# Best Chatbots Software *By [Bijou Barry](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/bijou-barry)* Chatbots, also called virtual agents or virtual assistants, are used in place of humans to conduct specific tasks or provide information based on written or spoken requests, allowing users to interact with applications in a conversational manner to automate tasks that formerly required human intervention. ### Core Capabilities of Chatbot Software To qualify for inclusion in the Chatbots category, a product must: - Provide an output based on the initial request in written or speech form - Allow for the automation of formerly human-necessary tasks - Be sold as a standalone chatbot solution, and not simply contain NLP or speech recognition within a conversational interface ### Common Use Cases for Chatbot Software Businesses use chatbots to automate customer-facing and internal interactions across a growing range of functions. Common use cases include: - Serving as a first line of defense in customer support alongside [live chat](https://www.g2.com/categories/live-chat), [help desk](https://www.g2.com/categories/help-desk), and [contact center software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contact-center) - Handling sales and marketing knowledge base queries with automated, scripted responses - Enabling users to retrieve data points from [business intelligence software](https://www.g2.com/categories/business-intelligence) through natural language requests ### How Chatbot Software Differs from Other Tools Although chatbots frequently use natural language processing (NLP) or speech recognition to understand requests, they primarily function through scripted conversations, distinguishing them from intelligent virtual assistants, which use natural language understanding (NLU) to conduct more dynamic, human-like conversations. Chatbots are rules-driven and best suited for predictable, structured interactions, while AI-powered alternatives offer greater flexibility and intent comprehension. ### Insights from G2 on Chatbot Software Based on category trends on G2, ease of scripting and deployment speed stand out as key strengths. These platforms deliver reductions in routine inquiry volume and improved first-response times as primary outcomes of chatbot adoption. ## Best Chatbots Software At A Glance - **Leader:** [Zendesk for Customer Service](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-customer-service/reviews) - **Highest Performer:** [Twixor](https://www.g2.com/products/twixor/reviews) - **Easiest to Use:** [Podium](https://www.g2.com/products/podium/reviews) - **Top Trending:** [HighLevel](https://www.g2.com/products/highlevel/reviews) - **Best Free Software:** [Fin by Intercom](https://www.g2.com/products/fin-by-intercom/reviews) --- **Sponsored** ### Social Intents Social Intents is a Live Chat and AI Chatbot platform designed to enhance communication between businesses and their website visitors. This solution enables teams to manage website chats directly from popular business collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Chat, Zoom, and Webex. By integrating live chat and AI chatbots into platforms that organizations already utilize, Social Intents eliminates the need for context switching, allowing for a more efficient and cohesive communication experience. Primarily targeted at customer service and sales teams, Social Intents is ideal for organizations looking to improve their online engagement without the complications of adopting additional messaging tools. The platform is particularly beneficial for businesses that handle a high volume of inquiries and require a seamless way to interact with customers across various channels. By providing a unified communication solution, Social Intents helps companies streamline their customer interactions and enhance overall service quality. Users can engage visitors through a web chat widget and popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and SMS, ensuring that customers can reach out through their preferred method. This flexibility in communication channels caters to diverse customer preferences, making it easier for businesses to connect with their audience. The ability to meet customers where they are enhances engagement and fosters a more responsive customer service environment. One of the standout features of Social Intents is its capability to build AI chatbots powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT. Users can train these chatbots with their website content in just one click, allowing for quick deployment and immediate assistance for common inquiries. This feature not only enhances response times but also ensures that customers receive accurate information. When more complex issues arise, the platform allows for seamless escalation to human agents, ensuring that customers receive the support they need without delay. The integration of AI chatbots with live chat capabilities offers significant benefits to organizations. By automating responses to frequently asked questions, businesses can free up their human agents to focus on more intricate customer interactions. This dual approach not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances customer satisfaction by providing timely and relevant support. Social Intents distinguishes itself in its category by combining the power of AI with the personal touch of human interaction, creating a balanced and effective customer service solution. [Try for Free](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%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=1250&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=page_category&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=1250&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=84670&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%3Fopen_modal_url%3D%252Fproducts%252Fsimplified%252Fwishlists%253Fhost_path%253D%25252Fcategories%25252Fchatbots%2526source%253Dcategory&secure%5Btoken%5D=47986b61d44428cc70be321040f7c3ac88d390bf2c5086d36789b1aa8015771e&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fsocialintents.com%2Fsignup.do%3Futm_campaign%3Dg2%26utm_content%3Dfree-trial%26utm_medium%3Dg2%26utm_source%3Dmyg2&secure%5Burl_type%5D=free_trial) --- ## Top-Rated Products (Ranked by G2 Score) ### 1. [Zendesk for Customer Service](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-customer-service/reviews) "Zendesk for Customer Service is an AI-powered service solution that’s easy to set up, use, and scale. It offers out-of-the-box functionality that’s simple to modify, helping businesses move faster. Leveraging AI built on billions of CX interactions, Zendesk enhances the entire service experience—from self-service to agents and admins—improving efficiency at scale. Zendesk equips agents with tools, insights, and context to deliver personalized service across all channels, including social messaging, phone, and email. It unifies personalized conversations, omnichannel case management, AI workflows, automation, and a Marketplace of 1800+ apps under one platform. Zendesk QA uses AI to evaluate and improve agent performance, while Workforce Management optimizes scheduling and productivity to ensure readiness during peak times. The solution is easy to implement and adjust without needing IT or developers. Zendesk’s mission is to simplify business complexity and enable meaningful customer connections for companies of all sizes. Serving 130K+ global brands in 30+ languages, Zendesk is headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide." **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 6,473 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.4/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Zendesk](https://www.g2.com/sellers/zendesk) - **Company Website:** https://www.zendesk.com - **Year Founded:** 2007 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Twitter:** @Zendesk (102,771 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/418095/ (6,662 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Customer Success Manager, Customer Service Manager - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 45% Mid-Market, 41% Small-Business #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (532 reviews) - Features (402 reviews) - Customer Support (286 reviews) - Helpful (280 reviews) - Ticket Management (257 reviews) **Cons:** - Missing Features (217 reviews) - Learning Curve (183 reviews) - Limited Features (182 reviews) - Limited Customization (159 reviews) - Complexity (139 reviews) ### 2. [Fin by Intercom](https://www.g2.com/products/fin-by-intercom/reviews) Fin by Intercom is the best performing AI Agent for customer service. It automates complex queries, improves resolution times, and delivers consistently high-quality support at scale. Key benefits