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Best AI Customer Service Software (2025 Comparison Guide)

Contributing Author

13 min read

Aug 27, 2025

TL;DR: Customer expectations keep rising while teams hit their limits. We compared 10 AI customer service platforms to help you cut through the noise — and found which ones actually make support faster, not harder.

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Every support leader I talk to says the same thing: the inbox never sleeps, and expectations keep climbing.

Customers want answers right now, but teams can’t just hire their way out of the problem. That’s where AI comes in. 

In this guide, I’ll share a shortlist of the best AI customer service platforms, show you when each one fits, and give you a framework to pick the right tool for your team

Why AI in customer service matters now

Not long ago, fast support meant replying within a day. Today, customers expect real-time help — at midnight, on a weekend, in their language of choice. Research shows that over 80% of customers now rate immediate responses as the most important part of a good support experience. The pressure is relentless.

At the same time, the cost of scaling human-only teams keeps rising. Salaries, training, and turnover eat into margins. Adding more agents doesn’t solve the core issue: demand grows faster than budgets.

That’s why AI agents are different from the chatbots of five years ago. They don’t just answer FAQs. They resolve real issues — resetting passwords, processing returns, even recommending products — without waiting for a human to step in. Think of them less as scripts and more as autonomous teammates.

A good example is the Text App. Its AI-first platform trains agents on your own knowledge base and customer data, so they deliver accurate, personalized help around the clock. Routine tasks are handled automatically, while complex cases escalate to humans with full context.

The urgency is clear in the numbers. Gartner projects that by 2027, a quarter of all customer interactions will be handled end-to-end by AI. For support leaders, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity: adapt now, or risk falling behind.

Quick shortlist of the best AI customer service software (2025)

• Text App – best all-in-one AI customer service platform blending live chat, ticketing, and automation

• Zendesk – best for enterprises needing robust workflows and integrations.

• Intercom – best for SaaS and growth teams focused on proactive support.

• Freshdesk (Freshworks) – best value for SMBs that want easy setup with automation.

• Genesys Cloud – best for large-scale contact centers and voice AI.

• Salesforce Service Cloud Einstein – best for CRM-driven AI support at enterprise level.

• HubSpot Service Hub – best for customer service tied closely to marketing and sales.

• Gladly – best for brands prioritizing personalized, conversation-based support.

• Kustomer (by Meta) – best for multichannel AI-powered support with social integration.

• Forethought – best emerging AI-first startup focused on automating tier-1 support.

1. Text App

When companies talk about “AI customer service,” they usually mean chatbots. Text App goes further. Its AI agents train directly on your knowledge base and customer data, which means they can resolve issues autonomously — from answering complex questions to processing returns — while escalating seamlessly to humans when needed.

What sets it apart is the balance. You don’t need separate tools for live chat, ticketing, or automation. Everything flows into one workspace, so your team sees the full history of a customer across channels. That cohesion saves time and prevents the usual silo problem.

The payoff: faster resolution times and less burnout for your team. For support leaders under pressure to do more with less, Text offers a clear path forward.

Read more about Text Intelligence, the AI system behind Text App.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk has been the gold standard in ticketing for over a decade. For large enterprises, its strength lies in structure: deep integrations, advanced reporting, and a massive app marketplace. If your support operation runs on processes and compliance, Zendesk has the guardrails in place.

The AI layer (through Zendesk AI) helps with ticket routing, intent detection, and macros that save agents time. It’s powerful, but often feels like an add-on rather than the heart of the product. That’s the trade-off: stability and breadth, but less innovation compared to AI-first rivals.

Still, for global companies managing thousands of agents, Zendesk remains the safe bet.

3. Intercom

Intercom carved its niche by turning customer support into customer engagement. Its conversational AI, proactive messaging, and chatbot flows make it a favorite among SaaS and product-led growth teams. If you want to not just answer questions but also upsell or re-engage users, Intercom is designed for that.

The experience feels polished: a chat bubble that doubles as a marketing channel, bots that trigger based on behavior, and AI summarization to help agents respond faster. The catch is pricing. As your customer base scales, so does your bill.

For fast-growing SaaS companies, though, the ROI can be worth it — especially if support and growth share the same goals.

