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Top 10 Customer Service Email Software Solutions
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by
Ludovic Armand
May 4, 2023
· Updated on
As a business owner, you already know how important providing excellent customer service is for your growth. Email is still one of the most popular ways customers use to reach out to businesses.
And response time to customer service emails is vital in building trust and loyalty. Surprisingly, 62% of companies don’t respond to their clients’ emails, while 46% of customers expect a fast reply in less than 4 hours.
To make sure you meet your customer’s expectations, you need response time standards and improve your team’s communication skills.
Various customer service email software options are available to help achieve this. In this post, we will explore some of the top solutions to improve your customer service game.
A customer service email management software is a tool that helps your business manage all your customer support emails so you can offer the best service possible. It provides a centralized platform so you can receive, organize, collaborate, and respond to your customer emails.
It makes it easier to follow customer service best practices and manage emails. You can assign them to specific support agents and set up canned responses to common questions or inquiries. By adding these features to your tool kit you can improve your customer satisfaction.
If you're looking for the best email management software to improve your customer service, you've come to the right place. Here are the top 10 customer service email management software to manage customer inquiries via email.
From shared inboxes to automated responses, they can make your customer service team more efficient. Let's dive in and explore the best options available.
Missive is a solution for managing customer service emails with a team. It offers a shared inbox and email management software in one app. Missive was built with collaboration in mind. The goal is to reduce back-and-forth between communication apps.
Missive aims at humanizing customer support interactions.
Its focus is on simplifying communication and collaboration for teams. It offers a user-friendly interface and integrations with popular tools like Salesforce, Pipedrive, Grammarly, OpenAI, and Aircall.
Missive is a robust email management tool. It offers a variety of features such as collaboration, email delegation, and management of multiple email addresses. It is ideal for any small businesses needing to efficiently manage their email communications.
You can easily manage emails with labels, assignments, and team inboxes all in a clean interface to is similar to a traditional email client UI. Plus, you can add labels to the sidebar to quickly access communications depending on their status.
With Missive's native app on multiple platforms, you can efficiently manage conversations in one place without switching between different apps. Plus, you can manage all your communication channels inside on inbox and share them all with your team.
Missive offers support for various communication channels, including email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and more.
Missive offers rules to automate your workflows for incoming/outgoing messages and user actions, allowing for a more personalized and customizable experience.
Plus you can use our OpenAI integration as an AI email assistant to make you more productive.
Missive offers a direct chat feature within any conversation for collaboration and communication between team members.
You can also edit a live draft with team members in real time, just like you would with Google Docs.
Missive's pricing is one of the most affordable on the list, making it a great fit for small businesses on a budget. Even with a budget-friendly plan, you won't miss out on features and quality.
Zendesk is a popular customer service email management software. It helps businesses manage their customer support communications. A range of features are offered to manage email communication with customers. These include ticket management, automation, and collaboration tools for teams.
Its ticketing system allows businesses to prioritize, and assign support requests. It ensures that all conversations get a reply.
Also to email management, Zendesk also provides a range of other tools like live chat, and social media integration.
Zendesk pricing starts at $18 per user per month for the basic version. More advanced features are available on higher-tier plans. Zendesk also offers a 30-day free trial for businesses to test out its features.
Help Scout is a customer service email management software to manage customer support messages. It offers a range of features for teams to manage customer requests and track interactions.
Like Missive, Help Scout offers a shared inbox. It allows teams to collaborate on customer emails, assign conversations, and manage customer inquiries. They also have a knowledge base, which helps customers find answers to common questions quickly and easily.
Help Scout also offers a live chat feature to expand the ways customers can reach your business.
Help Scout's pricing starts at $25 per month per user for their basic plan with a free 15-day trial.
You can also explore some Help Scout alternatives here.
Front is a customer service email management software to manages customer interactions across many channels. Front helps teams to efficiently manage support activities. The platform offers automation capabilities such as rules to save time.
In addition to its basic features, Front also offers advanced features like CRM and analytics. However, these advanced features come with a higher price tag compared to the basic plan.
Front's most basic plan starts at $19 per month per user on a one-year contract which only offers the basic feature.
Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service email management software to manages customer interactions across email, phone, chat, and social media.
The key features include multi-channel support, automation, and collaboration. Team members can work together to resolve support tickets.