of Fin AI Agent: - Automates complex tasks such as refunds, transaction disputes, and technical troubleshooting. - Easy to configure with a no-code experience that anyone on your team can manage. - Works with any helpdesk, including Zendesk, Salesforce, and HubSpot—no migration required. - Affordable at scale with pricing starting at just $0.99 per resolution. - Provides complete visibility and control through tools to analyze, train, test, and deploy Fin across all channels. How it works: Fin combines generative AI with deterministic rules to act just like your best human agents. You can give Fin detailed, step-by-step instructions, and it will follow them with speed and reliability—reducing time to resolution and improving customer satisfaction. Under the hood, Fin is powered by the patented Fin AI Engine™, a proprietary system purpose-built for customer service. Every layer is optimized for accuracy, speed, and reliability, so Fin can handle high volumes and complex queries with confidence. Proof of performance: - Fin resolves 67% of customer queries on average, with rates as high as 93% for some teams. - Trusted by 6,000+ customer service teams, including the world’s leading AI companies like Anthropic. - In independent tests, Fin consistently outperformed competitors, delivering higher resolution rates than Forethought, Decagon, and others. - Ranked #1 AI Agent on G2, with the highest number of reviews. **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 3,674 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Intercom, Inc.](https://www.g2.com/sellers/intercom-inc) - **Company Website:** https://www.intercom.com/ - **Year Founded:** 2011 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Twitter:** @intercom (44,184 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/intercom/ (1,950 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Customer Success Manager, CEO - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 57% Small-Business, 37% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Helpful (435 reviews) - Ease of Use (433 reviews) - Features (333 reviews) - Efficiency (268 reviews) - Automation (257 reviews) **Cons:** - Missing Features (152 reviews) - AI Limitations (130 reviews) - Limited Features (123 reviews) - Learning Curve (115 reviews) - Expensive (92 reviews) ### 3. [Qualified](https://www.g2.com/products/qualified/reviews) Qualified is the Agentic Marketing platform for B2B companies around the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, Qualified is built to modernize and maximize inbound pipeline generation with Piper the AI SDR Agent. Piper autonomously engages website visitors, captures leads, and converts them into pipeline with zero human intervention. With Piper, Qualified is transforming pipeline generation as we know it today. Your website is the front door to your business and the pinnacle of pipeline generation, but what happens when interested buyers want to learn more? They submit a web form and move on. Those leads get added to a queue for an inbound Sales Development Rep (SDR) to follow up with and nurture to pipeline for your sales team. How long does it take for an inbound lead to hear back? It can take hours, if not days. In the world of sales and marketing, speed is crucial as 78% of buyers go with the vendor that responds to them first. The problem is it's impossible to respond quickly with the current process because it's painfully manual, time intensive, and it relies on limited human capacity. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In the age of AI, we can put pipeline generation on autopilot. Meet Piper the AI SDR Agent. She operates across your entire inbound motion and works tirelessly to convert qualified buyers into pipeline, 24x7. Piper knows everything about your buyers. She profiles every website visitor to understand whether they're qualified and where they are in the buying journey then works toward her conversion goals. Piper also turns every touchpoint on your website into an opportunity for conversion with live chat, meeting booking, and personalized marketing offers. What's more, Piper works the inbox to send fast, personalized follow up and nurture emails to each and every lead. Hundreds of the world’s leading brands—including Crunchbase, Demandbase, Greenhouse, Plaid, and Suse—have hired Piper the AI SDR Agent to grow their inbound pipeline and are seeing real tangible business results. **Average Rating:** 4.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,450 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.9/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Qualified.com](https://www.g2.com/sellers/qualified-com) - **Company Website:** https://www.qualified.com - **Year Founded:** 2018 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Twitter:** @tryqualified (709 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/35580403/ (333 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Marketing Operations Manager, Sales Development Representative - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 68% Mid-Market, 20% Enterprise #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Customer Support (288 reviews) - Helpful (274 reviews) - Features (223 reviews) - Ease of Use (221 reviews) - Customer Service (184 reviews) **Cons:** - Learning Curve (87 reviews) - Missing Features (86 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (47 reviews) - Limited Customization (43 reviews) - Complexity (41 reviews) ### 4. [Jotform AI Agents](https://www.g2.com/products/jotform-ai-agents/reviews) Jotform AI Agents are automated real-time assistants designed to help your users at any time of day or night. AI Agents are the future of customer service. Train and customize your own personal AI Agent to enhance user engagement, improve response times, and streamline support operations. With Jotform’s intuitive, no-code AI builder, you can easily train and customize your own AI Agent to match your brand voice, support workflows, and respond with the exact information your users need. Simply provide key details, documents, FAQs, or form data, and your AI Agent will learn from this context to deliver accurate, personalized interactions. This level of customization helps teams improve response times, boost user satisfaction, and streamline support operations across every stage of the customer journey. One of the platform’s most powerful advantages is its extensive library of 7,000+ customizable AI Agent templates. These ready-made templates provide an easy starting point for a wide variety of use cases, including customer support, onboarding, lead qualification, appointment scheduling, product education, internal training, and more. Each template can be fully personalized with your own instructions, tone, workflows, and industry-specific knowledge—allowing you to deploy high-performing AI Agents in minutes. Jotform AI Agents provide 24/7 automated assistance, ensuring your customers receive instant support even outside of business hours. While you sleep, your AI Agents continue working—handling inquiries, resolving issues, collecting information, and providing accurate responses around the clock. This continuous availability reduces wait times, increases engagement, and helps teams keep up with growing demand. With multichannel support, Jotform AI Agents can operate wherever your users are. Deploy your agents across web, chat widgets, email, phone, WhatsApp, Messenger, Gmail, WordPress, and other communication channels for a unified, consistent support experience. This omnichannel flexibility ensures that your users always receive real-time assistance—no matter the device or platform. For teams requiring voice-based interactions, Jotform offers powerful phone and SMS capabilities. AI Agents can handle incoming calls, conduct natural voice conversations, answer questions, and transcribe spoken messages—all with a friendly, human-like tone. This makes Jotform AI Agents ideal for customer service hotlines, appointment reminders, phone-based support, and automated phone menus. AI Agents can also perform customizable actions based on your workflows. Define specific behaviors, triggers, follow-up steps, or automated tasks for your agent to execute. Whether you want it to qualify leads, send emails, update CRM records, route inquiries, generate reports, or collect data through forms, your AI Agent follows your rules precisely. By combining real-time automation, no-code customization, multichannel support, and intelligent communication, Jotform AI Agents help organizations scale their customer experience effortlessly. Whether you’re a small business or a global enterprise, AI Agents provide the speed, accuracy, and availability needed to support users at every moment. **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 552 