If there is one thing I hate, it is poor customer service. Remember the last time an agent put you on hold? For me, it tends to be a soul-crushing experience. Or how about when you wanted to buy something, but had to deal with an impatient employee?
As customers, our interactions with businesses decide whether we will use our hard-earned dollars to buy their products or keep spending cash on monthly subscriptions for online services. Providing quality experiences through customer service tools can make the difference between success and failure for a business, including yours. That's why I have reviewed, listed, and shared my thoughts on the best customer service software available for businesses.
Key takeaways
Customer service tools integrate multiple communication channels into a unified platform, facilitating efficient and consistent support.
Tools like Lark, Zendesk, and more enhance agent productivity by automating routine tasks, allowing support teams to focus on complex customer inquiries.
To select the best customer service software, you should consider factors like budget, scalability, integration capabilities, and specific feature requirements to ensure effective support operations.
How do we evaluate and test software?
We provide honest reviews based on hands-on testing, user feedback, and feature evaluation. To feature in our customer service tools and software list, our evaluation criteria included:
Ease of use: Can your team adopt the software quickly?
Features: Does the software offer what modern customer service teams need, like automation, omnichannel support, and integrations?
Scalability: Can the customer service platform grow with your business?
Pricing: Is it a worthwhile investment? Will it add long-term value?
Support and documentation: Can you get help when you need it?
Our rankings combine expert opinion and user experiences to ensure you're getting a well-rounded view of each product.
What are customer service tools?
To put it simply, customer service tools are software solutions that make it easier and better for businesses to manage customer support. By combining multiple communication channels – email, chat, phone and social media – into one system, these tools allow support teams to deliver timely, consistent and efficient support across all platforms. One of the biggest benefits of customer service tools is that they simplify interactions. For example, live chat support allows real-time conversations across multiple channels and increases customer satisfaction and engagement. Automation features further improve efficiency by handling routine queries so agents can focus on more complex issues.
These tools also provide valuable performance analytics so you can measure support effectiveness and refine processes. Plus self-service options allow customers to find solutions themselves, reducing support tickets and speeding up resolution.
Benefits of using customer service tools
Improve customer satisfaction: Provide prompt responses and maintain high service standards, leading to increased loyalty and repeat business.
Streamlined support processes: Route requests to the right agents, offer 24/7 self-service options, and reduce unnecessary ticket volumes.
Boosted agent productivity: Eliminate manual tasks, improve access to customer information, and enable faster, more effective responses.
Comprehensive analytics: Custom reports help tailor insights to specific needs, enhancing understanding of customer interactions and service efficiency.
Multi-channel support: Manage customer inquiries across email, chat, phone, and social media, ensuring quick, seamless responses.
Improved customer engagement: Deliver personalized support, gather better feedback, and strengthen customer relationships.
Increased efficiency: Optimize workflows and improve overall customer service experience, contributing to long-term business success.
Best customer service tools for 2025
From all-in-one collaboration tools to specialized email management solutions, the landscape of customer service software is vast and diverse.
At a glance: Top customer service tools
Lark – Best for all-in-one collaboration software for customer service teams
Zendesk – Best for businesses needing extensive flexibility and complex support operations
Help Scout – Best for teams focused on efficient email support and collaboration
Freshdesk – Best for businesses of all sizes, offering versatile support features at affordable prices
Salesforce Service Cloud – Best for large organizations with enterprise-level support needs
LiveAgent – Best for real-time, multi-channel customer support
HubSpot Service Hub – Best for businesses already using HubSpot CRM and looking for integrated support
Intercom – Best for businesses leveraging AI to automate and streamline customer support
Zoho Desk – Best for small businesses seeking budget-friendly customer service solutions
Aircall – Best for businesses requiring cloud-based call center solutions with remote capabilities
1. Lark – Best all-in-one collaboration tool for customer service teams
Lark is a powerful, all-in-one collaboration platform that unifies customer service, communication, CRM, and project management. It integrates features like chat, calendar, email, document creation, and project tracking to help teams manage their workflows with ease.