4. Freshdesk

Freshdesk, part of Freshworks, appeals to teams that need solid customer service software without enterprise overhead. Its AI assistant, Freddy, handles ticket deflection, auto-suggests answers, and keeps queues from piling up. For small and mid-sized businesses, that can mean the difference between keeping up and falling behind.

The platform’s real strength is simplicity: setup is quick, the interface is friendly, and pricing is approachable. If your team doesn’t have time to configure a dozen AI workflows, Freshdesk gives you “good enough” automation right out of the box.

The trade-off is depth. Larger operations may quickly outgrow its AI capabilities, but for lean teams, it’s a practical choice.

5. Genesys Cloud

Genesys Cloud is less of a helpdesk and more of a command center. Built for large-scale contact centers, it combines omnichannel routing, workforce management, and predictive AI. Think voice AI that transcribes and analyzes calls in real time, or predictive engagement that routes customers to the right agent before they even explain their issue.

It shines when you’re managing thousands of conversations across phone, chat, and social simultaneously. The AI doesn’t just automate — it orchestrates. That scale comes with complexity, though. Implementing Genesys requires investment in time, people, and training.

For enterprises that treat support as mission-critical infrastructure, Genesys delivers enterprise-grade intelligence.

6. Salesforce Service Cloud Einstein

Salesforce already knows your customers better than most of your team does. That’s its advantage. Service Cloud Einstein uses CRM data to personalize support, predict next steps, and even suggest actions to agents mid-conversation.

For organizations already living inside Salesforce, this integration is seamless. Cases, sales, and marketing data flow into one record, and AI leverages all of it to speed up resolutions. The flip side: you’ll feel the cost, and the ecosystem can be overwhelming if you’re not already in it.

But if your business runs on Salesforce, Einstein turns customer support into a natural extension of the same system.

7. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot isn’t usually thought of as a support tool first, but Service Hub makes a strong case. It connects customer service directly to your CRM, so every ticket or chat is logged alongside marketing and sales data. That context makes it easier to see the full customer journey.

The AI piece helps with automation, reporting, and knowledge suggestions, but it’s not as advanced as AI-first platforms. Where HubSpot shines is in unifying service with the rest of the business. For small and mid-market companies already using HubSpot, adding Service Hub is the natural step.

8. Gladly

Gladly takes a different approach: instead of focusing on tickets, it treats every interaction as part of an ongoing conversation. Its AI supports agents by surfacing past context and suggesting next steps, so customers never feel like they’re repeating themselves.

That makes Gladly a favorite for retail and lifestyle brands that want support to feel like customer care. The ecosystem is smaller than Zendesk or Salesforce, but if your priority is building loyalty through human-like interactions, Gladly earns its place on the list.

9. Kustomer (by Meta)

Kustomer, now part of Meta, is built with multichannel in mind. It excels at pulling in conversations from social platforms, chat, email, and more into one timeline view. AI helps with routing and sentiment analysis, which is especially valuable when dealing with high volumes of quick, social-style interactions.

Its advantage is clear if your customers live on Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger. The concern some companies have is data privacy, given Meta’s ownership. Still, for brands where social is the main support channel, Kustomer is hard to beat.

10. Forethought

Forethought positions itself squarely in the AI-native camp. Its platform focuses on automating tier-1 support, deflecting repetitive questions, and triaging issues before they reach a human. That makes it a strong fit for startups or lean teams that need to absorb growth without hiring more agents.

Because it’s newer, Forethought doesn’t offer the breadth of features that larger platforms do. But that’s also its edge: it does one thing well — AI support automation. For leaders looking to experiment with a pure AI-first tool, it’s a compelling choice.

Framework: how to choose the best AI customer service software

When you’re staring at a crowded market of tools, the temptation is to chase features. But choosing well isn’t about who has the longest list. It’s about what actually makes your team’s day easier. Here’s how I think about it.

1. Type of workload

Start with the kind of work your team handles most. If your inbox is filled with the same repetitive questions — shipping updates, password resets, return policies — then an AI-first platform like Text App or Forethought pays dividends. They’re designed to absorb that volume and resolve it autonomously. But if your cases are fewer and more complex, you need something different: a system with layered workflows and compliance features. That’s where Zendesk or Salesforce excels, giving agents the structure to manage nuance without losing track.

