Tool List
Here are the top 10 chatbots for customer service online I’d like to highlight out of the 27 I cover in this article:
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Delivering first-class customer service is a top priority for every business. Clients and prospects expect their inquiries to be dealt with promptly and efficiently, else they are likely to take business elsewhere.
But delivering on these expectations is not always easy. Any busy organization may find that its customer support teams become overwhelmed with requests. Many of these are routine or could be answered via the company’s knowledge base. Yet they still consume the time end energy of overworked virtual assistants.
Chatbots provide a solution to this problem. They leverage artificial intelligence to automate initial conversations with customers. This helps clients get answers quickly while freeing customer support reps to deal with more challenging queries.
In this article, I’m reviewing the best chatbot software for customer service. I’ll show you the top tools on the market—and suggest what makes them stand out.
Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best chatbot for customer service? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): I look for a modern interface that’s easy to navigate on both mobile and desktop devices
- Usability: I’m seeking chatbots that customers will find intuitive to use, even if they have little tech experience
- Integrations: I expect a good chatbot to integrate with popular customer service platforms
- Value for $: I look for chatbots that offer good value for both large and small customer service teams
Chatbots for Customer Service: Key Features
These are the core features I’m looking for when evaluating chatbot software:
- Artificial intelligence: chatbots with the ability to understand open-ended questions and give answers that make sense
- A visual flow builder: drag-and-drop functionality that makes zero-code bot building not just possible, but easy
- Omnichannel messaging support: supporting communication over social media channels such as Facebook Messenger and What’s App, plus website chat
- Live chat handover: a reliable system for handing the conversation over to a live agent when human interaction is required
- Detailed analytics: the ability for managers to gain deeper insights into the customer experience and pain points
- Chatbot marketing: features designed to promote products and services to customers automatically
- Sentiment analysis: mining opinions, thoughts, and feelings from conversations to better understand customer satisfaction
- Widget customization: options for tailoring the chatbot’s branding, tone, style, language, and other fundamental elements
- Data security: high-level protection against threats that may compromise the chatbot system
- Built-in API: the ability to extend functionality by integrating with other tools and software
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Overviews Of The 27 Best Chatbots For Customer Service
Here’s a brief description of each chatbot for customer service to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
Tidio
Best for it focus on generating sales
Tidio is a chatbot software that helps businesses engage with customers online and automates its customer service using artificial intelligence to respond to customer queries promptly and accurately.
Tidio's chatbots can automate various customer service tasks, including answering common questions, resolving issues, and providing support. These chatbots are constantly learning and improving their understanding of human language, making them more efficient. Tidio lets you customize your chatbots to match your website's branding, from a template or by adding elements, including text, images, and buttons. The software allows users to set up rules to determine when and how their chatbot will respond to specific keywords or phrases. Chatbots can also be used to track satisfaction levels over time.
Tidio's abandoned cart feature lets your chatbot follow up with the customer over the next few days, ensuring they remember their unfinished purchase. The chatbots can also collect contact information and qualify leads by asking questions about a lead's budget, timescale, and requirements to determine whether they are a good fit for your products or services.
Finally, Tidio's chatbots can also be used to schedule appointments and demos, and it integrates with tools like Shopify, Wordpress, Squarespace, Magento, Wix, and Joomla.
Zoho SalesIQ
Best for its easy-to-use interface
Zoho SalesIQ is live chat software that allows you to engage with your customers in real-time. It's best suited for small to medium-sized businesses looking to improve their customer service and increase website conversions. The live chat feature is particularly useful in engaging with potential customers who are browsing your website and can help convert them into paying customers.
It's easy to set up and use, even for someone who is not particularly tech-savvy, and the user interface is simple and intuitive, which makes it easy to navigate and customize the settings. It includes visitor tracking, which provides valuable insights into visitor behavior and helps you identify potential leads. It also has an auto-triggering feature that can be set up to prompt visitors to engage in a chat conversation based on certain criteria such as time spent on the website or pages visited.
Another feature that I found particularly useful was the ability to create chatbots. While chatbots are becoming increasingly common in the customer service industry, Zoho SalesIQ's chatbot feature stands out for its ease of use and customization options. It's simple to create a chatbot that can provide basic information or route the conversation to a live agent if needed.
