio is designed and built for small businesses. It is delightfully easy to set up and use, so you can transform your customer service into a sales machine in no time.
Connect Messenger, Instagram, live chat, and email to Tidio multichannel and answer all messages from one place, also on mobile. Tidio easily integrates with all websites and platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Wix, BigCommerce, and many others.
Tidio is free for 3 operators and up to 100 unique visitors. Paid plans costs from $25/month and come with a 7-day free trial.
Guru is an advanced search and knowledge management platform designed to centralize a company's collective intelligence, enabling users to find the answers to their questions quickly. Its capability to deliver personalized, context-based recommendations in real-time positions it as a leading solution for businesses requiring instant access to their internal knowledge base.
Guru integrates AI-powered enterprise search with existing workflows and tools, which is crucial for providing instant access to knowledge within a company. What makes Guru different is its ability to deliver personalized, instant answers and its compatibility with a wide range of tools, which are essential for maintaining an efficient customer service operation.
Guru's AI Suggest feature uses artificial intelligence to present users with relevant knowledge from the Guru database, based on the content displayed on their screen. Knowledge Triggers automatically display information when specific conditions on a webpage are met, such as visiting a certain URL. The browser extension and integrations with Slack and MS Teams allow for easy access to the knowledge base within commonly used platforms.
Integrates include Slack, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Google Chrome, Gmail, and Outlook.
LiveHelpNow is a customer support software company that provides comprehensive solutions to enhance customer experience and facilitate business growth. It offers a range of features including AI-powered chatbots, workforce management tools, and call deflection. The tool is designed to cater to teams of any size across various industries, offering omnichannel communication, support ticket management, automatic lead forwarding, and self-service solutions.
I selected LiveHelpNow as a standout AI chatbot tool due to its comprehensive suite of features that cater to various customer service needs. This tool stands out because it offers a unique blend of live chat, email ticketing, and knowledge base capabilities, all in one platform. This makes it a versatile tool for managing customer interactions across multiple channels.
LiveHelpNow starts at $9/agent/month and comes with a 30-day free trial.
Best for service teams looking for a tool that learns fast from the knowledge base
Apart from accomplishing everyday chatbot tasks, Zoho’s Zia AI-powered assistant is also trained to do other tasks like placing or editing an order based on the customer’s instructions.
The software turns all the information it collects into graphics and lists so that the details are easier to understand and analyze.
The tool also has a very intuitive development interface.Zoho’s Zia costs from $14/user/month and offers a 15-day free trial.
Zoho SalesIQ is software designed to help businesses enhance their customer support and sales processes through live chat and visitor tracking. You can engage with your website visitors in real-time through a chat widget that you can customize to match your brand, add proactive chat messages, and even route chats to the right team member based on the visitor's behavior.
The software is user-friendly and easy to set up, and it offers a range of useful features that make it stand out from other live chat software. One of the standout features is the ability to see what visitors are typing before they hit send. This allows you to anticipate their needs and respond quickly. Another great feature is the ability to create chatbots that can handle basic inquiries and free up your team's time for more complex issues.
Zoho SalesIQ plans start at $7/operator/month, and they offer a 15-day free trial.
Freshchat is a digital platform designed to facilitate customer engagement across various communication channels such as messaging, live chat, email, and voice. It leverages AI-powered bots along with live chat features, positioning itself as a suitable solution for businesses aiming to maintain unified and contextual conversations with customers at scale.
Freshchat offers a range of features aimed at improving customer engagement through multiple messaging channels, including WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, and Facebook Messenger, allowing for centralized management of conversations. The live chat functionality integrates with websites and apps, offering features like canned responses and customizable chat widgets. It also provides email ticketing, voice call capabilities from the chat widget, and AI-powered chatbots for automated support. The unified agent workspace gives support teams a comprehensive view of customer interactions across channels, while proactive messaging can be used to engage customers based on their behavior.
Freshchat integrates with Freshdesk for customer support, Freshservice for IT service management, and Freshmarketer for marketing automation. It also connects with Google Calendar, MailChimp, Segment, Zapier, Office 365, Google Apps, Slack, Facebook, LinkedIn, Jotform, Typeform, Calendly, Email Parser by Zapier, and ClickFunnels Classic to facilitate various business processes.
Freshchat's starting price is from $15/user/month. It has a 21-day free trial.
Conversica is designed mainly to assist marketing and sales teams to engage potential customers as they enter the customer journey. The software integrates with Salesforce.
