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AI Customer Support Tools That Actually Save You Time

Written by Paddy Stobbs

Co-Founder & CEO

Edited by Steph Leung

Product & Operations Lead

Updated onApr 1, 2025

Customer Support teams are under pressure – juggling channels, high volumes, and limited time. In this guide, we break down the best AI tools for support: from automating first responses to helping agents in real time, managing Slack support, and more. We’ve tested them all – here’s what actually works.

Best Customer Support tools for different use cases

For Providing real-time assistance to agents:

Intercom

Stackfix Rating:

7.9 / 10

Intercom is a strong option for providing real-time assistance to agents, due to its AI-powered features and comprehensive customer context. Intercom’s AI Assist feature helps agents draft replies, fix grammar, and adjust the tone of their messages. This saves time and ensures consistent, professional communication. Our testing showed that Intercom’s AI Assist improved agent efficiency and reduced response times.

A key strength of Intercom is its ability to provide agents with rich customer context. Agents can easily access customer data, past conversations, and event history, allowing them to personalize responses and provide more relevant support. This context helps agents resolve issues faster and build stronger relationships with customers. Intercom’s analytics suite also provides valuable insights into agent performance and customer satisfaction. By tracking metrics such as resolution time and CSAT scores, you can identify areas for improvement and optimize your support operations.

Intercom’s AI chatbot, 'Fin', can automatically answer customer queries by using agents’ conversation history and any data source you provide, such as your Help Centre articles. It can also reply in your tone of voice, rather than a generic professional or friendly tone. With a powerful automation workflow builder, it can also automatically take action for customers, for example, requesting a refund or unblocking transactions.

While Intercom offers a range of features to provide real-time assistance to agents, some of these features may require additional setup and configuration. However, the benefits of Intercom’s AI-powered assistance and comprehensive customer context make it a valuable tool for saving time and improving agent effectiveness. Intercom’s strengths in this area make it a strong option for businesses looking to empower their agents and provide customer service.

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For Providing real-time assistance to agents:

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Intercom

Stackfix Rating:

7.9 / 10

For Ecommerce businesses:

Gorgias

Stackfix Rating:

6.0 / 10

Gorgias is a go-to support platform for ecommerce brands – especially those using Shopify. It was built with Shopify in mind from day one, and that shows in the depth of its integration. You get a customisable Shopify sidebar, macros that trigger Shopify actions, and an AI agent that can handle common requests like tracking orders, rescheduling deliveries, cancelling orders, and editing subscriptions.

Gorgias also makes it easy for agents to view, update, and manage orders directly from the support interface. They can process refunds, recommend products, and resolve issues without jumping between tools – all of which helps drive faster response times and a more personalised customer experience.

In our testing, Gorgias’ ecommerce-specific features consistently improved agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. We gave it a 10/10 for Shopify integration – no other platform goes deeper.

It’s worth noting that Gorgias is very much focused on ecommerce. Teams in other industries may find it less relevant. But for growing ecommerce brands with a steady support volume, it’s one of the best options out there for saving time and streamlining support.

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For Ecommerce businesses:

In our testing, Gorgias’ ecommerce-specific features consistently improved agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. We gave it a 10/10 for Shopify integration – no other platform goes deeper.

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Gorgias

Stackfix Rating:

6.0 / 10

For teams needing a highly customizable solution:

Plain

Stackfix Rating:

7.1 / 10

Plain is a strong choice for teams that need deep customisation in their customer support stack. Built with an API-first approach, it’s especially well-suited to B2B software companies with complex workflows and support needs.

What sets Plain apart is its developer-first design. The same GraphQL API used by the Plain team is exposed to customers, meaning anything you can do in the app, you can do via the API. That level of access opens the door to full workflow automation, custom tooling, and tight integration with internal systems.

One of Plain’s biggest strengths is how easily it syncs with your backend. You can pull in live customer data from your systems, so agents always have the most relevant context at hand – no more jumping between tools or relying on stale data. The data model is fully configurable, so you’re not boxed in by rigid fields or structures.

