Customer Service AI
Freshdesk by Freshworks
What it does: Freshdesk is an AI-enhanced customer service platform which helps SME businesses manage and resolve customer enquiries across multiple channels — email, live chat, phone, social, and WhatsApp, and all in one place. It uses AI to automate ticket routing, provide instant answers, and help your team work faster and smarter.
Best for: SMEs which want to improve customer service efficiency without hiring more staff, especially those in e-commerce, services, tech, or B2B sales.
Example use cases: A UK-based online furniture retailer wants to automatically route support tickets to the right team member and respond to common FAQs using a chatbot. This reduced email response times by 70% and improved customer satisfaction scores within weeks; and a property management company wants to streamline communication with tenants, contractors, and landlords. Support tickets, such as maintenance requests or billing queries, are automatically tagged and prioritised. Tenants receive automated updates, and the property manager can view all conversations in one dashboard, saving hours of admin each week.
Paid plans: Omni channel version: Growth Plan: £25/agent/month. Pro Plan: £55/agent/month. Enterprise Plan: £89/agent/month
Pro tip: Connect Freshdesk to your WhatsApp Business account to give customers real-time support on the platform they use most — ideal for mobile-first buyers.
Hubspot's Service Hub
What it does: HubSpot Service Hub centralises all customer service interactions, offering ticketing, live chat, AI-powered chatbots, automated ticket routing, knowledge base management, and in-depth reporting. It can also seamlessly integrate with its CRM, connecting sales, marketing, and support for a unified customer experience.
Best for: Businesses needing scalable, multi-channel customer service with automation
Example use cases: An online clothes retailer wants to automate support ticket assignment to relevant agents using AI; and a golf club wants to generate reports which identify recurring customer pain points for business improvement.
Paid plans: Professional Plan: £77/seat/month. Enterprise Plan: £135/seat/month
Pro tip: Set up automated customer feedback surveys after ticket resolution. Analyzing survey data with HubSpot’s AI-powered analytics helps you surface actionable insights and continuously improve customer satisfaction.
Click4Assistance
What it does: Click4Assistance is a UK-based live chat and AI chatbot platform which empowers businesses to provide instant, around-the-clock customer support. It combines AI chatbots for automated assistance, live chat for escalation to human agents, and real-time website visitor analytics, all with extensive customisation.
Best for: Businesses seeking affordable, flexible, branded live chat with AI which is GDPR-compliant.
Example use cases: An online travel agent wants to use live chat pop-ups to reduce cart abandonment rates in e-commerce; and a software development company wants to monitor website visitor behavior and engage with them proactively.
Paid plans: Standard Plan: £19.95/month. Professional Plan: £29.95/month. Enterprise Plan: Custom.
Pro tip: Customise your AI chatbot’s scripts to address the most common questions first, ensuring customers get rapid, relevant answers and freeing agents for more complex issues, and leverage the analytics tools to demonstrate ROI and refine your chat strategy continuously.
Tidio (best free plan)
What it does: Tidio’s free plan combines live chat and AI chatbot technology to help businesses respond instantly to website visitors and automate answers to common customer questions. The platform also enables real-time conversations, automates support with its AI assistant (Lyro), and unifies chats from multiple channels in one dashboard.
Best for: Small businesses and startups on a budget wanting to provide immediate, round-the-clock support.
Example use cases: A courier company wants to use an AI chatbot to instantly answer frequent customer questions about expected delivery time; and an influencer wants to manage fan conversations from social platforms in one place, boosting response speed and consistency.
Paid plans: Starter Plan: €24.17/month. Growth Plan: €49.17/month. Plus Plan: €749/month. Premium Plan: €2999/month (Can be accessed by UK businesses)
Pro tip: Maximise the value of Tidio’s free plan by setting up automated chatbot responses for your most common questions using the Lyro AI assistant.