One of the tool’s most useful features is its ability to conduct A/B testing. This feature makes it possible to message different lead segments based on specific details collected by the bot.
Conversica costs from $2999/month and offers a free demo.
One of the main advantages of using Netomi is that the tool has native integration into other tools such as Zendesk Chat, Salesforce Chat, and LivePerson. It’s also designed to help organizations to serve up highly relevant articles from their knowledge base so bots can quickly find answers to queries.
The tool provides immediate resolution to most problems by identifying feedback on social media.Cost information is not provided. You can request a free demo on the site.
Intercom
Best for creating targeted messages for different customer segments
Intercom provides services under three broad categories: conversational support, conversational engagement, and conversational marketing. The tool comes with iOS and Android apps, making it easy to access information on the go.
Intercom also has an in-app feature that provides cross-platform support for Ionic React and Native React.Intercom costs from $59/month and offers a 14-day free trial and a free demo.
The Best AI Chatbots For Customer Service: Pricing Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes basic details about my top AI chatbots for customer service selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best option for your budget and business needs.
Tools | Price | |
---|---|---|
CoSupport AI | Pricing upon request | Website |
Tidio | From $25/user/month | Website |
Guru | From $10/user/month | Website |
LiveHelpNow | From $9/agent/month | Website |
Zoho Desk | From $20/user/month | Website |
Zoho SalesIQ | From $7/operator/month | Website |
Freshchat | From $15/month for small teams | Website |
Conversica | From $2999/month | Website |
Netomi | No price details | Website |
Intercom | From $74/month (billed annually) | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther AI Chatbot For Customer Service Options
Here are some other conversational AI platforms that didn’t make it into my shortlist of the best chatbot software, but are still worth taking a closer look at:
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Drift
Best for real-time conversations with website visitors
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Jitbit Helpdesk
Best for customer engagement through automation
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Kommunicate
Best for seamless flow between AI chatbots and human agents
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Ushur
Best for customer care in high-contact industries
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UDESK
Best for seamless transition between AI and human agents
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IBM Watson Assistant
Best for budget-conscious customer service teams
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HubSpot CRM
Best all-in-one sales & chatbot software
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LivePerson
Best for answering questions during the purchase interaction
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Linc
Best end-to-end CX automation solution
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Bold360
Best for personalized digital experiences
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LiveAgent with Quriobot
Best for lead generation, customer support, and feedback.
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Khoros
Best for faster insights and collaboration
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HappyFox Chatbot
Best for teams of different sizes that need custom solutions
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ChatBot.com
Best for streamlining customer service processes
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Jetlink Conversational AI Platform
Best for teams that want to scale
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Amelia
Best for teams with little experience in conversational AI
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Ivy.ai
Best for higher education
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Heyday
Best for retail messaging
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LiveChat
Best for sales teams
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Replicant Voice
Best for teams looking for full automation
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Odus
Best for automating calls and messages
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Boost
Best for building a self-learning AI chatbot in a short period
Selection Criteria for the Best AI Chatbot for Customer Service
Are you wondering how I selected the best customer service chatbots that leverage AI to appear on this list? I started by reviewing the tools with the highest customer reviews.
After gathering my long list, I applied the evaluation criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next. I then finalized the shortlist by drawing on my years of experience to identify which features added the most value. Here are the criteria I used to evaluate each software:
Core Functionalities
I sought out software that provided not just a customer support chatbot, but one driven by conversational AI. It was important to me that the AI-powered chatbot software on the list helped alleviate the workload of your live agents. Ideally, this type of chatbot solution provides a self-service option for customer support.
Key Features
Beyond an AI-powered chatbot, I looked for software that covered other key features for providing customer support via chat. Here are a few features I looked for:
- No-code chatbot builder: I looked for software with minimal backend requirements and a chat widget that’s easy to install on your website. Some even have drag-and-drop conversation editors, which makes them super easy to use.
- Natural language processing (NLP): This AI technology feature makes it possible for the chatbot to understand messages and respond appropriately. NLP helps provide context to the chatbot.
- Comprehensive knowledge database: Some chatbots powered by AI use the aggregate knowledge base of an organization to find solutions that improve user experience. This allows such tools to do most of the work that previously would have been done by customer support teams.
- Omnichannel compatibility: The most useful AI chatbots can be used via different mediums, including live chat, SMS, or social media (e.g., WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger).