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 7.9/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Jotform](https://www.g2.com/sellers/jotform) - **Company Website:** https://www.jotform.com/ - **Year Founded:** 2006 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, California - **Twitter:** @Jotform (39,323 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/3541463/ (900 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Owner, CEO - **Top Industries:** Real Estate, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 69% Small-Business, 12% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (267 reviews) - Easy Setup (173 reviews) - Artificial Intelligence (164 reviews) - Helpful (157 reviews) - Setup Ease (152 reviews) **Cons:** - AI Limitations (121 reviews) - Limited AI Capabilities (74 reviews) - Limited Features (66 reviews) - Inadequate AI Features (65 reviews) - Poor Understanding (60 reviews) ### 5. [Birdeye](https://www.g2.com/products/birdeye/reviews) Birdeye is the #1 agentic marketing platform for multi-location brands, trusted by the biggest multi-location brands globally including H&R Block, Aspen Dental, and Caesars Entertainment. One Platform Replace your fragmented stack with a single enterprise platform that manages reviews, listings, social, AI visibility, surveys and more across locations. Unified Data Aggregate signals from reviews, social, messaging, surveys, listings and third party integrations such as CRM into a single customer profile per location - powering personalized campaigns and smarter AI execution AI Agents That Execute Configure AI agents with your brand voice, custom triggers, and location-level rules. They respond to reviews, publish social posts, engage leads via chat, and surface actionable insights — automatically, at scale. Built for Multi-Location Complexity Designed from the ground up for multi-location brands. Features like role-based access, tiered approvals, and location-level reporting give corporate and local teams the control they need. Enterprise-Ready: SSO, audit logging, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR compliance. **Average Rating:** 4.7/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 3,879 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Birdeye](https://www.g2.com/sellers/birdeye) - **Company Website:** https://www.birdeye.com - **Year Founded:** 2012 - **HQ Location:** Palo Alto, CA - **Twitter:** @BirdEye_ (5,230 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/2837064/ (1,430 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Owner, Marketing Manager - **Top Industries:** Hospital & Health Care, Real Estate - **Company Size:** 48% Small-Business, 35% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (1070 reviews) - Helpful (1068 reviews) - Review Management (884 reviews) - Customer Support (748 reviews) - Features (607 reviews) **Cons:** - Missing Features (248 reviews) - Improvement Needed (173 reviews) - Review Management (169 reviews) - Limited Features (150 reviews) - Learning Curve (143 reviews) ### 6. [Tidio](https://www.g2.com/products/tidio/reviews) Tidio is an all-in-one customer support software suite comprising (1) help desk, (2) live chat, (3) chatbot automation, and (4) AI agent features. Over 300,000 businesses across ecommerce, services, and tech use Tidio to streamline communication, resolve issues faster, and drive more sales. With Tidio, support teams can engage customers in real time via live chat, automate responses to FAQs with Flows (rules-based chatbots), and manage conversations from multiple channels like email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and email in one unified dashboard. At the heart of the platform is Lyro, Tidio’s conversational AI agent and chatbot, capable of resolving up to 67% of common customer inquiries without human involvement. With a single click, Lyro starts using your company’s existing help content to provide accurate and brand-consistent responses without making up answers. When in doubt, the AI agent will hand over the ticket to your team, enhancing trust between users and your brand. Tidio empowers businesses to scale their support without overwhelming their teams. It reduces missed chats, shortens response times, and frees up agents to focus on complex issues. Start free and get 50 AI-powered conversations with Lyro. No credit card required. 💬 Live Chat • Real-Time Support – Engage with visitors instantly through a lightweight chat widget. • Live Typing Preview – See what users are typing before they hit send. • Canned Responses – Use pre-written replies for quick, consistent answers. • AI Reply Assistant – Enhance responses with GPT-4 suggestions. • User Management – Ban users by IP, view live visitor lists. • Chat Transcripts – Save or email conversation history. • Attachments – Support for sending files (images, docs, videos). ⚙️ Flows (Chatbot Automation) • Visual Automation Builder – No-code drag & drop builder for custom flows. • Pre-designed Templates – 40+ templates designed for eCommerce. • Data Collection – Auto-capture contact info and feedback. • Abandoned Cart Recovery – Send timed offers/discounts. • Third-Party Integrations – Sync data with external tools and platforms. 🤖 Lyro (AI Agent) • Conversational AI – Automatically resolve up to 70% of questions. • Product Recommendations – Suggest items based on Shopify product data. • Multichannel Support – Works across live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger. • Multilingual Capabilities – Respond in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German. • Analytics – Review AI performance and conversation stats. 🛒 Order Management (for Shopify) • Cart Preview – See what's in the customer's cart in real time. • Order History Access – View past orders for personalized help. • Direct Product Recommendations – Suggest products inside the chat. • Order Management – Cancel, update, or refund orders via chat. • Discount Offering – Share coupon codes live in conversation. 🎫 Ticketing System • Unified Ticket Creation – Convert emails/chats into support tickets. • Tagging and Prioritization – Organize and prioritize tasks. • Operator Tracking – Know who’s assigned to what. • Advanced Filtering – Quickly sort through tickets. • Spam Management – Auto-detect and filter irrelevant messages. 📡 Communication Channels Manage all in one dashboard: • Live Chat – Real-time website conversations. • Email – Integrate multiple inboxes. • Instagram – Reply to DMs and reactions. • Messenger – Chat with Facebook users. 🎨 Customization • Branding – Match chat widget to your site's look & feel. • Visibility Settings – Customize widget display by time/device. • Offline Messaging – Capture leads when you're offline. 📊 Analytics • Performance Monitoring – Track response times, satisfaction, missed chats. • Team Insights – Evaluate individual/team productivity. • Flow Analysis – Optimize automations based on performance data. 🔒 Privacy & Compliance • SOC 2 Type 2 • GDPR • CCPA • EU-US DPF • CPRA • AI Pact **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,840 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Tidio](https://www.g2.com/sellers/tidio) - **Company Website:** https://www.tidio.com/ - **Year Founded:** 2013 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, California - **Twitter:** @tidiocx (1,309 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/3343461/ (167 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Owner, CEO - **Top Industries:** Retail, Marketing and Advertising - **Company Size:** 90% Small-Business, 8% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (225 reviews) - Helpful (184 reviews) - Chatbots (155 reviews) - Easy Setup (154 reviews) - Features (139 reviews) **Cons:** - Expensive (76 reviews) - Missing Features (59 reviews) - Limited Customization (57 reviews) - Cost (56 reviews) - Limited Features (55 reviews) ### 7. [Podium](https://www.g2.com/products/podium/reviews) Podium is an AI native communications platform that deploys AI Employees to help local businesses turn every conversation—text, call, or web chat—into revenue. Trusted by over 100,000 local businesses—from auto dealerships and HVAC services to aesthetics centers and retailers—Podium captures and converts leads 24/7, driving new business and repeat customers. Today, 78% of customers buy from the first business that responds—but most businesses take an hour or more to reply. Podium closes this gap instantly with "Jerry", your always-on AI Employee. From day one, Jerry understands your inventory, responds within two minutes, schedules appointments, books test drives, sends targeted promotions, requests reviews, and even replies to customer feedback on Google. Jerry frees your staff to focus on high-value tasks, ensuring every customer receives white-glove