10 Best Customer Engagement Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 22 tools reviewed.
With so many different customer engagement software solutions available, finding the right one for your business is tough. You know you want software to help you manage your customer relationships efficiently so you can enhance their experience and address their needs more effectively, but you need to figure out which software is best. In this post, I'll help you make this choice easy by sharing my insights on the best customer engagement software to connect with your customers at scale and foster a positive brand experience.
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Best Customer Engagement Software Summary
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top customer engagement software selections to help you find the best one for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best for efficient omnichannel communications management | 14-day free trial | From $25/user/month (billed annually, minimum 10 seats) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for real-time chat automation | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $25/user/month | Website | |
| 3 | Best for collecting and tracking customer feedback via recurring surveys | Free trial available | From $19/month | Website | |
| 4 | Best for AI-powered shared inbox | Free plan available | From $25/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 5 | Best customer engagement software for B2B organizations | Free plan available | From $34/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 6 | Best for creating code-free product tours | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $174/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 7 | Plan out and test personalized customer journeys | 14-day free trial available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 8 | Best for customer sentiment analysis | Free demo available | From $15/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 9 | Use AI to improve your conversations | Free trial available | From $15/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 10 | Keep your audience engaged with in-app communication | 14-day free trial + free plan available | Pricing upon request | Website |
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Hiver
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.7 -
CRM Creatio
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.7 -
monday service
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.6
Best Customer Engagement Software Review
Below are my detailed summaries of the best customer engagement software that made it onto my shortlist. My reviews offer a detailed look at the key features, pros & cons, integrations, and ideal use cases of each tool to help you find the best one for you.
Front is a customer communications management platform that centralizes your email, live chat, and SMS conversations in a single inbox. It allows your team to manage customer conversations more efficiently and provide more personalized, contextual customer support and services. The software's automation capabilities and its built-in collaborative tools facilitate improved teamwork and streamlined processes.
You can alleviate your team's manual workload with the software's automations. For example, incoming requests can be automatically categorized and routed to the appropriate support agent, saving your team time and providing a quicker, more personalized experience to customers seeking assistance. You can also collect feedback from customers through the platform, providing your team with important insights about customer satisfaction, needs, questions, and more.
Secret direct messaging within customer communication threads allows team members to collaborate towards better resolutions without jumping back and forth from a separate messaging tool. Additionally, being able to set up an internal knowledge base makes it easy for team members to access crucial information for resolving customer issues swiftly.
The software has over 100 native integrations with other apps, including WhatsApp, Dialpad, Twilio, Intercom, Facebook, Instagram, Slack, Twitter, Asana, HubSpot, Jira, and Salesforce, among others. An API is also available to build custom integrations with.
Pricing for Front starts at $19 per user, per month when billed annually, and a 7 day free trial is available.
New Product Updates from Front
Deliver Fast, High-Touch Support with Front AI on Slack
Front introduces AI integration with Slack for superior support. ThIS helps teams resolve Slack conversations faster while maintaining high-quality, personalized support. For more information, visit Front's official site.
Tidio is customer engagement software that combines live chat, chatbots, and multichannel messaging to help businesses respond instantly to customers across platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and email. Its AI chatbot, Lyro, uses natural language processing to automate replies, while live agents can step in for complex inquiries — keeping every interaction fast, helpful, and on brand.
I picked Tidio because it gives you a practical way to automate real-time conversations without losing the human touch. Its Lyro AI agent can handle common questions 24/7, while the live chat feature ensures customers still get personal support when needed. I also like that you can design automation flows without code, so your team can quickly build responsive chat experiences that fit your business goals.
Tidio’s automation flows help you route messages, follow up on abandoned carts, and send targeted responses based on user behavior. The built-in ticketing system organizes all customer requests in one place, while detailed analytics reveal engagement trends and performance insights. You can also customize your chat widgets to match your website’s branding and manage conversations from a mobile app.
