Top 10 customer service solutions in 2025

Illustration of a happy customer service agent using the best customer service software

Benefits of choosing the right customer service solution:

Retain existing customers
Acquire new customers
Increase brand loyalty
Ensure customer happiness
Improve agent productivity
Resolve issues quickly
Collaborate effortlessly
Upsell and cross-sell

Factors to consider
while evaluating a solution

Feature set

Choose a solution that offers features to improve agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. For instance, AI in customer service reduces agents' workload by answering customer's questions instantly. Additionally, check if the solution enables you to deliver omnichannel support, set up a help center easily, and leverage automation and analytical capabilities.

Learning curve

Select a solution that offers an intuitive, clean, and user-friendly interface. This will support higher adoption rates with minimal training, faster setup, and increased agent efficiency.

Adaptability

Look for software that has the ability to meet your specific business requirements and not the other way around. Greater customizability and efficiency will lead to a faster return on investment.

Support offered

Ensure your vendor provides quality support so that you can get expert help and keep your operations running smoothly.

Cost of ownership

Evaluate the total cost of ownership, including the software license, add-ons, migration, implementation, and support. Also, check if your vendor offers flexible upgrade, downgrade, and cancellation options and does not lock you in for years.

Brief overview of the top 10
customer service software

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk helps you provide value-driven service by seamlessly connecting with customers across channels, like email, social media, messaging apps, telephony, and your help center. Zoho's AI, Zia, is built to help agents work efficiently, customers find answers quickly, and supervisors make the right decisions easily. It also helps you keep your customer support operations organized through its powerful automation and analytical capabilities.

Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise,Zoho Desk is easy to implement and get started with, thanks to its intuitive interface. If you're looking for a system that is fast to implement, cost-effective, and scalable, Zoho Desk is the ideal choice for you.

Pricing

You can explore the depth and functionality of Zoho Desk and its features with a 15-day free trial. There's also a Free plan available for basic ticketing needs. If you are a business with a small customer service team, Desk's $7 Express plan will likely be the best fit. Other editions of Desk include Standard for $14, Professional for $23, and the Enterprise plan for $40 per user per month, billed annually.

Integrations

With 300+ extensions and integrations available, you can seamlessly connect Zoho Desk with other business apps.

Security and compliance

Zoho Desk keeps your customers' data safe and secure by complying with ISO 9001 requirements, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Mobile applications

To give agents more flexibility, Zoho Desk offers a mobile application. It also offers a separate app for managers, called Radar, so they can monitor service operations, even when they're on the go.

Learn why Zoho Desk is a good fit for your customers, agents, and business.

HappyFox

HappyFox is easy to use compared to many other solutions. Its feature set is best for businesses that deal with a limited range of communication channels. HappyFox offers live chat, chatbot, help desk AI and workflows as separate products. To use these capabilities in your daily customer service tasks, you'll be required to purchase them at an additional price.

It does not offer a free plan, and its agent-based pricing starts at $24 per agent per month annually (with a minimum of five agents), while its unlimited agent pricing starts at $1,599/month. HappyFox offers multiple contract options, and if you plan on downgrading your plan or reducing your agent count, changes will go into effect at the end of the current billing cycle. Growing businesses using HappyFox have reported app slowdowns, and limited integration, customization, and reporting capabilities.

Zendesk Support

Zendesk Support offers a robust feature set. However, live chat support, telephony, analytics, and a help center need to be purchased as separate applications to build a complete customer service solution. It offers an AI-powered chatbot but sets a limit on the number of resolutions per bot, which means you'll need to purchase additional resolutions to keep the AI bot running. Also, other AI capabilities are only available as an add-on.

Its feature set is extensive, but the platform can be complex to set up and use. This affects the implementation process and increases the learning curve for agents. Additionally, many users consider Zendesk's UI to be a bit outdated, which can make it difficult for your agents to provide contextual and personalized service.

Zendesk offers a free trial for 14 days, but does not offer a free plan. Their Support Desk plans start at $19 and increase to $115. If you wish to make changes to your Zendesk subscription, you can do so by making a request in writing before 30 days of the end of your present subscription cycle.

