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31 Best Customer Service Software of 2023

The Best Customer Service Software List

Here are the top 10 customer service software I’d like to highlight out of the 31 I cover in this article:

  1. 1. Salesforce Service Cloud — Best for scaling with AI-driven automation
  2. 2. LiveAgent — Best help desk and knowledge base management
  3. 3. Zendesk — Best for startups
  4. 4. Custify — Best for SaaS companies
  5. 5. HappyFox — Best customizable customer portal
  6. 6. Freshdesk — Best for third-party integrations
  7. 7. TeamSupport — Best for B2B companies
  8. 8. Kustomer — Best no-code AI chatbot
  9. 9. Keap — Best for entrepreneurs
  10. 10. Kayako — Best for SMBs

The best customer service software has the capacity to transform the way your organization interacts with your customers. These cloud-based tools can enhance the efficiency and quality of customer interactions while saving time and money.

In this article, I will outline the best customer service software on the market today so you can find your perfect match.

What is Customer Service Software?

Customer service software refers to a type of computer software that helps companies streamline and manage their interactions with customers. It is designed to help businesses provide high-quality customer service by streamlining and automating the process of receiving, tracking, and responding to customer conversations, inquiries, and complaints.

Customer service software typically includes a range of features, such as ticket management, live chat, email integration, social media integration, knowledge management, analytics, and reporting.

Overviews of the 31 Best Customer Service Software Solutions

Here are brief descriptions of the customer service software that I qualify to be the best of the best. I’ve included best use cases, feature descriptions, pricing information, and even screenshots to show off the UX where possible.

1

Salesforce Service Cloud

Best for scaling with AI-driven automation

Salesforce Service Cloud provides the tools to help businesses and customer service teams better understand their customers and efficiently resolve their issues regardless of complexity.

Why I picked Salesforce Service Cloud: The platform enables organizations and agents to support different customer contact points, from telephony (CTI systems) to email services, live chat, and messenger apps. The cloud-based customer service solution is also capable of managing a large number of service requests from multiple channels through a request distribution system known as omnichannel presence and routing.

Service Cloud can be configured to automatically route tickets/cases, leads, or other service requests to the most suitable, available customer support agent or employee. It can also be configured to distribute tasks according to personnel availability, skill set, and capacity to manage inbound work. And the system allows users to update their work status in real-time.

Salesforce Service Cloud Standout Features and Integrations

Features include workflow and approval process automation, AI-driven automation technology, and account and contact management features to help customer support agents access the data they need when handling tickets and communicating with customers, including information regarding past interactions. In addition, their case management feature is designed to help streamline the entire pipeline to ensure quality customer service.

Integrations are available with numerous prebuilt solutions through their AppExchange to help admins and service teams automate faster. Salesforce provides users with ready-to-install partner solutions so they don’t have to start with a blank slate. This includes the building blocks for workflow automation, robotic process automation, and process libraries.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 2298

14-day free trial

From $25/user/month (billed annually)

Pros

  • Uses AI for automations
  • Includes pre-built integrations
  • Easy to learn and use

Cons

  • Can be expensive
  • Needs better email functionality
2

LiveAgent

Best help desk and knowledge base management

LiveAgent is a call center and help desk software that also provides full knowledge base management capabilities. It can be used to manage incoming email, phone, and chat support requests and to build a self-serve portal for customers.

Why I picked LiveAgent: Teams share a collective inbox view of customer support tickets, and the software can automatically assign tickets to agents. Spam filtering and follow-up scripts can also be automated using the system, and a built-in CRM stores customer contact data and activity history. In-app notifications alert support agents to tasks and requests that require their attention.

The software's knowledge base builder allows teams to create a self-serve help center for customers. The content editor has a WYSIWYG interface, making it easy for non-technical experts to produce help articles. Forums can also be created and moderated through the software, helping to promote community engagement and facilitating exchanges among customers. A feedback button can be added to the customer portal for teams wishing to collect suggestions for product or service improvements or favourite features.

