# Best Chatbots Software for Small Business - Page 5 *By [Bijou Barry](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/bijou-barry)* Products classified in the overall Chatbots category are similar in many regards and help companies of all sizes solve their business problems. However, small business features, pricing, setup, and installation differ from businesses of other sizes, which is why we match buyers to the right Small Business Chatbots to fit their needs. Compare product ratings based on reviews from enterprise users or connect with one of G2's buying advisors to find the right solutions within the Small Business Chatbots category. In addition to qualifying for inclusion in the Chatbots Software category, to qualify for inclusion in the Small Business Chatbots Software category, a product must have at least 10 reviews left by a reviewer from a small business. ## Top Chatbots Software at a Glance | # | Product | Rating | Best For | What Users Say | |---|---------|--------|----------|----------------| | 1 | [Zendesk for Customer Service](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-customer-service/reviews) | 4.3/5.0 (6,649 reviews) | Omnichannel ticket management with AI-assisted workflows | "[Reliable and Flexible Platform That Continues to Evolve](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/zendesk-for-customer-service-review-13112636)" | | 2 | [Fin](https://www.g2.com/products/fin/reviews) | 4.5/5.0 (3,721 reviews) | Knowledge-base-grounded AI for support deflection | "[Finn: Natural Language, Seamless Integrations, Fast Performance & Helpful Support](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/fin-review-13052905)" | | 3 | [Jotform AI Agents](https://www.g2.com/products/jotform-ai-agents/reviews) | 4.5/5.0 (635 reviews) | No-code AI agents for 24/7 customer response | "[Jotform AI Agent Streamlined My Workflow and Boosted Efficiency](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/jotform-ai-agents-review-13102066)" | | 4 | [Qualified](https://www.g2.com/products/qualified/reviews) | 4.9/5.0 (1,496 reviews) | AI SDR for real-time website visitor qualification | "[Qualified Turns Our Chatbot into a Scalable, Low-Maintenance AI SDR](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/qualified-review-13089717)" | | 5 | [Birdeye](https://www.g2.com/products/birdeye/reviews) | 4.7/5.0 (4,032 reviews) | AI-powered messaging and review management for multi-location brands | "[Great Product for Reviews Online Presence](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/birdeye-review-10224463)" | | 6 | [Tidio](https://www.g2.com/products/tidio/reviews) | 4.6/5.0 (1,843 reviews) | Live chat and AI chatbot for small business websites | "[I honestly didn't expect Lyro AI to work this well](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/tidio-review-13042494)" | | 7 | [Paylocity](https://www.g2.com/products/paylocity/reviews) | 4.4/5.0 (5,995 reviews) | — | "[Seamless All-in-One HR Platform That Saves Hours](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/paylocity-review-12915096)" | | 8 | [Wati](https://www.g2.com/products/wati/reviews) | 4.6/5.0 (479 reviews) | WhatsApp Business API with automation and shared inbox | "[Game-Changing WhatsApp Automation for Meta Ad Lead Follow-Up](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/wati-review-13092376)" | | 9 | [Genesys Cloud CX](https://www.g2.com/products/genesys-cloud-cx/reviews) | 4.4/5.0 (1,466 reviews) | Omnichannel contact center with intelligent routing and API integration | "[Effortless Setup, Powerful Integrations](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/genesys-cloud-cx-review-12997137)" | | 10 | [Talkdesk](https://www.g2.com/products/talkdesk/reviews) | 4.4/5.0 (2,448 reviews) | — | "[TalkDesk Shines with Smart Ticket Categorization and Seamless Zendesk Integration](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/talkdesk-review-13075196)" | ## G2 Grid® for Chatbots Software ![G2 Grid® for Chatbots Software plotting products by satisfaction and market presence](https://www.g2.com/categories/chatbots/grids.png?focus%5B%5D=1437428&focus%5B%5D=3270&focus%5B%5D=61400&focus%5B%5D=574&focus%5B%5D=10366&focus%5B%5D=5884&focus%5B%5D=144283&focus%5B%5D=19432) Highlighted products: Jotform AI Agents, Fin, Tidio, Zendesk for Customer Service, Podium, Smartsupp, Wati, and Birdeye. Underlying data: [Grid® JSON](https://www.g2.com/categories/chatbots/grids.json?focus%5B%5D=jotform-ai-agents&focus%5B%5D=fin&focus%5B%5D=tidio&focus%5B%5D=zendesk-for-customer-service&focus%5B%5D=podium&focus%5B%5D=smartsupp&focus%5B%5D=wati&focus%5B%5D=birdeye&segment=small-business) ## How Many Chatbots Software Products Does G2 Track? **Total Products under this Category:** 764 ### Category Stats (Jul 2026) - **Average Rating**: 4.52/5 The average rating of products in this category, based on all submitted ratings - **Top Trending Product**: TxtCart (+4.99%) - Among all products in this category, TxtCart recorded the largest rating increase compared to last month *Last updated: July 16, 2026* ## How Does G2 Rank Chatbots Software Products? **Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:** - 30 Analysts and Data Experts - 79,200+ Authentic Reviews - 764+ Products - Unbiased Rankings G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category. --- **Sponsored** ### XTM Cloud XTM is a leading modular localization and translation platform powered by AI. Designed to help global businesses in scaling