Category
AI customer service software: what they are and who makes them
Intercom, Zendesk, Sierra and 5 more, sorted into types, with the company behind each and where it is based.
Types of AI customer service software
Helpdesks with an agent built in
Intercom, Zendesk and Freshdesk sell the inbox, ticketing and AI agent together. You pay for seats plus AI usage, and human and AI conversations live in one place, which keeps reporting simple. This fits teams starting from scratch, or replacing an old helpdesk and its macros.
AI agents that sit on your helpdesk
Fin can run on Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk, and Forethought is built to work on top of other service tools. You keep the system of record and add an agent on top. This suits teams that cannot migrate years of tickets or retrain staff on a new inbox.
Enterprise agent builders
Sierra, Decagon and Ada sell custom agents across chat, voice and email, usually after a demo. They suit large brands with compliance reviews and a budget for a managed rollout, but they publish almost nothing about price, so comparison starts with a sales call.
CRM-native agents
Salesforce Agentforce runs agents on CRM data and cases inside Salesforce. It fits companies where service, sales and customer records already share one system, and it is billed in credits or per conversation, with a free builder tier for experiments.
Facts at a glance
| Tool | Publisher | Based in | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom | Intercom, Inc. | United States | Trial + API |
| Zendesk | Zendesk, Inc. | United States | Trial + API |
| Sierra | Sierra | United States | Paid + API |
| Decagon | Decagon | United States | Paid + API |
| Ada | Ada Support Inc. | Canada | Paid + API |
| Forethought | Forethought.ai (now part of Zendesk) | United States | Paid + API |
| Freshdesk Freddy AI | Freshworks Inc. | United States | Trial + API |
| Salesforce Agentforce | Salesforce | United States | Free tier + API |
