7 Best Freshchat Alternatives & Competitors

Freshchat is a messaging platform for businesses to connect with customers across various channels.

But it has potential limitations you must be aware of.

First, making a bot with Freshchat is kind of hard and needs a lot of tech knowledge. They should make it easier for everyone.

Second, some people reported that the chat sometimes has problems, like messages not going through or not showing up. This is a problem because it makes chatting unreliable.

I’ll introduce you to 7 Freshchat alternatives that come with easier bot creation processes and smoother chat experiences.

1. Tidio

Best for: small businesses, eCommerce companies, and marketing agencies

Pricing: Free – $499/mo

Tidio is a customer service software that combines live chat and chatbots to help businesses connect with customers and answer questions in real-time.

It also offers helpdesk tools and AI solutions for larger organizations, allowing them to manage customer interactions efficiently across various channels.

Features

• Canned responses
• Offline message
• Conversation history
• Pre-chat survey
• Chat transcripts
• Disable widget for specific subpages
• Autoresponder bot for missed conversations
• Conversational AI
• Chatbot templates
• Rich media support
• Fallback mechanism
• Triggers & conditions
• Greeting messages
• Operating hours settings
• Customer satisfaction measuring
• Banning users
• Visual chat builder
• Message analytics
• Live visitor list
• Customizable branding

Tidio vs Freshchat

Criteria	Tidio	Freshchat
Best For	Small businesses, eCommerce companies, and marketing agencies	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	AI-powered chatbot	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	Free – $499/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Customer support teams like Tidio because it streamlines communication with features like fallback mechanisms, ensuring human agents pick up where chatbots leave off.

Plus, triggers and conditions allow proactive support, automatically sending helpful messages based on customer behavior.

Sign up for Tidio for free today!

Try Tidio for free

2. Freshdesk

Best for: customer support teams and small businesses

Pricing: Free – $95/mo

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software that helps businesses manage customer interactions across various channels like email, live chat, phone, and social media.

Features

• Automated chatbots
• Proactive messaging
• Customizable chat widget
• Automated greetings
• Chat routing
• Pre-qualification questions
• Sentiment analysis
• Live translate
• Contextual triggers
• File attachments
• Feedback forms
• Rules with user properties
• Engagement triggers
• Canned responses
• Conversation history
• User & agent status
• Detailed chat reports

Freshdesk vs Freshchat

Criteria	Freshdesk	Freshchat
Best For	Customer support teams and small businesses	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Sentiment analysis	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	Free – $95/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Customer support teams use Freshdesk because of its diverse set of functionalities. For example, its sentiment analysis helps them gauge customer emotions for empathetic responses, while contextual triggers automate helpful messages based on conversation flow.

Start 14-day free trial of Freshdesk today

Try Freshdesk for free

3. LiveChat

Best for: Ecommerce businesses and software/IT companies

Pricing: $20/user/mo – $59/user/mo

LiveChat is a customer service platform offering live chat, helpdesk, and chatbot solutions. It empowers businesses to connect with customers in real-time, answer questions, and manage support interactions efficiently.

Features

• Canned responses
• Chat transfer
• Message sneak-peek
• Pre-chat & post-chat surveys
• Proactive chats
• Chat limit
• Chat tags
• File sharing
• Agent rating
• Chat takeover
• Chat archives
• Routing rules based on URL
• Inactivity timeout configuration
• Chat widget customization
• Chat history & transcripts
• Private comments in a chat
• Custom logo in chat window
• Automatic status change
• Reports & analytics
• 200+ integrations

LiveChat vs Freshchat

Criteria	LiveChat	Freshchat
Best For	Ecommerce businesses and software/IT companies	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Routing rules based on URL	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	$20/user/mo – $59/user/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

What I like about LiveChat is its smooth team collaboration features. For example, its chat takeover feature allows seamless handoff between agents for complex inquiries.

Sign up to LiveChat for free today!

Try LiveChat for free

4. Zendesk

Best for: Ecommerce businesses, IT help desks, sales teams, and customer support teams

Pricing: $25/user/mo – $149/user/mo

Zendesk is a comprehensive customer service platform designed to streamline communication and improve customer experiences.

It empowers businesses to manage interactions across various channels like email, live chat, phone, and social media.

