iOS software

Open-source customer engagement platform you can self-host

Best for: Technical teams that want an open-source, self-hosted support tool

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform that unifies live chat, email, social channels and messaging apps in one inbox. Because the Community Edition…

• API access
• Canned responses
• Knowledge base
• Live chat

Affordable live chat and unified inbox for small businesses

Best for: Startups and small ecommerce teams wanting affordable live chat

Crisp provides live chat, a shared inbox, a chatbot, a knowledge base and a basic CRM in one product aimed at small businesses and…

• Canned responses
• Chatbots
• Co-browsing
• Contact management

Value-priced help desk with automation, a free starter program and Freddy AI

Best for: Small and mid-sized teams that want strong capability at a lower price

Freshdesk is the help desk product from Freshworks. It collects email, chat, phone and social conversations into one ticket queue and gives agents canned…

• AI assistant
• Canned responses
• Collision detection
• Knowledge base

Collaborative shared inbox for teams that live in email

Best for: Customer-facing teams that prefer a collaborative inbox over rigid tickets

Front combines email, SMS, chat and social channels into a shared inbox that feels familiar but adds assignment, internal comments, rules and analytics. Teams…

• AI assistant
• Collision detection
• Knowledge base
• Live chat

Help desk built for ecommerce stores with deep Shopify integration

Best for: Ecommerce brands with high order-related ticket volume

Gorgias is a help desk designed for online stores. It pulls order, customer and shipping data from platforms such as Shopify into each ticket,…

• AI assistant
• Canned responses
• Customer data sidebar
• Live chat

Human-feeling shared inbox and help desk for small support teams

Best for: Small teams that want a human-feeling shared inbox

Help Scout is a help desk designed to feel like email rather than a ticket queue. Teams share inboxes, add internal notes, assign conversations…

• AI assistant
• Canned responses
• Collision detection
• Contact management

Help desk built on the HubSpot CRM so support sees the whole customer

Best for: Teams already using HubSpot CRM, sales or marketing

HubSpot Service Hub adds ticketing, a knowledge base, customer feedback surveys and a customer portal on top of the HubSpot CRM. Because tickets live…

• AI assistant
• Customer surveys
• Knowledge base
• Live chat

Conversational support platform built around its Fin AI agent

Best for: SaaS and product-led teams that want support and messaging together

Intercom started as a website messenger and has grown into a customer service platform centred on conversations. Agents work a shared inbox, customers reach…

• AI assistant
• Knowledge base
• Live chat
• Multilingual support

All-in-one help desk with live chat, call centre and ticketing

Best for: Teams that want ticketing, chat and calling in a single tool

LiveAgent is a help desk that combines ticketing, live chat, a call centre, social channels and a knowledge base in a single product. Agents…

• Departments and tags
• Knowledge base
• Live chat
• Mobile app

Live chat and AI chatbot for small online businesses

Best for: Small online businesses wanting chat plus a chatbot quickly

Tidio combines a website live chat widget, chatbots and a lightweight inbox in one product. Small online businesses use it to answer visitor questions,…

• AI assistant
• Canned responses
• Chatbots
• Integrations

Enterprise-grade support suite with ticketing, messaging and AI agents

Best for: Growing support teams that need many channels and deep automation

Zendesk is one of the longest-established customer service platforms. It turns email, chat, social and phone conversations into tickets that agents work from a…

• AI assistant
• Canned responses
• Integrations
• Knowledge base

Context-aware help desk that fits neatly into the wider Zoho ecosystem

Best for: Budget-conscious teams and Zoho CRM users

Zoho Desk is the customer service product from Zoho. It manages tickets across email, phone, chat, social and web forms, with an agent workspace…

• AI assistant
• Customer surveys
• Customisation
• Knowledge base