LiveAgent Standout Features & Integrations

Features include automated ticket assignment, in-app notifications, call routing, call recording, multilingual live chat, website tracking, content management, customizable themes, WYSIWYG content editor, and a reporting dashboard.

Integrations include ActiveCampaign, BigCommerce, Clockify, Cloudtalk, Gmail, Jira, Magento, Pipedrive, Shopify, Slack, Trello, Twilio, and Webflow.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 1392

30-day free trial

From $15/agent/month

Pros

  • Great customer service
  • Content editor has a WYSIWYG interface
  • Integrates with BigCommerce

Cons

  • Needs more social media integrations
  • Translation features could be better
3

Zendesk

Best for startups

Zendesk is a funky, modern CRM solution that makes up words like “humblident” (humble + confident) and boasts offices in Dublin, San Francisco, London, Copenhagen, and Melbourne, to name a few. It combines the colorful, fun attitude that contemporary startups love with a good product for a more-than-fair price.

Zendesk offers an internal help desk solution for companies looking to elevate the level of care and support they provide their customers. It includes a self-service knowledge base, centralized business information, IT and HR workflow automation, and satisfaction trend reporting.

Why I Picked Zendesk: Zendesk has a lot of pricing options that start small and grow with you. It's easily scalable, which is exactly what a startup that is (fingers crossed) ready to expand immensely needs. You can sign up on one of their lower tier plans and with the flick of a switch expand into something more robust when you're ready. If you qualify as an 'early-stage startup,' you can get Zendesk free for 6 months.

Zendesk Standout Features & Integrations

Features include API access, chat, CRM integration, real-time alerts, self-service portal, instant chat integration, knowledge base, contact management, customer management, email integration, social media integration, support forum, workflow management, ticket management, and call integration.

Integrations include Salesforce, JIRA, Slack, Trello, JIRA, Zoom, Dropbox, Clubhouse, Asana, monday.com, Box, Nicereply, Harvestr, Shopify, Mailchimp, and dozens of other options.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 5580

14-day free trial

From $49/user/month

Pros

  • Scalable
  • Reasonably priced
  • Plenty of popular integrations

Cons

  • Limited ticket search queries
  • It can be difficult to prioritize requests
4

Custify

Best for SaaS companies

Custify is a customer success software designed primarily for SaaS businesses. It focuses on all the aspects of consumer involvement with your business, including customer lifecycles, product adoption, and upsell opportunities. Custify can automate basic customer service actions, like welcome emails, low engagement jump-starts, and personalized renewal processes.

Basic customer service solutions can be handled by their entry-level plan but upgrading will unlock project management features and workflow automations that your team may find useful.

Why I Picked Custify: Custify assigns health scores to each SaaS client, which identifies potentials for churn or profit and flags your team to intervene with context-specific messaging where appropriate. Scheduled emails can be sent to sales, management, and stakeholders to keep them informed about company performance. 

Custify Standout Features & Integrations

Features include API access, customer management, click-to-dial, dashboards, lead management, and multi-user access. 

Integrations include Slack, email, SMS, analytics solutions, and your CRM. You can also use Custify’s native API to connect with more tools.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
5 122

Free trial + free demo

From $199/month

Pros

  • Well organized data
  • Great customer support
  • Excellent segmentation features

Cons

  • The dashboard could use more metrics
  • Learning the UI takes some time
5

HappyFox

Best customizable customer portal

HappyFox is an all-in-one ticketing support software that pulls all incoming customer queries from any source (email, chat, phone, and social) into one dynamic dashboard. They have the ability to outsource complex and redundant workflows to a powerful smart rules engine, meaning that even higher-difficulty queries can be handled without manual intervention.

Why I Picked HappyFox: HappyFox lets you design your own no-code, SEO-optimized customer portal. This customizable customer portal can be SEO optimized and is available on a mobile app, all with on-brand visuals and messaging. It's mobile responsive and branded to fit your website's look and feel. HappyFox also features task management tools, help desk reporting, a flexible knowledge base/FAQ solution, and asset management.