- Templates: Some chatbot platforms provide templates for proactive conversation workflows or responding to customer questions. These can be super helpful to speed up your script writing.
Usability
When it comes to chatbots, this goes both ways. I looked for software that was intuitive and easy to use both for your team and your customers. On the agent side, that means simple setup and management, and for customers, it means a straightforward, friendly experience. I also took into account things like wait times, response times, and ticket management.
Integrations
Of course, you want a tool that will easily connect with your other software and apps. I’ve noted native pre-built integrations, third-party connectivity through tools like Zapier, and APIs that allow for custom-built connectors in my overviews. I looked for connectivity with popular messaging apps like Slack and Facebook Messenger, customer service software like Zendesk and HubSpot, and website plugins for Wordpress, Shopify, and other hosting platforms.
Pricing
The cost of these tools can vary, but I’ve noted the starting price and free plans or free trials available with each overview. Some provide low-cost options for small businesses and startups, while others cater more toward enterprise organizations. I tend to favor software providers that offer a free demo or trial ahead of purchasing, and those that make pricing information transparent.
FAQs: More on AI, Chatbots, and Customer Service
Here are the answers to the questions I receive most often about AI, the best AI chatbots, and customer service in general.
What is a chatbot service?
A chatbot service is any tool that provides services via pre-programmed chat messages. You can create chatbots to offer customer services, measure customer satisfaction, or for sales and marketing purposes.
Chatbots can help you automate your customer support processes. Essentially, when a customer contacts your organization, certain types of requests can be routed to an Artificial Intelligence chatbot rather than to human support agents. This means support agents can focus on the work that only they can do.
Using chatbots effectively can lead to improved customer engagement and satisfaction rates. You can use chatbots to address simple questions easily and assist customers in finding self-serve solutions. This can be a great way of improving the customer experience and increasing brand affinity.
Interested in learning more? Take a deeper dive into what a chatbot is and how they work.
How can you use an AI chatbot for customer service?
Here are a couple of ideas for how to use an AI chatbot to provide customer support and services:
- Greeting customers when they land on your website.
- Answering frequently asked questions about your products, services, prices, packages, and more.
- Providing status updates and tracking information for customer orders.
- Troubleshooting and technical support for both hardware and software, or digital products and services.
- Scheduling appointments and reservations at your establishment or with your service providers.
- Making personalized product recommendations based on customer preferences, purchase history, or browsing behavior.
- Collecting customer feedback and conducting user research through surveys, polls, and feedback forms.
For a deeper dive into how you can use AI tools for customer service, I recommend reading our article on Customer Support Automation: Benefits, Challenges, and How-to.
What are the advantages of using AI chatbots for customer service?
Modern consumers don’t want to wait to receive answers to their questions. When they hit a blockade, customers simply move on to the next business. This is the main advantage of having AI customer service chatbots ready and able to answer basic customer queries or escalate issues 24/7.
AI-powered chatbots can also help your business with lead generation by collecting user’s contact information on the spot. The data collected by chatbots can be used as learning material for both the chatbot and the company.
We also have a summary of the pros and cons of customer service automation if you’re interested in learning more.
How do AI and machine-learning-based chatbots differ from rule-based chatbots?
Rule-based chatbots listen to keywords in a query and then search through available answers to respond to the query. Therefore, they will always answer queries with the keywords they understand, using the same predefined responses. On the other hand, machine-learning- and AI-based chatbots use human NLP and machine learning to constantly learn new ways of responding to queries.
If you’d like to dive deeper into this cutting-edge topic, read our beginner’s guide to sentiment analysis and natural language processing to get an understanding of the basics.
What is conversational AI, and how can it be used for customer service?
Conversational AI is the technology that enables computers or machines to understand, interpret, and respond to human language in a natural, conversational way. It combines various techniques including sentiment analysis and natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and dialogue management to simulate human-like conversations.
Conversational AI has the potential to transform customer service by providing efficient, personalized, and scalable support. It can empower businesses to deliver exceptional customer experiences, reduce costs, and increase customer loyalty.
When it comes to customer service, conversational AI can be used to enhance the customer experience and streamline interactions between customers and reps. Here are just a few examples of how conversational AI can be used for customer service:
- AI chatbots: The best customer service chatbots rely on conversational AI to answer customer FAQs, offer personalized recommendations, assist with product information, process transactions and returns, and more. It goes both ways in interpreting customer inquiries, and producing conversational responses.
