There are myriad tools for service businesses, but many see chatbots and conversational AI as non-essential; the truth is just the opposite. These tools play a significant role in handling inquiries, scheduling appointments, qualifying leads, and supporting customers 24/7. So, if you feel overwhelmed with the options available, we compiled this list of the best chatbot and conversational AI platforms you can try:
1. ChatGPT You're living under a rock if you don't know that ChatGPT is one of the first and most versatile conversational AI platforms for your service business. It can take on your customers' queries, book appointments, and support your internal team without the technical setup. It shines in easily adapting to your industry, conversational styles, and your business's workflows.
Furthermore, ChatGPT is affordable, making it a suitable option for startups and small businesses. Pricing starts with its free plan with basic capabilities. For more features, there's the Plus plan at $20 per month, and the Pro plan, which costs $200 per month.
2. Google Gemini Google's next-generation conversational platform, Gemini, can support your business's customer interactions, data analysis, content generation, and task automation. If you're already using Google's Workspace, Gemini fits naturally into your existing workflows.
Google Gemini pricing starts with a free version with the most basic features. Then there are two paid plans: Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra, priced at $124.99 per month for three months.
3. Claude Designed for flexible and advanced natural language interaction, Claude is effective for businesses looking for more than the basic chatbot responses. It can handle customer queries, generate content, help with repetitive tasks, analyze documents, and integrate with your workflows. Its key advantage is its strong contextual understanding and long-form conversation support.
Claude's pricing begins with a free plan and two paid ones. You'll pay $20 per month for its Pro plan if you only need the basics. Also, there's a starting price of $100 per month for its Max plan, which is best for enterprise-level businesses seeking higher usage and features.
4. Tidio A popular customer communication platform, Tidio offers a combination of live chat, automated chatbots, and support tools, all in one place. It's designed to help service businesses engage with their website visitors, respond to questions, and escalate complex concerns to humans. Like ChatGPT, there's no need for a complicated, technical setup.
Like many on this list, Tidio offers a free plan with 50 billable conversations. For its paid plans, there's Starter, Growth, Plus, and Premium, with pricing that starts at $29 per month with 100 billable conversations.
5. Drift Another excellent conversational AI platform, Drift can help you with real-time engagement, lead qualification, and automated conversations. It can route your prospects to the right teams, schedule meetings, and integrate deeply with your CRM and other marketing tools. This can help your sales team get the support it needs.
Drift has a custom, quote-based pricing model. This means paid tiers are shared only after speaking directly to their sales team or a chatbot on the site. This is an excellent opportunity to see the conversational platform in action.
6. Intercom A leading brand in the customer engagement and support industry, Intercom offers live chats, automated AI responses, help desk tools, and multiple-channel messaging. It has a built-in Fin AI Agent that handles customer inquiries, resolves support tickets, and routes complex issues to human agents. This allows you to manage more customer concerns without hiring extra staff.
You can explore this chatbot and AI conversational platform on a 14-day free trial, then progress to any of its paid plans. Pricing starts at $0.99 per Fin resolution or $39 per seat per month.
7. Zendesk A go-to customer service platform for many businesses, Zendesk offers ticketing, live chats, and AI-powered automation. It has an Answer Bot feature that gives automated replies to common questions, deflects repetitive queries, and escalates complicated concerns to your human agents. If you're looking for a full support suite and not just a chatbot, this is the platform to explore.
Like many on this list of the best chatbot and AI conversational platforms, Zendesk offers a free trial that lets you explore the platform. If you want to move to a more feature-rich option, it offers four paid plans, with pricing starting at $25 per agent per month.
8. Freshchat With over 75,000 businesses worldwide trusting Freshchat , it's time you explored it. It is a conversational support and messaging platform that helps you engage with your customers through website chat, mobile apps, and social media channels. It offers the option of live agents, AI-driven bots, or a combination of both. It has a chatbot called Freddy AI that can answer common questions automatically, route conversations, and enable your human team to focus on more complex issues.
Freshchat offers a free plan that includes a unified agent workspace to streamline service. It also has three paid plans, with pricing starting at $23 per agent per month.
9. ManyChat A conversational marketing and chatbot platform, Manychat can help you manage and automate your messaging and customer engagement tasks. From Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct to SMS and email, it can help you with customer communications. It also has a visual flow builder to help you create automated conversations and send broadcasts without coding.
Manychat offers a free plan with the very basic features. If you find it helpful, you can choose from any of its paid plans with pricing that starts at $15 per month.
10. HubSpot Free Chatbot Builder If a simple chatbot is what your business needs, there's HubSpot Free Chatbot Builder . It can collect your web visitors' information, book meetings, and route complex questions to your internal team. This free platform is already included in HubSpot's CRM, thus, integrating a basic chatbot into your website and workflows becomes easy. This makes it the ideal platform for startups and small businesses that need basic functionality without incurring upfront costs. Do note that it does not include AI-powered responses or advanced automation.
Cover photo credit: Karola G on Pexels