Freshdesk can help your business improve its support with automation.
Unlike Missive which has a more “human” approach, Freshdesk uses a ticketing system for customer inquiries.
Freshdesk offers a free option with basic features, and paid plans starting at $18 per person per month, which increase based on the number of agents and features needed. However, to access live chat functionality, a subscription to their Freshchat tool will be required.
Zoho Desk is another cloud-based customer service software with a range of features to manage customer interactions.
It offers features like ticket management, automation, multi-channel support, and a knowledge base. With its ticketing system, you can track customer inquiries and support requests.
Like the other tools on the list, they also offer a rule feature to automate some tasks. You could use it to route tickets to the appropriate agent or team, set up response templates, and track SLAs.
Zoho Desk pricing starts at $20 per user per month. They also offer a free trial for their paid plans.
Hiver is a customer service email management software built as an add-on for your Gmail account. With it, your team can manage customer emails received in Gmail. Team members are able to assign emails, set up reminders, track email threads, and tag emails for better organization.
One of the key features of Hiver is its shared inbox management. Similarly to Missive, it allows your team to work together on shared emails and tasks. It also offers email delegation and assignments, email notes, and comments.
However, it's important to note that Hiver only supports emails and live chat as communication channels and you’ll need to be a Gmail user to use it.
Hiver pricing starts at $19 per month per user. They also offer a free 7-day trial.
Drag App is a shared inbox software that transforms Gmail into a help desk for customer support. It allows your team to manage customer support emails, tasks, and internal communications in Gmail.
With Drag, your team can collaborate by assigning emails, adding notes and comments, and tracking email progress. Drag uses the same interface as Gmail so it is easier to get started than with some of the solutions on the list.
One of the key features of Drag is the ability to visualize email workflows in Kanban-style boards. This feature makes it easy to manage customer support requests by moving emails across different stages of a workflow.
Drag pricing starts at $10 per month per user for their basic plan. They also offer a free plan.
Happyfox is a cloud-based help desk software that offers a wide range of features. It offers ticketing, a knowledge base, community forums, live chat, and email management.
Like most tools on the list, Happyfox allows your business to manage customer queries across multiple channels from a single app. It also offers rules to improve support processes and reduce response times.
Happyfox pricing starts at $39 per month for their most basic plan.
Helpwise is a browser-based customer service email management software designed for small businesses. It's primarily built for customer support. Features range from shared inboxes, email templates, notes, and rules, to assignments.
With the shared inbox you can manage requests from different channels like email, WhatsApp, social media, and live chat. It enables your team to collaborate and ensure that no customer requests are forgotten.
When it comes to pricing, Helpwise offers a standard plan starting at $15 per month per user, with a free 7-day trial to test out the platform.
Providing excellent customer support is important for any business. But, managing customer inquiries and responding to them in time can be overwhelming. It is especially true as your business grows.
That's where customer service email management software comes in to save the day. This software can help your team be efficient and provide high-quality customer support.
With the right email management software, you can automate repetitive tasks, assign conversations, and respond faster. It will result in improved response times and reduce the workload for your support team. They will be able to focus on providing excellent customer service.
Implementing an email management software can save your business time and resources. Plus, providing excellent customer service can lead to increased revenue and profits.
Choosing the right customer service email software can make an impact on your business' success. But, with so many options available, it can be hard to understand what to look for when choosing the right software.
An email management tool for your customer support should reduce some pain points like slow response time, and inability to collaborate on support inquiries.
Here are some key factors to consider when selecting the right software for your business.
Look for email software that can automate some basic tasks using rules and canned responses. It also needs to offer features to help you rank emails and help your team collaborate on support to provide top-notch customer service.
It can be useful to make a list of the features you need and compare them against the options available.
The solution you choose to manage your customer service emails needs to be able to grow with your business. As your company becomes bigger, you'll handle more customer inquiries and have more support agents.
You don't want to switch software down the road. Putting in place a whole new way of working could disrupt your customer service.
A good customer service email software needs to offer a minimum of integrations so you can integrate the tools you’re already using. For example, it can be a good idea if the solution offers integration with your CRM or a way to connect the two together.
Some tools like Missive, can also be used to manage your social media platforms. This way you can provide a seamless customer experience and keep all your interactions in one place.
