Top 10 AI Customer Service Companies: Functions & Prices

Top-notch customer support is about efficiency, scalability, and customization. That’s why AI customer support software providers are so helpful for businesses looking to improve their interactions with customers while also cutting costs.

It’s all about finding the perfect match, though. Are all AI customer service companies created equal? Does it matter which of them to go with? Why do businesses need them in the first place?

Why Use AI Customer Service Companies?

Businesses’ needs vary, and so do their reasons for adopting AI solutions to improve their customer service. Yet, there are a few universal benefits of partnering with AI customer service companies to transform customer experiences.

24/7 Availability

AI-powered customer service teams can operate round the clock and provide support outside business hours. It’s a cost-effective alternative to having large teams of supporters. With AI solutions, customers can get help whenever they need it, and no one has to sacrifice their beauty sleep in the process.

Improved Efficiency

Sure, some customers’ queries require human involvement, but those are exceptions rather than the rule. Most issues people contact customer support with are standard; high-quality AI customer service software is perfectly capable of handling them.

Most importantly, AI’s responses are quick and consistent, which reduces on-hold times and improves first response and resolution times.

Personalization

AI systems analyze customer data to provide personalized responses and recommendations, which enhances the overall customer experience.

By analyzing a customer’s behavioral patterns, AI understands their needs and preferences. As a result, it can proactively address potential issues and offer tailored solutions.

Scalability

Enlisting the help of AI customer service companies is a reasonable option for businesses affected by seasonal fluctuations in demand. AI solutions can easily scale to handle increasing (or decreasing) volumes of customer interactions. It’s a cheaper, quicker, and more convenient approach than regular mass hiring followed by mass layoffs.

Data-Driven Insights

Big data is a buzzword for a reason. Any business that wants to thrive needs to rely on data in decision-making. AI-powered analytics and reporting tools offer valuable insights into customer behavior, support trends, and overall performance. Using those insights, businesses can refine their support strategies and identify areas for improvement.

Top 10 AI Customer Service Companies

1. SupportYourApp

Functions: AI-powered customer support, technical support, multilingual support, and CX services.

Pricing: Varies based on team size, languages, and support hours.

Best for: Companies of all sizes looking for a cost-effective way to outsource customer service with AI integration.

SupportYourApp is an AI-powered customer support outsourcing company that delivers technical support, multilingual support, and customer experience management, among other services. SupportYourApp offers 24/7 coverage, speaks 60+ languages, and provides PCI/DSS compliant and ISO-certified services, which ensures data protection and high service quality.

The most attractive thing about SupportYourApp is that, unlike most competitors, the company doesn’t sell standard “packages.” It develops personalized solutions for every business that enlists its help. With automated responses, real-time support, and proactive customer engagement, SupportYourApp successfully bridges the gap between traditional customer service and AI-powered solutions.

2. Zendesk

Functions: Customer support software with AI-powered chatbots, ticketing system, knowledge base management, and analytics.

Pricing: Starts at $55/month per agent.

Best for: Companies looking for an integrated customer service platform that includes AI tools.

Zendesk, a Danish-American SaaS company, is one of the leaders in the AI customer service software market. It offers a variety of tools, including OpenAI-powered AI chatbots, a robust ticketing system, knowledge base management, and detailed analytics.

Zendesk’s number one focus is agent productivity. It works best for businesses interested in implementing AI customer support software primarily for increased efficiency and cost reduction. Zendesk helps streamline customer interactions by automating routine tasks, predicting customer needs, and providing real-time suggestions to support agents.

3. Freshdesk

Functions: AI chatbots, automated workflows, multichannel support, and self-service portals.

Pricing: Free for basic features; advanced plans start at $15/month per agent.

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses that need a scalable AI-powered customer support solution.

Freshdesk by Freshworks is a user-friendly customer support software that incorporates AI to streamline customer service interactions. It offers AI-powered chatbots capable of handling most routine inquiries and multichannel support across various platforms, including email, chat, phone, and social media.

Freshdesk’s basic features are free, which is rare for AI customer service companies. Even Freddy AI, the company’s AI-driven support tool, is available at no cost for a limited scope of operations—up to 10 agents. Freddy is a simple automation tool suited mostly for self-service, but seeing as it’s free, it’s still a decent option for small businesses with tight budgets.

