When you think of customer support, one of the first companies that come to mind is Freshdesk. This platform has helped companies improve their products by bridging the gap between companies and customers.
Freshdesk is a cloud-based software that has improved customer support. Many companies and enterprises use Freshdesk because of its amazing features and great pricing. Omnichannel support is one reason Freshdesk has come out on top. It unites multiple communication channels, such as emails, chats, social media, and more, all on one platform.
Freshdesk also reduces repetitive work with its system of tracking and processing tickets. It also has outstanding automation thanks to bots that handle repetitive tasks. This makes monitoring opened tickets much easier. You can understand where to allocate company resources to enhance customer satisfaction with analytics.
It’s obvious that Freshdesk is a good choice for a customer support system. But, it is important to understand the competition before choosing a platform. Different customer support platforms offer distinct features and are great at particular tasks.
Below is a list of 12 customer support software that is worth considering for your company. Each software is different and this article will help you find the best one for your company.
Help Scout#
Help Scout is a formidable alternative used as a yardstick platform to compare other solutions.
Help Scout is a product targeted at the midsize and small businesses segment. It is a straightforward product that even small teams can operate without complications. Help Scout claims that over 80% of midsize businesses that start with Help Scout stick around for four or more years. It has proved to be a reliable software choice with a responsive and good support team.
Pros:
- Multi-channel support: Help Scout allows businesses to communicate with their customers using multiple ways.
- Reporting and analytics: Allows businesses to gain insights on their progress using detailed reports.
- Integrations: You can connect Help Scout to your favourite tools, CRMs, and automation softwares.
Cons:
- Limited phone support: Help Scout does not offer phone support as a channel.
- Limited language support: Help Scout does not currently support all languages, which is drawback for businesses that operate in multiple countries.
- As it offers basic functionality, it is relatively cheaper than other software, and you can start with just $20 a month.
As it offers basic functionality, it is relatively cheaper than other software, and you can start with just $20 a month.
ZenDesk#
Zendesk is a well-known company in customer support, and many companies use their product.
With ZenDesk Suite, you can access all features that make up a Help Desk service, such as:
- Ticketing
- Handling emails
- Enabling customer conversations over several channels like WhatsApp, chat, calls, SMS, etc.
Pros
- Open API allowing for better customizability for your business needs.
- Multi-channel support - Email, live chat, social media.
- Knowledge base portal and community forums that help you learn how to become a pro ZenDesk user.
Cons
- It is quite expensive when compared to other tools. The Support Enterprise plan starts at $99 per agent/month.
- The Zendesk platform is not intuitive. That’s why there is a learning curve, and you might need the assistance of a sales representative.
The success of Zendesk led to its acquisition of $10.2 billion in 2022. Overall, ZenDesk Suite is a solid product with features centered on ticket management, with some easy to set up automation and workflows.
ZenDesk Suite Team (the basic option) starts at $19/month/agent.
Salesforce Service Cloud#
Salesforce Service Cloud is a Help Desk option integrated with Salesforce Customer 360 Service. It is a simple decision you are in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Salesforce Service provides the following:
- reports/analytics
- case management
- omnichannel conversation support
- automation and workflow
- AI-enabled chatbots.
Their enterprise features include field service (covering HelpDesk for mobile operations), omni-channel digital engagement, and employee service.
Pros:
- Detailed performance metrics
- Multi-channel support
- Customize according to your needs
Cons:
- Expensive
- Administrators, supervisors, and users must need training to understand some of the application’s features.
Salesforce Service cloud starts at just $25/month/agent for their basic ticketing, and their basic[ full package Service CRM starts at $75/month/agent.
Live Agent#
LiveAgent is an online Help Desk solution for e-commerce businesses at the small and midsize levels. The platform offers:
- Live chat applications
- Ticket management
- Online self-service portals: So you can have a live chat ready on your website on the first day.
Pros:
- Integrations with all your favourite tools such as Zapier, MailChimp, Zendesk, etc.
- Live Agent keeps adding new helpful features
- You can use the Live Agent API
- Easy to use in large teams
We know LiveAgent for its excellent loading performance, thanks to its lightweight and simple running application. WordPress websites have a direct integration available with Live Agent.
It is a ready-to-run application that comes with templates for everything. Customer emails, Live chat solutions, and ticketing systems have templates, so you need not worry about the setup process, which is great for beginners.
Live Agent starts with their ticketing product at $19/month, and you can have their Chat+Ticket platform at $29/month/agent.
Intercom#
Intercom is a self-proclaimed Engagement OS. Intercom helps you communicate with your customer through multiple channels, including the product app.
In addition, Intercom has chatbots that can respond with automated messages to your customers.
Because of the omnichannel approach, all customer conversation data stays in one place, leading to better analytics, lead generation, and management.
Pros:
- Easy set up
- Easily integrates with your website or system
- Great for enterprise that needs a variety of features
Cons:
- Bad customer support
- Expensive for smaller businesses. Add-on services are expensive.
The starter pack starts at $80/month/agent.
Kayako#
Kayako is a very popular Help Desk software and is considered one of the significant players in this arena. According to their website, Kayako has many fortune 500 companies as its clients, like FedEx, Toshiba, Sega, and others.
