10 Best AI Chatbots for Customer Service Shortlist
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
When your customers contact you, they want their concerns resolved quickly and efficiently. However, as your customer base grows, it can be challenging to assign a service agent to every request. Thankfully, the best AI chatbots provide excellent customer care while taking some of the load off your service team.
In this article, I've compiled a list of the best AI chatbots for customer service. I've focused on tools that automate customer service inquiries by leveraging machine learning (ML) to glean context from text, images, patterns, and customer history.
At the end of the article, I also answer some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about customer service chatbots and AI as well.
What is an AI Chatbot for Customer Service?
AI chatbots are 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. AI chatbots are programmed to provide customized support based on your organization's unique specifications.
Generally speaking, when a customer visits your website with a concern, the chatbot option would allow them to immediately "speak to" a representative by typing their request into a chat window. The experience would run seamlessly from your website, despite being managed by a third-party provider.
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.
LiveHelpNow
Best for omnichannel customer communication
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.
Zoho Desk
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.
Freshchat
Best for multi-channel customer engagement
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.
Zoho SalesIQ
Best for its varied customization options
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.
Conversica
Best for continuity across the entire customer journey
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.
Netomi
Best for reducing customer wait times
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.
Drift
Best for real-time conversations with website visitors
Drift is designed for teams that want to communicate with potential customers in real-time on the company website. The tool is designed to help customer service teams identify the quality leads that should be transferred to interaction with human agents through chat, phone, or a meeting.
It contains questions that assist customer service teams to better understand the needs of such customers.Drift costs from $40/month + $20/additional seat as needed. They offer a free trial.
Jitbit Helpdesk
Best for customer engagement through automation
Jitbit Helpdesk’s automation engine improves workflows for customer service teams. This software can be used for various tasks: sending auto-responders, assigning tickets to help desk agents, helping managers identify tickets that have not been dealt with for a certain number of days so that they can escalate these overdue tickets.
Jitbit Helpdesk provides a great reporting feature that allows you to sort tickets based on date, ticket status, or assigned agent. Jitbit Helpdesk costs from $29/user/month and offers a 21-day free trial.
Kommunicate
Best for seamless flow between AI chatbots and human agents
Kommunicate can assign tickets to free agents based on an analysis of incoming customer communications.Kommunicate’s automation features are extremely useful for lead generation, especially the lead collection forms that help customer service teams gather all the necessary customer details.
Kommunicate also allows for seamless customer movement between the chatbot and the human agent so that resources are used where they are needed most. The software has an intuitive and clear dashboard.
Kommunicate costs from $24/month for up to 2 agents and offers a 30-day free trial.
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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.
| Tool | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LiveHelpNow Best for omnichannel customer communication | 30-day free trial | From $9/agent/month | Website |
| 2 | Zoho Desk Best for service teams looking for a tool that learns fast from the knowledge base | 15-day free trial | From $20/user/month | Website |
| 3 | Freshchat Best for multi-channel customer engagement | 21-day free trial | From $15/month for small teams | Website |
| 4 | Zoho SalesIQ Best for its varied customization options | 15-day free trial available | From $7/operator/month | Website |
| 5 | Conversica Best for continuity across the entire customer journey | Free Demo | From $2999/month | Website |
| 6 | Netomi Best for reducing customer wait times | Free Demo | Website | |
| 7 | Intercom Best for creating targeted messages for different customer segments | 14-day free trial | From $74/month (billed annually) | Website |
| 8 | Drift Best for real-time conversations with website visitors | Free trial available | Pricing upon request | Website |
| 9 | Jitbit Helpdesk Best for customer engagement through automation | Free demo available | $1700/10 agents | Website |
| 10 | Kommunicate Best for seamless flow between AI chatbots and human agents | 30-day Free Trial | Starts at $40/month | Website |
Other 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:
- Ushur
Best for customer care in high-contact industries
- IBM Watson Assistant
Best for budget-conscious customer service teams
- Tidio
Best for small to medium sized businesses
- HubSpot CRM
Best all-in-one sales & chatbot software
- LivePerson
Best for answering questions during the purchase interaction
- Amelia
Best for teams with little experience in conversational AI
- Comm100 Chatbot
Best for ease of setup
- HappyFox Chatbot
Best for teams of different sizes that need custom solutions
- Ivy.ai
Best for higher education
- Kindly Assist
Best for building complex AI chatbots based on NLP
- Odus
Best for automating calls and messages
- Heyday
Best for retail messaging
- LiveChat
Best for sales teams
- Finn AI
Best for banks and credit unions
- Boost
Best for building a self-learning AI chatbot in a short period
- Replicant Voice
Best for teams looking for full automation
- Bold360
Best for personalized digital experiences
- Linc
Best end-to-end CX automation solution
- Ada
Best for dealing with customer inquiries in real-time
- LiveAgent with Quriobot
Best for lead generation, customer support, and feedback.
- Khoros
Best for faster insights and collaboration
- Mercury
Best for e-commerce self-service
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?
How can you use an AI chatbot for customer service?
What are the advantages of using AI chatbots for customer service?
How do AI and machine-learning-based chatbots differ from rule-based chatbots?
What is conversational AI, and how can it be used for customer service?
How can you measure the ROI of using an AI-based chatbot for customer service?
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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