Best Customer Service Tool Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 24 tools reviewed.
With so many different customer service software solutions available, figuring out which is right for your small business is tough. You know you want software to help you respond effectively to your customers' needs to enhance their satisfaction and loyalty, but you need to figure out which software is best.
In this article, I'll help you make your choice easier by sharing my insights on the best customer service software for small businesses to help you track, manage, prioritize, and resolve customer inquiries and provide an outstanding customer experience at every touchpoint.
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The Best Customer Service Software for Small Businesses: Pricing Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top customer service software selections specifically for small businesses. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best software for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best for implementing call center operations | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $15/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for embedding AI across the customer journey | Free plan available | From $25/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 3 | Best for automatic ticket classification | Free trial available | From $26/seat/month (3 seat minimum) | Website | |
| 4 | Best for monitoring your ticketing system with AI | 15-day free trial | From $7/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 5 | Best AI-powered customer service chatbot | Free trial available | From $9/member/month | Website | |
| 6 | Best for multi-channel communications management | 14-day free trial | From $25/user/month (billed annually, minimum 10 seats) | Website | |
| 7 | Best for Gmail-based customer support | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $19/user/month | Website | |
| 8 | Best for automating repetitive frontline support | Free plan available | From $16/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 9 | Best for multichannel support | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $25/user/month | Website | |
| 10 | Best for enhancing conversation quality and speed of resolution | Free demo available | From $85/user/month | 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 Service Software for Small Business Review
Here are brief descriptions of the 10 best customer service software for small businesses that made it into my shortlist. I’ve highlighted each system’s noteworthy features and included a screenshot to show you their user interface.
In case you’d like additional options to consider, I’ve also included 12 more bonus options below for tracking your customer issues.
Freshdesk offers users two customer service offerings: one is a help desk solution, and the other covers omnichannel support. The helpdesk solution helps your service team categorize and assign support tickets to the proper rep based on expertise or availability. The omnichannel support can help you manage queries efficiently through live chat, e-mail, and social ticketing. Freshdesk’s Agent Collision Detection feature helps to ensure multiple customer service reps don’t work on the same ticket accidentally.
Freshdesk’s built-in phone system allows you to receive calls from customers in over 30 different countries. The phone system has real-time analytics, feedback mechanism, customer and help desk satisfaction reports, and customized reports. This can help you establish call center operations in your business without a full-fledged phone system.
Freshdesk integrates with Zoom, Kanban Board, Shopify, Mailchimp, Slack, and Google Analytics.
Freshdesk’s support desk solution costs from $18/user/month when paying monthly and $15/user/month when paying annually. The support desk solution has a free plan for up to 10 users. Freshdesk’s omnichannel solution costs from $35/user/month when paying monthly and $29/user/month when paying annually. Both solutions offer a 14-day free trial.
Hiver is a modern AI-powered multichannel help desk software designed to make small teams more efficient and powerful. It has the look and feel of your email inbox, with a panel on the left to manage all support channels, like email, live chat, WhatsApp, voice, SMS, and social media. Since the interface is so familiar to most of us, you have to spend no time learning a new tool from scratch.
With Hiver, you get powerful features suited for fast-moving teams. Every customer query is tracked like a ticket, so your team can assign, follow up, and close issues without losing track of conversations. A built-in knowledge base lets you publish FAQs and troubleshooting guides, giving customers the option to find answers on their own. Collaboration is simple, too. Teammates can share drafts, leave notes, or @mention each other right next to a ticket, without needing to forward emails or switch apps.
What sets Hiver apart is its AI. AI features are embedded at every stage of the customer support process. AI Copilot works alongside agents throughout the workflow, suggesting answers, drafting replies, and fine-tuning the tone so every message is clear and on-brand. AI Agents go a step further, taking care of repetitive tasks like answering FAQs, sending follow-ups, or routing tickets by category and urgency. And with AI Insights, every conversation becomes a source of learning, helping you spot bottlenecks and predict potential issues.
Hiver’s plans start from $19/user/month when billed annually. They also offer a free forever plan for small businesses and startups. A free trial with all the features is available for 7 days.
New Product Updates from Hiver
Hiver's Layout Settings, Outlook Import, and Conversation Downloads
Hiver's updates boost your email workflow with a new side-by-side interface, Outlook data import, and one-click conversation downloads for offline access. Visit Hiver’s official site for more information.
monday Service is a comprehensive platform designed for service operations across various departments, from IT and HR to customer support. By offering solutions for ticket management, multi-channel support, and AI-driven workflows, monday Service helps businesses centralize and optimize their service processes for faster and more effective issue resolution.