Learn more about Zendesk's feature capabilities from this comparison

Help Scout

Help Scout's interface largely resembles Gmail's and it offers customer support resources to help you transition to the platform quickly. With email, live chat, a knowledge base, reports, and simple if-and-when workflows, Help Scout is suitable for businesses with minimal support requirements. In particular, Help Scout's customers are drawn to its mailbox feature. However, if you operate through other channels, like telephony, social media, and messaging apps, you are likely to have limited integration options or will have to rely on third-party vendors.

Pricing starts at $50 per user, billed annually. If you are looking for a solution that is customizable and scalable, you might want to reconsider whether Help Scout is the right fit.

Hiver

Hiver is a Gmail-based customer service solution, ideal for businesses that use Google Workspace. With Hiver, you can support your customers through live chat, email, WhatsApp, and telephony. Hiver does not integrate with social media apps like Instagram, X, and Facebook, limiting your ability to support your customers on social media. Hiver offers limited AI capabilities like email summarization, thank you detection, and template suggestions that are only available in their higher editions.

Plans range from "Lite" for $19 to "Elite" at a custom price. You can start with a 7-day free trial, and there's no fee to cancel your plan, but users will still be billed for the current billing cycle.

Learn more about how Hiver compares against Zoho Desk here

Freshdesk

Freshdesk centralizes customer support interactions from multiple channels, like email, social media, and live chat. Its integration capabilities are similar to Zendesk's and Zoho Desk's. You can set up an AI chatbot for customers, but it can only conduct a specific number of sessions. Upon reaching the limit on AI sessions, you'll be required to pay a certain amount. AI capabilities that can enhance your agent's performance are only available at a price of $29/agent/month.

Its UI can be overwhelming and time consuming to learn. Although the feature set is good enough for small businesses, it's difficult to scale Freshdesk to meet more extensive business needs.

You can explore the product through a 14-day free trial, or opt for the free plan for basic support requirements. Freshdesk's plans range from $15 to $79.

Analyze Freshdesk further with this comparison

Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce is popular for its extensive feature set. It is good for businesses managing high volumes of tickets and require multiple business apps to connect with. However, due to its complexity, it can be time-consuming and difficult to get started. Managing tickets is not very easy due to Salesforce's outdated UI.

Taking a closer look at pricing, Salesforce offers a free trial but does not offer a free plan. Their Enterprise plan costs $165, but does not include basic features, such as telephony, live chat, and self-service, and offers limited analytics. Pricing tends to snowball, making it inconvenient for businesses to continue using Salesforce, or switch to another solution. This is why it's a good idea to explore the features, add-ons, implementation, and after-support costs associated with Salesforce before making a commitment.

Find an in-depth Salesforce Service Cloud feature analysis in this comparison

Kayako

Kayako helps you offer support on channels like email, Facebook, X, live chat, and help center—with basic plans starting at $39 per agent. Although live chat is a popular Kayako feature, the feature's customizability is limited compared to its competitors, and many users have found the platform lacking in feature upgrades and scalability.

Online reviews show that customers have been happy with the simplicity of Kayako's new UI, but have also complained of system slow downs and errors. For example, users have reported that responses are not well recorded, SLAs might be missed due to errors in the system, and that learning and implementing Kayako requires assistance from the support team. Plus, it can be difficult to integrate Kayako with other software.

TeamSupport

TeamSupport is a multi-channel ticketing system that enables support via email, live chat, messaging, and remote desktop control. One of the most appreciated features of TeamSupport is the ability to convert commonly asked questions into knowledge base articles. However, telephony and web forms are not built-in options. According to users, TeamSupport's user interface is sluggish compared to the interfaces of other customer service solutions. The configuration and setup can be confusing for first-time users. Plus, synchronization and system breakage issues can become a hindrance when you're connecting with customers.

TeamSupport does not offer a free plan and their support plan starts at $29 per agent per month while the highest plan is available at a custom price. If you wish to make changes to the number of licensed users on your TeamSupport plan, you can do so with a written request to TeamSupport at least 30 days before the next renewal term.