Zoho SalesIQ also offers integrations with other popular business tools, such as Zoho CRM, Google Analytics, and Salesforce.
Plans start at $7/operator/month, and they offer a 15-day free trial.
Tars
Best for ease of setup
Tars chatbot platform helps marketing and customer service teams optimize conversion funnels and automate customer interactions. With over 1000 template choices available, chatbots can be built for any purpose using the self-service drag and drop builder.
Chatbots can then be published either as website widgets, as a standalone page or on the WhatsApp platform. Managers can view and analyze data using the Tars dashboard to better understand how bots are performing.
Data can be moved automatically to CRM or database applications. This tool provides integrations via Zapier and webhooks.
Tars offers customized pricing on request. A free 14-day trial is available.
HubSpot
Best building chatbots at scale
HubSpot’s Chatbot Builder helps you build chatbots at scale to automate the conversations on your website. This free tool allows you to create bots without coding, using canned chatbot templates and an intuitive interface.
The visual editor helps you customize the conversation in accordance with the tone and voice you want.The software integrates with HubSpot’s contacts database, so bots can deliver personalized messages based on existing contact information.
Data collected by bots is stored and synced automatically.This tool integrates with Gmail, Google Workplace, Outlook, and Office 365 for Windows.
The Chatbot Builder is included with HubSpot Marketing Hub, which costs from $45/user/month. There is no free trial.
Intercom
Best for simple customer interface
Intercom helps businesses acquire, engage and support customers. This is achieved through a bot-based algorithm, supported by targeted emails, push notifications, in-app messages, and an integrated helpdesk. After engaging prospects in conversation, Intercom can auto-assign leads either directly or in a round-robin manner, according to the setup.
The app tracks data and referral URLs, as well as organizing multi-channel conversations and follow ups.Other Intercom features include customer context management, call-out collaborations, scheduling, metrics and chat volume management.
The software can also be used as a mobile app, allowing users to respond to leads using iOS or Android devices.
This tool integrates with platforms such as Salesforce, Slack, Segment, and HubSpot.
Intercom offers customized pricing on request. There is no free trial.
Drift
Best for turning conversations into sales
Drift chatbots are focused on leveraging customer conversations to create sales opportunities. They pre-qualify website visitors then help them schedule a meeting with a sales representative.
The result is a better return on marketing spend and more qualified meetings booked for reps. The software also helps refine top-of-the-funnel messaging. Drift’s A/B split testing features allow you to try different hooks to see which works best.
By analyzing this data, you can continually improve chatbot and funnel performance. This tool provides over 50 integrations, including SalesLoft, SalesForce Marketo, and Pardot.
Drift offers customized pricing on request. There is no free trial.
Kommunicate
Best for balancing chatbots with the human touch
Kommunicate helps you build AI-powered chatbots without code to generate more leads and improve the customer experience. You can create bots that qualify leads, schedule meetings, or provide direct answers.
All customer conversations can be managed easily from a single dashboard.The software is designed to provide the optimal balance of automated and human interaction. Bots hand over to live support agents when a more nuanced response is required.
Bots can handle conversations via live chat, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Line.This tool integrates with CRMs such as Pipedrive, Zendesk, and Agile CRM, plus other popular business tools.
Kommunicate costs from $40/user/month, and a 30-day free trial is available.
Acquire
Designed for more human-like automated chats
Acquire is a customer engagement solution that deals with all sales and support queries through one widget. This includes inquiries via chatbots, live chat, email, video calling, SMS, screen share, and co-browsing.
Managers can see all these communication touchpoints in a single dashboard. The data analytics includes customer profiles that give a better understanding of the customer journey. Using this information, managers can optimize the customer experience and engage visitors more effectively.
Acquire integrates with the company knowledge base to improve live chat performance and show which support content resonates the most. All customer communications can be tracked in a single timeline.
This tool integrates with platforms such as IBM Watson, Azure QnA, and Dialogflow. Bots can also be connected to third-party messaging apps using webhooks and the Acquire API.
