Freshchat is a phenomenal customer support platform built for e-commerce and DTC brands, but there are other excellent options as well. You may be using your e-commerce support tool differently, or you might be looking for a simpler, easier-to-use tool. Perhaps one that integrates with the other apps you use to run your business?
Whatever the case may be, you don’t have to search any longer because we have done that for you. Here are nine extremely solid e-commerce customer support tools we recommend, and the positives and negatives of each. So if you are searching for FreshChat Alternatives, you are in the right place.
What Is Freshchat?
Freshchat is a live chat support platform created by Freshworks that wants to provide its users with the power of a complete customer service overhaul. It uses automated chat solutions to allow companies to communicate with their customers and provide instant support. It also includes chat rooms, with all their chat logs stored on a secure server.
Why Search For FreshChat Alternatives?
Before we move on, it is essential to establish the purpose of this blog: Why would someone want to search for competitors and alternatives to Freshchat?
Below are a few explanations that explain why so many people seek alternatives to Freshchat – and why you should too.
1. Limited Integrations: If you’re looking for a solution that integrates properly into your CRM solution and business ecosystem, Freshchat is not the right fit for you. It only integrates FreshDesk and has no third-party integrations.
2. Automation Issues: The level of automation by Freshchat does not compare to competitors, as it is not the most user-friendly. It can be difficult to navigate the functionality, making it very confusing, and it has a small set of features. The competitors of Freshchat have substantially better automation functionality.
3. Unreliable Small Bugs: There are a number of small bugs within the tool, no matter how small. For example, it doesn’t have a great selection of GIFs, time and response are inaccurate, message templates have typos, and you can’t block/delete messages.
10 Best FreshChat Alternatives
1. LiveChat
You’re probably familiar with the LiveChat tool as it’s extremely popular with businesses. It’s an amazing tool to use instead of Freshchat and has a lot of features.
LiveChat integrates easily with over 200 online tools, including CRMs, email marketing tools, and e-commerce platforms. AI chatbots are provided for quick replies and ease of use.
Even though Breakaway Edge charges more than the competition, the value of expert support, comprehensive analytics, and report access makes it worthwhile.
Key Features:
- Has a message sneak-peek feature that lets your agents see what customers type in real-time.
- Live editor to provide personalization for branding.
- Includes archives with filters to help you sift through past chats.
- Offers 200 integrations to help improve your way of working using tools like HubSpot, Calendly, and Salesforce.
- Has customer reports to help track risky customers.
Pros:
- Clean, easy-to-use interface
- Fast, reliable
- Great detail on visitor tracking
- Ideal for sales and support teams
Cons:
- Higher monthly price with more features
- Limited features on the chatbot unless you integrate it
- No native email marketing tool
Pricing: Starts as low as $16/month
Best for: Small to large businesses
2. Drift
Next on our list of Freshchat alternatives is Drift. According to their positioning statement, “Everything starts with a conversation,” which is hard to disagree with. A conversation lost (or no conversation) is seldom good for how customers perceive your business.
Drift also allows you to automate the support process and provide live, real-time assistance for your customers while still providing a level of personality in the responses. This Freshchat alternative can drastically reduce the sales cycle and improve conversions. It allows for switching between chat, call, and Zoom as a way to engage prospects and help them in the way they need.
Key Features:
- Provides capabilities such as personalized messaging to target specific customers.
- Give your team ABM initiatives at specific accounts.
- Assist in making automation simple with chatbots.
- Allow you to schedule callbacks through several calendar applications.
Pros:
- Excellent for B2B and sales-driven teams.
- Helps to shorten the sales cycle.
- Personalized chat experience.
- Robust analytics and segmentation.
Cons:
- More expensive than the fellowship.
- Primarily lead generation, not support.
- Complex for a small business.
Pricing: Contact the company.
Best for: Medium-sized to large-scale businesses.
3. Tidio
Tidio’s software integrates live chat and chatbot tools to help companies interact more with customers and automate support. Many small and medium-sized businesses rely on it for its simplicity and affordability.
The platform integrates easily with Shopify, WordPress, and numerous other web platforms. Language services are provided, and mobile apps are offered. When you configure the AI chatbot, it can answer frequently asked questions, gather customer information and information, and transfer the conversation to a real person if necessary.
You gain visitor tracking and analytics with Tidio. The software may not offer all the enterprise features, but it serves many small and medium-sized businesses looking for affordable support tools.
Key Features:
- Provides functionality to help stop cart abandonment with the Abandon Cart bot.
- Provides a mobile application that allows you to assist customers from anywhere and at any time.
- Provides personalized experiences with customizable chat widgets.
- uses prefabricated responses to drastically cut down on chat response time.