HappyFox Standout Features & Integrations

Features include customer service, email integration, live chat, CRM integration, notification, and API access.

Integrations include Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Slack, and other collaboration apps.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 134

Free demo available

From $39/agent/month (min 5 agents)

Pros

  • User-friendly tools
  • Customizable solution
  • Scalable as businesses grow

Cons

  • Limited self-training tools
  • Intensive implementation requirements
6

Freshdesk

Best for third-party integrations

Freshdesk is an omnichannel customer service software that can scale up or down by integrating with a suite of specialized first-party products for sales, marketing, HR, and IT. The basic plan comes with customer health scoring, proactive account alerts, goal and task management, and email campaigns. Freshdesk’s goal management module is particularly handy, as not every customer service software has these types of project management capabilities.

With it, you can tie big picture goals to detailed metrics; assign tasks with due dates, priority status, and an owner; build reusable templates for common goals and tasks; and track and measure your progress.

Why I Picked Freshdesk: Freshdesk boasts a lot of native integrations with other software you probably already use. This is vital for good customer service, as you'll want your CRM to speak to your website to speak to your ecommerce tools to speak to your ticket software. If you want no fuss, no muss integration support, Freshdesk is a great choice.

Freshdesk Standout Features & Integrations

Features include customer management, contact management, email integration, social media integration, support forms, analytics, dashboards, multi-user, scheduling, workflow management, ticket management, API access, chat tools, CRM integration, notifications, self-service portal, and knowledge base builder.

Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Pipedrive, Oracle Netsuite, Insightly, Copper, Zoho CRM, Close, Zendesk, and a growing list of other useful apps.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4 2655

21-day free trial

From $18/agent/month

Pros

  • Wide selection of integrations
  • Intuitive and user-friendly
  • Impressive automation capabilities

Cons

  • Some technical issues
  • Integrating with existing processes is tedious
7

TeamSupport

Best for B2B companies

TeamSupport is customer support software meant for B2B companies in that it excels at lower volume, high complexity customer support items. 

TeamSupport focuses on customer and ticket management but also fosters collaboration using “Water Cooler,” their internal messaging app and social network system. TeamSupport generates a customer distress index (CDI) for each client based on how many tickets they have and their average resolution time.

Why I Picked TeamSupport: TeamSupport assess which B2B clients might be getting frustrated, then prompts a customer service agent to intervene. Each client has a detailed profile of every customer interaction that shares real-time updates across your whole team. The customer and contact database is particularly useful for onboarding new agents who aren’t familiar with your customer base yet and makes team collaboration easier to achieve.

TeamSupport Standout Features & Integrations

Features include customer management, notifications, analytics, dashboards, task scheduling and tracking, API access, live chat, CRM integration, email integration, and social media integration. 

Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce CRM, and other corporate applications.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4 660

14-day free trial

From $50/user/month

Pros

  • Customers are able to open tickets easily
  • Knowledge base is good for customer documentation
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • There can be some lag
  • Mobile application is limited
8

Kustomer

Best no-code AI chatbot

Kustomer is a CRM and customer service platform. Like most solutions on this list, they can tap into your customer base wherever they are online or offline: email, phone, chat, social, and messaging apps. They prioritize customer self-service and support multiple different written languages.

Why I Picked Kustomer: Kustomer offers plenty of AI-powered solutions for CRM and customer service, including automated triage and routing, smart self-service chatbots, and personalized customer communication suggestions. Their customizable chatbot is a standout feature, going so far as to host an image carousel of a customer’s past interactions to pull from and display at will.

Kustomer Standout Features & Integrations

Features include contact management, dashboards, task scheduling, customer service, workflow management, email integration, social media integration, customer health scoring, API access, no-code chatbots, and notification. 