their localization efforts with speed, precision, and cost efficiency, XTM is a trusted solution for localization teams across more than 160 countries, serving over 170,000 active users worldwide. This platform integrates various powerful tools to streamline the translation process, making it a comprehensive solution for managing all aspects of localization. The XTM platform encompasses five key solutions: XTM Cloud for translation management, XTRF for business and project management, Rigi for preview-first software localization, Transifex for developer-first localization, and Video Creation Cloud for video automation. Together, these components provide a unified platform that supports omnichannel content delivery across diverse formats such as websites, applications, software, documentation, and multimedia. This versatility allows organizations to reduce translation turnaround times, enhance quality, and automate manual workflows effectively. Targeted at businesses of all sizes, XTM is particularly beneficial for teams involved in marketing, product development, and customer support. The platform is designed to accommodate various content types and team structures, making it suitable for localizing marketing documents, product user interfaces, support content, and websites. Its advanced capabilities cater to the needs of enterprises aiming to expand their global reach while maintaining high-quality localization standards. Key features of XTM include AI-powered tools such as Intelligent Score for automated translation quality scoring, Language Guard for harmful language detection, and SmartContext for brand-consistent AI translation. Additionally, the platform offers advanced translation memory with smart matching, subsegment recall, and TM prioritization to maximize content reuse and minimize costs. Visual context features allow linguists to translate in-context with live previews, which significantly reduces review cycles and the need for post-editing. XTM also supports workflow automation to streamline repetitive project tasks and facilitate seamless handoffs across teams. With over 50 pre-built integrations, including popular tools like Adobe Experience Manager, Figma, Zendesk, Salesforce, Sitecore, and GitHub, XTM ensures that businesses can easily connect their existing systems. Furthermore, the platform includes multilingual terminology management, AI-driven analytics, real-time collaboration tools, and support for over 880 languages, making it a robust solution for any localization challenge. By centralizing and automating both project-based and continuous localization efforts, XTM empowers enterprises to accelerate their time to market, enhance translation quality, and achieve greater ROI from their global expansion initiatives. [Visit website](https://www.g2.com/external_clickthroughs/record?secure%5Bad_program%5D=ppc&secure%5Bad_slot%5D=category_product_list&secure%5Bcategory_id%5D=1250&secure%5Bchosen_at%5D=2026-07-16T12%3A30%3A21Z&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=2333&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=retargeted_product&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=65591&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=65591&secure%5Bresource_id%5D=1250&secure%5Bresource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bsource_type%5D=category_page&secure%5Bsource_url%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fcategories%2Fchatbots%2Fsmall-business%3Fpage%3D5&secure%5Btoken%5D=8cc27b3a620325db4b5a1af64ab1817286d2d257f00eacd0d3832f1cb24419ba&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fxtm.ai%2Fdemo&secure%5Burl_type%5D=book_demo) --- ## What Are the Top-Rated Chatbots Software Products in 2026? ### 1. [Activechat.ai](https://www.g2.com/products/activechat-ai/reviews) Activechat is a complete 360° customer service & contact center automation tool that instantly transforms specific business knowledge into automated and semi-automated conversations. The platform combines AI-assisted live chat, multiple voice and messaging channels, smart natural language virtual assistants, and a set of conversational AI tools like sentiment detection or data clustering. Building self-service chatbots and virtual assistants has never been easier. Instead of programming & scripting scenarios manually, just upload your business knowledge (F.A.Q.s, websites, PDF documents, internal knowledge bases, etc), and we do all the hard work for you, instantly providing you with a smart AI-powered assistant that can answer questions based on this data with 95% accuracy. This virtual employee can then be connected to the customer self-service portal, or team with your human support agents to improve their performance. **Average Rating:** 3.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 12 **How Do G2 Users Rate Activechat.ai?** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 7.6/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 2.5/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 1.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 1.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) **Who Is the Company Behind Activechat.ai?** - **Seller:** [Activechat.ai](https://www.g2.com/sellers/activechat-ai) - **Year Founded:** 2018 - **HQ Location:** Wilmington, Delaware - **Twitter:** @ActiveChatAI (167 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/27254764/ (1 employees on LinkedIn®) **Who Uses This Product?