4. Intercom

Functions: AI chatbots, messaging, live chat, and customer engagement tools.

Pricing: Starts at $39/month per seat.

Best for: Businesses looking to combine customer support with marketing and sales through a single platform.

Intercom is a versatile customer engagement platform with different tools and functions businessesbusinesses can use to work on their customer interactions through personalized messaging and chatbots. Intercom’s AI capabilities include automated responses to common inquiries, real-time support via live chat, and proactive customer engagement through targeted messages.

One of the things Intercom has to offer is the customer service bot Fin. It’s a fully customizable OpenAI-powered chatbot with resolution rates as high as 50% (which is an impressive number for an AI support solution). When interacting with customers, Fin uses data from multiple sources and quickly adapts to the case at hand. This makes Fin appear human-like and positively affects the customer satisfaction scores of the businesses that use it.

5. Drift

Functions: Conversational AI, live chat, email, and video.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific business needs.

Best for: Sales-oriented teams that want to leverage AI for customer engagement and lead generation.

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform that uses AI to facilitate customer interactions and drive business growth. Its number one feature is a customizable conversational chatbot that can be used in chat, email, and video interactions with customers.

Drift’s AI is integrated with CRM and marketing automation tools. It mimics aa business’s brand voice and continuously analyzes past and present conversations with clients. The chatbot is equally helpful for customer support and marketing needs. It automates initial interactions and qualifying leads so that sales teams can focus on high-value prospects, which drives conversion rates and sales performance.

6. Ada

Functions: AI-powered chatbots, automated customer interactions, and analytics.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on the size and needs of aa business.

Best for: Large companies looking for advanced AI software to handle high volumes of customer interactions.

As an AI-powered customer service automation platform, Ada works especially well for large businesses because it’s designed to handle high volumes of customer interactions. Its AI chatbots can manage a wide range of tasks, from answering common questions to performing complex workflows. They also have remarkable natural language processing capabilities.

What helps Ada stand out from the competition in the AI customer service software industry is its focus on voice support. It makes sense for businesses that get customer queries over phone calls as much as text. Ada also has multiple chatbot personas to choose from, which makes it perfectly adjustable to any brand voice.

7. LivePerson

Functions: AI chatbots, messaging, voice assistants, and analytics.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on business requirements.

Best for: Companies in search of omnichannel support solutions with robust AI functions.

Similarly to Ada, LivePerson is a customer engagement platform that uses AI to facilitate client interactions across different channels, including both chat and voice. Its ability to integrate with various communication channels and business tools makes LivePerson well-suited for businesses looking for omnichannel, all-in-one AI-powered support solutions.

Based on their clients’ feedback, companies that are already using LivePerson praise LivePerson AI’s level of personalization and responsiveness. When interacting with clients, it uses advanced sentiment analysis, which helps businesses understand customer emotions and adjust their responses.

8. Tidio

Functions: AI chatbots, live chat, and email integration.

Pricing: Free basic plan; paid plans start at $29/month.

Best for: Small businesses and startups looking for an affordable AI-powered customer service tool.

Tidio’s AI feature e can help businesses handle routine inquiries, allowingallowing human agents to focus on more complex issues. On top of its AI bot, Lyro, Tidio facilitates visitor tracking and automated workflows.

Tidio’s standout feature is its affordability. Not only does it have a free plan for small businesses that aren’t yet ready to invest in AI-powered customer support tools, but paid plans start at only $29, and they cover multiple channels. 

9. Helpshift

Functions: AI-driven customer support, in-app messaging, and automation.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on business needs.

Best for: Mobile-first companies that need in-app customer support solutions.

Helpshift caters to a particular type of client  —  mobile-first companies looking for AI-powered in-app support. Thanks to their natural language processing capabilities, Helpshift’s AI chatbots are accurate in their responses and drive up customer satisfaction scores. They successfully handle a wide range of tasks, from answering common questions to performing complex workflows.

In addition to AI chatbots, Helpshift offers such features as automated ticketing, analytics, and reporting tools. Companies that use the platform (most of them mobile apps and gaming companies) can effectively track performance and gain insights into customer behavior. Helpshift is also easy to scale up or down, which makes it convenient for rapidly growing businesses.

10. Chatfuel AI

Functions: Chatbot creation, bot template, AI-powered analytics and insights, and automated marketing.