Check out the pricing options available and choose software that fits your budget and doesn't have any hidden fees. Also, beware of software that lock you in with a contract. For example, looking at the best Intercom alternatives may help you save a lot on your monthly subscriptions.
Reviews from other users in your industry can help you get more information bout the software. You can also ask for recommendations from colleagues or other people in your industry.
By considering these factors, you'll be well on your way to choosing the right customer service email software for your business.
In today's always-evolving business world, customer service is more important than ever. It has never been easier for customers to switch to competitors if they feel that their needs are not being met.
We have looked at some of the top email management software solutions available on the market today. By using one you can improve customer satisfaction, reduce response times, and grow your business.
So why not give one of these platforms a try and take your customer service to the next level?
Creating an effective customer service email requires paying attention to several key elements to make sure that the communications are clear and stay positive. We recommend that you have a look at our guide but here's a summary of the most important element:
There are many popular customer support software on the market. They all have their unique strengths and features. It is impossible to determine the most popular tool since it will vary depending on the industry, company size, and features required. However here are some of the most popular customer support email software:
The best format for your customer service email is one that is clear, concise, and focus on resolving your customer inquiry. However, there's not one size fits all customer service email format. It will always depend on your business brand and on the need of your client.
Here are some general tips that can help you format your customer service email in an effective way.
November 29, 2024
16 Affordable Intercom Alternatives for 2025
Discover the best Intercom alternatives for your business.
While Intercom is probably the most well-known customer support platform, it comes with a major drawback for any small to medium-sized business (SMB)—the price!
Intercom pricing is somewhat like the Coke recipe, it's a well-kept secret. They only advertise their Starter plan priced at $89 per month for 2 seats or $74 per month if you opt for a 1-year contract.
To get the other pricing options for the Pro and Premium plans which include team inbox, rules, ticketing, role-based permissions, and analytics you need to sign up for a demo to get a custom quote depending on the number of seats and the number of people reached per month.
While most Intercom alternatives may not have all the features of Intercom, they are in general much more affordable.
In this guide, we narrowed down the top Intercom alternatives, from Zoho Desk to Hubspot, that are worth considering and will keep your budget intact.
Let's get started!
As a small business owner or decision-maker, you are likely facing the difficult reality of having a limited budget. You may have realized that as great as Intercom is, its hefty monthly price tag is likely too expensive for the features you really need.
In your search for an alternative, you have likely come across Drift, a great and close Intercom competitor. The problem is that, at a whopping $2,500 per month, you were probably looking at a more expensive alternative.
Here's a curated list of the best Intercom alternatives for small businesses that want to provide exceptional support and improve customer engagement without going bankrupt.
Missive is a communication tool that offers a variety of features for businesses, including a shared inbox, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social media DMs, calls, and more communication channels.
Pricing starts at $0 per user per month. More advanced plans start at $18 per user per month. You can view all pricing details here.
Missive's shared inbox feature allows you to share shared aliases or shared accounts with multiple team members so they can access and manage them directly from their accounts. It allows you and your support team to be more efficient when communicating and collaborating.
With a chat available in each conversation, you can discuss with colleagues for help and send files privately. You can also add anyone to a conversation by tagging them in the chat.
Collaboration goes a step further with real-time draft collaboration with team members. Best of all, you can also manage your personal account directly inside the Missive app and benefit from the same features.
Additionally, Missive offers shared contact, shared labels, and shared canned responses to help manage customer interactions. Another feature is the auto follow-up, which allows team members to schedule follow-up messages to customers.
Missive's live chat feature allows your business to connect with your customers in real-time through your website or mobile app. The chat can be customized to fit your brand and translate into any language you’d like.
Additionally, you can set a schedule to display an online/offline status based on your support team's presence. And best of all, they can be easily received in a Team Inbox to benefit from all the advantages of a shared inbox.
Missive offers integrations with OpenAI, Hubspot, Shopify, Zapier, and more. You can also build custom integrations from scratch or by using Retool.
This lets you connect Missive with other apps like Pipedrive, a CRM, to make your work easier. It can be really useful if you are already using software and don’t want all of the hassles of migrating to a new solution.
It's integration with OpenAI lets you use AI to reply to your customers using quickly by generating a customized reply based on your canned responses. This feature allows your team to alsways send accurate replies.