For small businesses, monday Service provides valuable tools that make customer service operations more efficient and less resource-intensive. The platform’s AI-powered ticket management system allows small teams to automatically classify and prioritize incoming tickets by urgency, type, and department, ensuring that critical issues are addressed swiftly. Additionally, the smart ticket routing feature helps automate the process of assigning tickets to the most relevant agents, reducing manual work and expediting customer support.
monday Service also offers customer self-service options, allowing clients to resolve common issues on their own, freeing up agents to handle more complex inquiries. The integration of a knowledge base also helps support teams quickly access relevant information to solve a wider range of customer issues without unnecessary escalations.
Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, Jira, Salesforce, Google Workspace, GitHub, Zoom, Outlook, HubSpot, Trello, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
New Product Updates from monday service
AI Copilot Enhances Ticket Resolution
The Monday service update introduces an AI copilot to auto-resolve tickets by responding to routine requests using past resolutions, with user-controlled confidence levels. For more details, visit monday.com/whats-new.
Zoho Desk is a help desk platform that provides customer service solutions for managers, agents, and customers. The platform includes marketing, sales, accounting, finance, HR, collaboration, e-mail, and business intelligence tools. The ticketing system on the platform can help you monitor whatever channels you use, such as chat, phone, e-mail, and social media. These features can save your customers’ time and improve their experiences by getting them in touch with the right person to receive assistance.
The AI in Zoho Desk, a.k.a. Zia, helps your business assign support tickets, identify issues in ticket traffic, and analyze customer sentiments. It can also share solutions from your knowledge base to help your customers without the need for a customer service rep. After chatting with your customers, if Zia doesn’t find a helpful solution, it can notify your customer service team to ensure you don’t leave the customer without the information they require.
Zoho Desk offers users several integrations to help expand their customer service capabilities. These integrations include Zoho Apps, such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Assist, and Zoho Bug Tracker, or third-party applications, such as RingCentral, Jira, Slack, Trello, and Salesforce.
Zoho Desk costs from $20/month when paid monthly or $14/month when paying yearly and offer a 15-day trial for each plan. They also offer a free subscription for up to three agents.
SAAS First is an all-in-one customer support platform designed to help small businesses enhance their customer relations. By leveraging AI-powered tools, it improves operations and customer engagement.
I like its AI-driven chatbot, Milly, which learns from your Help Center articles and website content to provide accurate, real-time responses to customer inquiries. This ensures your customers receive consistent and helpful information without delay. Additionally, Milly can handle all incoming chat messages and seamlessly transfer unresolved queries to your team, maintaining a smooth customer support experience.
Another valuable aspect is the platform's omnichannel inbox that consolidates customer interactions from email, live chat, and social media into a single interface. This centralization allows your team to manage communications efficiently, reducing the chances of missed messages and ensuring timely responses. By having all interactions in one place, your team can maintain a cohesive and organized support system.
I also like that SAAS First offers real-time data and analytics that provide deeper insights into customer behavior. Some integrations include WhatsApp, Facebook, and SMS by Twilio.
Front is a customer service software that brings together your customer communications from various channels in one place. You can manage your email, live chat, and SMS conversations from the same platform, alleviating the need to be jumping between systems.
The software is helpful whether you have a team of one handling your customer comms or if you have multiple people responding to incoming requests. The shared inbox means that if you have several employees managing communications at once, or different people responding to inquiries day to day, everything is in a single shared space.
You can also use the software to automate certain parts of your communications management. Messages can be automatically categorized and routed to specific team members, speeding up the time to response and helping you provide a better, more personalized customer experience.
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.
Hiver is a customer service platform that integrates directly with Gmail, providing a helpdesk solution for managing customer support and inquiries. It is recognized as the best tool for Gmail-based customer support due to its comprehensive set of features that cater specifically to the Gmail environment, enabling businesses to handle customer interactions efficiently within a familiar workspace.
Hiver provides a Gmail-based customer service solution that focuses on email management, collaboration, analytics, automation, and multi-channel support. It is designed for teams using Google Workspace and aims to improve customer service, finance, IT, and operations. Key features include managing emails effectively, gaining insights with analytics, setting up automations, supporting multiple channels, and integrating with popular apps.
I selected Hiver due to its comprehensive features that cater to email management, collaboration, analytics, automation, and support across multiple channels. What differentiates Hiver is its deep integration with Google Workspace, offering tailored solutions for diverse business functions. I believe Hiver is the ideal tool for Gmail-based customer support because it enhances the functionality of Gmail through its collaborative inbox feature and compatibility with Google Groups, providing a robust platform for handling customer inquiries directly within Gmail.
Integrations include Aircall, Asana, Jira, Okta, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Slack, and WhatsApp. You can also connect Hiver to a paid Zapier account to unlock additional integrations.
Hiver's starting price for its Google Workspace products is from $7/user/month, which is for the Lite plan. This plan comes with a 7-day free trial. The Pro and Elite plans are priced higher, starting at $39 and $59 per user per month, respectively.