** - **Company Size:** 100% Small-Business #### What Are Activechat.ai's Pros and Cons? **Pros:** - Customer Support (1 reviews) **Cons:** - Communication Issues (1 reviews) - Inaccuracy (1 reviews) - Poor Customer Support (1 reviews) ### What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Activechat.ai? *AI-generated summary from verified user reviews* **Pros:** - Users express disappointment due to a lack of **customer support** when trying to use Activechat.ai effectively. **Cons:** - Users experience significant **communication issues** with ActiveChat, leading to frustration and loss of trust in the service. - Users report **inaccuracy in account access** and poor support response from ActiveChat, leading to frustration and distrust. - Users experience **poor customer support** from ActiveChat, with unresponsive communication and unresolved access issues. #### What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Activechat.ai? **"[Being able to chat and have everything ordered is a great privilege.](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/activechat-ai-review-2495019)"** **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars *— Charles B. R.* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/activechat-ai-review-2495019) --- **"[Create Really Powerful Chatbot for Facebook Messenger](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/activechat-ai-review-1806299)"** **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars *— Verified User in Information Technology and Services* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/activechat-ai-review-1806299) --- #### What Are G2 Users Discussing About Activechat.ai? - [What is Activechat.ai Visual Chatbot Builder used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-activechat-ai-visual-chatbot-builder-used-for) ### 2. [Quriobot](https://www.g2.com/products/quriobot/reviews) Quriobot is an intuitive chatbot platform designed to enhance customer engagement by transforming static web forms into interactive, conversational experiences. It enables businesses to create customized chatbots that guide users through personalized dialogues, improving user satisfaction and streamlining data collection. With its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, Quriobot allows for the rapid development and deployment of chatbots without the need for coding expertise. The platform supports various channels, including websites, social media platforms, and messaging apps, ensuring a consistent and engaging customer experience across multiple touchpoints. Key Features and Functionality: - Flexible Design: Utilize a range of templates and a drag-and-drop designer to build chatbots tailored to specific business needs, suitable for companies of all sizes. - Diverse Step Types: Incorporate various question formats, such as IBAN validation, location inputs via Google Maps integration, and external chat steps that connect to platforms like WhatsApp, Slack, Facebook Messenger, or Skype. - Natural Conversations: Implement conditional logic and proactive engagement strategies to create seamless and contextually relevant interactions with users. - Multilingual Support: Ensure effective communication by configuring chatbots to interact with customers in their native languages. - Brand Customization: Align chatbots with brand identity by adjusting color schemes, avatars, and other visual elements to match the company's branding guidelines. - Behavioral Rules: Define specific behaviors for chatbots, such as when to initiate conversations, how to handle multiple browser sessions, and the speed of interactions. - Landing Pages: Create dedicated landing pages where chatbots can facilitate conversations, ideal for targeted campaigns or feedback collection. - Advanced Conditions: Apply complex conditions based on user responses to guide the conversation flow intelligently. - Multi-Channel Integration: Extend chatbot functionality beyond websites to channels like Slack, Facebook Messenger, and more, allowing customers to continue conversations on their preferred platforms. - Comprehensive Reporting: Access detailed analytics to monitor chatbot performance, user interactions, and conversion rates, enabling data-driven decision-making. - Easy Integration: Embed chatbots seamlessly into websites using simple embed codes or tools like Google Tag Manager. - Autocomplete Feature: Enhance user experience with autocomplete step types that suggest possible answers, speeding up the conversation process. - Artificial Intelligence: Integrate with AI services like OpenAI to handle complex use cases and improve response accuracy through machine learning. - Customer Support Platform: Manage all customer conversations in one place, assign chats to team members, and utilize canned responses to improve response times. - Knowledge Base: Create and manage articles to answer frequently asked questions, integrating them with chatbots for automated responses. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Quriobot operates around the clock, increasing conversion rates by up to 28% and lead retrieval rates by up to 21%, all while optimizing the online experience. It answers visitor questions, collects contact information, assists in navigation, and facilitates reservations or registrations, among other tasks. By automating these processes, Quriobot reduces the workload on customer service teams and enhances user satisfaction. Its affordability makes it accessible to businesses of all sizes, offering a cost-effective solution to improve customer engagement and operational efficiency. **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 11 **How Do G2 Users Rate Quriobot?** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 7.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) **Who Is the Company Behind Quriobot?** - **Seller:** [Quriobot](https://www.g2.com/sellers/quriobot) - **Year Founded:** 2016 - **HQ Location:** Amsterdam, North Holland - **Twitter:** @quriobot (108 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/17900566/ (1 employees on LinkedIn®) **Who Uses This Product?** - **Top Industries:** Marketing and Advertising - **Company Size:** 91% Small-Business, 9% Mid-Market #### What Are Quriobot's Pros and Cons? **Pros:** - Customization (1 reviews) - Ease of Implementation (1 reviews) - Easy Setup (1 reviews) - Simple (1 reviews) **Cons:** - Account Management Issues (1 reviews) - Communication Issues (1 reviews) - Inaccuracy (1 reviews) - Poor Customer Support (1 reviews) ### What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Quriobot? *AI-generated summary from verified user reviews* **Pros:** - Users value the **flexible customization** options of Quriobot, enabling easy branding and deployment for various needs. - Users appreciate the **ease of implementation** with Quriobot, allowing quick deployment of customized chatbots across multiple platforms. - Users appreciate the **easy setup** of Quriobot, facilitating quick deployment of customizable chatbots across multiple platforms. - Users appreciate the **clean interface and flexibility** of Quriobot, making chatbot creation and customization effortless. **Cons:** - Users face **account management issues** with Quriobot, experiencing restrictive measures and unresponsive support despite their high-tier purchase. - Users experience **communication issues** with Quriobot, facing dismissive responses and unclear policy enforcement regarding account restrictions. - Users experience **inaccuracy in account restrictions** with Quriobot, leading to confusion and frustration over their usage rights. - Users report experiencing **poor customer support** , facing dismissive responses and inconsistent justifications from Quriobot's team. #### What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Quriobot? **"[Quiriobot is Fun and Serious](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/quriobot-review-8524427)"** **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars *— Jesse S.* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/quriobot-review-8524427) --- **"[Seamless and Efficient Bot](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/quriobot-review-8530525)"** **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars *— Sharique K.* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/quriobot-review-8530525) --- #### What Are G2 Users Discussing About Quriobot? - [What is Quriobot used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-quriobot-used-for) ### 3. [Joonbot Chatbot Builder](https://www.g2.com/products/joonbot-chatbot-builder/reviews) Joonbot is a no-code and easy-to-use chatbot builder to boost your conversions. With Joonbot, you can guide, collect and push information to your audience in no time. Some use cases: Get more qualified leads Increase sales Automate customer resolutions **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 16 **How Do G2 Users Rate Joonbot Chatbot Builder?** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) **Who Is the Company Behind Joonbot Chatbot Builder?** - **Seller:** [Arnica](https://www.g2.com/sellers/arnica) - **Year Founded:** 2021 - **HQ Location:** Alpharetta, Georgia - **Twitter:** @arnicaio (124 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/arnica-io/about (60 employees on LinkedIn®) **Who Uses This Product?** - **Company Size:** 94% Small-Business, 6% Mid-Market #### What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Joonbot Chatbot Builder? **"[The best app is the one you'll actually be able to use](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/joonbot-chatbot-builder-review-4154029)"** **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars *— Chris G.* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/joonbot-chatbot-builder-review-4154029) --- **"[A simple and effective complementary tool](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/joonbot-chatbot-builder-review-4792973)"** **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars *— Franck L.* [Read full review](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/joonbot-chatbot-builder-review-4792973) --- #### What Are G2 Users Discussing About Joonbot Chatbot Builder? - [What is Joonbot Chatbot Builder used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-joonbot-chatbot-builder-used-for) ## What Is Chatbots Software? [Conversational Intelligence Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/conversational-intelligence) ## What Software Categories Are Similar to Chatbots Software? - [Customer Self-Service Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/customer-self-service) - [Live Chat Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/live-chat) - [Conversational Marketing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/conversational-marketing) - [Conversational Support Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/conversational-support) - [AI Agents For Business Operations](https://www.g2.com/categories/ai-agents-for-business-operations) - [AI