service. Businesses using Podium’s AI Employees report: - 30% increase in sales - 56% higher appointment show rates - 80% more after-hours appointments - 50% higher lead-to-sale conversion rates With tools including Phones, Reviews, Payments, Webchat, Bulk Messaging, and 200+ DMS/CRM integrations, Podium delivers fast, personalized interactions that turn conversations into sales—automatically tracking revenue with every customer touchpoint. Podium is built on over a decade of data and customer insights, earning recognition from Forbes Cloud 100, Inc. 5000, and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. But it’s proudest of its 92% five-star ratings—earned daily from delighted users. **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,984 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Podium](https://www.g2.com/sellers/podium) - **Company Website:** https://www.podium.com - **Year Founded:** 2014 - **HQ Location:** Lehi, UT - **Twitter:** @PodiumHQ (4,183 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/9203219/ (1,493 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Owner, General Manager - **Top Industries:** Automotive, Retail - **Company Size:** 59% Small-Business, 35% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (393 reviews) - Helpful (352 reviews) - Easy Communication (314 reviews) - Communication (312 reviews) - Useful (224 reviews) **Cons:** - Missing Features (95 reviews) - Messaging Issues (94 reviews) - Limited Features (77 reviews) - Expensive (71 reviews) - Poor Customer Support (65 reviews) ### 8. [Wati](https://www.g2.com/products/wati/reviews) Started as WhatsApp team inbox in 2020, Wati has evolved into a full revenue orchestration system beyond one platform. Designed for businesses that sell, support, and grow through conversations, Wati observes customer intent in real time, decides the next best revenue action, and executes it across marketing, sales, and support, all inside WhatsApp and connected messaging channels. Trusted by over 16,000 customers across 190+ countries, Wati simplifies complex operations and business conversations with a unified inbox, no-code automation, and our intelligent AI layer, Astra. Proudly backed by Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and Shopify, and recognized as a Premium Partner of Meta and Google. Unlock Revenue Growth with Wati, your AI co-pilot. **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 450 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Wati](https://www.g2.com/sellers/wati-4020a7cd-92a3-4b52-ae1c-627179ab724d) - **Company Website:** https://www.wati.io/ - **Year Founded:** 2020 - **HQ Location:** Hong Kong, HK - **Twitter:** @Wati_io (581 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/watiglobal/ (251 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Founder, CEO - **Top Industries:** Education Management, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 74% Small-Business, 19% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (102 reviews) - Automation (71 reviews) - Customer Support (65 reviews) - Easy Setup (64 reviews) - Features (54 reviews) **Cons:** - Expensive (39 reviews) - Cost (32 reviews) - Pricing Issues (23 reviews) - Missing Features (16 reviews) - Poor Customer Support (16 reviews) ### 9. [Smartsupp](https://www.g2.com/products/smartsupp/reviews) Smartsupp helps businesses grow online sales with advanced AI Shopping Assistants, live chat, multichannel solution and automated workflows. We offer everything you need to grow your online sales: an easy-to-use platform powered with AI, chatbots with various skills and templates, live chat... and much much more you can use to engage your visitors at the right time and convert them into loyal customers in no time. Smartsupp is one of the leading and most trusted chat and chatbot solutions in the world, currently helping over 100,000 webshops and websites. **Average Rating:** 4.7/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 953 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Smartsupp](https://www.g2.com/sellers/smartsupp) - **Year Founded:** 2013 - **HQ Location:** Brno, South Moravia - **Twitter:** @SmartsuppCOM (441 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/5005135/ (33 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** CEO, Owner - **Top Industries:** Retail, Apparel & Fashion - **Company Size:** 96% Small-Business, 3% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (126 reviews) - Helpful (76 reviews) - Easy Setup (75 reviews) - Features (69 reviews) - Intuitive (58 reviews) **Cons:** - Expensive (31 reviews) - Cost (21 reviews) - AI Limitations (19 reviews) - Missing Features (18 reviews) - Chat Management (13 reviews) ### 10. [Genesys Cloud CX](https://www.g2.com/products/genesys-cloud-cx/reviews) The Genesys Cloud CX™ platform is trusted by thousands of small, medium and large enterprises and recognized across the globe as an industry-leading cloud call center solution and customer experience (CX) platform. No matter where the customer conversation starts or ends, Genesys Cloud CX transforms your customer experience. It connects insights across teams, tools and interactions so you have the data to address customers problems with ease. Meet your customers anywhere, anytime, on any channel, with a suite of digital channels. Automate Successful Outcomes Simplify how you connect with customers across channels. With smart automation across the entire customer journey, you can use data and insights gained to take the right action at the right time to create the best outcomes. With an all-in-one suite of digital capabilities in Genesys Cloud CX, call center employees and customers can engage in seamless conversations across digital channels like chat, email, text and social media. Enhance the customer experience with bots and predictive artificial intelligence (AI) and route to a human call center agent when customers have more complex needs. Innovate at Scale Give your employees and call center agents the information they need in a tool built to drive engagement, improve customer interactions and boost your team’s performance. Reimagine Experiences that Matter Use Genesys Cloud CX as an all-in-one cloud call center application and easily extend the suite with hundreds of packaged integrations. Take full advantage of the composable customer experience platform with third-party integrations and applications so you can reach customers any moment, on any channel. Genesys is redefining the customer experience with innovative call center software. Our award-winning Genesys Cloud CX deploys in days, is intuitive to use and innovates with upgrades each week. With real-time dashboards, simple management tools and analytics, Genesys Cloud CX provides the insights you need to run your business. And you’ll take your contact center and CX strategy into tomorrow — no matter where your agents are located or which channels they handle. **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,446 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Genesys](https://www.g2.com/sellers/genesys) - **Company Website:** https://www.genesys.com - **Year Founded:** 1990 - **HQ Location:** Menlo Park, CA - **Twitter:** @Genesys (32,228 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/601919/ (8,509 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Manager, Case Advocate - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Financial Services - **Company Size:** 46% Mid-Market, 40% Enterprise #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (144 reviews) - Features (103 reviews) - Reliability (79 reviews) - Efficiency (74 reviews) - Intuitive (62 reviews) **Cons:** - Limited Features (58 reviews) - Missing Features (55 reviews) - Complexity (44 reviews) - Inadequate Reporting (38 reviews) - Learning Curve (38 reviews) ### 11. [Alexa for Business](https://www.g2.com/products/alexa-for-business/reviews) Alexa for Business is a service that enables organizations to integrate Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant, into their workplace environments. It provides tools for deploying and managing Alexa-enabled devices, users, and skills at scale, enhancing productivity and streamlining operations. Key Features and Functionality: - Meeting Room Management: Simplifies conference room experiences by allowing voice-activated control of meetings and equipment. Employees can start meetings with commands like "Alexa, start the meeting," reducing reliance on manual controls. - Employee Productivity: Enables users to access calendars, join meetings, and manage emails through voice commands. Alexa can read emails, provide daily schedules, and set reminders, facilitating efficient task management. - Device and User Management: Offers centralized management of shared Alexa devices and user accounts. Administrators