On the UX side, Plain offers a fast, modern inbox, AI-assisted reply suggestions, and flexible views to help agents stay focused and efficient. In our testing, it’s one of the smoothest inbox experiences on the market.

Plain does lean technical – teams will need some engineering input to get the most from it. But for B2B companies with the resources, its flexibility and power make it one of the most customisable support platforms available.

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For teams needing a highly customizable solution:

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Plain

Stackfix Rating:

7.1 / 10

Meet your expert: Paddy Stobbs

Stackfix Co-Founder & CEO

I've spent over a decade deep in the world of business software - personally managing more than $2M in purchases across companies I've built and led. From intimate 10-person teams to organizations of 150+, I've developed a particular obsession with Sales and HR tools – testing, implementing, and scaling them at every stage of growth. My journey started at Cambridge University, led me through Google, and most recently culminated in selling my previous venture to TikTok. Now, I'm channeling all of that hands-on experience into helping others navigate the complex landscape of business software.

Stackfix Comparison

	Intercom	Gorgias	Plain

Our rating
Functionality	9 Functionality 9/10 <p>Intercom provides most of the essential support functionality needed by SMBs, covering a wide range of communication channels (excluding Twitter, Slack, and Discord) and offering industry-leading live chat capabilities. It also includes advanced AI, automation, and reporting features. However, some features that larger teams may find valuable, such as approval workflows, community forum management, and advanced telephony capabilities (e.g., group routing and overflow handling), are not currently supported.</p>	7 Functionality 7/10 <p>As a product tailored to e-commerce brands, Gorgias offers a fairly robust range of features. It offer support for all the channels you'd expect including email, live chat, phone, text and socials. Additionally, you'll also find a decent help centre offering and AI agent functionality provided natively too. Though Gorgias does not excel in any one particular area, we did find each feature to be relatively well executed.</p>	5 Functionality 5/10 <p>Plain's positioning focuses on delivering exceptional functionality for B2B software teams. This includes excellent support for channels such as Slack, MS Teams, email etc. However, compared to other CS tools, Plain lacks some common functionality you might expect such as the ability to create help centres or configure chatbots.</p>
Ease of Use	7 Ease of Use 7/10 <p>Due to its rich functionality and customisability, Intercom has a moderate learning curve but is generally user-friendly. An average SMB employee can become proficient with the platform after 1-2 days and some guidance.</p><p>The interface is intuitive, making daily use straightforward for most team members. </p>	5 Ease of Use 5/10 <p>Though individual screens were generally well presented, we did find the sheer breadth of features slightly overwhelming at times. Gorgias' sidebar navigation system is non-standard which initially made it hard to navigate between core features swiftly (like between inboxes and analytics pages).</p>	9 Ease of Use 9/10 <p>As a result of it's focus on B2B software teams and opinionated product positioning, Plain has created a focused and intuitive product with a shallow learning curve. An average SMB employee would require less than 30 minutes and no guidance to master the product. It's onboarding process is simple, short and easy to understand. Additionally, it's web app is beautifully designed and intuitive to use.</p>
Look and feel	7 Look and feel 7/10 <p>We find Intercom's interface modern, sleek, with just the right touch of colour. However, page load times can be a bit slow, sometimes taking 2-3 seconds.</p>	6 Look and feel 6/10 <p>Overall, we found Gorgias to be relatively well designed and intuitive to use. Most interfaces were modern and fast to load (load times < 2 seconds). However, some interfaces did lack refinement or were hidden away in settings - for example, creating chatbots with the same interface used to generate other rules/workflows in the product presented some challenges - a simple drag and drop interface would have been preferable here.</p>	9 Look and feel 9/10 <p>Plain stands out as one of the best designed products on the market. It's clear that the team have crafted the product with a lot of care. The web app is modern, slick and very fast to use. Animations and sound effects are used with taste to add a high level of polish to the user experience.</p><p>Additionally, the web app neatly labels core buttons with a corresponding keyboard shortcut enabling agents to rattle through support tickets faster than they might have done with just a mouse.</p>