Integrations include Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, WIX, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, and WooCommerce, among others.
Best for collecting and tracking customer feedback via recurring surveys
SurveySparrow is a customer engagement software that's designed to help businesses gather feedback and engage with their customers. It's all about making the process of collecting and analyzing customer feedback a whole lot easier. It's got a pretty neat interface that's easy to navigate, and it's packed with features that make it a solid choice for businesses of all sizes.
I included SurveySparrow because it can do more than just send out surveys and collect responses. Instead, it can help you engage with your customers more meaningfully so you can understand their needs and make informed decisions based on their feedback. By doing so, you'll be able to build stronger relationships with your customers and increase your brand loyalty.
One of the standout features of SurveySparrow is its conversational interface. Instead of presenting users with a long list of questions, it breaks down surveys into a chat-like conversation. This makes the survey-taking experience a lot more engaging and less tedious. Plus, it's got a variety of question types to choose from, so you can tailor your surveys to fit your needs.
Another feature that I really like is their recurring surveys. This allows you to send out surveys at regular intervals, which is great for tracking customer satisfaction over time. It's also got a robust reporting feature that lets you analyze your survey data in-depth. You can even segment your data based on different criteria, which is super useful for identifying trends and patterns.
Integrations are available with MailChimp, HubSpot, Intercom, Salesforce, Zapier, Google Sheets, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and many other systems.
They offer a Basic free plan with limited features to get you started, as well as a 14-day free trial. After that, their paid plans start at $19/month.
New Product Updates from SurveySparrow
SurveySparrow's Enhancements to Survey Flows
SurveySparrow announced new updates, including enhancements in survey flows and user engagement. For more information, visit SurveySparrow's official site.
Hiver is a versatile customer service platform designed to enhance your team's engagement with clients through AI-driven features. It appeals to businesses across various industries by addressing the challenge of managing customer inquiries efficiently. By automating routine tasks and providing a seamless communication experience, Hiver ensures your team can focus on delivering exceptional customer service.
Why I Picked Hiver
I picked Hiver for its unique approach to customer engagement through its AI-powered shared inbox feature. This allows your team to manage and collaborate on customer emails without the hassle of forwarding or copying, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. Additionally, Hiver's workflow automation streamlines repetitive tasks, freeing up your team to focus on more complex customer issues. The platform's real-time analytics offer valuable insights into team performance, enabling you to continually optimize your customer service strategy.
Hiver Key Features
In addition to the shared inbox and workflow automation, I also found the following features valuable:
- Omnichannel Support: Manage customer interactions across email, live chat, and more from a single platform.
- AI-Driven Chatbots: Automate routine inquiries and provide instant responses with intelligent chatbots.
- Self-Service Portal: Empower your customers to find answers independently with a comprehensive knowledge base.
- Ticketing System: Track and prioritize customer support requests to ensure timely resolutions.
Hiver Integrations
Integrations include Gmail, Slack, Zapier, Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Mailchimp, Asana, Trello, and Zendesk.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Omnichannel inbox unifies communication platforms
- AI chatbots manage routine inquiries
- Provides real-time customer chat support
Cons:
- Primarily designed for Gmail, limiting use for non-Google Workspace teams
- Limited advanced help desk features
New Product Updates from Hiver
Hiver Release: Shared Drafts, AI Tasks & More
Hiver's release brings Shared Drafts, AI Tasks for workflow automation, AI-drafted reply refinement with your Knowledge Base, customizable Ask AI tone and style, nested Knowledge Base categories, and enhanced note searching—helping your team collaborate and find answers faster. Visit Hiver’s website for more details.
JotForm Enterprise provides a comprehensive platform for B2B businesses to engage with customers in an efficient and effective manner.
It provides powerful tools to build forms, collect data from customers, create automated workflows, and analyze the data collected from customers. The platform also offers customizable options that allow businesses to tailor their customer engagement strategies according to the needs of their specific industry. Moreover, its drag-and-drop form builder allows businesses to create forms without any coding knowledge or technical expertise quickly.