Pros:
- Great features on a free plan
- Easy to use and simple to set up
- Perfect for small to medium businesses
- Great support with chatbot templates
Cons:
- Limited ability to automate advanced functionality
- Not the best for a large business
- The free plan only provides basic analytics
Pricing: Free
Best for: Small to large businesses
4. LiveAgent
Among the items in our list, LiveAgent is considered one of the best free options for FreshChat. LiveAgent’s easily accessible chat widget is a good tool for acquiring and engaging customers, retaining current customers, and increasing conversion rates. It includes intelligent chat routing, visitor tracking, and the ability to see real-time typing, all of which are important features and useful differentiators over Freshchat.
This is a cloud-based live messaging application. This multi-channel helpdesk software is also considered one of the top competitors of Freshchat. There is a 14-day free trial available for this customer support tool.
Key Features:
- Includes chat invitations for an improved experience for customers chatting with you.
- Advanced ticket management capabilities help prevent two agents from being assigned the same ticket.
- Allow tickets to be exported in HTML and PDF formats.
- gives you pre-made contact forms so that clients can get in touch with you quickly.
- Let you send GIFs during a chat.
- Sends email alerts each time you are given a new ticket.
Pros:
- Better management with a hybrid ticket
- enables your clients to ask for a callback.
Cons:
- The Android app could use some improvement
- Spam filter isn’t always perfect
Pricing: Free
Best for: Small to large businesses
5. Pure Chat
If you’re looking for a Freshchat alternative where you can enjoy unlimited chatting, then look no further than Pure Chat. Pure Chat is an excellent customer service tool that has outstanding features, such as customizing the chat box, customer data analysis, and mobile support, just to name a few.
In addition, the tool provides chat transcripts, allowing agents to reference previous conversations with customers to give them the best and most personalized solutions. Its amazing integrations with third-party technologies are an added plus.
Key Features:
- Analyzes chat transcripts and analytics to help improve conversions
- Provides a strong dashboard to help understand customer insights
- Available mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Integrates with tools like Zapier, Infusionsoft, HubSpot, etc.
Pros:
- Multiple integrations
- Customer data reporting
Cons:
- The screen layout needs replacing
Pricing:
- Grow: $39/month
- Pro: $79/month
Best for: Small to large businesses
6. Tawk.to
This is one hundred per cent a free customer support tool that can help you as a Freshchat alternative. A knowledge base, ticketing solutions, team chat, and numerous other features are included in addition to the live chat tool.
It’s known for giving agents a safe space to talk to customers in real-time while helping customers solve their issues.
In order to better understand your site’s visitors’ experiences and offer them real-time solutions, you can track them. It supports 45 languages, which is advantageous if you have clients from other countries or intend to expand your company abroad.
Key Features:
- By enabling your clients to communicate with you via the chat widget, you can give them a personalized experience. Let you automatically start a chat with your customers when they use the widget on your site.
- Allows you to track website traffic to get insights into the behavior of customers and potential customers.
- Provides widget projects to engage customers.
- Easily integrates with tools like Shopify.
Pros:
- Data is encrypted, so it’s very secure
- Automates translation in 45 languages
Cons:
- Very limited integrations
- Takes some time to learn
Pricing: Free to use
Best for: Small to medium businesses
7. Crisp
One of the greatest Freshchat substitutes we found is Crisp. It is a feature-rich tool that gives businesses the ability to engage with their customers through targeted messaging, video calls, and co-browse features. It even has several built-in features that are designed to contribute to increasing customer engagement and other related metrics.
This free alternative to Freshchat is excellent for creating advanced chatbots that enhance the customer onboarding experience for your visitors. You can even link the platform to your social media accounts such as Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and others. Crisp is a business messaging platform that offers resources to improve your marketing, sales, and customer service. They are currently working with 400,000 brands.
Key Features:
- Provides canned responses.
- facilitates remote access, interaction history tracking, and help desk administration.
- Allows you to set triggers for scenarios based on what customers are typing.
- Two-way audio and video.
Pros:
- Create custom interactions within your chat widget.
- Manage your user requests via one central shared inbox.
- Create a knowledge base that is accessible to both your clients and agents.
- Communicate with your new users via personalized messages to engage them.
Cons:
- The free plan does not support customization.
- In the top-tier plan, you can only add 20 seats.
- No real-time reports available.
Pricing:
- Basic: Free
- Pro: $25/month
- Unlimited: $95/month
Best for: Small to large businesses
8. Intercom
Another popular substitute for Freshchat is Intercom, a customer service platform that uses chatbots and automates service chores to offer proactive customer support around the clock.
You can also send tailored messages to potential customers based on what they are doing on the site. Another use for outgoing messages is as just-in-time conversational assistance. As a way of engaging customers, another alternative to Freshchat is to provide product tours.
