Top 10 AI Chatbots for Customer Service in 2024

AI chatbots in customer service today act less like machines and more like one of your team's most reliable agents. They are there to bridge the gap when your staff is stretched or unavailable. Acting as an extension of your customer service team, these chatbots do more than just collect contact details and answer routine questions. Thanks to AI and NLP, these chatbots can engage your website/app visitors in engaging conversations, share shopping/content recommendations and detect sentiment while your team focuses on deeper, more complex issues. The result? Higher customer satisfaction and retention rates plus hyper-personalized interactions that stick around in the user's memory for a long.

That said, there are zillion horror stories of robotic, impersonal chatbot interactions that drive away potential customers and amplify negative brand sentiment. Essentially, the interaction quality boils down to the AI customer service chatbot solution you use.

And, when it comes to picking out an AI chatbot for your customer service, you are spoiled for choice. But which ones are the best in the market? How do you choose the one that complements your customer support strategy?

We have compiled 10 top options for you to choose from. Let's get into it.

What is an AI chatbot?

An AI chatbot is a digital interface that uses machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to engage in dialog with users, emulating human conversational patterns. Here's a deeper look into how it operates:

• NLP in customer service: The chatbot analyzes user input, breaking down language into understandable components like intent and sentiment. It uses algorithms to parse text or speech, identifying keywords and phrases that dictate the flow of conversation.
• ML: Based on historical data and ongoing interactions, the chatbot adapts and improves its responses. It trains on varied dialogs to recognize patterns and refine its predictions about what users might need next.
• Response generation: Once it understands the user's intent, the chatbot accesses a database of responses or generates new replies using predefined templates or more complex generative models. This allows it to provide accurate and contextually appropriate answers.
• Feedback loop: Every interaction helps the chatbot learn. User feedback and corrections contribute to its understanding, improving its ability to handle similar requests more effectively in the future.
• Escalation protocols: When faced with complex queries beyond its scope, the chatbot identifies the need for human intervention and transfers the control to a human agent, ensuring that user needs are adequately met.

This sophisticated setup allows AI chatbots to efficiently manage high volumes of customer inquiries, providing rapid responses that are often indistinguishable from those a human might offer. This blend of speed, accuracy and learning makes AI chatbots invaluable for customer service teams today.

Why are AI customer service bots important for businesses today?

Customer service chatbots powered by AI give tangible gains to businesses in the form of improved customer satisfaction, retention and engagement as:

🙋‍♂️ They are always available

AI chatbots are always on, ready to answer questions at any hour. This makes sure that whenever someone visits your site, they can get help right away, increasing the likelihood they'll stick around and maybe even make a purchase.

🌏 They are polyglots

AI chatbots can converse in several languages, allowing you to connect with a broader audience. This breaks down language barriers and opens up your market, letting more customers interact comfortably in their native language.

📝 They keep your P&L in check

Setting up AI chatbots often costs less than hiring and training a customer service team. Since chatbots handle many inquiries themselves, you can manage more customer interactions without extra staff, keeping your budget in check. They even reduce your cost-to-serve by helping with cross and upsell. Did you know that bots could unlock a staggering $1 trillion in added value each year just for global BFSI? Now, that's a figure worth banking on.

✨ They improve your interactions

Not only can chatbots dramatically reduce customer response times, but your issue resolution time too. In fact, almost seven in 10 customer service leaders say that besides cost, AI chatbots are champions at speeding up resolution times. Today, chatbots are even adept at figuring out the nuances in customer messages too. They can detect the tone and context and even analyze the sentiment of the input to formulate responses most appropriate to a customer service scenario.

Read More: Find out how AI can do wonders for your customer communication.

10 best AI chatbots for customer service in 2024

With the variety of chatbots available in the market for you to evaluate, finding the right AI chatbot for your customer service can take time. We've sifted through the noise to carefully curate a tool list that reflects the best in functionality, ease of use and innovative features. Let's explore the top contenders.