They have a powerful reporting feature that provides insights into the performance of forms and helps users make better decisions about their customer engagement strategies. With this feature, businesses can track key metrics such as form completion rate, total submissions, and average submission time. Additionally, users can also track individual form fields, such as the most popular choice in a dropdown list or which type of questions are answered most frequently by users. This information helps businesses gain valuable insights into their customers’ preferences so that they can refine their strategies accordingly.
JotForm Enterprise integrates with other popular apps, such as Slack, Salesforce, OneDrive, Airtable, and Google Drive, so users can easily connect with other services while collecting customer data. This makes it easier for businesses to manage their data across multiple platforms without needing additional resources or staff members dedicated solely to this purpose. Furthermore, its built-in analytics engine allows businesses to stay up-to-date on their performance by providing detailed reports on various aspects, such as user activity and completion rates for each form field or form in general.
UserGuiding is a customer onboarding and engagement platform that helps you familiarize new users with your product. You can build no-code walkthroughs that get new users up and running quickly, and show existing users how to navigate key product features and functions.
The software also facilitates customer feedback collection via micro-surveys. There are tons of pre-built survey templates to choose from, or you can build your own. The survey builder is also code-free, and the analytics dashboard provides you with real-time insights from survey responses.
UserGuiding integrates with other tools including Mixpanel, Segment, Intercom, Slack, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Woopra, and HubSpot.
Paid plans start from $89 per month with annual billing, and a 14-day free trial is available.
Braze is a customer engagement platform that relies on automation and interactive content to help you create memorable customer experiences. Braze’s simple drag-and-drop interface enables you to produce omnichannel customer journeys with ease.
The platform collects data from all your customer-facing channels and organizes it to help you understand customer behavior. This enables you to segment your audience and engage customers with the right message for each step of their purchasing journey.
Braze also allows you to test different campaigns and messages, so you can run short A/B tests to discover the winning messaging strategy.
Braze integrates with dozens of solutions, including Shopify, Segment, Heap, Foursquare, Facebook, and Amplitude.
Braze offers custom pricing upon request.
Nextiva is a comprehensive customer experience management platform designed to enhance business communications and customer interactions. It integrates voice, video, messaging, and collaboration tools into a single, unified solution, and helps companies manage and optimize customer interactions across various channels.
I like that Nextiva offers customer sentiment analysis as a way to help improve engagement. This feature uses advanced AI algorithms to analyze customer interactions in real-time, providing businesses with insights into customer emotions and behaviors. By understanding customer sentiment, businesses can tailor their communication strategies to address customer needs more effectively, enhancing engagement and fostering stronger relationships.
Nextiva also offers intelligent virtual assistants, which can handle routine customer inquiries and tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues. These virtual assistants ensure that customers receive prompt and accurate responses, improving overall service efficiency. Another notable feature is Nextiva’s advanced analytics and reporting tools. These tools provide detailed insights into customer interactions and agent performance, helping businesses identify trends in engagement and make data-driven decisions.
Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams, Zoho CRM, Zendesk, G Suite, Microsoft Outlook, Slack, ServiceNow, QuickBooks, SugarCRM, NetSuite, and Oracle Sales Cloud.
Dialpad is a sales engagement platform that uses AI to help your sales team become more effective. The solution integrates with all your communication channels, allowing you to monitor all your interactions from a single dashboard.
This solution stands out from its competition thanks to its AI. The AI creates a knowledge base for your team and analyses their conversations to help them with scripts if the customers ask tough questions.
The AI also creates accurate transcripts for every conversation and uses them to improve your knowledge base. Then, it uses that information to advise every sales rep on how to handle different situations, improving employee engagement.
Dialpad integrates with multiple tools, including Salesforce, Hubspot, Microsoft Teams, Intercom, Integromat, and Zapier.