Acquire offers customized pricing on request. There is no free trial.
Activechat
Best for customer-centric brands
ActiveChat specializes in conversational AI bots that automate conversations and make human teams more productive. They combine the ability to understand natural language with the simplicity of decision trees.
The bots can interact with customers in real-time over various channels, including your website, Facebook, SMS, and Telegram. Over 50 conversation building blocks are available for creating advanced, complex bots.
The software tracks customer sentiment to prevent errors in automated conversations. Where necessary, the bot hands over to a live agent for further interaction. This platform integrates with major business and ecommerce platforms such as Google Sheets, Google Calendar, WooCommerce, and Shopify.
ActiveChat offers customized pricing on request. A free trial is available.
Helpshift
Best for rapid deployment
Helpshift’s AI-based customer service chatbots can respond to requests through live chat or a messaging interface. They use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand and answer questions.
Drawing on content from the knowledge base, the bots identify keywords in inquiries and respond accordingly. Thanks to the code-free, visual interface, you can build new chatbots in minutes without tech support.
You can test and iterate quickly, deploying complex workflows to match your needs. The software uses decision trees and rule-based logic to find the best response to any query.
This tool integrates with popular platforms such as Salesforce, ZenDesk, Dropbox, and Google Calendar.
Helpshift offers customized pricing on request. There is no free trial.
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The Best Chatbots For Customer Service Summary Table
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tidio Best for it focus on generating sales | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $25/user/month | Visit Website |
| 2 | Zoho SalesIQ Best for its easy-to-use interface | 15-day free trial available | From $7/operator/month | Visit Website |
| 3 | Tars Best for ease of setup | 14 Days Free Trial | Pricing available upon request | Visit Website |
| 4 | HubSpot Best building chatbots at scale | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $45/month | Visit Website |
| 5 | Intercom Best for simple customer interface | 14-day free trial | From $74/month (billed annually) | Visit Website |
| 6 | Drift Best for turning conversations into sales | Free trial available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 7 | Kommunicate Best for balancing chatbots with the human touch | 30-day Free Trial | Starts at $40/month | Visit Website |
| 8 | Acquire Designed for more human-like automated chats | Free trial available | From $25/user/month + $500/month base fee | Visit Website |
| 9 | Activechat Best for customer-centric brands | Free Trial | Visit Website | |
| 10 | Helpshift Best for rapid deployment | Not available | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list.
- Quiq Messaging
Best for integrating with bots from other platforms
- Genesys
Best for chatbots that span digital channels
- Zendesk Sell
Excels at reducing repetitive work
- Freshchat
Best for omnichannel support
- Kayako
Combines help center, website, and mobile app support
- Podium
Best for local businesses
- Netomi
Best for dealing with spikes in support demand
- Hiver
Best for Gmail-based customer service
- Drift Conversation Cloud
Best for tailored chatbot conversations
- Zoho Desk’s Zia
Chatbots for sales teams
- Conversica
Best for turning customers into advocates
- Yellow.ai
Best for total user experience automation
- Botmock
Codeless rapid prototyping of conversation apps
- Jitbit Helpdesk
Jitbit Helpdesk
- Kore
Automates and streamlines customer journeys
- IBM Watson Assistant
Best for understanding customers in context
- Olark
Integrates chatbots with live support
- Chatra
Website-based customer service messaging
Why Use A Chatbot For Customer Service?
Chatbots allow organizations to automate many customer service requests. They leverage machine learning to guide inquirers to the answers they need, quickly and efficiently.
By dealing with customer questions quickly, chatbots can speed up response times and free customer service agents to work on more complex requests. They can also assist with marketing and lead generation—promoting products and services on autopilot to generate additional revenue.
What Do You Think About This List?
Are chatbots the future of customer service, or just another tech fad? Do you agree with my choices for the best apps? Let us know in the comments below.
You can also check out our article on the pros and cons of customer service automation, how to create a chatbot with no coding skills, plus our thoughts on the benefits, challenges, and ‘how to’ of customer service automation. And be sure to sign up for our newsletter, so you can stay up to date with the latest from top thinkers in the CX world.
Related Read: Optimizing The Website Customer Journey
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