Helpshift

Helpshift is a help desk solution mainly focused on in-app support. Its live chat, knowledge base, rule-based bot, and AI that pulls articles from the KB are geared towards enhancing the gaming experience with in-app support. Helpshift also serves the fin-tech and commerce industries. It allows users to report bugs, suggest improvements, and offer feedback related to the product or service. However, the design of Helpshift's UI appears to be outdated. Connectivity issues, delays in responses, and a complex setup can drastically affect a customer's experience with Helpshift.

You can explore the product through its 30-day free trial, or through its free plan. Paid plans start at $150. To access more advanced features for your unique needs, you can select Helpshift's custom pricing plan. You can upgrade at any time, but cancel only at the end of your subscription period.

Conclusion

We understand that a software solution is not just a piece of application for your business but a means through which you can build stronger relations with your customers. These 10 customer service software solutions stand out amongst the many available out on the market. To further narrow down your selection to one, get started by taking advantage of free trials.

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Comparison chart

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Zoho Desk

Zendesk Support
Salesforce Service Cloud
Help Scout
HappyFox
Hiver
Freshdesk
Kayako
TeamSupport
Helpshift

Trial
Free plan
Starting plan
Highest plan
Usability
Omnichannel support
Self service and AI
Automation and analytics
Gartner rating
G2 rating

Zoho Desk
15 days
Yes
$7
$40
Easy to use
Faster deployment
Highly customizable
----
Email
Live Chat
Messaging (WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, and LINE) Telephony
Web Forms
Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter)
Knowledge Base
Community
Chatbot
AI
Ticket assignment
Workflows
SLAs
Macros
Reports and dashboards
4.4
(1,872 reviews)
4.4
(6,104 reviews)

Zendesk Support
14 days
No
$19
$115
Outdated UI
Complex setup
High learning curve
----
Email
Live Chat ($)
Messaging ($)
Telephony ($)
Web Forms
Social media (X and Facebook)
Knowledge Base ($)
Community ($)
AI Chatbot Other AI capabilities ($)
Ticket assignment
Workflows
SLAs
Macros
Reports and dashboards
4.3
(313 reviews)
4.3
(6,136 reviews)

Salesforce Service Cloud
30 days
No
$25
$500
Outdated UI
Complex setup
High learning curve
----
Email
Live Chat ($)
Messaging ($)
Telephony
Web Forms
Social Media
Knowledge Base
Community
AI
Ticket assignment
Workflows
SLAs
Macros
Reports and dashboards
4.2
(325 reviews)
4.4
(5,603 reviews)

Help Scout
15 days
Yes
$50
Custom
Familiar interface
Easy to use
Moderately customisable and scalable
----
Email
Live Chat
Messaging (Limited channels)
Telephony
Social Media (Limited channels)
Knowledge Base
AI
Workflows
Reports
NA
4.4
(407 reviews)

HappyFox
Yes (duration not specified)
No
$24 (Minimum 5 agents required)
Custom
Easy to use
Limited integration options
Moderately customizable
App slowdown issues
Email
Live Chat ($)
Messaging (Limited channels)
Telephony
Social Media
Knowledge Base
Community
Chatbot ($)
AI ($)
Ticket assignment
Smart rules
SLAs
Advanced workflows ($)
Reports and dashboards
NA
4.5
(134 reviews)

Hiver
7 days
Yes
$19
Custom
Familiar interface
Limited integration options
----
----
Email
Live Chat
Messaging (Only WhatsApp)
Telephony
Web Forms ($)
Knowledge Base
Chatbot
AI
Ticket assignment
SLAs
Business hours
Reports and dashboards
4.5
(2 reviews)
4.6
(1,095 reviews)

Freshdesk
14 days
Yes
$15
$79
Refreshing UI
Complex setup
High learning curve
----
Email
Live Chat
Telephony ($)
Messaging WhatsApp ($)
Web Forms
Social Media
Knowledge Base
Community
AI chatbot
AI for agents ($)
Ticket assignment
Workflows
SLAs
Macros
Reports and dashboards
4.4 (628 reviews)
4.4 (3,495 reviews)

Kayako
No information available
No
$39
Custom
Simple UI
Limited integration options
Moderately customisable
Errors in the system
Email
Live Chat
Web Forms
Social Media (Facebook and Twitter)
Knowledge Base Community
AI
Manual round robin ticket assignment
Manual configuration of multi-level escalations
Reports and dashboards (Latest information not available. This information is based on 20-02-2024)
NA
4
(219 reviews)