Dialpad costs from $20/user/month and offers a free trial.
Pendo is a product experience platform that can help your development team keep users engaged and responsive. The software makes it easy to communicate with your users via in-app messages, product guides, and walkthroughs.
Pendo’s analytics tool helps you uncover which features your customers love and which they ignore. You can use surveys and polls as customer communication tools to collect feedback and improve your product.
You customer support specialists can access Pendo’s database to perform market research and identify behavior trends.
Pendo integrates with dozens of tools, including Jira, Hubspot, Calendly, Drift, Figma, Planhat, and Optimizely.
Pendo offers custom pricing upon request. The tool is free to use for up to 1,000 monthly active users. You can also access a demo.
Other Customer Engagement Software
Here are some additional customer engagement software options that didn’t make it onto my shortlist, but are still worth checking out:
- MoEngage
Gain actionable insights from behavioral data
- Infobip
Give your team the data it needs to keep customers engaged
- Keap
For small businesses
- Snoball
For automatically engaging customers for product reviews and referrals
- ZOHO CRM Plus
For predictive analytics to personalize engagement strategies
- Salesforce Customer 360
Connect all your data to create customer profiles
- Thryv
Improve customer experience with automated review requests and review responses
- LiveAgent
For ticket management
- HubSpot
Unified CRM, CMS, marketing, and help desk
- Zendesk
Distribute customer interactions to the right employees with custom triggers
- Velaris
For secure customer collaboration
- Kustomer
Customer relationship management solution that helps you create engaging multichannel workflows with the help of automation.
Customer Engagement Software Selection Criteria
When selecting the best customer engagement software to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like improving customer interaction management and enhancing data-driven insights. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Manage customer communication
- Track customer interactions
- Provide data analytics
- Automate routine tasks
- Support multiple communication channels
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- AI-driven insights
- Customizable reporting
- Multilingual support
- Advanced security features
- Integration with IoT devices
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive interface design
- Minimal learning curve
- Clear navigation
- Customizable dashboards
- Responsive design
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Availability of training videos
- Interactive product tours
- Access to templates
- Support through webinars
- On-demand chatbots
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- 24/7 availability
- Multiple support channels
- Comprehensive knowledge base
- Quick response times
- Personalized assistance
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Competitive pricing
- Transparent pricing models
- Features included in basic plans
- Discounts for long-term commitments
- Cost relative to features offered
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- Consistency in positive feedback
- Frequent updates and improvements
- Responsiveness to customer feedback
- Reported ease of use
- Overall satisfaction ratings
How to Choose Customer Engagement Software
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Will the software grow with your team? Consider the number of users it supports and how well it handles increased data as your business expands. |
| Integrations | Does it connect with your existing tools? Check compatibility with your CRM, email, and other essential platforms to avoid workflow disruptions. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor it to fit your needs? Look for options to adjust workflows, dashboards, and reports to match your processes and preferences. |
| Ease of use | How quickly can your team adapt? A user-friendly interface reduces training time and minimizes errors, enhancing productivity from the start. |
| Implementation and onboarding | How smooth is the setup? Investigate the onboarding resources available, such as tutorials, support, and training sessions, to ensure a quick start. |
| Cost | Is it within your budget? Evaluate the pricing model, including hidden fees or additional costs for premium features, to prevent unexpected expenses. |
| Security safeguards | Are your data protected? Ensure the software complies with industry standards for data protection and offers robust security features. |
| Support availability | Will you have help when needed? Check the availability of support services, including live chat, phone support, and response times. |
What Is Customer Engagement Software?
Customer tracking software is a tool that helps businesses record, monitor, and analyse how customers interact with them. Professionals in sales, marketing, and customer service typically use these tools to understand customer behaviour, improve engagement, and keep tabs on leads and existing clients. Features like data capture, interaction tracking, and reporting help with keeping updated records, spotting patterns in customer behaviour, and measuring outcomes of outreach efforts. These tools add value by giving teams visibility into customer journeys and helping them make smarter decisions with actual usage or interaction data.