Sprinklr

Sprinklr is a leading customer service chatbot platform that offers GenAI in addition to traditional AI in its chatbots. Helping you do away with hardcoded decision trees, Sprinklr AI chatbot is trained on large language models that allow you to curate, update and expand your conversation designs with zero code knowledge and easy drag-and-drop builders. Capable of delivering truly omnichannel customer service, the Sprinklr chatbot supports 25+ digital channels and over 100 languages to ensure accessibility and ease of conversation for your users.

🚀 Top features

1. Smooth intent discovery and training

2. In-platform bot testing

Sprinklr lets you create and test AI chatbots in a no-code setup where developers use natural language prompts to define behaviors. To perfect understanding and responses, bots undergo testing with datasets derived from large language models, improving their ability to accurately grasp and act on user intents.

3. Bot performance analytics

Sprinklr is powered by its proprietary AI to help you track your chatbot's performance and spot new topics users are asking about. You can view key metrics, like containment rates, to see how often your bot resolves issues alone. This helps you tweak and train your bot to better meet user needs.

4. Enterprise-grade security

Sprinklr chatbot boasts robust defense measures that comply with international standards. It uses a specialized AI and rule engine to keep data anomalies at bay and rigorously stick to security protocols. Enterprise-grade data privacy set a high standard for safeguarding user information, and ensuring contact center compliance. Check out Sprinklr's Trust Center to learn how the platform builds strong data guardrails.

5. Generative AI enrichment (Sprinklr AI+)

Enriched with generative AI models (like OpenAI and Vertex), these chatbots are capable of improving your customer journeys dynamically. Whether a user drops and rejoins a conversation or switches the context mid-chat, Sprinklr chatbots never run astray ensuring that even these automated experiences are only second to what your expert agents deliver.

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"It has a good chatbot that answers almost all customer queries. Its chatbot can collect valuable data on customer interactions, preferences, and behaviors that helps us decrease the high call volume. It is easy to add articles to the knowledge base, chat bot, and automation of emails. We can tap the case ID and find all the interactions of the customer." Source

💡 What could be better

"The language and terminology used in Sprinklr vary a little from those used in other programs. The learning process to use the platform was long due to the wide range of features that Sprinklr has, but the support of the customer service and Success team was a great help in understanding them better." Source

Verdict: Named a Strong Performer in Conversational AI by Forrester (2024), Sprinklr features a highly user-friendly chatbot configuration and agent console that together shine in handling multiple cases, easing the transition from other systems without losing past work. Powered by OpenAI API and Microsoft Vertex, Sprinklr chatbots are trained on industry-specific use cases and are highly adept at handling them with precision. Once the learning curve is summated, even the technically naive can use it with ease.

Price: Starting at $199/user/month. Check full pricing.

Free trial: Sprinklr offers a 30-day free trial

Or if you'd like, you can just click below to live the Sprinklr experience, curated by our experts just for you. 👇

Fin AI by Intercom

Intercom's Fin AI chatbot works well for all sorts of common customer questions, from order inquiries to feedback collection. It integrates smoothly across multiple channels like Instagram and email, making sure businesses can connect with customers just about anywhere. Fin boosts response quality pulling in various resources like knowledge base and blogs to help the user. It offers features like chat surveys and automated categorization which make it ideal for businesses with high ticket inflow.

🚀 Top features

• Easy bot builder that doesn't require coding to set up advanced chat automation
• Highly configurable with various third-party integrations
• Extensive workflows allow for smooth agent hand-offs

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"The user interface is easy to use and it's very intuitive. It allows in-platform user communication via number of channels, such as surveys, messages or banners as well as email and chatbot. The articles and knowledge base that feed into the chatbot are very effective too. It's great to have a centralized place for customer communications and product marketing. My team and I use Intercom nearly every day. It has been easy to implement and integrate with other channels, such as Slack." Source

💡 What could be better

"We cannot chat with the client on behalf of other team members, if I need to transfer the chat midway to my colleague, customer gets to know that person who is handling a chat is now changed. Sometimes, chatbot fails to assign chats to any of the available team members and chat remains unassigned without any notification." Source

Pricing: Essential: $29/seat/month, Advanced: $85/seat/month, Expert: $132/seat/month

Free trial: Available for 14 days

Verdict: This chatbot really stands out with its slick user interface and makes juggling multiple chats a breeze. Chat tagging is a neat feature that helps sort issues quickly and it's pretty good at tackling the usual questions, which cuts down a lot of back-and-forth. However, there are some drawbacks, such as delayed support responses and occasional outages, which can affect day-to-day operations.