can assign skills, monitor device status, and manage user permissions through the Alexa for Business console. - Custom Skills Development: Allows organizations to create private skills tailored to their specific needs, such as providing company information, reporting issues, or ordering supplies, thereby enhancing internal processes. Primary Value and Solutions: Alexa for Business addresses common workplace challenges by automating routine tasks and providing hands-free access to information and services. It enhances meeting efficiency, reduces administrative overhead, and supports a more connected and responsive work environment. By leveraging voice technology, organizations can improve employee productivity and satisfaction while optimizing resource utilization. **Average Rating:** 4.2/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 43 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.7/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://www.g2.com/sellers/amazon-web-services-aws-3e93cc28-2e9b-4961-b258-c6ce0feec7dd) - **Year Founded:** 2006 - **HQ Location:** Seattle, WA - **Twitter:** @awscloud (2,220,862 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon-web-services/ (156,424 employees on LinkedIn®) - **Ownership:** NASDAQ: AMZN **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Top Industries:** Higher Education, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 57% Small-Business, 25% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Easy Creation (1 reviews) - Scheduling (1 reviews) - Time-saving (1 reviews) ### 12. [Kore.AI](https://www.g2.com/products/kore-ai/reviews) Kore.ai, a leader in enterprise AI, accelerates business outcomes from AI with agentic AI applications built on the industry-leading Kore.ai Agent Platform. Its growing catalogue includes pre-built solutions for banking, healthcare, and retail; horizontal applications for IT, HR, and recruiting; and marketplace that help enterprises deploy AI agents quickly across additional industries and use cases. Open and agnostic by design, Kore.ai gives organizations flexibility in choosing AI models, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise systems. Trusted by nearly 500 Global 2000 companies, Kore.ai enables secure, scalable AI adoption worldwide. With its roots grounded in the Enterprise, Kore.ai brings years of experience in AI applications for customer service, workplace productivity and process automation. The company has a strong patent portfolio in the AI space and has been recognized as a leader and an innovator by top analysts. Headquartered in Orlando, Kore.ai has a network of offices to support customers in India, the UK, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, and Europe. Visit Kore.ai to learn more. **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 381 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Kore.ai](https://www.g2.com/sellers/kore-ai-87d44a58-d726-4ac9-9dc4-290730d220bc) - **Company Website:** https://kore.ai - **Year Founded:** 2013 - **HQ Location:** Orlando, FL - **Twitter:** @koredotai (5,646 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/3602865/ (1,257 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Associate - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software - **Company Size:** 42% Enterprise, 31% Small-Business #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (209 reviews) - Features (118 reviews) - Chatbot Development (98 reviews) - Integrations (85 reviews) - Easy Integrations (74 reviews) **Cons:** - Learning Curve (47 reviews) - Usage Limitations (43 reviews) - Slow Performance (40 reviews) - Slow Loading (32 reviews) - Software Bugs (29 reviews) ### 13. [Zoom Virtual Agent](https://www.g2.com/products/zoom-virtual-agent/reviews) Zoom Virtual Agent is an AI-powered solution that helps businesses deliver fast, effortless support to customers across both voice and digital messaging channels. It uses agentic AI to understand context, reason through complex requests, and take action to resolve issues end to end. Natively connected to Zoom Contact Center, it enables seamless handoffs between virtual and live agents while powering connected workflows and insights through Zoom Quality Management —unifying every channel into a consistent customer journey and driving continuous optimization. Built on Zoom’s scalable, secure platform, it’s fast to deploy, easy to manage, and flexible enough to grow with your business—giving customers instant answers without waiting on live support, reducing customer effort, and driving long-term loyalty that creates measurable financial upside. **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 204 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 7.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 7.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Zoom](https://www.g2.com/sellers/zoom-a5000ea1-6d30-4ab4-b591-20723189ac97) - **Company Website:** https://www.zoom.com - **Year Founded:** 2011 - **HQ Location:** San Jose, CA - **Twitter:** @zoom (1,043,510 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/2532259/ (12,688 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Retail - **Company Size:** 74% Mid-Market, 21% Small-Business #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Useful (10 reviews) - Ease of Use (9 reviews) - Integrations (7 reviews) - Automation (6 reviews) - Helpful (6 reviews) **Cons:** - AI Limitations (6 reviews) - AI Inaccuracy (5 reviews) - Inaccuracy (5 reviews) - Learning Curve (3 reviews) - Not Intuitive (3 reviews) ### 14. [Botpress](https://www.g2.com/products/botpress/reviews) Botpress is a leading AI platform built for creating and deploying autonomous AI agents at scale. Headquartered in Montreal and trusted by teams in over 190 countries, Botpress gives organizations the infrastructure needed to move beyond traditional chatbots and build agents that reason, act, and integrate directly into business systems. The platform is used by startups, growth-stage companies, and global enterprises to automate real workflows, improve efficiency, and deliver intelligent customer and employee experiences. At its foundation, Botpress provides the essential building blocks for production-ready agents: multi-turn reasoning, tool orchestration, persistent memory, safe code execution in a sandboxed environment, and runtime isolation to ensure predictable behavior over time. Agents can interact with APIs, handle structured data, write and execute code, and return rich UI responses, all while maintaining stability and scale. Each agent runs in a fully isolated environment to reduce risk and prevent regressions. Botpress supports both no-code and pro-code development. Business teams launch agents quickly using the visual Studio, while developers leverage SDKs and APIs for full customization and integration. This dual approach makes Botpress accessible to non-technical users yet powerful enough for engineers building complex, domain-specific logic. The result is faster time-to-value without sacrificing control or flexibility. Organizations use Botpress to automate customer support, streamline backend workflows, manage internal tools, and tackle domain-specific tasks that previously required full-stack engineering. The platform helps teams ship agents that operate safely, respond accurately, and scale across departments and regions. By blending visual development with enterprise-grade extensibility, Botpress shortens the gap between experimentation and production, ensuring companies can move quickly without compromising reliability. In 2025, Botpress raised a $25M Series B led by FRAMEWORK Ventures with participation from HubSpot, Deloitte, and Inovia, to accelerate platform growth and global adoption. The company continues to expand its ecosystem of tools, integrations, and prebuilt workflows, making it easier for businesses to adopt AI agents in real-world use cases. Botpress stands at the center of the shift from static chatbots to autonomous AI systems. By providing the infrastructure for safe, scalable, and production-ready agents, Botpress enables companies to transform how work gets done across customer-facing and internal processes. **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 400 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 7.