Quidget is an AI-powered support agent designed to handle repetitive frontline support questions automatically. It learns from your website, FAQs, and uploaded resources to provide fast, accurate responses around the clock.
One compelling feature of Quidget is its no-code setup, allowing you to get it up and running in minutes without any coding knowledge. It works seamlessly with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and custom sites via Google Tag Manager, making it accessible for small businesses.
Additionally, Quidget's multi-language capabilities enable it to support customers in over 45 languages, including Chinese, French, and Spanish, without requiring additional training. This feature is particularly beneficial for small businesses aiming to reach a diverse customer base and provide consistent support across different languages.
I also like its human handoff feature that can escalate issues to a human team member when the AI encounters questions it can't handle. This helps maintain a smooth customer experience. Some of Quidget's integrations include Euphoric.ai, Calendly, Zendesk, WhatsApp, and Slack.
Tidio is an AI-powered customer support platform built specifically for small businesses aiming to enhance their customer service capabilities. It offers live chat, chatbots, multichannel support, and a built-in help desk system to improve how businesses manage customer inquiries and engagement.
I like Tidio’s Lyro AI agent, which can handle customer interactions automatically. Lyro learns from your website and previous conversations to provide quick, accurate responses in real-time across multiple channels, including your website and social media platforms. When Lyro can’t resolve an issue, it seamlessly passes the conversation to a human agent, ensuring customers always receive the support they need.
Another standout feature is Tidio’s unified inbox, which brings together customer messages from live chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram into a single, manageable view. This makes it easy for small teams to stay organized, avoid missed messages, and keep response times fast, even when handling multiple channels.
I also like that Tidio offers detailed analytics that give businesses actionable insights into customer satisfaction and agent performance. Some of Tidio’s integrations include Shopify, WordPress, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Zapier, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Talkdesk
Best for enhancing conversation quality and speed of resolution
Talkdesk is a browser-based contact center platform that helps businesses build significant relationships with their customers. The software can help your teams customize call routing flows through a visual editor, which is beneficial if you’re a non-technical user. You can also customize experiences for your customers by forwarding calls according to customer data, interactive voice response selection, business hours, and customer service rep skills. The VoIP services offer 99.999% to 100% uptime, guaranteed through their service level agreement.
Talkdesk uses AI to help enhance the quality of your conversations with customers and allow you to address customers’ requirements quickly. The AI can do this through tools such as interaction analytics, customer self-service, and automated assistance. Team managers, supervisors, or quality control analysts can also use the information from the AI in the platform to review automated interaction scores, transcripts, and sentiment analysis to help train your customer service reps.
Talkdesk integrates with various popular third-party software, such as Zoom, Salesforce, and Microsoft Teams.
Talkdesk costs from $75/user/month.
Other Customer Service Management Tools
Here are a few more worthwhile options for that didn’t make it into my best customer service software shortlist but are still worth a closer look:
- Aircall
For integrating a cloud-based phone system to your helpdesk and CRM
- Moxo
For managing client interactions with digital workflows
- HubSpot Free Service Tools
For VoIP functionality from the platform
- Gorgias
For low-touch customer support with macro-driven responses
- LiveAgent
For hybrid ticket management
- Zendesk
For scaling your customer service operations
- Issuetrak
For omnichannel ticket submission
- Chatra
Add live chat capabilities on your website and talk with visitors in real-time.
- Olark
Make it easy to listen to customers and learn from each interaction online.
- Capsule
Organize customer information in a simple CRM interface and deliver personalized experiences.
- User.com
Use visitor tracking and user timelines to equip your team with accurate customer data.
- Intercom
Unify every aspect of your customer’s journey in a modern communication platform.
- TigerLRM
Close more deals with a sales enablement tool designed by top sales representatives.
- Thryv
End-to-end small business management software to help put customers at the heart of your business.