- Customer support automation: Conversational AI can help customers troubleshoot common issues, reset passwords, track orders, provide shipping information, and offer self-service options. This reduces the need for customers to wait for human support, saving time for both customers and businesses.
- Natural language understanding: Conversational AI systems can analyze and understand customer inquiries and feedback in natural language, even when they are expressed in various ways. By accurately interpreting customer intent, sentiment, and context, you can better understand (and serve) your customers.
Interested in learning more? Read The Digitization of Customer Experience: Why it Matters, and How to Pull it Off.
How can you measure the ROI of using an AI-based chatbot for customer service?
You can measure the return on investment (ROI) of using an AI-based chatbot for customer service by evaluating the chatbot’s performance and impact on cost savings, customer satisfaction, and overall operational efficiency.
Here’s are several approaches you can use to measure the ROI of AI chatbot software:
Cost Savings:
- Agent time: Calculate the amount of time customer service agents can save with AI chatbots answering their queries instead of them. Multiply the saved hours by the agents’ hourly wage to determine the cost savings.
- Automation of tasks: Evaluate the number of tasks you can automate using a chatbot. Estimate the cost savings by considering the time and resources those tasks would have taken had they been conducted manually.
Customer Satisfaction:
- Resolution time: Measure the average time it takes to resolve customer queries using a chatbot and compare it to your traditional customer resolution time.
- Customer feedback: Set up automations to collect customer feedback directly after customers interact with your chatbot. You can then use this data to gauge their customer satisfaction levels and compare it to previous benchmarked data.
Operational Efficiency:
- First-contact resolution: Track the percentage of queries your chatbot is able to resolve without needing to escalate to a human agent.
- Volume handling: Evaluate the chatbot’s ability to handle high volumes of queries. Compare this to the volume of queries your human agents could handle, and how long that would take.
- Conversion rates: Monitor the number of new leads that are generated and converted from customer interactions with the chatbot and compare these to your previous rates.
For more how-to recommendations for getting the best out of AI automation for customer service, read Customer Support Automation: Benefits, Challenges, and How-to.
Trends in AI Chatbot Software
It's important to stay informed of customer service trends to help your business stay competitive in the marketplace. The software landscape, especially for tools that rely on generative AI language models, is evolving rapidly. Here are several emerging trends your customer service agents should be aware of:
1. A More Human-like Touch
Advancements in natural language processing are allowing AI chatbots to generate more human-like responses. As this technology continues to evolve, chatbots will be able to understand customer queries more naturally and provide better and faster responses over time to improve the customer experience and customer satisfaction.
2. Proactive Feedback Collection
AI chatbots are being configured to take a more proactive role in collecting feedback by asking for customer feedback at the right times during customer interactions. This is helping CX teams gather more actionable insights to improve products and services.
3. Demonstrating ROI through Analytics
AI chatbots are always collecting data. Thanks to advanced analytics capabilities, this data is increasingly being used to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of investing in AI chatbot software. For example, AI chatbots can easily measure customer satisfaction and engagement levels, helping CX teams show the impact that the software is making on their customer base.
4. Improved Employee Experiences
It is well-documented that a good employee experience has a positive impact on customer service. AI chatbots are being used to improve internal employee processes as well, such as automating repetitive tasks, providing instant access to information, facilitating internal communications, and assisting with task management to enhance productivity. By improving your employee's experience, your public-facing employees will in turn provide better service to your customers too.
5. Deeper Software Integrations
By integrating your AI chatbot with more of your SaaS tools, you'll be able to access and use information across your platforms more efficiently. This will help your chatbot provide better service to your customers, and make your customer's interactions with the chatbot more cohesive.
These emerging trends in AI chatbot usage are certainly here to stay. Embracing these trends will help you overcome current customer pain points, and future-proof your customer service operations for a more successful and competitive future.
Other Customer Service Chatbot Software Reviews
Here are some additional software reviews we’ve written about chatbots for customer service teams:
- Best Chatbot Software
- Chatbots for Online Customer Service
- Live Chat Software
- AI Customer Service Software
Use an AI-Powered Chatbot to Take Your Customer Services to the Next Level
Any business or organization that still believes in human interactions as the only approach to customer relationship management (CRM) probably hasn’t seen the numbers. It’s expected that up to 85% of customer interactions are already being managed without involving human agents.
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