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Botpress](https://www.g2.com/sellers/botpress) - **Company Website:** https://botpress.com - **Year Founded:** 2017 - **HQ Location:** Quebec, QC - **Twitter:** @getbotpress (2,650 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/27121841 (125 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** CEO, Founder - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software - **Company Size:** 74% Small-Business, 15% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (137 reviews) - Features (94 reviews) - Integrations (78 reviews) - Easy Integrations (77 reviews) - Intuitive (68 reviews) **Cons:** - Learning Curve (60 reviews) - Limited Features (34 reviews) - Missing Features (34 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (31 reviews) - Poor Documentation (29 reviews) ### 15. [SendPulse](https://www.g2.com/products/sendpulse/reviews) SendPulse is an all-in-one marketing automation platform designed to help you streamline your sales and marketing efforts from start to finish and scale your business. SendPulse features include: - bulk email and SMS service; - sales pipeline automation; - transactional emails; - Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp chatbot builder; - web push notification service; - website builder; - live chat builder; - CRM system; - online course builder and LMS. No matter which SendPulse service you choose to work with, it will feature our platform's core components: intuitive, no-code interface; user-friendly drag-and-drop builder with extensive customization options; seamless integration of individual services within the platform; and advanced marketing and sales automation capabilities. You can seamlessly combine all services into a unified system to create automated sales pipelines. SendPulse’s online course builder integrates various marketing and sales automation tools, allowing you to effortlessly engage new students, nurture relationships with your existing audience, and effectively monetize your expertise. SendPulse is always available on your smartphone, enabling you to launch marketing campaigns, interact with your chatbot subscribers, and manage your audience from anywhere. Online courses created with SendPulse's course builder are also accessible on mobile devices. Education by SendPulse is a user-friendly app that allows students to create and edit their profiles, enroll in courses, track their learning progress, and communicate with instructors. You only need a smartphone or tablet to register, create a student account, and successfully start and complete your training. SendPulse offers a wide range of comprehensive, seamlessly integrated marketing solutions. Our core objective is to optimize marketers’ and business owners’ workflows and empower them to drive company growth through more efficient sales and marketing processes. With SendPulse, you can efficiently: - Build and segment your audience. - Manage all your sales and marketing activities from a single platform. - Track and analyze the effectiveness of your deals. - Make data-driven decisions based on actionable insights. - Boost your sales through personalized messaging tailored to subscribers across every stage of your sales funnel. SendPulse offers unlimited email campaigns, 24/7 live support, exceptional deliverability, and detailed reporting on every pricing plan. Our free plan includes 15,000 emails per month, while paid subscriptions start at just $9.85 per month. **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 679 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [SendPulse](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sendpulse) - **Year Founded:** 2015 - **HQ Location:** New York - **Twitter:** @SendPulseCom (2,198 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/9359878/ (184 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** CEO, Founder - **Top Industries:** Marketing and Advertising, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 90% Small-Business, 9% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (61 reviews) - Automation (41 reviews) - Easy Setup (34 reviews) - Customer Support (33 reviews) - Features (33 reviews) **Cons:** - Missing Features (26 reviews) - Limited Features (18 reviews) - Learning Curve (17 reviews) - Limited Options (17 reviews) - Expensive (16 reviews) ### 16. [LiveChat](https://www.g2.com/products/livechat/reviews) LiveChat is a comprehensive customer communication platform that enables businesses to connect with their website visitors and customers in real-time, driving sales, delivering support, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Designed for ecommerce teams, the platform boosts AOV, upsell, and overall ROI by engaging shoppers at the right moment and converting more traffic into revenue. AI and advanced analytics surface sales opportunities, automate routine conversations, and give clear visibility into performance. All essential tools - including AI automation, analytics, a customizable chat widget, and agent apps - come together in one easy-to-deploy, no-code platform that delivers value quickly. ✅ Benefits • Higher conversions by capturing visitor attention at key moments through proactive, real-time engagement. • Lower operational overhead and greater agent productivity thanks to managing all communication channels in one unified workspace. • Better business decisions and clearer performance insights driven by transparent reporting on conversions, lead quality, and sales opportunities. • Faster responses and more time for high-value conversations enabled by AI that automates routine work and supports agents with smart assistance. • Stronger customer engagement and higher average order value through chat experiences tailored to your brand and optimized for upsell. 💬 Key features • Chat tools and widget: Real-time, two-way conversations with visitors, supported by file sharing, chat archives, automated greetings (like sneak-peek and inactivity prompts), seamless chat transfer, and post-chat ratings. • Multi-channel messaging: Manage all conversations from a single workspace - one license covers unlimited websites and apps, plus Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp Business, and email. • AI and automation: Leverage built-in AI features, including Copilot, reply suggestions, chat summaries, and insights extracted from high-volume conversations to boost efficiency and speed. • Analytics and reporting: Access intuitive dashboards that track agent performance, conversions, customer behavior, and more, with robust filtering and easy data export. • Customization and integrations: Tailor the widget’s appearance, language, and brand voice, and extend capabilities with 200+ integrations across CRMs, ecommerce platforms, help desks, and automation tools. • Easy implementation: Add LiveChat to your site with a simple code snippet-no heavy development or complex setup required. • Security and support: Benefit from enterprise-grade security, reliable infrastructure, and 24/7/365 customer support to keep your communication running flawlessly. 🌎 Trusted by teams worldwide to drive growth Thousands of companies worldwide utilize LiveChat to deliver fast and personalized customer interactions. Over 40% of customers prefer brands that offer live chat, and businesses that consistently use it see higher conversion rates and stronger engagement. LiveChat helps teams work more efficiently, improve satisfaction, and drive measurable growth. Adding specific customer results - like increases in conversions or agent productivity - can further highlight its impact. About Us LiveChat was created by Text S.A., a global software company headquartered in Wrocław, Poland. For over two decades, we’ve been dedicated to building tools that help businesses communicate better with their customers. LiveChat serves companies in more than 150 countries - from growing ecommerce stores to established B2B SaaS organizations - empowering them to deliver fast, personal, and effective customer service. **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 779 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Text](https://www.g2.com/sellers/text-d7daf23a-c555-466c-8ae4-fc77beae1378) - **Company Website:** https://www.text.com/ - **Year Founded:** 2002 - **HQ Location:** Wrocław, Lower Silesia - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/text/ (382 employees on LinkedIn®) - **Ownership:** WSE: TXT **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Customer Service Representative, CEO - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 44% Small-Business, 36% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (24 reviews) - Features (20 reviews) - Live Chat (19 reviews) - Helpful (16 reviews) - Easy Setup (14 reviews) **Cons:** - Not Intuitive (7 reviews) - Chatbot Issues (6 reviews) - Chat Management (5 reviews) - Expensive (5 reviews) - Improvements Needed (5 reviews) ### 17. [Simplr](https://www.g2.com/products/simplr/reviews) Simplr enables enterprise-class companies to transform their CX from a cost center to a revenue driver. Simplr’s digital concierge approach improves customer service cost-effectively and drives revenue opportunities along the customer interaction lifecycle. We provide customer service through cutting-edge automation and a global pool of AI-enabled