Zobot by Zoho SalesIQ

Zoho's Zobot is a user-friendly AI chatbot builder you can use to easily design bots to engage conversationally with visitors across multiple channels including your website, mobile app, Facebook and Instagram. Zobot uses reinforcement learning to improve its responses to complex queries over time. It handles routine questions and assists users with personalized shopping recommendations (conversational commerce). For more complex needs, Zoho provides a virtual assistant, Zia, to aid agents with customer information and response suggestions. 

🚀 Top features

• Build a fully functional chatbot using a drag-and-drop interface, no coding is needed
• Convert rule-based chatbots into AI chatbots with one-click integration of AI capabilities
• Detect and answer in 30+ languages or have your bot adapt to your website language for a global reach

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"With Zoho SalesIQ, we have raised the bar of customer relationship. The platform is friendly for both sides and connects well with Zoho CRM, giving us complete information of whom we're talking to." Source

💡 What could be better

"Sometimes there will be a decision paralysis. When you have multiple integrations that you might not need but still have to deal with. That can ruin your overall user experience." Source

Price: Basic for $7, Professional for $12.75 and Enterprise for $20 - All prices listed here are per operator per month, billed annually

Free trial: Offers free plan and 15-day trial for paid plans

Verdict: Zoho's chatbot impresses with its user-friendly, code-free bot builder that lets you craft bots from scratch. Seamless integration with Zoho CRM means no missed interactions, keeping track of all customer activities throughout their lifecycle. However, it can be pricey, and while switching between products and deeper integration could use some tweaking, overall, Zoho's AI chatbot offers a well-rounded and effective solution for managing customer relations.

Ultimate by Zendesk

Ultimate elevates customer support with its AI-driven platform that's scalable across international markets. Its intelligent virtual agents use NLP to manage conversations effortlessly, operating around the clock on platforms like chat, email and social media. Unique in its ability to support 109 languages directly, Ultimate simplifies bot creation with a user-friendly, no-code Dialogue Builder.

🚀 Top features

• Connect the help center with the GenAI-powered builder UltimateGPT to build bots
• A headless approach powers CRM integration and prevents siloed data
• Offers robust security framework with GDPR and SOC2 compliance

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"Ultimate AI impresses across the board. Its intuitive interface ensures ease of use, while implementation is seamless. Exceptional support from the team and the key account manager enhances the overall experience. With versatile features and effortless integration, it's a reliable choice for building a chatbot to help you with your day-to-day tasks and ease your customer support team. We use it daily for all of our client chats." Source

💡 What could be better

"We struggled with the documentation available on their Help Center. We are a rather technical team so we were able to figure it out, but I would imagine it would be difficult for someone without as many tech- savvy resources." Source

Price: Contact sales team

Verdict: Ultimate AI stands out for its adaptability and robust integration capabilities, handling various intents, flows and conditions to ensure accurate customer information. When trained with UltimateGPT, the chatbot can resolve queries and compile necessary customer context, reducing the need for extensive email exchanges. API integration is straightforward enough once set up, but users sometimes report a buggy Dialog Builder.

Did you know how thorough Sprinklr's bot testing environment is?  

It's set up to be super competitive and rigorous, so you can catch any bugs or issues before your bot goes live. By running live simulations, you can really see how well your chatbot handles tasks, minimizing the chance of real users encountering frustrating errors. Plus, if you use something like a Sprinklr Digital Twin, which acts like an advanced analog to your agents, you can tailor the simulation with specific customer personas and situations to test how well your bot performs against its training. 

See how Digital Twin can help you interact with your customers smoothly and offload your team’s workload. 

GET A FREE DEMO

Ada

Ada uses AI and NLP with its Ada Reasoning Engine to make customer service interactions more intuitive. It's designed to function seamlessly across multiple channels and languages, reducing effort for businesses in sectors from SaaS to fintech. The platform allows users to create complex workflows without coding, making it accessible even without technical expertise.