Missive's team and assignment feature allows you or any team member to assign specific people to specific conversations, so it’s easy to know who is responsible for handling them.
The feature also makes it easy to ping someone from the sales team, for example, to get some help. Missive also offers rules to automate workflow, such as round-robin assignments to only online members, SLA rules, auto follow-up, and more.
Missive has lots of the same features as Intercom, but it costs less money.
Zendesk is a customer service and support platform that offers a variety of features, including live chat, help desk ticketing, and knowledge management. Its pricing starts at $25 per agent per month for its basic support plan. They also offer various more expensive pricing plans to fit the needs of different businesses.
It sounds pretty similar to Intercom. But is Intercom like Zendesk?
First of all, Zendesk is built with customer service and ticket management in mind while Intercom is built more around sales with a built-in CRM. Zendesk is a better solution for strictly customer support, with self-service features like help desks, but it lacks some of the sales and automated marketing features of Intercom.
Zendesk provides a wide range of customer support features, and its pricing is more affordable compared to Intercom. However, it may not have all the advanced marketing features offered by Intercom.
Help Scout is another customer service platform that offers features such as email and live chat support, shared inboxes, a knowledge base, and reporting.
Its pricing starts at $25 per user per month and scales based on the number of users and features you need. Much like Missive, Help Scout uses shared inboxes to help your team work together. It also offers assignments, private notes (which act like chats), saved replies, and tagging.
Help Scout provides a more affordable option compared to Intercom, but it doesn’t have all the advanced sales and marketing features offered by Intercom.
Freshdesk is a helpdesk platform that offers features such as a support desk, contact center, and customer feedback management. It offers a free option with basic features. The paid plan starts at $18 per person per month and increases rapidly based on the number of agents and features needed.
However, if you want to get access to a live chat software, you’ll also need to subscribe to their Freshchat tool.
Freshdesk works similarly to Intercom. Unlike Missive and Help Scout, the platform uses a ticketing system for every customer inquiry to help your team prioritize, categorize, and assign tickets.
While Freshdesk’s pricing is more affordable than Intercom, to access all the features that are offered in the latter you’ll need to subscribe to their different platforms tools which can rapidly add up and eat up your budget.
Helpwise is a shared inbox platform that allows teams to manage customer service, emails, knowledge base, and live chat in one place. Its pricing starts at $15 per user per month.
Much like Missive and Help Scout, Helpwise is organized like an email client and organizes customer inquiries in inboxes.
It is more affordable than Intercom and is designed specifically for managing shared inboxes. While Intercom also has shared inbox features, it is a more comprehensive platform that includes sales and marketing tools.
Helpwise focuses on shared inbox management can be attractive for your startup. However, you should also consider that Helpwise may not have all the advanced sales and marketing features offered by Intercom.
Crisp is a messaging platform that offers a range of features, including shared inbox, live chat, CRM, and email marketing campaigns. While they offer a free plan, its features are really limited and don’t support emails or social media.
The paid plans start at $25 per month per workspace for up to 4 users, with additional pricing options available.
If you're familiar with Intercom, you'll notice that Crisp provides many of the same features, but at a more budget-friendly price point. However, it's important to keep in mind that it may not have all the advanced features of Intercom.
LiveChat is a customer service platform mainly focused on live chat. in addition to its chat widget, it provides features like a ticketing system, teams, and analytics.
Its pricing starts at $24 per agent per month and scales based on the number of team members and features you need. LiveChat also supports emails, SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger so you can easily connect with your customers. They also offer integrations with Salesforce, Shopify, HubSpot, and Pipedrive.
LiveChat offers a more affordable option compared to Intercom, but not all the sales and marketing features offered by Intercom.
Groove describes itself as a Zendesk alternative. The helpdesk software offers features for customer service with features like shared inbox, live chat, and analytic reporting. Its pricing starts at $25 per user per month.
Groove is similar to Missive, Help Scout, and Helpwise in the sense that it presents itself as an email client and works in the same fashion. You can also assign the conversation to a team member, leave notes in a conversation and mention someone in the conversation just like Missive. However, it doesn’t offer features for sales and marketing that are offered by Intercom.