agents across all customer service channels. Simplr is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asurion, the world’s leading tech care company, which serves over 300 million customers. Find more information about Simplr at https://www.simplr.ai/. **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 24 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [asurion](https://www.g2.com/sellers/asurion) - **Year Founded:** 1994 - **HQ Location:** Nashville, US - **Twitter:** @simplr (796 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/asurion/ (16,694 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Company Size:** 67% Mid-Market, 25% Small-Business ### 18. [Twixor](https://www.g2.com/products/twixor/reviews) Twixor is a cutting-edge customer experience (CX) platform that leverages Generative AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to create dynamic customer journeys across various messaging channels. Designed for businesses seeking to enhance their customer interactions, Twixor integrates Digital Assistants with Intelligent Process Automation, enabling personalized and goal-oriented engagements. This innovative platform transcends traditional scripted responses, offering empathetic and tailored recommendations that significantly improve customer satisfaction in marketing, business transactions, and support operations. Targeted at a diverse range of industries, Twixor is particularly beneficial for organizations looking to streamline their customer engagement processes. Its low-code/no-code approach makes it accessible for businesses of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. With over 400 clients globally and managing more than one billion interactions each quarter, Twixor has established itself as a trusted solution in the market. The platform is recognized for its ability to enhance brand engagement, reduce operational costs, and improve conversation rates, making it a valuable asset for businesses aiming to optimize their customer experience. Key features of Twixor include a user-friendly drag-and-drop Journey Builder Studio, an AI and NLP-powered conversational engine, and the ability to deploy both Live and Virtual Agents. Additionally, the platform supports Smart Campaign Management and offers omnichannel capabilities in 120 languages, ensuring that businesses can connect with their customers in a way that suits their preferences. The AI-driven Analytical Dashboard provides valuable insights into customer interactions, allowing businesses to refine their strategies and improve overall engagement. Twixor's transformative benefits are evident in its proven success metrics, including a conversation rate increase of over 25%, a reduction in operating costs by 15-25%, and an impressive 80% boost in brand engagement. Recognized as the Best Customer Experience Platform in Retail and Ecommerce in India, Twixor has also gained traction as an emerging Conversational AI Vendor in the MEA region. Its partnerships with major banking platforms and CPaaS players further underscore its credibility and effectiveness in delivering white-labeled solutions. By empowering businesses to craft dynamic customer journeys, Twixor stands out in the competitive landscape of customer experience platforms. Its focus on personalized interactions and intelligent automation positions it as a leader in enhancing customer engagement, making it an essential tool for organizations looking to elevate their customer experience strategy. **Average Rating:** 4.8/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 78 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 9.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Twixor](https://www.g2.com/sellers/twixor) - **Company Website:** https://twixor.ai/ - **Year Founded:** 2019 - **HQ Location:** Singapore, SG - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/twixor/ (106 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Conference Producer - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software - **Company Size:** 47% Small-Business, 41% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (48 reviews) - Features (43 reviews) - Automation (36 reviews) - Efficiency (32 reviews) - Artificial Intelligence (31 reviews) **Cons:** - Learning Curve (27 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (16 reviews) - Limited Customization (15 reviews) - Difficult Learning (14 reviews) - Complexity (11 reviews) ### 19. [Sprinklr Service](https://www.g2.com/products/sprinklr-service/reviews) Sprinklr Service is a cloud-native unified customer service platform powered by AI that enables seamless customer & agent experience across 30+ digital, social and voice channels, and delivers real-time actionable & scalable insights – eliminating the need for any other point solution. - Enables customers to interact with your brand on their preferred channel for consistent brand experience leading to customer delight. - Empowers agents with unified/360 customer view and recommends the most relevant responses with the power of AI to improve agent productivity and experience. - Provides meaningful and actionable insights to supervisors to drive growth and operational excellence - Helps leaders uncover opportunities for growth, transformation and innovation through real- time contact center insights scalable across the enterprise. **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 662 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Sprinklr](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sprinklr) - **Company Website:** https://www.sprinklr.com - **Year Founded:** 2009 - **HQ Location:** New York - **Twitter:** @Sprinklr (38,104 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/399351/ (4,349 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Social Media Manager, Social Media Specialist - **Top Industries:** Consumer Services, Marketing and Advertising - **Company Size:** 41% Enterprise, 30% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (81 reviews) - Features (64 reviews) - Helpful (52 reviews) - Efficiency (47 reviews) - Customer Support (37 reviews) **Cons:** - Complexity (29 reviews) - Learning Curve (27 reviews) - Missing Features (26 reviews) - Slow Loading (23 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (21 reviews) ### 20. [Drift](https://www.g2.com/products/drift/reviews) Drift is a human-centric, AI-powered buyer engagement platform. A platform that automatically listens, understands and learns from buyers to provide individualized and human experiences at every touchpoint of the buying journey. A platform that not only helps businesses translate conversational data and buyer behavior into deeper customer relationships, more pipeline and revenue, but a platform that completely modernizes the B2B website experience. Drift was built to transform the B2B buying process, and we continue to innovate as that process changes. Our goal is for your teams to not burn hours moving between disparate systems in order to deliver the best possible customer experience, but to spend more time doing what they do best — building pipeline, closing deals and strengthening customer relationships. **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,204 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Salesloft](https://www.g2.com/sellers/salesloft) - **Company Website:** https://salesloft.com - **Year Founded:** 2011 - **HQ Location:** Atlanta, GA - **Twitter:** @Salesloft (18,439 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/2296178/ (1,137 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Sales Development Representative, Business Development Representative - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services - **Company Size:** 51% Mid-Market, 27% Small-Business #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Use (53 reviews) - Helpful (47 reviews) - Features (34 reviews) - Visitor Tracking (30 reviews) - Lead Generation (28 reviews) **Cons:** - Chat Management (10 reviews) - Learning Curve (9 reviews) - Notification Issues (9 reviews) - Routing Issues (9 reviews) - Chat Issues (8 reviews) ### 21. [Glassix](https://www.g2.com/products/glassix/reviews) Glassix’s on a mission to broaden access to Conversational AI and Omnichannel Customer Communication, empowering businesses to unlock their untapped potential and achieve unmatched scalability.
 