For customer service teams, Lark includes Base. It's a no-code data management system that allows teams to build a comprehensive customer service management system. Customer support agents can store and track customer tickets, automate feedback notifications, log customer satisfaction survey results, and monitor data changes all from the same page.
But that's not all, with Lark Docs you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, all with rich formatting, real-time collaboration, and version control to help teams to share and update information seamlessly.
As one of the best free customer service software options out there, Lark’s free plan includes 11 products designed to help you collaborate and manage customers. It also scales beautifully with you as your business grows with paid plans starting at only $12 per user per month, and includes premium features such as help desk software and video conferencing.
2. Zendesk – Best comprehensive support solution
Source: support.zendesk.com
Zendesk is a favorite for businesses that need flexibility, thanks to its deep customization options, no-code tools, and custom apps. Whether you're a small team or managing a large-scale support operation, Zendesk adapts to fit your workflow.
One of its biggest strengths is how easily it integrates with over 1,000 apps. That means your team can manage emails, chats, calls, and social messages all in one place—no need to jump between platforms. It keeps your support experience smooth and consistent across the board.
Zendesk’s pricing starts at $19 per agent per month, with more advanced features available at $115. For smaller teams, the Suite Team plan at $55 per agent offers a solid middle ground between features and affordability, making it easy to scale as your business grows.
3. Help Scout – Best for email management excellence
Source: livesession.io
Help Scout is built with email support in mind, giving teams a clean, centralized way to manage customer conversations. It also includes a helpful knowledge base, so customers can often find answers on their own—cutting down on tickets and saving your team time.
Everything in Help Scout is designed to keep support running smoothly. Smart workflows, tags, custom fields, and conversation views help organize requests, so nothing falls through the cracks. It’s all about keeping things efficient and making sure every customer gets a timely response.
Collaboration is another strong suit. With features like collision detection, multiple inboxes, internal notes, and @mentions, teams can work together without stepping on each other’s toes. It’s easy to loop in teammates and keep everyone on the same page.
For added flexibility, Help Scout even integrates with Discord, so support teams can get real-time updates wherever they’re working. Pricing starts at $20 per user per month for the Standard plan—an affordable option for businesses that rely heavily on email support.
4. Freshdesk – Best versatile customer support platform
Source: support.freshdesk.com
Freshdesk is recognized for its effective ticket management as a comprehensive help desk solution. It offers automation, self-service options, and omnichannel support to enhance customer service efficiency, ensuring that all customer interactions are handled seamlessly.
One of Freshdesk’s significant advantages is its pricing structure. There is a free plan available for up to 10 agents per month, with paid plans starting from $15 per agent per month, making it one of the more affordable customer support tools for startups. This flexibility ensures that Freshdesk can cater to the needs of both small teams and large organizations.
Freshdesk can integrate with Jotform to create tickets automatically from new submissions, streamlining the support process and ensuring that all customer inquiries are addressed promptly. Additionally, it offers seven paid plans designed to cater to different business needs, providing a range of options for businesses to choose from.
With its versatile desk features and affordable pricing, Freshdesk is a top choice for businesses looking to enhance their customer service capabilities. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Freshdesk offers the tools you need to manage customer support effectively.
5. Salesforce Service Cloud – Best enterprise-grade solution
Source: techabled.in
Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer relationship management (cloud-based CRM) platform designed specifically to meet enterprise-level needs. Its key features include customizable dashboards, automated workflows, and the Einstein bot for self-service support, making it a robust solution for large organizations. The platform also integrates communication management within CRM tools, providing a centralized location for teams to manage and access every customer conversation, enhancing collaboration and ensuring timely responses to customer inquiries.