TeamSupport
No information available
No
$29
Custom
Easy to use
System lags
Synchronization is slow
Limited integration options
Email
Live Chat
Messaging
Telephony ($)
Knowledge Base
Community
Chatbot
AI ($)
Ticket assignment SLAs
Reports and dashboards
NA
4.4 (873 reviews)

Helpshift
30 days
Yes
$150
Custom
Complex setup
Connectivity issues
----
----
Email
Live Chat
Messaging (Only WhatsApp, Discord, Facebook)
Telephony
Web Forms
Knowledge Base
Community
AI
Round-robin assignment
Time based automation
SLAs
Reports and dashboards
NA
4.3 (380 reviews)

Disclaimer: All names and marks mentioned here remain the property of their original owners. Prices are as published by the named competitors on their website(s) as on 24-01-2025 (without taking into account the taxes or discounts), and are subject to change based on the pricing policies of the competitors. The details provided on this page are for general purposes only and cannot be considered as authorized information from the respective competitors. Zoho disclaims any liability for possible errors, omissions, or consequential losses based on the details here.

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Frequently asked questions

What are customer service solutions?

Customer service solutions simplify support operations by recording requests as tickets. This allows businesses to support customers on multiple channels from one place, automate tasks, and get comprehensive support insights. AI-powered customer service solutions like Zoho Desk make customer support simpler by equipping your agents with powerful omnichannel, self-service, AI, automation, and analytical capabilities.

Can customer service tools be used for remote teams?

If your support team is spread across locations, a customer support solution can help you ensure there's seamless collaboration between them. Zoho Desk enables your agents to collaborate with each other right inside a ticket by leaving private comments. Moreover, your teams can receive updates on the tickets they follow, view open tickets in their department, or make important announcements in shared spaces called team-feeds.

How do customer service solutions help with knowledge management?

Whether it is helping customers find instant solutions or equipping agents with accurate information, a knowledge base plays a crucial role in customer support. With Zoho Desk's knowledge base management capabilities, you can create knowledge base articles, send them for review, optimize them for SEO, translate them into multiple languages, publish, and track customer feedback all from one place.

How can AI-powered customer service help desks improve response accuracy?

Finding the right information at the right time is crucial for both agents and customers. AI-powered customer support software enables your agents to focus on crafting better customer experiences and reduce the amount of time spent searching for information by providing them with instant and accurate response suggestions. Zoho Desk's AI, Zia, analyzes customer tickets and provides agents with response suggestions by fetching ticket-relevant information along with article links from the knowledge base. You can further enhance response generation by integrating it with generative AI.

What are the essential features of a customer service solution?

Look for software that gives your customers the flexibility to initiate conversations on one channel—email, social media, live chat, messaging apps—and continue them from another. It should also ease your agents' efforts to provide instant service by making it seamless for you to set up a help center and AI chatbot. Other essential features to look for include automation and analytics to help ensure your service operations are streamlined effectively.

Who can use a customer service management platform?

A customer service management platform empowers teams and businesses of all sizes to deliver customer happiness at all times. It helps a freelancer start their business and keep track of all customer inquiries from multiple channels while enabling them to deliver contextual service. Small businesses benefit from the automation capabilities that help them streamline their service operations and reduce repetitive tasks for agents. Enterprises use customer service platforms to increase agent productivity through powerful workflows, analytics, and collaboration capabilities.

Can I connect my messaging platforms with Zoho Desk?

Yes, you can deliver service through Instant Messaging by Zoho Desk on your customer's favorite messaging channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, LINE, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger.

Should I integrate my customer support software with CRM?

Yes, you can integrate your customer support software with CRM! A lot of context from customer conversations with your salespeople can be valuable for customer support agents in diagnosing customer issues.

How long can we utilize Zoho Desk's free customer service solution?

With Zoho Desk's 15-day free trial, you can access its Enterprise edition features to ascertain its suitability for your business. At the end of the free trial, you'll continue to have access to Zoho Desk but only to a limited set of features through its free plan.

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