Integrations include Shopify, Slack, Gmail, Twitter, and other social media and commerce apps.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4 334

14-day free trial

From $89/user/month

Pros

  • Plenty of integrations
  • Reps can see the whole picture of a customer's history
  • Includes teammate tagging for visibility

Cons

  • The interface can seem intimidating
  • Can be buggy
9

Keap

Best for entrepreneurs

Keap CRM is a sales and marketing customer support software that helps you capture leads, manage invoices, and compile client data. It is specifically designed for entrepreneurs. Features include marketing automation, a sales pipeline, a CRM database, payment collection, reporting and analytics, appointment tracking, and email campaigns.

Why I Picked Keap CRM: Keap is great for budding entrepreneurs who believe networking and professional growth are just as important as customer service strategies. It helps you build a personalized playbook to hone your goals and provides access to a community of like-minded business owners, including coaching opportunities. They host an engaged user community both on their website forum and via their Facebook group.

Keap CRM Standout Features & Integrations

Features include contact management, CRM integration, email integration, lead management, marketing automation, API access, lead scoring, task scheduling and tracking, conversion tracking, and multi-user access. 

Integrations include over 2500 applications, some natively and others using a paid account with Zapier.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 1489

14-day free trial

From $169/month

Pros

  • Helps you deliver relevant content to each pipeline
  • Straightforward social media management tools
  • Enables you to create complex email marketing funnels

Cons

  • Has a learning curve
  • UI could be simpler
10

Kayako

Best for SMBs

Kayako is a CRM software that offers customer service in multiple languages across live chat, email, Facebook, and Twitter. It focuses on cross-departmental collaboration, which is something small and medium businesses (SMBs) can be better at using to the fullest.

Why I Picked Kayako: With Kayako, customer questions can be viewed by all agents so that a collaborative solution can be found quickly, leveraging the experiences of the company as a whole. Then, the dedicated agent can deliver a quick, personalized response to the customer on whatever platform they prefer. Your internal “knowledge base” then becomes your whole company and your different departmental teams, avoiding information silos and delivering better customer service.

Kayako Standout Features & Integrations

Features include customer management, notifications, dashboard, scheduling, task scheduling and tracking, API access, live chat, and email integration.

Integrations include Salesforce, Slack, Shopify, and other applications.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4 251

14-day free trial

From $15/user/month

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Provides deep traceability
  • Lots of customization options

Cons

  • Could use more integrations
  • There can be delays in ticket notifications

The Best Customer Service Software Comparison Chart

Here’s a comparison chart that summarizes basic details about each of my top customer service software selections. 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 Free Option Price
1
Salesforce Service Cloud

Best for scaling with AI-driven automation

14-day free trial

From $25/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website
2
LiveAgent

Best help desk and knowledge base management

30-day free trial

From $15/agent/month Visit Website
3
Zendesk

Best for startups

14-day free trial

From $49/user/month Visit Website
4
Custify

Best for SaaS companies

Free trial + free demo

From $199/month Visit Website
5
HappyFox

Best customizable customer portal

Free demo available

From $39/agent/month (min 5 agents) Visit Website
6
Freshdesk

Best for third-party integrations

21-day free trial

From $18/agent/month Visit Website
7
TeamSupport

Best for B2B companies

14-day free trial

From $50/user/month Visit Website
8
Kustomer

Best no-code AI chatbot

14-day free trial

From $89/user/month Visit Website
9
Keap

Best for entrepreneurs

14-day free trial

From $169/month Visit Website
10
Kayako

Best for SMBs

14-day free trial

From $15/user/month Visit Website

Need expert help selecting the right Customer Service Software?

We’ve joined up with the software comparison platform Crozdesk.com to assist you in finding the right software. Crozdesk’s Customer Service Software advisors can create a personalized shortlist of software solutions with unbiased recommendations to help you identify the solutions that best suit your business's needs. Through our partnership you get free access to their bespoke software selection advice, removing both time and hassle from the research process.