The platform’s customizable dashboards allow businesses to tailor their support operations to meet specific needs, while automated workflows streamline processes and improve efficiency. The Einstein bot provides self-service support, enabling customers to resolve common issues independently, reducing the volume of support tickets, and empowering customers.
Salesforces’ customer service CRM software is particularly suitable for large organizations with complex support needs, offering a comprehensive solution for managing customer relationships and support operations. It starts at $25 per user per month, with more expensive options available for teams with more complex needs.
6. LiveAgent – Best for real-time communication
Source: techabled.in
LiveAgent emphasizes real-time communication in customer support, providing features such as live chat, ticketing, and call center functionalities. These features work together to facilitate immediate assistance, streamline the support process, and enhance the overall customer experience.
Additionally, LiveAgent integrates with Facebook Messenger, allowing businesses to enhance customer communication through chatbots, customer support tools, and marketing efforts. This integration enables seamless interaction across multiple channels.
Live chat enables support agents to provide instant responses to customer inquiries, reducing wait times and improving customer happiness. The ticketing system ensures that all customer queries are organized and prioritized, allowing support teams to address issues efficiently and effectively.
Call center functionalities provide an additional layer of support, enabling businesses to handle phone inquiries and provide personalized assistance. This multi-channel approach ensures that customers can reach out through their preferred communication method, enhancing the overall customer service experience.
With its focus on real-time communication, LiveAgent is a top choice for businesses looking to provide immediate and efficient customer support. It offers a $15 per user per month package designed for small businesses with more comprehensive features available on higher-tier plans.
7. HubSpot Service Hub – Best for integrated CRM and Support
Source: help-desk-migration.com
HubSpot Service Hub is a great customer service tool that can integrate seamlessly with your CRM. Key features include live chat, integration with Slack for chat communications, and the addition of HubSpot contacts to Google Ads customer lists, making it a powerful tool for managing customer interactions.
The platform offers a free plan for up to two users, making it accessible for small teams and startups. Additionally, it is best suited for existing HubSpot users, providing a seamless integration experience and enhancing overall customer service capabilities.
Support options for HubSpot customers include access to a help center, community support, and customer success representatives, ensuring that businesses have the resources they need to maximize the platform’s potential. This comprehensive support ensures that businesses can effectively manage customer interactions and improve overall customer satisfaction.
With its integrated CRM capabilities and robust support options, HubSpot Service Hub is a top choice for businesses looking to enhance their customer service experience. But you’ll have to spend at least $90 per month per seat to enjoy the seamless integration and powerful features that make it a versatile solution for managing customer interactions.
8. Intercom – Best for AI-powered customer support
Source: getvoip.com
Intercom leverages AI to automate customer support and provide customizable interactions, making it a powerful tool for enhancing customer service capabilities. Its AI agent, Fin, automatically replies to support requests, improving response times and ensuring that customer inquiries are handled promptly.
The AI can be trained using previous support replies and help center articles, enhancing its performance and providing more accurate responses to customer inquiries. This training capability ensures that the AI can continually improve, providing better support over time.
Key features of Intercom include:
AI-powered features
Intuitive chatbot customization
More advanced features in inbox functionalities
Extensive integrations
This makes it a versatile solution for managing customer interactions. The platform’s starting price is $29 per seat per month, making it accessible for businesses looking to enhance their customer service capabilities with AI.
9. Zoho Desk – Best for cost-effective customer service
Source: softwareadvice.com
Zoho Desk comes packed with everything you need to manage customer support—AI-powered assistance, built-in collaboration tools, and more. Starting at just $7 per user per month, it’s a great fit for startups, small businesses, or anyone looking to keep support costs low.
One standout feature is WhatsApp notifications for new tickets, helping your team stay on top of customer requests the moment they come in. It’s a small touch that can make a big difference in response time and customer satisfaction.
Zoho Desk offers a solid balance of features and affordability, making it a smart choice for businesses that want to improve their customer service without overspending.