2. Budget and team size

Money and headcount matter more than most software buyers admit. A small team with a tight budget will get more leverage from Freshdesk or HubSpot Service Hub, where you can spin up automation quickly without enterprise overhead. Larger teams, especially those with multiple regions or channels to coordinate, often lean toward Genesys Cloud or Salesforce Service Cloud Einstein. The sticker price is higher, but so is the payoff in control and scale.

3. Integration needs

Think about where your customer data already lives. If your company runs on a CRM, it rarely makes sense to reinvent the wheel. Salesforce and HubSpot fold support into the systems your sales and marketing teams already use, keeping the customer record intact. On the other hand, if your support presence is strongest on social channels, Kustomer feels like a natural fit. Retail and lifestyle brands often gravitate to Gladly, where support and loyalty programs blend together.

4. AI maturity

There’s also the question of how far along you want to be on the AI curve. Some teams are ready to let AI agents handle whole conversations, and for that you need a platform built AI-first, like Text App. Others are more comfortable easing in with intent detection, routing, or macros — places where Zendesk and Intercom offer a gentler on-ramp. Both approaches work, but clarity about your appetite for automation will save you from buyer’s remorse later.

5. Growth goals

Finally, look at how your company frames customer service. If leadership sees it as a cost center, the goal is usually efficiency — handle more tickets with fewer people, cut down on backlogs. That points you toward automation-heavy platforms. But if service is seen as part of the growth engine, where every conversation is a chance to deepen loyalty or drive revenue, then Intercom or Gladly stand out. They’re built to turn support into an engagement channel, not just a resolution engine.

In the end, the right platform isn’t the one with the flashiest AI demo. It’s the one that frees your team to spend less time on repetitive work and more time on the conversations that actually move your business forward.

What success looks like

A support manager I spoke with recently described what their Mondays used to feel like: “We’d open the inbox, and it was already overflowing. By noon, everyone was drowning.” The team was doing its best, but response times kept slipping and customer satisfaction was flatlining.

They decided to roll out AI agents through the Text App. At first, the change felt subtle — password resets and shipping updates started resolving themselves before an agent even saw them. But over the following weeks, the impact compounded. The backlog shrank, the average response time dropped by half, and the team had the breathing room to focus on complex cases. Customers noticed. Their CSAT scores climbed steadily, not because the AI made support impersonal, but because it gave agents the space to be human when it mattered.

That’s the real success story with AI in customer service. It’s not about replacing your team. It’s about giving them the chance to do their best work — while the AI quietly handles the rest.

Bringing it all together

If there’s one pattern across all of these platforms, it’s this: AI in customer service isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about buying back time. The inbox will never stop filling, but with the right system in place, you can decide what kind of work lands on your team’s desk — and what gets resolved before it ever reaches them.

The shortlist we covered shows there’s no single “best” tool for everyone. Enterprises might lean on Zendesk or Genesys. SaaS teams often thrive with Intercom. Startups can grow with Freshdesk or Forethought. And for many companies, an AI-first, unified platform like Text App strikes the balance between automation and the human touch.

If you’re ready to see how that balance works in practice, you don’t need a long implementation cycle. You can try the Text App free today and watch your backlog shrink in real time. It’s the easiest way to see what AI can unlock for your team.

FAQ

What is AI customer service software?

AI customer service software uses machine learning to handle repetitive inquiries, route tickets, and assist agents with faster, more personalized responses.

Which AI tool is best for small businesses?

Freshdesk, HubSpot Service Hub, and Text App are strong fits for smaller teams, thanks to easy setup and affordable pricing.

What makes Text App different from other platforms?

Text App is AI-first, training on your own customer data to resolve issues autonomously while seamlessly handing off complex cases to agents.

Is AI customer service software replacing human agents?

No. AI is designed to handle routine tasks so agents can focus on nuanced, high-value conversations.

How do I choose the right AI platform for my company?

Match the tool to your workload type, budget, integration needs, and growth goals. Start small and expand as your AI maturity grows.