With its AI Omnichannel capabilities, Glassix reshapes customer journeys. We transcend temporal boundaries, meeting customer needs at every touchpoint, even during dormant hours. Trusted by Nike, Avis, Nintendo, Domino's, and Dyson, Glassix propels missions forward with its transformative technology. With Glassix, managing your customer interactions has never been easier. Our unified inbox eliminates the need for multiple tools, streamlining workflow management and reducing expenses. From AI-powered chatbots to personalized greetings, keep your customers engaged in one place. Glassix is the AI-powered unified messaging platform that keeps your customer conversations connected across any digital channel - Instant messaging apps and SMS text, email conversations, live chat on your website or app, and social media messages. The secure platform offers a robust feature-set delivered as a subscription service complete with visual no/low code chatbot tools that require no technical knowledge to get started. Customers can hit the ground running with conversational AI capabilities powered by GPT-4, or leverage the Glassix API to build out highly customized experiences. Working together with a global network of integration partners, Glassix serves a growing customer base of established brands, high growth ventures, and small businesses alike. Experience the power of Glassix as it refines interactions, allowing you to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Say goodbye to manual tasks and reclaim your valuable time. With our automation capabilities, conversations flow effortlessly, leaving your customers in awe. **Average Rating:** 4.8/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 197 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.8/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 9.6/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Glassix](https://www.g2.com/sellers/glassix) - **Year Founded:** 2015 - **HQ Location:** Tel Aviv, Israel - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/glassix/ (24 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Real Estate - **Company Size:** 67% Small-Business, 30% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Ease of Understanding (1 reviews) - Ease of Use (1 reviews) - Intuitive (1 reviews) - Simple (1 reviews) - Simple Use (1 reviews) **Cons:** - Lack of Integrations (1 reviews) - Limited Features (1 reviews) - Missing Features (1 reviews) ### 22. [HighLevel](https://www.g2.com/products/highlevel/reviews) HighLevel is an all-in-one Sales & Marketing CRM currently powering hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. Functionality includes CRM, Email, 2-way SMS, Consolidated SMS/Messenger/Instagram DM/Whatsapp/GMB Chat, Outbound Calling, Call Tracking, Call Recording, Power Dialer, Form Builder, Survey Builder, Funnel Builder, Website Builder, Online Scheduling, Workflow Automation, Social Media Scheduling, Proposals, Estimates, Invoicing, Reporting, Webhooks, and more! Flat pricing, unlimited sub-accounts for agencies managing clients that can be cloned to speed up setups, and even white-label! Start with a 14 day free trial! **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 599 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 7.3/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [HighLevel](https://www.g2.com/sellers/highlevel) - **Company Website:** https://gohighlevel.com - **Year Founded:** 2018 - **HQ Location:** Dallas, Texas - **Twitter:** @gohighlevel (8,459 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/highlevel/ (2,132 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** Owner, CEO - **Top Industries:** Marketing and Advertising, Consulting - **Company Size:** 62% Small-Business, 3% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Features (156 reviews) - Helpful (140 reviews) - Customer Support (139 reviews) - Feature Richness (127 reviews) - Automation (124 reviews) **Cons:** - Learning Curve (141 reviews) - Missing Features (91 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (90 reviews) - Not Intuitive (56 reviews) - Poor Customer Support (53 reviews) ### 23. [Sobot Omnichannel Suite](https://www.g2.com/products/sobot-omnichannel-suite/reviews) Sobot is a leading global contact center solution provider, offering a suite of solutions and services, including chatbot, live chat, voice, ticketing system, messaging, and WhatsApp Business API. From small startups to multinational enterprises, Sobot believes that every business should have access to innovative customer experience tools. Serving over 10,000 brands across diverse industries in 18+ languages, our clients include renowned names such as Samsung, OPPO, Philips, Tineco, DFS, Renogy, Weee!, Michael Kors, J&T, Air Liquide, OPay, Mico, and Lilith Games. **Average Rating:** 4.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 35 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 9.9/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 9.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Sobot](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sobot) - **HQ Location:** Singapore, SG - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sobotofficial (97 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Who Uses This:** CEO - **Top Industries:** Computer Software - **Company Size:** 53% Small-Business, 50% Mid-Market #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Helpful (203 reviews) - Features (163 reviews) - Ease of Use (149 reviews) - Efficiency (126 reviews) - Customer Support (115 reviews) **Cons:** - Limited Customization (46 reviews) - Missing Features (41 reviews) - Learning Curve (37 reviews) - Limited Features (34 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (25 reviews) ### 24. [AtomChat.io](https://www.g2.com/products/atomchat-io/reviews) AtomChat uses Generative AI to Automate Customer service inquiries and Lead generation, improving customer satisfaction and lead conversion via Messaging. Here you can find some Key features: - Automation with Gen Ai to respond 24/7 to all your messages: If you receive many conversations on WhatsApp, or any conversational channel, and your service advisors cannot respond on time, or give them priority, with Atom you have an automation that allows you to respond to your customers in seconds, transfer them to an advisor, qualify them, and follow up on them. - Empower your teams with mass messaging via WhatsApp and automatic response workflows: Atom allows you to manage mass message campaigns and automatically respond to thousands of customers, without worrying about your agents getting overwhelmed by receiving many responses. - Visibility and traceability of your Marketing efforts and strategies: Atom has a complete module with real-time reporting on the results of your Ads campaigns, qualified leads, conversion, and service levels. - We integrate to your preferred platform We also integrate with major platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, Talkdesk, and Facebook Marketing so you have the follow-up you need to sell more. We are Meta Select Business Partners! **Average Rating:** 4.7/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 94 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [AtomChat.io](https://www.g2.com/sellers/atomchat-io) - **Year Founded:** 2019 - **HQ Location:** Simpsonville, US - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomchat/ (173 employees on LinkedIn®) **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Top Industries:** Higher Education, Automotive - **Company Size:** 55% Mid-Market, 35% Small-Business #### Pros & Cons **Pros:** - Helpful (4 reviews) - Easy Setup (2 reviews) - Integrations (2 reviews) - AI Technology (1 reviews) - Automation (1 reviews) **Cons:** - Functionality Issues (2 reviews) - Integration Issues (2 reviews) - AI Limitations (1 reviews) - Inefficiency (1 reviews) - Integration Difficulty (1 reviews) ### 25. [AWS Chatbot](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-chatbot/reviews) AWS Chatbot lets you monitor, troubleshoot, and operate your AWS environments natively from within your chat channels. **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 12 **User Satisfaction Scores:** - **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 9.2/10) - **Control:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.7/10) - **Analytics:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10) - **Collection of information:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10) **Seller Details:** - **Seller:** [Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://www.g2.com/sellers/amazon-web-services-aws-3e93cc28-2e9b-4961-b258-c6ce0feec7dd) - **Year Founded:** 2006 - **HQ Location:** Seattle, WA - **Twitter:** @awscloud (2,220,862 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon-web-services/ (156,424 employees on LinkedIn®) - **Ownership:** NASDAQ: AMZN **Reviewer Demographics:** - **Company Size:** 58% Mid-Market, 25% Enterprise ## Parent Category [Conversational Intelligence Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/conversational-intelligence) ## Related Categories - [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) --- ## Buyer Guide ### 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.