Groove is more affordable than Intercom, however, you should also consider that Groove may not have all the features offered by Intercom. Additionally, you should verify the ease of use, integrations with other tools, and customer support when comparing Groove and Intercom.
HelpCrunch is a customer communication platform that combines live chat, email marketing, shared inbox, mobile app support, and other tools for support, marketing, and customer experience. It offers a free trial and its pricing starts at $29 per user per month with 1 000 emails.
HelpCrunch is an affordable alternative to Intercom that offers similar features for support, marketing, and sales. It provides a knowledge base, transparent pricing, and a shared inbox for multi-channel.
The live chat feature allows you to send files, knowledge base articles, or canned responses to website visitors offering a self-service option.
HelpCrunch is organized like an email client and organizes customer inquiries in inboxes, much like Helpwise and Missive. However, HelpCrunch doesn't yet offers AI to reply to email and chatbot.
To sum up, HelpCrunch is a more affordable alternative to Intercom that offers a wide range of features for customer support, marketing, and sales.
HubSpot is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers sales, customer service, marketing, and content management software to help businesses grow better. Its pricing starts at $30 per month for its CRM Suite. It also offers a free plan with basic features
HubSpot’s CRM is a powerful tool that provides businesses with a complete view of their customer interactions and data using their analytics.
They also offer AI-powered Smart CRM, to use generative AI to reply to customer issues more easily. HubSpot also offers tools that sync between service, sales, and marketing teams.
In conclusion, HubSpot is a powerful and complete CRM platform that offers a wide range of features for customer service, but also sales, marketing, and even a CMS. Its pricing is more expensive than other solution on the list, but it provides a complete view of your customers.
Customerly is a customer communication platform that offers a live chat tool, email marketing, and other features for customer support and marketing experience. Its pricing starts at $9 per month for the most basic plan.
It's another affordable alternative to Intercom that offers similar features for support, marketing, and sales at a reasonable price. However, pricing depends on your usage unlike other solutions.
Their live chat features AI with customizable workflows to automate discussions with your website's visitors. With the Premium Plan, you can also have up to five separate widgets, which is helpful if you need to have separate inboxes.
Customerly’s outbound email messages can be created with rules, which will allow you to target certain segments of customers. They also offer analytics to help you understand your messages performance.
Customerly is organized like an email client and organizes customer inquiries in inboxes, much like Helpwise and Missive.
Tidio is a live chathelp desk software. It offers a free plan with basic features and its pricing starts at $25 per month.
It's main features are:- Live chat that allows you to communicate with your customers in real-time.- Chatbots to automate your conversations, sales, and processes- Lyro AI to provides personalized support without training.- Ticketing system to manage customer inquiries in an inbox.
Tidio is organized like an email client and organizes customer inquiries in inboxes, much like Helpwise and Missive.
Tidio is easier to use, has a better rating for support, is easier to setup, and more affordable than Intercom. However, Intercom provides more advanced features and is more customizable.
ClickDesk is a live chat platform that offers voice, and video support. It offers a free plan and paid plans start at $14.99 per user per month.
While it's a fairly simple solution compared to Intercom and only offers a live chat you can still integrate in with other helpdesk.
Olark is a cloud-based chatbot and live chat solution that lets you interact with your customers through your website.
While tt's not as features packed as Intercom, it's a great alternative if you're looking for a live chat solution to connect with your customers.
And with its pricing starts at $29 per user per month, it's also more affordable than the Intercom.
Olark provides you with analytics, team management features and searchable scripts.
Zoho Desk is an omnichannel help desk software. It's a comprhensive solution that can compete with Intercom on many level.
It offers feature like ticket management, instant messaging, multi-brand help center, shared inbox, a call center, social media integrations, live chat, and knowledge base.
It also offers an AI feature called Zia, that can help you team pick the best knowlegde base entry for an inquiry or send it directly to a customer. It can also auto-tag conversations.
Its pricing starts at $20 per month per user.
LiveAgent is a help desk software that includes live chat, ticketing, and customer service features.
It has features like live chat with AI chatbots, a service hub for customer interactions, and help desk tools for managing support tickets.
The platform includes chat monitoring, ticket distribution, and reporting features for support teams.
Its pricing starts at $15 per agent per month.