Selection Criteria For Customer Service Software For Small Business
When selecting the best customer service software for small business to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like ease of use and affordability. 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 inquiries
- Provide multi-channel support
- Track customer interactions
- Offer reporting and analytics
- Enable team collaboration
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 dashboards
- Automated workflows
- Integration with third-party apps
- Mobile app accessibility
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive interface
- Easy navigation
- Quick access to features
- Minimal learning curve
- Visual appeal
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Availability of training videos
- Interactive product tours
- Use of templates
- Access to webinars
- Availability of chatbots
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- 24/7 support availability
- Multichannel support options
- Responsive support team
- Access to a knowledge base
- Availability of live chat
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Competitive pricing
- Availability of free trial
- Flexible pricing plans
- Comprehensive feature set
- Cost-benefit ratio
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- User satisfaction ratings
- Commonly mentioned pros and cons
- Feedback on support quality
- Comments on ease of use
- Insights on feature effectiveness
How to Choose Customer Service Software for Small Business
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 business? Consider if it can handle more users or increased data as your team expands. |
| Integrations | Does it connect with your existing tools? Check compatibility with your CRM, email, and other vital systems to ensure seamless workflows. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor it to fit your processes? Look for options to adjust workflows, dashboards, and user permissions to suit your team's needs. |
| Ease of Use | Is it user-friendly for your team? Test the interface for simplicity and intuitiveness to minimize training time and increase adoption. |
| Implementation and Onboarding | How long will it take to get started? Evaluate the onboarding process, including available resources like tutorials and support to ensure a smooth transition. |
| Cost | Does it fit your budget? Compare pricing plans and look for hidden fees or long-term contracts that could affect your financial flexibility. |
| Security Safeguards | Are your data and customer info protected? Verify the security measures in place, such as encryption and compliance with data protection standards. |
| Support Availability | Is help available when you need it? Consider the support options offered, like 24/7 availability, chat, and phone support, to ensure timely assistance when issues arise. |
What is Customer Service Software for Small Business?
Customer service software for small businesses are cloud-based SaaS tools that help customer service teams manage support requests and other communications with customers. These tools are specifically designed to help SMBs streamline workflows, automate repetitive processes, route calls to appropriate agents, enhance communication as customer inquiries are escalated, and improve response times.
Using customer service software can help small businesses reduce overhead costs by eliminating the need for extensive customer service staff, while simultaneously improving the efficiency, speed, and consistency of responses. They also collect useful data on customer needs to help you provide better customer service overall.
Features
When selecting customer service software for small business, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Ticket management: Organizes customer inquiries into manageable tickets, helping teams track and resolve issues more efficiently.
- Multi-channel support: Allows communication with customers through various channels like email, chat, and social media, ensuring accessibility.
- Reporting and analytics: Provides insights into customer interactions and team performance, aiding in decision-making and strategy planning.
- Customizable workflows: Enables businesses to tailor processes to fit their specific needs, improving operational efficiency.
- Integration capabilities: Connects with other tools and systems, enhancing functionality and streamlining business operations.
- Mobile app accessibility: Offers on-the-go access to customer information and support tasks, increasing flexibility for remote work.
- AI-driven insights: Utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze data and provide actionable insights, improving service quality.
- Security measures: Ensures data protection with encryption and compliance with standards, safeguarding customer information.
- User-friendly interface: Simplifies navigation and use, reducing training time and increasing team adoption.
- 24/7 customer support: Provides round-the-clock assistance, ensuring timely help and maintaining service continuity.
Benefits
Implementing customer service software for small business provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Improved efficiency: Ticket management and customizable workflows help streamline processes, allowing your team to handle more inquiries in less time.
- Enhanced customer satisfaction: Multi-channel support ensures customers can reach you through their preferred method, improving their experience.
- Better decision-making: Reporting and analytics provide insights into customer interactions, enabling informed strategy development.
- Increased flexibility: Mobile app accessibility allows your team to manage customer service tasks from anywhere, accommodating remote work.
- Data security: Strong security measures protect customer data, building trust and compliance with regulations.
- Cost savings: Automation and AI-driven insights reduce manual tasks, lowering operational costs while maintaining service quality.
Costs and Pricing
Selecting customer service software for small business 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 service software for small business solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Customer Service Software for Small Business
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic ticket management, email support, and limited reporting. |
| Personal Plan | 5-$25/user/month | Multi-channel support, basic integrations, and simple analytics. |
| Business Plan | 30-$60/user/month | Advanced reporting, customizable workflows, and mobile app access |
| Enterprise Plan | $70-$120/user/month | AI-driven insights, priority support, advanced security measures, and full customization options. |
Customer Service Software for Small Business FAQs
Still wondering about customer service software and how it can help your small business? These answers to frequently asked questions will point you in the right direction:
Can I switch software easily if I’m not satisfied?
Yes, most customer service software allows you to export your data for easy migration. Before switching, ensure the new software can import your existing data. Check for any potential downtime during the transition and make sure your team is trained on the new system to avoid disruptions.
Is customer service software secure?
Yes, most reputable software providers offer secure data protection measures. Look for features like encryption, regular security updates, and compliance with data protection regulations. It’s important to evaluate the provider’s security policies and read reviews to ensure your customer data is safe.
Do I need technical expertise to use customer service software?
No, most customer service software is designed to be user-friendly. You don’t need extensive technical skills to set it up or use it. Many providers offer onboarding support, training resources, and customer service to help you get started and resolve any issues you encounter.
What's Next?
For now, if you're in the process of researching customer service software for small business, 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.