That said, be mindful of what’s included in the lower-tier plans. Essentials like instant messaging aren’t built in, so unless you’re already using something like Slack, the most basic plan might feel a bit limiting for real-time team communication.
10. Aircall – Best cloud-based call center software
Source: g2.com
Aircall is best known as a cloud-based call center software, designed specifically for phone support. Its features include call routing and scheduling options, which enhance the overall customer experience by ensuring that calls are handled efficiently and effectively. It also works brilliantly on your mobile, making it one of the most powerful customer service mobile apps on the market.
As one of the best customer service call center software solutions available, Aircall provides businesses with the tools they need to manage phone support operations seamlessly. Its cloud-based nature ensures that support teams can operate from anywhere, providing flexibility and scalability for growing businesses.
To get Aircall, you’ll need to spend $30 per license each month for the essentials package. If you need more features like AI or WhatsApp tools, it will cost you extra each month.
How to choose the right customer service tool
Selecting the right customer service platform is essential for delivering excellent support and maintaining strong customer relationships. To make an informed decision, consider the following key factors:
Align with your budget and goals
Start by identifying your budget and the specific goals you want to achieve. Ask yourself:
What pain points are you trying to solve?
Do you need to reduce response times, support omnichannel communication, or automate repetitive tasks?
Understanding your objectives helps narrow down tools that are best suited for your team's workflow and priorities.
Consider customer preferences
Your customer support software should support the channels your customers actually use. Whether it's:
Email
Live chat
Phone
Social media
Self-service portals
Make sure the platform offers robust tools to manage interactions across all relevant channels so your support agents are quick to respond and can keep customers happy.
Plan for scalability
As your business grows, so will your support needs. Choose a platform that can:
Easily add new users or agents
Offer flexible pricing tiers or enterprise options
Scale features like automation, analytics, and integrations
This ensures your customer service operations can evolve alongside your customer base.
Ensure seamless integration
Avoid siloed systems that disrupt workflows. A good customer support tool should integrate smoothly with:
Your existing CRM
Billing and invoicing platforms
Marketing and sales tools
Look for pre-built integrations or customizable APIs to maintain a connected and efficient ecosystem.
Test before you invest
Don’t commit without trying the tool first. Most platforms offer:
Free trials
Limited-time premium access
Demo walkthroughs
Take advantage of these offers to evaluate usability, feature compatibility, and how well the tool fits into your overall strategy.
Enhancing customer service with data insights
Customer service is no longer just about quick responses—it's about delivering personalized, data-driven experiences. This not only helps customers immediately, but also helps your business in the long run through CRM. Here's how leveraging data insights and modern tools can transform your support strategy:
Personalize support with behavioral and sentiment data
Customers expect personalized experiences, and the key to delivering them lies in the data. By analyzing customer behavior, purchase history, and sentiment in real time, support teams can tailor their responses and recommend the most relevant solutions.
AI tools amplify this personalization by detecting tone, urgency, and intent, ensuring that every customer receives support that feels not just helpful, but human.
Use integrated channel data to improve response quality
Every interaction—whether through live chat, social media, or email—creates a data trail. When communication channels are unified, they create a centralized stream of customer data that provides context and continuity across every touchpoint.
This integration not only improves agent efficiency but also ensures customers don’t have to repeat themselves, thanks to access to full interaction histories and preferences in one place.
Leverage real-time interaction data to guide AI and agents
Real-time customer service data—like time spent on a page, chat behavior, or keywords used—can be analyzed instantly to offer smarter responses. AI-powered tools use this data to auto-suggest replies, route queries efficiently, and automate simple requests.
This allows agents to focus on high-value issues while customers receive fast, data-informed responses that feel tailored and responsive.
Turn feedback into actionable insights
Post-interaction surveys, satisfaction ratings, and customer comments are rich sources of insight. When analyzed consistently, this feedback highlights patterns in satisfaction, identifies recurring pain points, and reveals opportunities for improvement.