Aside from the price, it's important to consider various factors when choosing a cheaper alternative to Intercom for your needs. Here are some key aspects to keep in mind:
Make a list of the features and functionalities you need in a customer support tool. This can include things like live chat, shared inbox, auto follow-ups, and more. Ensure that the alternative you choose provides all the necessary features that you need to effectively support your customers.
Consider the integration options available with other tools and software you use in your business. A good customer service software should easily integrate with your existing tools and workflows, allowing you to streamline your processes.
Choose a customer support tool that is user-friendly and easy to navigate. The tool should be intuitive, so your team can start using it quickly without having to spend too much time on training or adaptation.
The level of customer support offered by the alternative should be considered. Choose a tool that provides excellent customer support and resources to help you resolve any issues that may arise.
For example, Intercom rates 8.7 for the quality of their support on G2, while Missive rates 9.7.
As your business grows, so will your customer support needs. Choose a customer support tool that is scalable, so you can continue to use it as your business expands.
By considering these factors, you can find a more affordable alternative to Intercom that meets your business needs and helps you effectively support your customers.
In conclusion, when it comes to finding a more affordable alternative to Intercom, there are many great options available for small businesses. These options offer similar features and functionality to Intercom, at a more budget-friendly price.
When considering which alternative is right for your business, it's important to think about factors such as the features and functionality you need, the ease of use and user interface, the level of customer support, and the potential for scalability.
Each of these alternatives has its strengths and weaknesses, and by taking the time to consider your specific needs and goals, you can find the perfect solution for your business.
In the end, it's all about finding the right balance between cost and value. With the right tool in place, you can improve customer satisfaction, increase efficiency, and grow your business more effectively. So why not give one of these alternatives a try today?
November 28, 2024
9 Best Help Scout Alternatives for 2024
Explore the best Help Scout alternatives (with features & prices) and improve your customer service email management.
Help Scout is a powerful help desk software designed to streamline customer communication and support. But as with most software, it has downsides that lead people to look for alternative solutions.
Here are the most common reasons users look for a Help Scout competitor:
In this article, we narrowed down the best alternatives to Help Scout ensure customer satisfaction. Some are traditional customer service software options, and others are more flexible tools. Keep reading to discover their key features and pricing.
The Best Help Scout Alternatives
Missive and Help Scout are customer support tools with shared inboxes, live chat, reply templates, and integrations with tools like CRMs. It also offers analytics to get an insight into your team’s performance metrics.
While Help Scout has a help center, it is limited in custom domains support, language support, and customization options. Missive offers more integrations, like with Grammarly, CMS, and can even be AI-powered with OpenAI, and is a more versatile platform for businesses. Missive is the better alternative to Help Scout for teams who value collaboration.
Missive and Help Scout both offer email and communication management with label/tag options to create a organized ticketing system. Missive offers more advanced search and filtering options and a traditional email client interface, making it easy to manage conversations and find what you're looking for. Missive also allows you to add labels to the sidebar to quickly access communications depending on their status.
Missive is a robust email management tool compared to Help Scout, offering a variety of features such as collaboration on email replies, email delegation, and management of multiple email addresses from one Gmail account. It is ideal for startups needing to efficiently manage their email communications. Help Scout, on the other hand, only offers shared inboxes for collaborative service emails, lacking advanced email management capabilities.
Missive offers more flexibility in communication management than Help Scout, with the ability to assign conversations to a whole team, a specific person, or multiple people. Missive also has a Team Inbox feature for team collaboration that is not available in Help Scout.
Help Scout is limited to a web app and a mobile app for iOS and Android with limited features. Missive, on the other hand, offers a native app on multiple platforms with a unified experience for all communications, allowing you to efficiently manage conversations in one place. With Missive, you won’t have to switch between different apps to handle different types of communications.
Missive offers broader support for communication channels, including email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and more, while Help Scout almost only supports emails and live chat. With Missive, you can connect through integrations with your phone app, so you can handle all your communications in one place without having to switch between apps.
Missive offers Rules to automate your workflows and routing for incoming/outgoing messages and user actions. Rules can also be a great way to respect your SLAs. This feature allows for a more personalized and customizable automation experience compared to Help Scout, which applies rules to all emails equally and does not work on other channels of communication.
Help Scout does not support multiple aliases per inbox, while Missive allows the management of aliases in a traditional email client fashion and supports multiple domain addresses from a single Gmail account.