🚀 Top features

• Uses CRM and other data sources to deliver personalization
• Offers AI chatbot performance insights for continuous refinement
• Comes equipped with routing capability and response customizations

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"ADA is easy to use and easy to understand how their system works. The way how to set up the automated answers is also easy to do since the options such as text box, videos, and images can be dragged and dropped to the chat flow plus the actions available make the chat flow properly work." Source

💡 What could be better

"We often raised issues, not knowing there was a page/trigger for this to be notified. We've since been added. We also mentioned we would have loved more in person training/on call. In fairness, after mentioning this, the team always jumped on calls as soon as they could to assist." Source

Price: Available on a need-to-know basis through a form on the website

Free trial: 14-day trial

Verdict: Ada's automation brings notable pros to the table, helping businesses cut costs and allowing staff to focus on more complex issues. It's quite flexible when it comes to integrating with many software systems, proving as a valid option for businesses of any size. However, there are areas where Ada could improve. The accuracy of the chatbot in handling complex queries that require deeper customer empathy and understanding sometimes falls short.

Sprinklr named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Conversational AI For Customer Service, Q2 2024

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Lyro by Tidio

Lyro is a conversational AI solution by Tidio that boosts customer support by using your existing content to chat with customers just like a human agent would. It's well-liked for blending AI efficiency with a human touch, providing a comprehensive toolkit for support. Lyro offers various chat templates, from greetings to FAQs, ready to tackle any customer question. One of its standout features is real-time user tracking, which lets Lyro tailor responses more effectively by understanding customer behaviors, making interactions both precise and insightful.

🚀 Top features

• Configurable setup that requires minimal effort
• Allows agent interjections in real-time conversations
• Equips you with chatbot analytics for targeted training and refining

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"I've tried many bots! Tidio is powerful and easy to install. I just put it on my WP site. Looks great, works perfectly. Its AI reads my site pages and uses my pages' data to answer questions. The mobile app lets me know when some one uses the chat. I can personally chat with visitors too. More features are available too. 7- day free trial of everything and a free plan that will work now for me. Highly recommend!" Source

💡 What could be better

"Generally, Tidio works but can be slow at times. I wish it could be more cost-effective for small companies such as mine. It would have been nice if I could make this chatbot do more things." Source

Price: $39/month for 50 Lyro conversations

Free trial: Offers free plan and 7-day trial for paid versions

Verdict: Lyro is very easy to implement on your website, with clear, step-by-step instructions that are perfect if coding isn't your thing. It's great for tailoring to your brand, offering lots of design options and delivering fast notifications for customer chats. It's smooth and easy to navigate, too. On the flip side, it's missing a dark theme and the app can be glitchy on Mac OS. The free trials also feel a bit short and the itemized pricing for services might be a downside if you're looking to explore more features.

CoSupport AI

🚀 Top features

• Uses generative AI for smoother unstructured conversations
• Offers multichannel customer service access
• Highly knowledgeable in the customer service domain

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"We liked most the seamless integration of CoSupport Customer to our email channel. We also like performance. After a month of using and improvements based on our agents' feedback, the responses became extremely precise. The pricing policy is also an advantage because it allows for predictable budgeting." Source

💡 What could be better

"Just for the balance in estimations, I'd say that during the first couple of days, there was a need to sync our teams' schedules and make sure that we were on the same page. We went through this stage very quickly." Source

Price: Need-to-know basis, please reach out to the CoSupport AI directly.

Netomi

Netomi Autopilot streamlines how you handle requests from customers and employees alike, all across your communication channels. It's powered by a smart AI discovery engine that dives into your past support interactions, using both supervised and unsupervised learning to spot the best spots for automation.

Plus, its context engine tailors responses by pulling from a mix of data, like loyalty status, time specifics and even current location, all tied neatly into your CRM and business systems. Whether it's personalizing replies based on customer data or optimizing decisions, Netomi makes sure your responses are not just timely but also contextually relevant.

