16 Best Intercom Alternatives for Customer Support in 2023


Neeraj Shukla
By Neeraj Shukla | Last Updated on April 26th, 2024 11:52 am

As we move in this technological era, the need for reliable and feature-rich customer support platforms has never been greater. From real-time chat and AI-driven chatbots to robust CRM integration and email marketing, these platforms empower businesses to elevate their customer support and engagement. Whether you're seeking simplicity, multichannel support, or specialized AI-driven assistance, there's a solution to match. The upcoming promises to be a year of innovation and customer-centric strategies, and these alternatives are well-equipped to help businesses provide exceptional support and cultivate enduring customer relationships. As the customer support landscape continues to evolve, these alternatives will remain indispensable assets for businesses dedicated to delivering top-tier customer service.

16 Best Intercom alternatives for 2023


  1. Appy Pie Live Chat
  2. LiveChat
  3. Olark
  4. Tidio
  5. ClickDesk
  6. Drift
  7. Zoho
  8. Salesforce Service Cloud
  9. Twilio
  10. Freshchat
  11. EcoSend
  12. Tawk.to
  13. ThriveDesk
  14. Groove
  15. Customerly
  16. Desku

Appy Pie Live Chat

Appy Pie's Live Chat feature is a valuable tool for businesses seeking to boost customer engagement and support. It seamlessly integrates real-time chat capabilities into your website or mobile app, providing a direct communication channel with website visitors or app users. With this feature, you can interact with customers in real time, address their inquiries, and offer assistance promptly. Appy Pie's Live Chat allows customization to align with your brand's identity, including widget appearance, and supports automated responses through chatbots for efficient customer service.

Key Features


  • Enable immediate communication with website visitors or app users.
  • Customize the chat widget's appearance to match your brand's identity.
  • Gain insights into visitor behavior and engagement on your site or app.

LiveChat

LiveChat is a real-time chat and customer support platform renowned for its user-friendly interface and robust features, enabling businesses to engage with website visitors instantly. It offers chatbots for routine queries, ticketing systems for issue tracking, and various integrations, including CRMs and analytics tools. It is a versatile choice for businesses of all sizes seeking to enhance customer support and engagement while fostering customer loyalty through immediate assistance and real-time communication.

Key Features


  • Real-time chat support
  • Helpdesk functionality
  • Voice and video communication
  • Canned responses
  • Integration options

Olark

Olark is a user-friendly live chat platform that enables businesses to engage with their website visitors in real time. Known for its simplicity, Olark facilitates immediate customer support and valuable audience insights. With features like chat customization, automated messages, and detailed visitor information, businesses can proactively engage with visitors to answer questions, address concerns, and guide potential customers toward informed decisions. Olark enhances customer satisfaction, boosts conversion rates, and provides a better understanding of audience needs, making it a valuable tool for online customer support and engagement.

Key Features


  • Real-time chat for instant support
  • Canned responses for efficiency
  • User-friendly interface
  • Customization options
  • Reports and analytics for insights

Tidio

Tidio is a versatile customer support and engagement platform that offers several key features for businesses. It includes live chat and chatbots, enabling real-time interactions with website visitors. Tidio seamlessly integrates with email marketing, simplifying the process of reaching customers through various channels. The platform supports multichannel communication, allowing businesses to connect with customers across different platforms and devices. Automation of support processes streamlines operations, increasing efficiency and responsiveness. Tidio also offers seamless integration with other tools, ensuring a smooth workflow. Overall, Tidio is a comprehensive solution for businesses seeking to enhance their customer support, engagement, and communication efforts.

Key Features


  • Live chat and chatbots
  • Email marketing integration
  • Multichannel support
  • Automation of support processes
  • Seamless integration with other tools

ClickDesk

ClickDesk is a comprehensive customer support platform that combines various essential features for businesses. It offers both live chat and helpdesk functionalities, allowing for real-time customer interaction and issue tracking. One standout feature of ClickDesk is its support for voice and video communication, enabling businesses to engage with customers through these multimedia channels. Social media integration further expands the platform's reach, making it easier to connect with customers across various online platforms. To improve efficiency, ClickDesk provides canned responses for common queries. The platform also includes advanced analytics and reporting tools, offering valuable insights to support data-driven decisions and enhance customer support strategies. Overall, ClickDesk is a powerful solution for businesses looking to improve their customer support and communication efforts.

Key Features


  • Live chat and helpdesk
  • Voice and video communication
  • Social media integration
  • Canned responses for efficiency
  • Advanced analytics and reporting

Drift

Drift is a specialized platform focused on conversational marketing and sales, offering a range of features to help businesses engage and convert website visitors. It stands out with its conversational approach to customer interaction. Drift's main features include real-time chat, chatbots, and messaging, enabling businesses to initiate and maintain conversations with potential customers as they browse a website. It places a strong emphasis on facilitating personalized and immediate interactions, which can be crucial for converting leads. Drift's chatbots and automation capabilities help streamline the sales process and offer efficient customer support. It is particularly suitable for businesses looking to enhance their lead generation and conversion strategies through real-time conversational marketing.