Missive offers live draft editing for collaboration with team members, while Help Scout does not have the option for collaborative replies.
Missive offers a direct chat feature within any conversation for collaboration and communication between team members, whereas Help Scout only offers the ability to add notes to support emails.
Missive pricing is a lot more affordable, with its top-tier yearly plan being 45% more affordable than Help Scout's Pro yearly plan.
Zendesk is another alternative to Help Scout for small to medium businesses looking for a support and customer service platform.
Here's why Zendesk is worth considering:
Overall, Zendesk is a good omnichannel support platform that offers businesses everything they need to provide customer service.
Pricing starts at $25 per user, per month for their basic plan. For more features their other plan starts at $69 per user, per month.
HubSpot is an all-in-one inbound marketing, sales, and service software that offers a complete help desk solution. It's a great tool for companies looking for one software to do it all. It's cloud-based solution offers features like a ticketing system, a live chat, a chat bot builder, a customer portal so customers can access and search help articles, submit tickets, check statuses, through self-service customer portals.
It also offers analytics, an integration with their CRM, and email support. Compared to Help Scout, HubSpot may be a better alternative for companies already using their sales and marketing software who want to add a customer support software.
Pricing starts at $30 per user, per month for the starter plan. They also offer a free plan for basic functionnalities.
Zoho Desk is a help desk and customer support platform offered by Zoho, a suite of web-based tools for businesses. Like Help Scout, it provides functionalities for customer support, knowledge bases, help desk ticketing, and live chat support.
It offers integrations with their other tools like thir sales, marketing, and project management software.
Using their ticket management tool, support agents can view, manage, assign, and resolve support tickets using a simple UI. Tickets can be tagged, prioritized, and automatically routed based on rules.
Zoho Desk provides a full-featured help desk and customer support solution comparable to Help Scout at competitive pricing plan. However, its high level of configurability makes it a good alternative for companies looking for a more customizable support software.
Pricing for Zoho Desk starts at $20 per agent/month for their standard plan.
Freshdesk is a help desk software for small businesses that offers a range of tools to manage their customer support needs. It’s a cloud-based platform that provides a seamless experience for businesses to handle customer queries via various channels, like email, phone, chat, and social media.
Here are some of the key features of Freshdesk that make it a good alternative to Help Scout:
Freshdesk provides small businesses with a user-friendly, self-service knowledge base solution.
Pricing starts at $18 per user, per month for the Growth plan. They also offer a free plan for basic functionnalities.
Front is a customer communication platform that offers an alternative to Help Scout. It combines all of your company's communication channels into one place, making it easier to manage customer interactions. Being a less traditional option, it does lack a few customer support features like an out-of-the-box knowledge base.
Here are some key features:
Front offers a modern platform for customer communication and support.
Pricing starts at $19 per user, per month for up to 10 users with a contact of one year.
Helpwise is a helpdesk solution that is a good alternative to Help Scout. Here are the key features:
Overall, Helpwise is a helpdesk solution that offers a set of tools to manage support effectively.
Pricing starts at $15 per user, per month for up to 10 users.
Hiver is one of the more lightweight alternatives to Help Scout.
If you're looking to stay in your Gmail interface, and you don't need a lot of customization or automation, Hiver might be a good option.
Pricing
They have a free plan and their paid plans start at $19 per user, per month.
LiveAgent is the last alternative to Help Scout on the list. It offers a help desk solution for businesses. Here's what you need to know:
Overall, if you're looking for a flexible help desk solution, LiveAgent is worth considering.
Pricing starts at $15 per user, per month.
In conclusion, Help Scout is a well-established customer support software for support teams. However, there are alternative solutions like Missive, Hiver, Freshdesk, Front, Helpwise, and LiveAgent that offer similar or even better capabilities at a lower cost.
In the end, the best customer support software is the one that fits your business's needs and goals to help you deliver an outstanding customer experience.
Help Scout isn't a CRM tool, but it offers plugins with many CRM tools so you can manage your customer directly into their help desk solution.
Help Scout is a customer service software made for support teams looking to manage customer interactions in one platform while enabling collaboration between team members.
Help Scout isn't free. Its pricing options start at $25/month per user. However, they do offer a free trial for 15 days.
