100% free live chat, ticketing, and knowledge-base software with unlimited agents and sites, monetized only through optional add-ons like branding removal and AI Assist.
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S
Salesmsg
77score
14-day free trial + 30-day money-back guarantee
2-way business SMS, MMS and calling for sales and support — from $25/mo with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive integrations.
Verified 1mo ago
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H
Hiver
77score
Free-forever plan + free trial on paid tiers — Growth from $25/user/mo
Turn Gmail into a shared helpdesk — assign, track and automate team email without leaving your inbox.
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L
LiveAgent
76score
33% off every plan with official codes SUMMER-33M (monthly) / SUMMER-33Y (annual) + 30-day free trial, no card
Multi-channel help desk with ticketing, live chat and a built-in call centre for lean support teams that answer everywhere.
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S
Smartsupp
74score
Free-forever plan (25 chats/mo) + 14-day trial on paid — Solo from $17/mo annually
Live chat plus an AI shopping assistant for small e-commerce and service sites — with a genuine free plan.
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C
Calilio
72score
7-day free trial — no credit card to start
A modern cloud VoIP phone system with AI transcription, virtual numbers in 100+ countries, and pricing that starts at $12/user/mo.
Verified 1mo ago
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H
HelpDesk
70score
14-day free trial (no card) — Essential from $19/agent/mo billed annually
Simple, AI-assisted email ticketing for support teams — from the makers of LiveChat.
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L
Landbot
68score
Free Sandbox plan + 14-day full trial + official startup discount: 50% off monthly plans for 12 months (eligibility criteria apply, WhatsApp excluded)
No-code chatbot builder for websites and WhatsApp — turn static forms into conversational flows that qualify leads while you sleep.
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S
SurveySparrow
67score
Free plan; paid from ~$19/mo
Conversational, chat-like surveys that feel human — driving far higher completion rates for NPS, CSAT, and feedback than traditional form-style surveys.
Verified 2mo ago
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Y
Yay! Forms
67score
Free plan; paid from ~$24/mo
An AI-powered, Typeform-style form and survey builder — beautiful conversational forms generated by AI, at a fraction of Typeform’s price.
Verified 2mo ago
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D
Dialpad
66score
AI-first meetings and calls that transcribe, summarize, and coach your team in real time — without leaving the room.
Verified 2mo ago
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C
Canny
66score
Canny turns scattered customer feedback into a prioritized roadmap your product team will actually use.
Customer Support software centralises inbound requests from email, live chat, and social into a single shared inbox or ticketing queue, with SLA tracking, macros, and CSAT measurement baked in.
Operations teams running any volume of inbound requests use it to stop replies falling through cracks and to report on team performance without building spreadsheets.
When comparing tools, look at channel coverage, AI deflection rate, the cost per resolution on AI-agent tiers, and how cleanly it connects to your CRM and product data.
Buying guide
How to choose
Customer support software is the operational layer between your team and every inbound query. The wrong choice creates ticket chaos; the right one lets a small team handle high volume without hiring.
01
Channel coverage
List every channel your customers actually use — email, live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, voice. Most platforms charge per channel or lock certain ones to higher tiers. Map your real mix before pricing up any tool.
02
AI deflection and resolution
Modern platforms offer AI agents that can fully resolve common queries before a human touches them. Pricing models vary wildly: per resolution, per seat, or bundled. Model your actual ticket mix to calculate true cost of ownership.
03
SLA and routing rules
If you have committed response times or regional routing requirements, check that rule logic is available on your target plan. Some platforms reserve SLA automation for mid-tier and above.
04
Reporting depth
Basic tools give you ticket volume and CSAT. More mature ones break down resolution time by channel, agent, and topic, and feed data to BI tools via API or native connectors. Decide how much insight you actually need before over-buying.
05
Integration with your stack
The support tool should pull in order data, subscription status, and product events so agents have context without tab-switching. Check for native connectors to your commerce platform, billing system, and CRM — or assess the API effort required.
Pricing reality
Seat-based pricing is the norm, but AI-agent tiers now layer a per-resolution charge on top. A team of five with 2,000 tickets a month and 40% AI deflection can look cheap on the surface and expensive in practice. Always model volume x resolution cost, not just headline seat price.
Common pitfalls
Buying for peak ticket volume when a well-configured AI tier would absorb that load at a fraction of the cost
Ignoring the cost of channel add-ons — social and WhatsApp integrations often sit behind premium plans
Choosing a tool based on features your team will never use rather than the three workflows they run every day
Underestimating migration effort when switching from an existing helpdesk — historical tickets, macros, and automations all need porting
Frequently asked questions
A helpdesk manages asynchronous ticket queues across email, forms, and social. Live chat handles real-time conversations on your website or in-product. Many platforms now combine both, but they serve different response-time expectations and staffing models.
Traditional pricing is per human seat. AI-agent tiers charge per resolved conversation instead, which can be cheaper at high volume but expensive if your AI deflection rate is low. Always calculate cost based on your actual ticket mix and expected deflection rate.
Most support platforms include basic CSAT surveys triggered after ticket closure. If you need NPS, cohort analysis, or product feedback loops, you will likely want a dedicated voice-of-customer tool that sits alongside your helpdesk.
Very. A well-maintained help centre that surfaces in your AI agent and your search results can deflect 20–40% of tickets before they are ever created. Most helpdesk tools include a knowledge base builder, but the quality of your content matters more than the tool.
Yes, for most early-stage operations. The key is investing time in macros, canned replies, and automation rules upfront so that repetitive work is handled by the system rather than the human. AI agents accelerate this significantly.
First response time, full resolution time, CSAT score, and ticket volume by channel. These four tell you whether your team is coping, where bottlenecks sit, and whether customers are satisfied. Add agent-level reporting once you have more than two or three people.