Features

• Chat widget customization
• Proactive messages
• AI responses
• Pre-written responses
• Chat routing
• Inactivity messages
• Sentiment analysis
• Chat automation
• Unified omnichannel solution
• Chat tags
• Operating hours settings
• Chat transfer between agents & departments
• Visitor banning

Zendesk vs Freshchat

Criteria	Zendesk	Freshchat
Best For	Ecommerce businesses, IT help desks, sales teams, and customer support teams	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Chat transfer between agents and departments	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	$25/user/mo – $149/user/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Customer support teams use Zendesk for its time-saving features. Pre-written responses let them tackle common questions quickly, while chat routing ensures the right agent is always available for each issue.

5. Intercom

Best for: sales, marketing, and customer support teams

Pricing: $25/user/mo – $149/user/mo

Intercom is a customer service platform that unifies communication channels like live chat, email, and messaging into a single, conversational experience.

Features

• NLP technology
• Automated responses
• Automated sentiment analysis
• User segmentation
• Customizable chatbots
• Offline lead capture
• Proactive messaging
• AI-enhanced inbox
• Answer suggestions
• Seamless handoff to human agents
• User feedback collection
• A/B testing
• Targeted chat invitations
• Integration with CRM systems
• Appointment scheduling
• Reporting & analytics
• Extensive list of integrations
• Multilingual support

Intercom vs Freshchat

Criteria	Intercom	Freshchat
Best For	Sales, marketing, and support teams	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Automated sentiment analysis	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	$25/user/mo – $149/user/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Intercom’s live chat and chatbots bridge the gap between sales, marketing, and customer support.

For sales, they qualify leads in real-time, while marketing uses them to collect feedback and personalize campaigns. And for support, they answer FAQs instantly and escalate complex issues seamlessly.

6. Tawk.to

Best for: customer support teams and small businesses

Pricing: $25/user/mo – $149/user/mo

Tawk.to is a free, cloud-based live chat and customer service platform. It enables businesses to connect with website visitors in real-time, answer questions, and offer support.

Features

• Proactive chat invitations
• Canned shortcuts
• Targeted messages
• Message sneak-peek
• Automated triggers
• Visitor banning
• File transfer
• Customizable chat widget
• Pre-chat forms
• In-chat payments
• Domain restriction
• Mail notifications
• Geo IP tracking
• Message filtering
• Agent alerts
• Reporting

Tawk.to vs Freshchat

Criteria	Tawk.to	Freshchat
Best For	Customer support teams and small businesses	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Customizable chat widget	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	Free	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Customer support teams use Tawk.to because it simplifies interactions with pre-chat forms that collect key info upfront.

Message sneak-peeks feature lets agents preview incoming messages, allowing them to prepare and respond swiftly.

Download the tawk.to widget for free

Try tawk.to for free

7. LiveAgent

Best for: customer support teams

Pricing: $15/user/mo – $85/user/mo

LiveAgent is a customer service software designed to help businesses manage interactions with customers across multiple channels.

Features

• Chat embedded tracking
• Canned messages
• Chat button animations
• Chat routing
• Intent recognition
• Max queue length
• Flow builder
• Chat history
• Collaboration tools
• Chat window docking
• Proactive chat invitations
• Offline forms
• Agent ranking
• Attachments
• Reporting & analytics

LiveAgent vs Freshchat

Criteria	LiveAgent	Freshchat
Best For	Customer support teams	Customer support teams
Standout Feature	Chat button animations	Bulk actions for multiple conversations at once
Pricing	$15/user/mo – $85/user/mo	Free – $95/user/mo

Conclusion

Customer support teams love LiveAgent because it anticipates customer needs through proactive chat invitations, reaching out at key moments to offer help.

Plus, chat flow builder empowers them to build personalized conversation journeys.

Which Freshchat alternative should I use?

If you want a customer support solution that simplifies communication and offers features like greeting messages, chatbot templates, and rich media support, consider using Tidio.

If you’re seeking a versatile customer support tool, Freshdesk is another popular choice among customer support teams.

Its key features include sentiment analysis for understanding customer emotions, live translation, and contextual triggers that automate useful messages based on conversation flow.

A quick recap of Freshchat alternatives:

1. Tidio
2. Freshdesk
3. LiveChat
4. Zendesk
5. Intercom
6. Tawk.to
7. LiveAgent