Similar to the others, Kayako has features like
- Ticketing
- Incident issues
- Complaint-handling
- Internal Help Desk.
Pros:
- Flexible pricing system
- High scalability
- Very intuitive design from dashboards, menus, and chats
- Can host Kayako on your own web server environment
Cons:
- Infrequent upgrades
- Buggy
- Inadequate customer support
Kayako also prides itself on being a very secure product. The data of your customers is always secure. They have incorporated several layers of enterprise-grade security into their product, platform, and processes.
Kayako is on the expensive side of things, which costs up to $125 / agent /month.
HubSpot Service Hub#
HubSpot Service Hub is a cloud-based customer service platform for small to medium businesses to manage contacts, requests, deals, appointment schedules, and more.
Key features include
- Reporting lead generation
- Marketing automation
- Conversion analytics.
It is an interesting option if you are already in the HubSpot CRM framework, as it behaves like an add-On. It can also integrate with other third-party services, like SurveyMonkey, Eventbrite, Zendesk, and more.
Pros:
- Value for money
- Easy to use
- Great customer support
Cons:
- No Split testing in lower packages
- Limited reporting
- You have to pay for continuous technical support
It’s a simple software that comes with a lot of templates to make your workflows easier. But, eventually, you might find that it lacks features and has limited reporting capabilities.
It is easy to start, but you should switch to a powerful, feature-heavy service as you scale.
You can get started for free with limited capability, and their starter Pack starts at $45/month.
##Kustomer
Kustomer is a pioneering CRM provider that provides a unique customer service CRM platform product. The company built it with scale and volume in mind. It offers very detailed and in-depth reports about customers, revealing additional insights.
Pros:
- Kustomer incorporates automation and AI throughout the software. It optimizes your workflows with omnichannel experiences.
- Omnichannel CRM makes transitions between tools and software simple and seamless. This support system allows you to understand and unify your customer data and make it more accessible for your support teams.
- Kustomer IQ embeds AI throughout the platform to eliminate repetitive tasks, deflect simple questions, and power support experiences that satisfy customers.
Cons:
- Not suitable for smaller businesses as it is expensive It is a single system built to handle many operations and thus integrates all of them under one roof.Many of their clients chose Kustomer because of its ability to fit their requirements, as it is an excellent option when requirements drive the choice.
Kustomer, while offering such prominent features, is a little on the pricey side. You can get started with $90 /month /agent.
##Hiver
Hiver is a Help Desk software that enhances your Gmail. It runs in the Google workspace and can integrate with your Gmail inbox, so you don’t have to open a new tab or window.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Great customer support
Cons:
- Limited features
With Hiver, you can assign, track, and collaborate on customer emails and run the most advanced analytics and automation right from the very familiar Gmail interface.
As Hiver integrates so well with Google Workspace, most companies find it easy and handy. You can assign tasks, open queries, and transfer tickets internally.
You can get started at just $15/month/agent for their basic package.
##Front
Front.com has been pushing for an innovative solution for a customer Desk solution. Front wants to ensure that the flow of work for a user is as easy as sending an email. Its product UI is very similar to an emailing client, making it easy for new customers to get onboarded.
Pros:
- Multi-channel marketing support
- Great for collaboration
- Custom integrations: Slack, Asana, Salesforce, Github, etc
- Flexible pricing.
- Great customer support.
Cons:
- Not great at scale.
Users can directly follow up on customers, generate responses and add team members to a conversation. It has an innovative personalization option, which improves responses from customers.
You can get started with their starter pack at just $19/month/agent.
##Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is one of the top choice for Help Desk Alternatives. Companies such as McAfee, Zomato, and Daimler use Zoho Desk.
Zoho is an established CRM company that has launched Zoho Desk for the Service Desk market. Zoho, as a company, has a lot of experience in creating and handling large customer-based products.
Pros:
- Automate redundant tasks like tickets assignment SLAs and escalation, and workflows
- AI-powered assistant than can chat with customers
- Collect support tickets from email, social media, live chat, telephone, or web form.
Cons:
- No individual email tracking
- Tutorials are not that great and you might need a Zoho advisor You can get started with their basic feature-loaded product at just $14/month/agent, while their elite tier Enterprise option comes in at just $40/month/agent.
##DevRev
I cannot talk about customer support without mentioning DevRev. DevRev is changing how users interact with developers for the better.
Unlike the other companies in this space, DevRev is the only solution that connects customer conversations to tickets, issues, which are then connected to product features.** Companies using DevRev often cite it as the only platform that truly enables product-led support, a new way to support customers more efficiently.
DevRev is typically used by product-led companies and has a rich set of APIs and automation tools that enable organizations to assign tickets and provide automatic updates to the customers while the work is being performed at the product features level.
The best part is that it is easy to get started. You can use the PLuG SDK to integrate DevRev into your website or product. This SDK allows users to interact with developers through a chat box. The developer can then raise an issue or ticket depending on the severity of the problem.
DevRev acts as a DevCRM, a CRM that focuses on developers. Developers listen to feedback and work on features that matter to users. Developers have more ownership interest.
The above reasons make DevRev a necessary tool for technology startups that want to harness product-led growth.