Chatbots Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/ai-chatbots) - [AI Customer Support Agents Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/ai-customer-support-agents) --- ## How Do You Choose the Right Chatbots Software? ### What You Should Know About Chatbots Software ### What are Chatbots? Chatbots are impacting every aspect of how businesses communicate with people. Although chatbots are still in the early days, they have grown and developed in leaps and bounds. Chatbots—also known as digital assistants, virtual assistants, virtual agents, interactive agents, and more—have gone from being a simple conversational interface where the user would input text and receive a canned response, to a robust tool where users can converse with a computer via text or voice and receive bespoke responses based on the given context. This advancement is due largely to the rise of artificial intelligence and [natural language processing (NLP) software](https://www.g2.com/categories/natural-language-processing-nlp), as well as improvements in computing power. However, the rise of chatbots should not be viewed in a vacuum. Messaging, in general, has arisen as a preeminent form of communication, and as such, it should come as no surprise that people want a faster and more accessible way to get information. Chatbots can get them that information quickly and can help companies fulfill this desire. With the use of machine learning and deep learning, chatbots can grow intelligently and understand a wider vocabulary and colloquial language, as well as provide more precise and correct responses to requests. Through providing information and conducting specific tasks, whether external, customer-facing requests or internal, employee-facing requests, chatbots can augment humans’ abilities. #### What Types of Chatbots Exist? The manner in which a user might interact with a chatbot can differ, especially as it relates to the sophistication of the chatbot’s conversational abilities and the degree to which a human might need to step in when the chatbot is not able to respond to a particular query in a reasonable manner. **Button-based bots** Users interact with these chatbots through menus and buttons. **Keyword recognition-based chatbots** Users interact with these chatbots through text or speech and the bot responds based on certain pre-programmed keywords. **Contextual chatbots** Users interact with these chatbots in a natural, conversational manner and the bot responds appropriately, thanks to advanced NLP software techniques. ### What are the Common Features of Chatbots? To fully evaluate a chatbot, it should fulfill the task that it has been programmed to do in an efficient and effective way. Here are some criteria through which it can be evaluated. **Emotional intelligence:** In any conversational context, it is critical that each speaker responds to the other in an emotionally intelligent manner, paying careful attention to the emotional state of the other. This is no less true with a chatbot. The best chatbots on the market respond to the user in a way that is commensurate with their emotional state. **Conversational ability:** As the name implies, chatbots should be able to chat in a way that is natural and fluent, understanding the intent of what was said and responding appropriately. **Broad knowledge base:** Good chatbots are well integrated with a host of business systems or knowledge bases, giving them the ability to answer questions correctly and contextually. **Personal:** Stellar chatbots connect to the user in a way that is bespoke and tailored to the individual. They take in personal information in a safe and secure manner and output a response which befits the question as well as the questioner. **Personality:** Boring chatbots might work in some cases, but adding a bit of zest and personality can help unlock the full potential of these conversational agents. When a chatbot has a touch of sass, the conversation is enriched and enlightened, thus raising the level and sophistication of the conversation. ### What are the Benefits of Chatbots? Chatbots affect any touchpoint where businesses communicate with people. Therefore, there are many key reasons a company might deploy a chatbot for a given use case. Chatbots aren’t just useful for website visitors, app users, and customers, but businesses as well. Below are a few reasons why businesses may decide to use chatbots. **More people are ready to use chatbots:** At least in certain circumstances, consumers actually prefer using chatbots for quick communication with brands. People are in front of their computer and phone screens now more than ever, so it makes sense to provide them with a service they can access with their fingertips. **They never take a day off:** Bots are not constrained to traditional work hours or time zones. So, if one approaches the bot with a basic issue at odd hours, it can be resolved within minutes. **Knowledge acquisition:** Chatbots can be used to help visitors sign up for marketing newsletters, register for webinars, schedule appointments, and even guide customers to a landing page or e-commerce site to finalize transactions. ### Who Uses Chatbots? Chatbots, as a multi-purpose, many-featured solution, can be utilized by various business users.  **Marketers** : Marketers are always looking to connect and engage with customers and potential customers. Some channels which they utilize include SMS, email, and telephone. Through conversational solutions, like chatbots, marketers can connect in an automated manner, which would help increase their scale and scope. **Customer support:** When one has issues with a product or service, they want to be able to engage with the business in whatever channel they desire. As such, businesses across industries are developing solutions, such as chatbots, to ensure that they are always available. With chatbots, they are able to provide 24/7 support and services to employees and customers. **Human resources:** Employees frequently have questions for their human resources (HR) team, sometimes known as employee success. These questions range from benefits to paid time off (PTO) to salary-related queries. Although it is important to keep the human in human resources, chatbots can provide a channel in which employees can ask questions and receive answers immediately. ### What are the Alternatives to Chatbots? As mentioned, chatbots are making an impact across industries as well as business functions. Therefore, it is only natural that they integrate with a host of different software. Here are some different types of software that are either directly related to or can be integrated with chatbots. [Bot platforms](https://www.g2.com/categories/bot-platforms) **:** Chatbots are a great solution when users are looking for a chatbot that they can use off the shelf, with little to no development or coding experience necessary. However, companies looking to build their own chatbot can benefit from bot platforms, which are tools used to build and deploy interactive chatbots. These platforms provide development tools such as frameworks and API toolsets for customizable bot creation. [Intelligent virtual assistant](https://www.g2.com/categories/intelligent-virtual-assistants)[s software](https://www.g2.com/categories/intelligent-virtual-assistants) **:** If a company has more time and energy, as well as fiscal resources, it is wise for them to explore intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs), which provide the same basic capabilities of chatbots and more. With IVAs, users are enabled to have natural conversations via a host of different channels to solve their business problems. In addition, this advanced software has the ability to use the conversations to update systems such as a CRM, an ERP, or human resource management systems. #### Software Related to Chatbots The following solutions can be used in conjunction with chatbots to automate business operations and further advance digital transformation: [Help desk software](https://www.g2.com/categories/help-desk) **:** Customer service is a major use case for chatbots. Help desk software, which is designed to provide a customer with information and support regarding a company’s products or services, is extensively including chatbot functionality or the ability to integrate with chatbots. [Productivity bots software](https://www.g2.com/categories/productivity-bots) **:** Users looking to increase the productivity of software they are using should look to productivity bots to help them achieve this goal. Productivity bots work as add-ons to software tools, providing additional features, organization, or automation on top of the foundational features of the product. When a bot is connected to a software platform, it boosts the utility of the existing tool that the team already uses. [Natural language processing (NLP) software](https://www.g2.com/categories/natural-language-processing-nlp): NLP software allows applications to interact with human language using a deep learning algorithm. NLP algorithms input language and can give a variety of outputs based on the learned task NLP algorithms can provide voice recognition and natural language generation, which converts data into understandable human language. Some examples of NLP uses include chatbots, translation applications, and social media monitoring tools that scan social media networks for mentions. ### Challenges with Chatbots A software can come with its own set of challenges. Chatbots, which are changing many industries and use cases (such as customer support and e-commerce), have some key issues which one should keep in mind. **Preference for human agents:** Although chatbots are great at many tasks, some contexts, such as those which require a significant amount of empathy, may be better served by a human agent. **Handoffs to humans:** There might come a time when a chatbot does not have an answer to a question from the user. It is critical that the system is designed in a way to successfully resolve this problem. Typically, the best way to solve this is to transition the user to a human agent. ### Which Companies Should Buy Chatbots? Chatbots are positively affecting industries from travel to retail, as well as business functions such as HR. Within these industries, the roles can significantly vary as to who most commonly engages with chatbots. **Hospitality:** The hospitality industry is being transformed by chatbots, with businesses using them to increase customer loyalty through on-demand support and personalized service. Other uses of chatbots in the hospitality sector include taking reservations, enabling personalized services like preferred room features or local restaurant recommendations supporting customer engagement and retention. **Retail:** Retail and e-commerce stand to benefit greatly from the deployment of chatbots to enhance customer engagement and drive sales. Chatbots can also deliver a personalized e-commerce experience for customers. **Travel:** The travel sector is adopting chatbots to assist customer bookings, provide customer support, resolve complaints, and act as a personal assistant to customize a traveler’s itinerary. ### How to Buy Chatbots When looking to deploy a chatbot solution, businesses should start by investigating their various channels, such as messaging platforms, emails, and websites. Chatbots can be deployed across any and all of these platforms. Through analyzing these channels—e.g., discovering response rates, most popular channels, etc.