Customisability	9 Customisability 9/10 <p>Intercom is one of the most customisable Customer Support we've come across. User-facing elements (e.g. live chat, help centre) allow for deep customisation in appearance and layout.</p><p>Intercom also allows you to create custom data objects and track custom events about your customers to create highly personalised proactive messages and workflows.</p>	6 Customisability 6/10 <p>At present, Gorgias offers a fairly standard set of customization options for both internal and external interfaces. For its live chat widget and help centre, you can customize the usual elements including logos, colours and titles. For internal facing screens we appreciated the ease of saving custom views or adding custom tags to tickets to suit your specific business needs.</p>	7 Customisability 7/10 <p>Though Plain has built an opinionated product, it's API-centric nature provides a number of options for customisability. For example, businesses are able to sync customer data right into Plain via their API by connecting their backend to the platform and configuring custom fields. This means that businesses don't have to worry about syncing customer data or integrations. However, it's worth noting that whilst this is great for modern B2B software teams, businesses looking for something a little less developer focused should look elsewhere.</p>
Ease of Setup	7 Ease of Setup 7/10 <p>Intercom offers a simple, self-service free trial for their platform. Initial setup is relatively simple, taking less than 10 minutes to complete. Connecting your initial channels is fairly simple too with simple scripts for live widget integrations and easy email connection options. However, when it comes to deeper customization, there are a number of rabbit holes within which you could spend days e.g. setting up FinAI or customizing help centre appearances. </p>	7 Ease of Setup 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Gorgias offers a simple self-serve free trial for their platform. We found the initial setup to be simple, taking less than 30 minutes. Setting up your first channels is also a simple process - for example connecting your email can be done with just a couple clicks instead of needing to set up email forwarding manually. However, some features do require some up-front investment to get the most out of such as their AI agents feature as well as any ticket-routing automations you might want.</span></p>	7 Ease of Setup 7/10 <p>Plain offers a simple self-serve free trial for their platform. We found the initial setup to be simple, taking <5 mins. Setting up your first channels are particularly easy too - given Plain's focus on Slack and similar channels these take only a few clicks to connect and configure. However, when it comes to longer term customization, there are endless options available to teams who wish to take advantage of Plain's very flexible API.</p>
Customer Support	8 Customer Support 8/10 <p>Intercom provides in-app live chat with Fin AI and their support team. We’ve found that while Fin AI delivers helpful responses, and it's possible to connect with a human agent - although this can take up to 6 business hours which can be painfully long in our experience.</p>	4 Customer Support 4/10 <p>You can contact Gorgias' support agents via a live chat widget in their web app. When tested, you initially have to get through an AI agent which we found to be relatively helpful, however, unable to answer more complex queries. Real agents took an average of an hour to respond and though helpful, often seemed biased to wanting to book demo/sales calls if questions around pricing were asked.</p>	5 Customer Support 5/10 <p>Plain's support team can be contacted via email or in app form. We find their agents to be fairly responsive (response times <12 hours), knowledgeable and helpful. When tested, they are often able to troubleshoot issues within one response.</p>
Integratability	10 Integratability 10/10 <p>Intercom boasts a robust integrations ecosystem that includes popular CRMs like HubSpot and Pipedrive, project management tools such as JIRA, and email marketing platforms like Mailchimp. They also offer an API for custom integrations and are continually expanding their integration offerings, with the flexibility to develop new ones upon request.</p>	7 Integratability 7/10 <p>For their target customer segment, e-commerce brands, Gorgias offers a very comprehensive integrations store - providing integrations with all the major players like Shopify, BigCommerce etc. Additionally, we appreciated the fact that they also offer a mobile app with which you can handle tickets on the go more easily.</p>	7 Integratability 7/10 <p>Plain offers a handful of built in integrations with popular CRMs (such as Salesforce and Hubspot) as well as project management tools (such as Linear). However, it does lack the breadth of pre-built integrations that some of its competitors offer. That being said, its best in class API offers additional extensibility, though this is best suited to developer centric software teams.</p>
Ease of Migration	8 Ease of Migration 8/10 <p>Users can export key data independently through self-serve options, while most other data can be accessed via API or provided upon request. Additionally, Intercom enables seamless data exports to relevant third-party vendors through pre-built integrations.</p>	5 Ease of Migration 5/10 <p>Users can export data on tickets and other analytics via a self-serve option directly within Gorgias' dashboards.</p>	3 Ease of Migration 3/10 <p>Plain does not currently offer any self serve data export functionality, however, they do offer this on-demand to customers on their highest pricing tier.</p>

Best for Providing real-time assistance to agents

Intercom

Stackfix Rating:

7.9 / 10

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Starting at

$39

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Updated onApr 1, 2025

Intercom - Live chat

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Intercom's features and pricing.