Pricing: Starts at $15/month (with a limited number of conversations monthly).

Best for: Small to medium businesses looking for ways to automate customer interactions cost-effectively.

Chatfuel’s ’s chatbots have an unparalleled level of customization. As a bot-building platform, Chatfuel will suit businesses willing to invest time and effort in tailored AI customer service solutions instead of paying for a ready-made packaged deal.

Besides chatbot creation, Chatfuel offers such features as analytics, personalized messaging, and automated marketing tools. Businesses can use them to track performance, gain insights into customer behavior, and engage users with targeted messages and promotions. Chatfuel’s features are limited compared to other AI customer service companies, but the affordable price makes them worth it.

A Few Success Stories: Major Companies That Have Implemented AI Customer Service Solutions

Surprisingly, there are still businesses that question the benefits of partnering with AI customer service providers. However, a single look at the real-life results of such partnerships should be enough to prove them wrong.

Here are a few brief case studies.

Photobucket With Zendesk

Photobucket, an image and video hosting online service, became the client of Zendesk, one of the leaders among AI customer service companies, back in 2012. Photobucket’s goal was to use Zendesk’s AI-powered chatbots to improve their customer service operations. Those chatbots handle FAQs and escalate more complex cases to human agents when necessary.

Results: With Zendesk’s help, Photobucket has since seen a 17% improvement in first resolution time and a 14% decrease in first reply time.

AirHelp With SentiOne

AirHelp, a company that helps air passengers with flight disruptions, needed a way to efficiently manage and prioritize a high volume of customer queries across different communication channels. They turned to SentiOne, a conversational AI platform, for help.

Results: Thanks to the all-in-one online contact center that SentiOne provided to AirHelp, the company improved its average response times by up to 65%.

Macy’s With IBM Watson & Satisfi Labs

In 2016, Macy’s, one of the largest department store chains in the U.S., resolved to enhance the in-store customer experience by providing quick and efficient assistance to shoppers. They partnered with the AI customer service companies IBM Watson and Satisfi Labs to develop an AI-powered mobile assistant named “Macy’s on Call.”

The AI assistant is accessible through a mobile web browser and doesn’t require any app downloads. Customers get to ask “Where can I find women’s shoes?” or “What are the store hours today?” and receive instant, accurate responses.

Results: While Macy’s didn’t release specific ROI metrics, Macy’s on Call clearly met the company’s objectives. In particular, customer surveys have revealed that shoppers appreciate how easy it is to find products without looking for a store associate.

How to Choose the Right AI Customer Service Software for Your Needs

Although some companies on this list offer broader and more advanced functions than others, each of them has something to offer to businesses looking to automate their customer support with AI-powered tools.

The key, however, is finding the best match for one’s business based on its size, budget, and unique needs. To avoid choice overload, consider the following factors.

Business Needs

Different businesses have different primary inquiry types and volumes of interactions. It’s important to assess those to decide what will work, be it chatbots for routine questions, sentiment analysis, or multichannel support.

Scalability

Not all AI customer service companies and tools are equally well-suited for businesses of all sizes. If a business intends to scale up at some point, it needs a platform capable of growing with it and adapting to its changing needs.

Pricing

This one’s self-explanatory; not every business can afford custom multichannel AI solutions that cover all possible functionalities. Additional costs for customization, integration, and support also matter.

Reputation

The key factors are a company’s reputation, customer support, and security measures. It helps read customer reviews, request demos, and consult with a few seemingly well-suited competitors to understand their level of service and support.

Alignment With Goals

Different businesses have different goals when looking for AI-powered supported software. It might be to improve response times, enhance customer satisfaction, or drive sales (or all of the above). Businesses’ cooperation with an AI customer service provider can only be successful when they find one that offers solutions that match their objectives.

Wrapping Up

There’s no shortage of AI customer service providers these days; the trick is finding the right fit. Some, such as SupportYourApp or Zendesk, are best suited for companies that value customization and are searching for omnichannel AI support solutions. Others, such as Freshdesk or Tidio, are perfect for small businesses on a tight budget.

Whatever the case, the value of AI customer support software is undeniable at this point. It helps businesses improve customer support efficiency, offer higher personalization, and otherwise transform their interactions with clients for the better. All of these are achievable with the right AI customer service platform as a partner.

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