—users can best understand their performance and how chatbot solutions can supercharge them. #### Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Chatbots Whether a company is purchasing chatbots for the first time or looking to replace their current system, G2.com can assist them with the selection process. First, buyers should evaluate the need for chatbots and determine what functionality will be most useful for the business.  Some initial questions which should be asked include: - Which are the channels that are supported? - How long does it take to set up? - How easy is it to script the chatbots? - How is the offering priced? #### Compare Chatbots **Create a long list** Evaluating vendors should start with a long list, which will help to determine whether or not a given solution is a good fit. With a long list, one creates a broad list of tools that align with one’s business goals. So that there is a level playing field, it is important to ask the same set of questions to each seller. **Create a short list** Next, a whittling down should take place. Through pointed questions, demos, and trials, one can go from a long list to a short one. Although this will differ for each business and use case, three to five products are typically a good number. With this list in hand, businesses can produce a matrix to compare the features and pricing of the various solutions. **Conduct demos** To ensure the comparison is thoroughgoing, the user should demo each solution on the short list with the same use case and datasets. This will allow the business to evaluate like for like and see how each vendor stacks up against the competition. #### Selection of Chatbots **Choose a selection team** Before getting started, it's crucial to create a winning team that will work together throughout the entire process, from identifying pain points to implementation. The software selection team should consist of members of the organization who have the right interest, skills, and time to participate in this process. A good starting point is to aim for three to five people who fill roles such as the main decision maker, project manager, process owner, system owner, or staffing subject matter expert, as well as a technical lead, IT administrator, or security administrator. In smaller companies, the vendor selection team may be smaller, with fewer participants multitasking and taking on more responsibilities. **Negotiation** Just because something is written on a company’s pricing page, does not mean it is fixed (although some companies will not budge). It is imperative to open up a conversation regarding pricing and licensing. For example, the vendor may be willing to give a discount for multi-year contracts or for recommending the product to others. **Final decision** After this stage, and before going all in, it is recommended to roll out a test run or pilot program to test adoption with a small sample size of users. If the tool is well used and well received, the buyer can be confident that the selection was correct. If not, it might be time to go back to the drawing board. ### Chatbots Trends In addition, artificial intelligence techniques such as NLP software help make chatbot solutions easier to use and more powerful, providing more accurate results. Below are the trends relevant to this software. **Conversational interfaces** In general, users are looking to conversational interfaces to get answers to their burning questions. For example, they are looking to query their data in a more natural way. Since natural language understanding has improved, people can talk to their data, finding and exploring insights using natural, intuitive language. With this powerful technology, users can focus on discovering patterns and finding meaning hidden in the data as opposed to memorizing SQL queries. Data-focused businesspeople, like data analysts, can benefit from conversational interfaces like chatbots. Users can uncover the material they are looking for using intuitive language. Intuitive methods of querying data mean a larger user base that can access and make sense of company data. **Voice** Voice is a primal method of interacting with others. It is only natural that we now converse with our machines using our voice and that the platforms for said voicebots have seen great success. Voice makes technology feel more human and allows people to trust it more. Voice will prove to be an important natural interface that mediates human communication and relationships with devices, and ultimately, within an AI-powered world. **Artificial intelligence** AI is quickly becoming a promising feature of many, if not most, types of software. With machine learning, end users can identify patterns in data, allowing them to make sense of content and help them understand what they are seeing. This pattern recognition is fueling the rise of more powerful, contextually-aware chatbots.