Pros

Sophisticated analytics and reporting

Best-in-class live chat functionality

Powerful "Fin" chatbot and automation capabilities

Comprehensive integration ecosystem

Advanced customization options

Cons

Complex pricing that gets expensive

Limited AI Context Suggestions

No Kanban Board View

Limited Content Collaboration

No Community Forum Functionality

Limited Social Media Channel Support

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Best for Ecommerce businesses

Gorgias

Stackfix Rating:

6.0 / 10

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Starting at

$10

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Updated onApr 1, 2025

In our testing, Gorgias’ ecommerce-specific features consistently improved agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. We gave it a 10/10 for Shopify integration – no other platform goes deeper.

Gorgias - Shared Inbox

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Gorgias's features and pricing.

Pros

Best-in-class Shopify Integration

Solid Live Chat Implementation

Comprehensive Analytics Suite

Strong Integration Capabilities

Efficient Setup Process

Cons

Poor Customer Support Experience

Clunky Rules-Based Chatbot Interface

Mediocre Help Centre Functionality

Navigation and Usability Issues

Limited Data Export Capabilities

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Best for teams needing a highly customizable solution

Plain

Stackfix Rating:

7.1 / 10

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Starting at

$39

Calculate your price

Updated onApr 1, 2025

Plain - Ticket Automations

Want to know more? Get a full breakdown of Plain's features and pricing.

Pros

Outstanding API Capabilities

Exceptional User Interface and Design

Intuitive and Modern Shared Inbox

Streamlined User Experience

Cons

Limited Data Export Capabilities

Functionality Gaps

Limited Customer Support Coverage

Limited Channel Support

Compare all Customer Support tools Read the full review

How we test products

With countless Customer Support platforms available, we focus on identifying the best options for small and midsize businesses. Our evaluation process is built around real-world usage, prioritizing functionality, ease of use, and overall value. Here’s how we do it:

Functionality

Great customer support software should help businesses resolve issues quickly and efficiently. We start by identifying key use cases—ticket management, live chat, automation, and reporting—then test how well each platform delivers on these needs. Tools that offer essential features without unnecessary complexity score highest.

User Experience & Onboarding

Support teams need fast, intuitive tools. We test each platform’s interface by navigating core features without prior training and track onboarding time—from account setup to resolving a first ticket. Software that requires extensive setup or technical expertise loses points.

Automation & AI Capabilities

Automation can streamline customer support and reduce response times. We evaluate each platform’s automation features, such as chatbots, canned responses, workflow automation, and AI-driven ticket triaging. We prioritize tools that improve efficiency without adding unnecessary complexity.

Integrations & Compatibility

Customer Support software must work seamlessly with CRMs, knowledge bases, and communication tools. We test how well each platform integrates with essential business systems and assess whether native integrations or third-party connectors are required.

Pricing & Value

We compare pricing across competitors, analyzing what each plan includes and whether critical features are locked behind paywalls. Hidden costs—such as per-agent fees, add-ons for automation, or premium support tiers—are factored into our assessment. Platforms that offer strong core functionality at a fair price score highest.

Stackfix’s Fit Score

All of these factors contribute to Stackfix’s Fit Score, a proprietary ranking system that measures how well each Customer Support tool aligns with a buyer’s needs. It combines two key elements:

Requirements Met – How many buyer requirements the software fulfills
Stackfix Rating – Our expert assessment of the software’s overall quality, usability, and value

The result? A clear, data-driven recommendation that helps businesses choose the right Customer Support software—without hours of trial and error.