Features
When selecting customer engagement software, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Multi-channel communication: This feature allows you to interact with customers across various platforms, such as email, chat, and social media, ensuring consistent engagement.
- Data analytics: Provides insights into customer behavior and engagement patterns, helping you make informed decisions to improve customer interactions.
- Automation: Automates routine tasks like sending follow-up messages and reminders, freeing up your team's time for more strategic activities.
- Customizable dashboards: Lets you tailor the interface to display the most relevant information, enhancing productivity and focus.
- Integration capabilities: Ensures seamless connectivity with existing tools like CRM systems and email platforms, maintaining workflow continuity.
- Security safeguards: Protects sensitive customer data with encryption and compliance with industry standards, ensuring trust and reliability.
- Real-time reporting: Offers up-to-date insights into customer engagement metrics, enabling timely adjustments to strategies.
- AI-driven insights: Uses artificial intelligence to predict customer needs and behaviors, helping you personalize interactions.
- Mobile accessibility: Allows teams to manage customer interactions on the go, ensuring responsiveness and flexibility.
- Sentiment analysis: Analyzes customer feedback to gauge satisfaction levels and identify areas for improvement.
Benefits
Implementing customer engagement software provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Improved communication: By offering multi-channel communication, your team can engage with customers on their preferred platforms, leading to better interactions.
- Increased efficiency: Automation of routine tasks allows your team to focus on more strategic initiatives, enhancing overall productivity.
- Enhanced decision-making: Data analytics provide valuable insights into customer behavior, helping you make informed decisions to improve engagement strategies.
- Personalized experiences: AI-driven insights enable tailored interactions, making customers feel valued and understood.
- Better data management: Integration capabilities ensure all customer data is centralized and accessible, reducing the risk of errors and improving workflow.
- Timely adjustments: Real-time reporting allows you to quickly identify trends and make necessary changes to your engagement tactics.
- Stronger customer relationships: Sentiment analysis helps you understand customer satisfaction levels, allowing for proactive improvements and fostering loyalty.
Costs & Pricing
Selecting customer engagement software requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in customer engagement software solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Customer Engagement Software
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic communication tools, limited data analytics, and essential integration capabilities. |
| Personal Plan | $5-$25/user/month | Multi-channel communication, basic automation, and customizable dashboards. |
| Business Plan | $30-$75/user/month | Advanced analytics, enhanced automation, and integration with CRM systems. |
| Enterprise Plan | $80-$150/user/month | AI-driven insights, comprehensive security safeguards, and dedicated customer support. |
Customer Engagement Software FAQs
Here are some answers to common questions about customer engagement software:
How do I determine which customer engagement software is best for my business?
Start by identifying your specific needs and goals. Consider factors like team size, existing tools, and customer communication channels. Evaluate software based on scalability, ease of use, and integration capabilities. Test different options through free trials to see which fits your workflow best. Look for user reviews to gauge satisfaction and reliability.
Is customer engagement software suitable for small businesses?
Yes, many customer engagement tools are designed for businesses of all sizes, including small ones. These tools often offer scalable pricing plans and features that cater to the specific needs of small teams. Look for software that provides essential features without overwhelming complexity, allowing you to grow at your own pace.
How secure is customer engagement software?
Security varies by provider, but most reputable software includes encryption and compliance with data protection standards. Check for features like two-factor authentication and data backup. It’s crucial to verify the provider’s security measures, especially if you’re handling sensitive customer information, to ensure data protection.
What’s Next:
If you're in the process of researching customer engagement software, connect with a SoftwareSelect advisor for free recommendations.
You fill out a form and have a quick chat where they get into the specifics of your needs. Then you'll get a shortlist of software to review. They'll even support you through the entire buying process, including price negotiations.