Key Features


  • Conversational marketing
  • Chatbots for automation
  • Account-based marketing
  • Integration with CRM and marketing tools
  • Real-time sales engagement

Zoho

Zoho is a comprehensive suite of business software solutions that includes a variety of customer support and engagement tools. It is designed to help businesses manage their customer interactions and relationships effectively. The Zoho suite encompasses features like CRM (Customer Relationship Management), helpdesk, live chat, and more. With Zoho, businesses can centralize their customer data, track customer interactions, and provide seamless support. Zoho's CRM, in particular, allows organizations to manage sales, marketing, and customer support all in one platform, fostering better customer relationships and improved customer support.

Key Features


  • Multichannel support
  • Ticket management
  • Knowledge base creation
  • Automation of routine tasks
  • Integration with other Zoho applications

Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Service Cloud, offered by the renowned CRM software provider Salesforce, is a powerful customer service platform designed to help businesses excel in delivering exceptional customer support and optimizing their service operations. It boasts a wide array of features, including robust case management, which enables the efficient tracking and resolution of customer inquiries. Additionally, it offers self-service options such as knowledge bases and community forums, reducing the workload of support agents while providing customers with quick solutions. The platform's omnichannel support ensures seamless communication across various channels, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Key Features


  • Comprehensive customer service features
  • Integration with CRM strategy
  • Extensive tools and insights
  • Seamless customer support
  • Ideal for building strong customer relationships

Twilio

Twilio is a cloud communications platform known for enabling businesses to build customized communication solutions. It offers a wide range of tools and APIs that allow companies to integrate voice, video, messaging, and other communication channels into their applications and services. With Twilio, businesses can send SMS, make voice calls, and even set up video conferences through its robust infrastructure. Developers can easily work with Twilio APIs to create communication features tailored to their specific needs. It's widely used for applications like two-factor authentication, call centers, and in-app messaging, making it a versatile choice for businesses looking to enhance their communication capabilities.

Key Features


  • Programmable communication platform
  • SMS and voice messaging
  • Video communication
  • Integration options
  • Scalable for businesses of all sizes

Freshchat

Freshchat is a customer messaging platform developed by Freshworks. It is designed to help businesses engage with their customers in real-time and provide support through various communication channels, including chat, email, and social media. Freshchat offers features like automated chatbots, live chat, and in-app messaging to assist businesses in providing efficient customer support and building better customer relationships. It can be used in various industries, such as e-commerce, SaaS, and customer service, to enhance communication and support capabilities.

Key Features


  • AI-powered chatbots
  • Multichannel support
  • Integration with CRM and marketing tools
  • In-app messaging
  • Customer engagement features

EcoSend

EcoSend is a robust email marketing and automation platform designed to supercharge email marketing initiatives. With a keen emphasis on elevating email campaigns, refining transactional messages, and equipping users with powerful tools, it offers a comprehensive solution for businesses. EcoSend facilitates seamless email marketing management, from campaign creation to audience segmentation, while also automating tasks for efficiency. It optimizes the critical realm of transactional emails, ensuring they're delivered promptly and reliably. Advanced analytics provide valuable insights, enabling users to fine-tune their strategies.

Key Features


  • Email marketing and automation
  • Transactional emails
  • Integration with e-commerce platforms
  • Advanced analytics
  • Deliverability optimization

Tawk.to

Tawk.to is a versatile live chat and messaging platform designed for businesses to engage with website visitors in real-time. With its user-friendly interface, it facilitates instant communication between customers and support agents, enhancing customer service and sales opportunities. The platform also enables visitor monitoring, allowing businesses to track and analyze visitor behavior, helping them understand their audience better. Tawk.to offers a ticketing system for efficient issue resolution and a knowledge base for self-service support. Mobile apps ensure that customer interactions can be managed anytime, anywhere. The platform's customization options make it easy to integrate seamlessly into a website's design, and it offers numerous integrations for a broader range of functionality.

Key Features


  • Free live chat software
  • Unlimited agents
  • Knowledge base
  • Ticketing system
  • Integration options

ThriveDesk

ThriveDesk is a comprehensive helpdesk software solution designed to streamline customer support and service operations for businesses. It offers a centralized platform for managing customer inquiries, support tickets, and communication channels. With features such as ticket management, a knowledge base, multichannel support, and automation tools, ThriveDesk helps businesses efficiently resolve customer issues and provide self-service support. Reporting and analytics features enable organizations to monitor support performance and customer satisfaction. Additionally, ThriveDesk often provides integrations with other software, including CRM systems, to create a seamless and efficient customer support experience, making it a valuable tool for businesses seeking to enhance their customer service capabilities.