It only takes a minute to submit your requirements and they will give you a quick call at no cost or commitment. Based on your needs you’ll receive customized software shortlists listing the best-fitting solutions from their team of software advisors (via phone or email). They can even connect you with your selected vendor choices along with community negotiated discounts. To get started, please complete the form below:

Other Service Software

Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best customer service shortlist:

  1. AzureDesk

    Best customer service email automations

  2. Tidio

    Best live visitor tracking for websites

  3. Zoho CRM

    Best enterprise CRM

  4. Wix Answers

    Best support article solution

  5. HelpCrunch

    Best customer communication software for sales/support

  6. Avochato

    Best mobile API customer solution

  7. Sprinklr

    Best for customer feedback insights

  8. LiveHelpNow

    Best for small businesses

  9. SysAid

    Best cloud customer solution

  10. Synthetix

    Most accessible live help desk software

  11. FAQ Bot

    Best 24/7 fully-AI customer solution

  12. Gorgias

    Best customer helpdesk for Shopify

  13. Supportbench

    Best analytical customer tool

  14. Livechat

    Best live chat software

  15. RenewiftRMA

    Best RMA management solution

  16. Moxtra

    Best customer portal software tools

  17. Front

    Best collaborative customer support software

  18. Gladly

    Best all-in-one customer service solution

  19. Bold360

    Best AI-integrated customer engagement solution

  20. Jira Service Management

    Best fully-customizable support desk management software

  21. Ada

    Best personalized AI customer solution

Don't want to manage customer service in-house? You can always tap into the best customer service outsourcing companies to see what they have to offer.

How I Selected the Best Customer Service Software

If you're wondering how I selected the best customer service software, here's where I'll break it all down for you. First of all, I started with customer service software that has high user reviews and satisfaction ratings. Then, using my experience in customer experience, I discerned what key criteria were most important for customer service software and compared how each of them stacked up against the rest.

I empathize with how much time it takes to source the right software for a job. I do this work so that you don't have to. I've been using and reviewing customer service software for years so you can trust me to do the heavy lifting and compile all the facts you need to make your final decision.

Selection Criteria

After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best customer service software. Here's a brief list outlining the whats and whys of my selection.

User Interface (UI)

The UI should support ease-of-use with key functions being straightforward and simple to find. Navigation should not be a chore; finding customer data, query logs, and CX insights must be intuitive. 

Usability

The best software will facilitate easy onboarding and even some built-in training prompts and feature wizards. The tool’s user support team should also be responsive, easy to access, and thorough. 

Integrations

Customer service solutions must speak to your company tech stack. For example, does it connect natively with WhatsApp and other social media platforms, Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, your CRM and ERP systems, and so on?

Pricing

The average software ranges in price anywhere from $15-300/agent/month. What I’m looking for is: do the features fit the cost? Are the pricing plans scalable? And, is there a freemium or free trial available? 

Customer Service Software: Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to popular FAQ’s for some top-of-mind topics around customer service software:

Other Types of Customer Experience Tools

To help you find the best CX tool for you, here are a few other articles summarizing the best CX software for different use cases too:

Customer Service Equals Customer Loyalty

Ninety percent of Americans consider a company’s customer service reputation before deciding to do business with them. Your customer service agents can only do so much—they require a comprehensive suite of customer service tools to keep up with modern demands.

The best customer service software allows your team to meet customer needs without overloading individual agents. Additionally, automatic systems and tracking databases save valuable time that you can share with clients.

The longer you spend with customers the more your business grows. Opportunities, profits, sales, and relationships all benefit from an enhanced focus on customer needs.

Want to learn more about what makes good business? Make sure to sign up to our newsletter for the latest insights from the top thinkers in the niche.

Related Read: Pros And Cons Of Customer Service Automation

By Hannah Clark

Hannah Clark is the Editor of The CX Lead. After serving over 12 years working in front-line customer experience for major brands, Hannah pivoted to a career in digital publishing and media production. Having gained a holistic view of the challenges and intricacies of delivering exceptional experiences, Hannah aims to help CX practitioners 'level up' their skills by amplifying the voices of today's thought leaders in the space.

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