Businesses can communicate with their clients via a variety of channels, such as social media, email, and live chat, thanks to Intercom. They can help businesses operate out of a single area to communicate with users.
Key Features:
- Connects with the knowledge base to build self-service.
- Includes a shared inbox for customers to address customer inquiries together and collaboratively address and resolve
- Targeted messages can draw in prospective customers.
- Activation of custom chatbots – increase lead generation.
- Use surveys to gather customer feedback so you can improve your chat assistance.
Pros:
- Run A/B tests effectively
- Bots can be initiated automatically
- Create feedback surveys and elicit feedback.
Cons:
- Paid add-ons and plugins
- No message preview
Pricing:
- Starter: $74/month
Best for: Medium to larger businesses
9. Zendesk
The live chat solution provided by Zendesk, previously Zopim and now Zendesk Chat, allows businesses to have real-time interactions with their customers with ease. The plan is to bundle all basic bundles via Zendesk so both customers and agents can access the ticketing process, knowledge base, and CRM.
Agents are able to see visitors flow, trigger actions as necessary, and intervene before they have problems. Managers can oversee more than one chat and become more efficient on the platform as well. You can continue to make the site more user-friendly by customizing settings and being able to use it on a mobile device.
If you use any of the Zendesk products, then Zendesk Chat is perfect as they all integrate seamlessly. While there are many strong features, some people find the software to be difficult for someone who is just starting.
Key Features:
- Enables you to manage a help centre on your support system.
- Offers a Sunshine Conversation function that allows for automated replies in a conversational format.
- Includes canned responses so agents can resolve tickets as quickly as possible.
- comes with a Zendesk app framework that lets you make custom applications for any extra requirements.
Pros:
- Easily integrated into the Zendesk ecosystem
- Great ticket management
- Simple chat features
- Customisable to an extent
Cons:
- Cost can escalate quickly as you grow
- Minimal chatbot capabilities on lower plans
- Learning curve for new users
Pricing:
- Suite Team- $55/mo.
- Suite Growth- $89/mo.
- Suite Professional- $115/mo.
Best for: Medium to Large businesses
10. Olark
Olark is a simple live chat service specifically created for small to medium-sized businesses. It has live chat, visitor analytics, and good integrations with customer support tools.
Olark’s best feature is that you can search transcripts to refer back to old conversations. The chat widget is simple to use and set up, and you can simply alter it to match the identity of your business.
Having a little bit of automation and dedicated chatters made coverage feel a bit more deliberate. Olark is a solid option for teams who want a reliable and affordable live chat tool, even though it lacks some depth in the larger tools.
Key Features:
- Custom forms and automated messages
- Detailed chat transcripts and tagging
- CRM and helpdesk integrations
- JavaScript API for customisation
- Easy-to-use interface
Pros:
- The pricing is clear and simple to comprehend.
- Easy to set up and start
- Works well for B2B sales and support
- Very stable product – reliable and does not crash or cause problems
Cons:
- No chatbot, workflow, or automation features
- Limited multichannel capabilities
- Old design compared to other companies
Pricing:
- Standard Pricing – Starting at $29/month
- Pro Pricing – Customized pricing
Best for: Businesses of all sizes
Conclusion
Choosing the right communication tool is crucial for delivering active customer support and creating customer engagement. Freshchat is a great tool, but there are many Freshchat alternatives available that can meet your business requirements, budget, and scalability. Regardless of whether you are a startup looking for a live chat option on a budget or an enterprise with high-end automation, there is a tool for you. There are also applications like Intercom and Drift that are built for companies whose usage is focused on conversational marketing, and Tidio if you are looking for something simple and lower cost.
If you want an application that makes interacting with customers on social media smooth, then Zendesk is a good option. Each alternative provides its unique advantages in terms of selective multichannel messaging, chatbot integration, and CRM integration. By evaluating your team’s objectives, as well as customer expectations, you will be able to determine a suitable chat solution that can promote productivity, satisfaction, and growth of your business.
FAQs
1. Why should I consider alternatives to Freshchat?
If you are looking for a more reasonable price, enhanced automation, better integrations, or a more intuitive experience than the one offered by Freshchat, alternatives are worth considering.
2. Are Freshchat Alternatives secure?
All of the top-rated alternatives to Freshchat, including Intercom, Zendesk Chat, and Drift, use end-to-end encryption and would comply with some of the highest standards of data security.
3. Do Freshchat alternatives offer automation?
Yes, other platforms like Intercom and Drift provide active automation like chatbots, workflow builders, and responses powered by AI.
4. How do you pick the top Freshchat substitute?
Consider the size of your business, how much you are willing to spend, and what specific features you require.