FAQs

What is Customer Support Software?

Customer support software helps teams manage tickets, live chat, and self-service. Consider ease of use, integrations, scalability, and pricing. Avoid overcomplex tools, ignoring automation, and poor planning. The key features of customer support software usually include:

Ticketing System: A structured way to track customer inquiries from start to resolution, ensuring that no requests slip through the cracks.
Live Chat & Chatbots: Tools that enable real-time communication with customers, including AI-powered bots that can handle common questions automatically.
Self-Service Knowledge Base: A library of FAQs, guides, and troubleshooting articles that empower customers to find answers without contacting support.
Automation & Workflows: Features like automated ticket assignment, canned responses, and escalations to reduce manual work and speed up resolution times.
Reporting & Analytics: Insights into response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores to help teams continuously improve their service.

What should I consider when buying Customer Support Software?

Start by assessing your current and future support requirements. Are you handling a high volume of tickets daily? Do you need omnichannel support (email, chat, social media)? Are you focused on automation or personalized service? Here are the key factors to consider before making your decision.

Your Support Needs. Start by assessing your current and future support requirements. Are you handling a high volume of tickets daily? Do you need omnichannel support (email, chat, social media)? Are you focused on automation or personalized service? Identifying your priorities will help you choose the right tool.
Ease of Use. Support software should make your team’s job easier, not harder. Look for an intuitive interface that agents can pick up quickly without extensive training. Overly complex platforms can slow down response times and frustrate both customers and agents. That’s why Stackfix rates every support platform on ease of use—click into each product above to see how they compare.
Integration with Your Tech Stack. Your support platform needs to work seamlessly with your CRM, email, chat, and other essential business tools. If you’re using Slack for internal communication or Shopify for e-commerce, check if the software offers native integrations or if third-party connectors are needed.
Scalability & Flexibility. As your business grows, your support needs will evolve. Ensure that the software can handle increased ticket volume, support multiple teams, and offer advanced automation features when you’re ready for them. Look at the vendor’s product roadmap to see if they regularly release useful updates.
Pricing & Hidden Costs. Support platforms often charge per agent, but costs can add up with extra fees for automation, integrations, or advanced analytics. Check pricing tiers carefully—what looks affordable now could become expensive as you scale.
Customer Support from the Vendor. Ironically, not all customer support tools come with great support. If something breaks or you need help with setup, will the vendor be there? Look at response times, support availability (24/7 or business hours?), and self-serve resources like help centers or forums. Stackfix rates each platform on support quality—click into each product to see how they compare.

What are the common mistakes to avoid when buying Customer Support software?

Some platforms are packed with advanced features but are overly complicated for smaller teams. Make sure you’re picking a tool that fits your workflow, not just one with an impressive feature list. Here are some of the biggest mistakes startups make—and how to avoid them.

Choosing based on features, not usability. Some platforms are packed with advanced features but are overly complicated for smaller teams. Make sure you’re picking a tool that fits your workflow, not just one with an impressive feature list.
Ignoring automation & AI. Many startups manually handle support requests when automation could significantly reduce workload. Look for tools that allow automated responses, ticket routing, and AI-driven suggestions.
Forgetting about self-service. A knowledge base can dramatically reduce support volume by enabling customers to find answers on their own. Make sure the platform includes an easy-to-use self-service portal.
Not planning for scaling. Startups often pick software based on current needs, without considering future growth. Will the platform support more agents, additional features, or multi-channel support when you need it?
Overlooking integration depth. A platform might “integrate” with your CRM, but does it sync customer data properly? Always test integrations before committing to a tool.

How much does Customer Support Software typically cost?

Most solutions range from $20-150 per agent monthly, with entry-level options starting around $15-25 and premium solutions exceeding $150 monthly. Most vendors provide structure pricing in tiers based on features and scale, so be sure to enter your requirements as accurately as possible in our pricing calculator.

Many providers offer free plans with core functionality for very small teams but restrict users, contacts, or available channels.

For enterprise plans and above, you can expect to speak to sales for a bespoke price. To skip the demo calls, be sure to check out our pricing calculator.

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