By visualizing this data through dashboards and reports, businesses can adjust training, tweak workflows, and continuously refine the support experience.
Provide context with centralized customer profiles
Support teams work best when they have the full picture. By consolidating customer data—purchase history, past tickets, preferences, and even browsing behavior—into a centralized profile, agents can deliver faster, more accurate service.
This data-driven context eliminates guesswork, reduces handling time, and makes customers feel truly understood, boosting satisfaction and trust with every interaction.
Future trends in customer service tools
As customer expectations grow, businesses must evolve how they deliver support. The future of customer service lies in intelligent, integrated tools—particularly those powered by AI. Here’s how emerging technologies are reshaping the landscape and what businesses must do to stay ahead.
AI is redefining real-time support
AI-driven customer service platforms are becoming essential for modern support teams. These tools analyze interactions in real-time, helping businesses quickly adapt strategies, improve response accuracy, and reduce manual effort. When implemented properly, AI enhances—not replaces—human agents, offering real-time suggestions, drafting replies, and automating repetitive tasks like data entry.
Omnichannel workspaces enhance the customer journey
To truly elevate customer support, businesses must look beyond individual touchpoints and focus on the entire customer journey. That means unifying communication channels, interaction history, and support data in one place.
An omnichannel workspace allows customer service agents to access a complete view of each customer’s experience—email, chat, social media, and more. This context-rich environment ensures consistency, reduces customer frustration, and allows every department to collaborate seamlessly.
Personalization and proactivity through AI
As AI tools grow smarter, they’re enabling deep personalization at scale. From recognizing customer preferences to tailoring recommendations, AI creates more relevant, engaging interactions.
Companies that stay updated on trends and leverage personalization capabilities will deliver better experiences and build stronger customer loyalty in the process.
Transparency and metrics matter
For AI to truly support customer service operations, it must be transparent and measurable. Businesses need to know how AI makes decisions, such as which FAQs it pulls from or which past conversations it uses for context.
Equally important is tracking performance through clear KPIs, like accuracy scores, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction. These insights help teams fine-tune AI systems and continually improve support quality.
Staying competitive with emerging technologies
Customer support software will continue to evolve rapidly. Businesses that embrace AI, omnichannel integration, and automation will be better equipped to meet rising customer expectations.
By adopting the right technologies today, companies position themselves to deliver faster, smarter, and more personalized support tomorrow, ensuring both customer satisfaction and long-term success.
Frequently asked questions
How does customer service software benefit businesses?
Customer service software significantly boosts customer satisfaction by facilitating prompt responses and automating routine tasks, ultimately enhancing agent productivity. This results in increased customer loyalty and repeat business for the organization.
What types of customer service technology are available?
Customer service software, such as CRM programs, live chat software, ticketing systems, and self-service portals can significantly enhance how businesses manage customer interactions. Utilizing the right tools ensures effective support tailored to your customers' needs.
How do I choose the best customer service software for my business?
To choose the right customer service software for your business, evaluate your budget, goals, scalability, and integration capabilities. It's also important to understand your customers' preferred contact methods and take advantage of trials to find the best fit for your needs.
Conclusion
Choosing the right customer service tool is a game-changer for any business looking to up its support game. With so many options out there, it’s all about finding the software that fits your unique needs and helps you deliver top-notch service. The right tools make daily tasks smoother and boost the efficiency of your customer service team. When your team has what they need, they can respond faster, offer personalized help, and keep service quality high.
As technology keeps evolving, it’s important for businesses to stay in the loop with the latest trends and innovations. Using modern features and tools not only improves how your team works but also keeps your customers happy and your business competitive. Investing in the right customer service software means quicker responses, better teamwork, and an overall boost in customer satisfaction. By picking tools such as Lark that truly match your needs, you’re setting your business up to provide the best possible support experience for your customers.
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