🚀 Top features

• Merges guided workflows with dynamic questioning to clarify intents and direct actions in real time
• Analyzes and consolidates knowledge to understand nuances, decipher lingos and user intent
• Orchestrates backend systems to resolve complex, transactional requests while preserving brand integrity

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"The team at Netomi set the tone for what to expect in their products. Working with them has been a pleasure every step of the way and thus far the software has kept up with everything we've thrown at them." Source

💡 What could be better

"Our overall experience is by far exceptional. The only hiccup was the other CSM that handled us which either gave empty promises or no action at all - it shows that the key to a lasting relationship with them really depends on how great the CSM is. CSM drives the engagement of the client with their tool. Being someone that not just says yes to what we want to do but also throws in ideas to maximize our usage of the tool shows how well you're taken care of. Us who is still in the adjustment phase of AI need proper and constant guidance and should not be left blind exploring." Source

Price: Need-to-know basis, please reach out to the Netomi directly.

Drift by Salesloft

Drift's Custom Chatbots instantly engage your site visitors with tailored messages and interactions, sparking their interest the moment they arrive. This platform excels at quickly qualifying leads, sharing relevant content and scheduling meetings efficiently. Drift does more than facilitate conversations; it listens, understands and learns from interactions to deliver personalized experiences throughout the buying journey. Drift's AI chatbot uses customer interaction analytics and buyer behavior to deepen customer relationships and boost revenue.

🚀 Top features

• Offers chatbot on multiple channels for well-rounded coverage
• Facilitates conversation archiving and consolidated customer profiles
• Allows for A/B testing to better service experiences

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"Drift helps ensure we service every persona who lands on our website. This gives us heads start to prospect and support our existing customers looking for support as well talk to the new ones." Source

💡 What could be better

"Few bugs related with Russian localization under Drift Help compartment (at least what i've recently faced). Relatively expensive Bot paid skills. Would be great to see a suitable plan for early-stage startups." Source

Price: You will need to contact Salesloft directly.

Verdict: Drift works quite well for sales and customer support teams. The platform is known for its continual upgrades' like adding AI, A/B testing and reusable blocks to really cut down the time needed to set things up. Its customer support team is a standout, as users report, always ready to lend a hand quickly and proactively. The basic version of the tool does require a fair bit of manual input and training. Also, its rapid rollout of new features sometimes leads to bugs, which can be a bit of a hassle.

Freddy AI by Freshworks

Freddy AI, an AI chatbot by Freshworks Inc., supports customer interactions across multiple channels like web chat, email and social media including WhatsApp and Instagram. It comes with a no-code interface that makes it easy to build bots, making it possible to deliver personalized customer service at scale. The platform includes a journey builder and ready-made playbooks, enabling businesses to proactively support and meet customer needs.

🚀 Top features

• Collects context and directs conversations to the appropriate agent groups efficiently
• Builds bots that detect intent and guide customers through troubleshooting using a no-code builder
• Customize your chatbot's appearance to reflect your brand's values with a simple CSS editor

Customer testimonials

💪 What works best

"One of the things I love most about Freshdesk is how it can automate very well, especially with the help of Freddy Copilot. It works on repetitive jobs smartly so that our customer service team can devote their time to more difficult matters. The platform has customization functionalities for workflow and the ability to integrate with other applications, hence making it very flexible for us thus improving both effectiveness and customer satisfaction." Source

💡 What could be better

"What I dislike about Freshdesk is the occasional complexity in setting up advanced automation rules and workflows. While the platform is powerful, it can sometimes take time to fully optimize the configurations for unique use cases, especially for teams without dedicated technical resources." Source

Price: Offers a free plan. The most popular is the Pro plan - $48.99/per agent/month - billed annually

Free trial: Available for 14 days

Verdict: Freshdesk packs a lot of functionality and features into a cost-effective package. With tools like canned responses and an AI-powered "thank you detector," it helps support agents cut down on admin tasks. It's particularly popular among small businesses. However, users do report some downsides, including occasional bugs and service disruptions. There's also room for improvement in Freshdesk's documentation, as it can sometimes be inaccurate or outdated, which might leave users searching for answers.

How to choose the right AI customer service chatbot for your company

Navigating the selection of your customer service AI chatbot needs a probe into specifics to ensure it meets your team's needs. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you know what you're up against?