Key Features


  • Helpdesk software
  • Collaboration features
  • Integration with other tools
  • Automation of support processes
  • Self-service options

Groove

Groove is a highly sophisticated customer support and engagement platform that has been meticulously designed to cater to the unique needs of businesses, enabling them to manage their multifaceted customer interactions, support requests, and an array of communication channels. It boasts a rich suite of features expressly engineered to enhance operational efficiency and bolster customer relationships, making it an indispensable tool for businesses striving to offer impeccable support. This multifaceted platform empowers organizations by centralizing the management of support tickets, offering an invaluable knowledge base for self-service support, enabling automation for streamlined processes, providing robust reporting and analytics tools for performance evaluation, and facilitating seamless integrations with other critical software systems like CRM, thereby cultivating a truly holistic customer support experience.

Key Features


  • Collaboration and automation
  • Analytics for insights
  • Suitable for small to medium-sized businesses
  • Efficient customer inquiry management
  • Multichannel support

Customerly

Customerly is a versatile customer engagement and support platform meticulously crafted to empower businesses in fortifying and optimizing their customer relationships while facilitating the seamless management of communication with their valued clients. This multifaceted platform provides a plethora of meticulously designed features to bolster customer engagement and enhance support processes, effectively becoming an indispensable tool for businesses striving to provide exceptional customer service. These features often include real-time live chat for immediate interaction, comprehensive email marketing tools for targeted messaging, customer segmentation to personalize communication, feedback collection through surveys, automation for efficiency, and robust analytics and reporting tools to measure performance.

Key Features


  • Marketing and customer support in one platform
  • Live chat and email marketing
  • Customer segmentation
  • Integration options
  • Personalized support

Desku

Desku is a cutting-edge AI-powered customer support software tailored for the dynamic realms of e-commerce and SaaS industries. Its core mission is to revolutionize customer support by automating key processes, streamlining workflows, and elevating user experiences. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Desku enables businesses to efficiently manage customer inquiries, resolve issues, and enhance satisfaction, ultimately fostering growth. It optimizes response times, offers self-service solutions, and tailors support to individual needs. In the fast-paced world of e-commerce and SaaS, Desku emerges as an invaluable tool, empowering businesses to stay ahead, delight customers, and drive expansion in a competitive digital landscape.

Key Features


  • Simple customer support software
  • Shared inbox for team productivity
  • Efficient customer support
  • Task delegation and email tracking
  • Suitable for email-centric businesses

Comparative table for the top Intercom alternatives


Top Intercom Alternative Description Pros Cons Pricing
Appy Pie Live Chat Real-time chat with website visitor or app users. - Customizable chat widget - Might not be fit for enterprise businesses Subscription-based pricing.
LiveChat Real-time chat support platform. - Real-time communication - May be expensive for small businesses Subscription-based pricing.
Olark User-friendly live chat for real-time engagement. - Simple and easy to use - Lacks advanced features Subscription-based pricing.
Tidio Multichannel support with live chat and chatbots. - Integration with email marketing - Advanced features may require upgrades Subscription-based pricing.
ClickDesk Comprehensive support platform with voice & video. - Voice and video communication - May have a learning curve Subscription-based pricing.
Drift Conversational marketing and sales platform. - Personalized interactions - Focused on marketing and sales Subscription-based pricing.
Zoho Part of the Zoho suite with CRM and support tools. - Multichannel support - Some features require additional apps Offers a free plan, subscription-based.
Salesforce Service Cloud Salesforce's powerful customer service platform. - Comprehensive customer service tools - Complexity for smaller businesses Subscription-based pricing.
Twilio Cloud communications platform for customizable solutions. - Programmable communication - Requires technical know-how Pay-as-you-go pricing.
Freshchat Customer messaging platform by Freshworks. - AI-powered chatbots - May not have advanced analytics Subscription-based pricing.
EcoSend Email marketing and automation platform. - Transactional email optimization - Not a dedicated customer support tool Subscription-based pricing.
Tawk.to Versatile live chat and messaging platform. - Free live chat software - May not offer advanced features Offers a free plan, paid plans.
ThriveDesk Helpdesk software for streamlined support. - Collaboration features - May require integrations for CRM Subscription-based pricing.
Groove Customer support and engagement platform. - Collaboration and automation - May not suit larger enterprises Subscription-based pricing.
Customerly Customer engagement platform with live chat. - Marketing and customer support in one platform - May not have advanced features Subscription-based pricing.
Desku AI-powered customer support for e-commerce and SaaS. - Automation for efficient support - May not suit businesses outside e-commerce Subscription-based pricing.

Conclusion

When it comes to intercom alternatives,, these 15 platforms offer a diverse array of solutions to cater to businesses of all sizes and industries. From real-time chat support to AI-powered customer engagement, they empower businesses to foster stronger customer relationships and provide efficient support. Each alternative brings its unique strengths, whether it's the simplicity of Olark, the versatility of Tidio, or the comprehensive CRM features of Zoho. The choices are abundant, allowing businesses to find the perfect fit for their customer support and engagement needs. As the e-commerce and SaaS landscape evolves, these alternatives will play a crucial role in enhancing customer satisfaction and driving growth.

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Neeraj Shukla

Content Manager at Appy Pie