Are most of your queries common and easy? Or are they cerebral and time-consuming? What types of conversations does your team handle daily? Take a close look.

• Capacity analysis: Track your typical and peak customer inquiry volumes. Ensure the chatbot's architecture supports scaling up during high-demand periods without compromising response quality.
• Smart escalation protocols: Program the chatbot to recognize keywords or emotional cues that signal tangled cases, automatically routing these to live agents for a more nuanced response.
• Real-world simulation: Before full deployment, run the chatbot in a controlled environment mimicking live conditions. Track its decision accuracy, response time and handling capacity under dynamic situations.

Does the chatbot fit well with the tools you already use?

Your AI chatbot should fit in with the rest of your existing tech stack. It should be flexible in adapting and communicating well with all your other tools. After all, apps like your contact center CRM, knowledge base and marketing automation are what will feed your chatbot with all the information it needs to assist your customers in one go, yielding first contact resolutions. You should be able to configure your chatbot to selectively fetch data for lower load times.

💡 Could your chatbot be the SME you need?  

Oftentimes, live agents are expected to take the lead when customers face technical issues. But a chatbot powered by generative AI can sift through your knowledge base, filter the exact insights your customer needs and present it to them in an easy-to-follow, digestible way.  

Sprinklr AI+ ramps up your chatbot just like that. Not only that, but it can also learn from each conversation, spot new patterns and absorb fresh insights to stay sharp. All in all, making it smarter and more in tune with what customers need, interaction after interaction. 

Get a demo of Sprinklr AI +

Is your chatbot compliant with applicable laws?

The answer to this question can be a deal-breaker. Consumers are educated, aware and need brands to set up guardrails that protect them from cyber-harm.

• Encryption verification: Confirm that the chatbot uses strong encryption for both stored data and during transmission to prevent unauthorized access.
• Compliance checkpoints: Regularly review the chatbot against compliance with industry-specific regulations, updating protocols as laws evolve.
• Data control communication: As many as 40% of global consumers say that if a brand wants to win its trust, it should be transparent about how its data is being used. Communicate and assure your customers of that.

Think a checklist can help you stay accountable for your data? This video serves all that you need to know on a platter. 👇

Do you have the control you need?

Choose an AI chatbot that gives you customization tools to adjust the chatbot’s visual elements — like colors and fonts — as well as its dialog scripts, so they align closely with your brand’s voice and ethos. 

Next, practice control by deploying detailed settings that govern the chatbot's behavior. This involves setting up rules that trigger specific actions based on the complexity of the scenario or the characteristics of the customer interacting with it.

For example, you might set up a chatbot to recognize when someone is a repeat customer or browsing your premium products. From there, it can automatically offer special discounts or suggest something specific. While this surely makes shopping more personal, it also smartly aligns with your sales tactics, giving your brand an engaging and strategic edge.

This granularity lets your chatbot operate within well-defined limits, providing your users with a consistently reliable experience that upholds your brand standards.

Is it worth it?

When deciding on AI chatbots, it's smart to really dig into the costs and benefits to make sure your investment pays off.

When figuring out the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for a chatbot, you'll want to tally up everything from the initial setup and customization costs to the ongoing operational fees. Don't forget to factor in training costs for the AI, technical support and even the less obvious costs like potential downtime during rollout.

Work out the net present value of the long-term financial benefit of investing in the chatbot. Think about the savings from needing fewer in-house agents and handling more tickets. Factor in both the upfront costs and the ongoing expenses to get a clear picture of what you're really investing in your chatbot.

Free Guide: How to Evaluate a Generative AI-powered Bot

As you're weighing up options for your AI chatbot, it's worth noting the excitement around Generative AI. However, it's a new frontier, and concerns about the precision of AI-driven bots are understandable.

If you're feeling tentative about taking your chatbots a notch up with this new AI technology, our latest Guide might just be the resource you need. It offers a straightforward framework to help you understand the risks and benefits of using a GenAI chatbot, lays out practical steps for evaluation and even shares examples to help you deploy one smoothly and confidently! Grab it right here. 👇