Fortunately, there are many low-cost solutions available prepared to take the place of Intercom.Many offer a similar set of tools, even though no two CRMs are the same.It is therefore useful to do a lot of research and find an option that offers what your company needs.
In this post, we will help you conduct the necessary research.We will present five of the best Intercom alternatives and discuss what each has to offer.Let's take a look!
Why you can benefit from examining Intercom alternatives
Customer relationship management is a broad term that encompasses pretty much everything related to customer interaction and leads.This involves reaching potential customers, answering questions, submitting proposals, providing support, and much more.
Managing these tasks through your website can be much easier if you have the right tools.CRM solutions offer ways to improve productivity, streamline key processes, and manage communications more effectively.
When it comes to CRM tools, Intercom is one of the most well-known options.
It is a complete solution that offers features such as a live chat system, help desk and knowledge base software, and a variety of apps and integration options.However, Intercom is an expensive solution, costing $87 per month on its cheapest plan.In practice, this is not within the budget of many small businesses.
The good news is that there are many Intercom alternatives to choose from.While you may not find a tool with an identical feature set, you'll find many solutions that offer many of the same options, at a much more affordable price.
Five cost-effective intercom alternatives for your small business
What we will do now is introduce five Intercom alternatives that are worth trying.For each, we'll discuss the feature set and pricing, along with how it compares to the intercom itself.You may find that one or two of these tools can easily handle the needs of your small business.Let's start from the top!
1. LiveChat
First, let's look at a simple option.While Intercom offers a wide range of features, many companies use it primarily for its live chat functionality.
If that's all you need – without the extra bells and whistles – appropriately named LiveChat could fit perfectly.
🔧 Key features
- Communicate with customers and website visitors via a live chat system
- Set up an organized ticketing system
- Allow visitors to rate each chat, so you can see the performance of your support team
- Easily view metrics like chat and ticket response times
💰 Prices
The starter plan for LiveChat costs $16 per month per agent, making it a highly affordable option.
👋 Ease of use
Setting up LiveChat is an extremely quick process, and the dashboard is intuitive and easy to use.At first, you will be guided through the main features via a sample chat with a support bot.
Integrating this tool with your website is also simple and will get you up and running in minutes.
🔌 Extensions and integrations
LiveChat integrates well with a variety of popular services, such as Google Analytics, MailChimp, Zendesk, and Dropbox.There's also a vast marketplace of apps that you can use to improve its features and run all kinds of integrations.
🤜🤛 LiveChat vs Intercom
The feature set offered by LiveChat is much simpler than what you will get with Intercom.However, if you're really looking for a chat and ticketing solution, this platform can provide what you need without expensive extras.
2. User.com
Second, let's take a look at User.com (formerly known as UserEngage).
Like Intercom, this solution offers a range of tools to help you automate marketing and customer communication.
It's also a team-centric solution, providing features to help various members or departments stay on the same page.
🔧 Key features
- Communicate with customers via live chat, with an option for automated messages as well
- Easily track customer activities and information
- Create automated pop-ups and emails to help you target customers with specific messages
- Put together and send SMS campaigns
- Keep tabs on your team and metrics using a variety of organizational tools and dashboards
💰 Prices
User.com offers packages starting at $49 per month.This makes it one of the least expensive options on this list and, of course, much cheaper than Intercom.
👋 Ease of use
When you create an account with User.com, you'll be prompted to choose what you're most interested in accomplishing.
Selecting one of these options will walk you through a series of helpful tips, which teach you how to use the dashboard and help you set up basic User.com features.This makes it quite easy to get started.
🔌 Extensions and integrations
User.com integrates with a wide range of tools and platforms.These include WordPress, Magento, Squarespace, Slack, Zapier, and others.You also have the option to easily import data from the intercom.
🤜🤛 User.com vs Intercom
If you're looking for an option that offers a toolset almost as wide as the intercom, but at a reduced price, this is a solid choice.You'll miss out on some tools, like help desk and knowledge base software, but most of the core features are the same.
3. Drift
What if you are looking for intercom alternatives that are a little more streamlined, with a greater focus on customer communication?
In this case, Drift could be a strong choice.This solution offers a smaller but still impressive feature set, at a more realistic price for many small businesses.
🔧 Key features
- Set up a calendar to manage meetings and let people automatically book times
- Send targeted and situational sales emails using "Drift Sequences"
- Create chatbots to manage customer questions
- Track visitor activity on your site and enable personalized messaging
- Manage email marketing campaigns through your website
💰 Prices
The standard drift plan will cost you $50 per month.There's also a limited free tier that allows you to try out many of the core features for free.
👋 Ease of use
When you set up Drift, you'll be able to choose areas to focus on, as well as customize the interface you'll use.
After that, you'll be guided through Drift's integration with your website, which is a simple process.Plus, that means you won't have to leave your site to access many of its core features.
🔌 Extensions and integrations
Drift is another tool with many built-in integration options.You can use it alongside Salesforce, Slack, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Drip, and more.
🤜🤛 Drift vs Intercom
Intercom is a handful of CRM features, and smaller businesses won't need many of them.Instead, Drift focuses on streamlining, automating, and personalizing customer interactions, which can benefit almost any business.
4. Use Answer
Next, UseResponse is a solution focused on helping you provide the best possible customer support.
To do this, it offers you a variety of channels with which to provide customer service.This includes live chat, a helpdesk, and knowledge base software.
🔧 Key features
- Communicate with customers using live chat and/or popular programs such as Skype and WhatsApp
- Build a ticket-based help desk system to manage queries more efficiently
- Provide customers with a knowledge base, where they can search for answers on their own
- Solicit and analyze customer feedback, in order to provide better service in the future
💰 Prices
UseResponse provides a cost-effective cloud-based service, costing $49 per month for two agents (additional agents will cost $19 per month per agent).You can also get a full suite of all solutions for $690 per year, which comes in at around $69 per month (two months are free).
👋 Ease of use
With UseResponse, you get access to a fairly intuitive dashboard, along with plenty of helpful tips to teach you ropes.
The interface is clear, well organized and intuitive.All in all, UseResponse is one of the easiest Intercom alternatives to get used to.
🔌 Extensions and integrations
UseResponse provides API-based integrations, along with a library of add-ons to enable the platform to connect with Salesforce, Zapier, Slack, and other popular software.
🤜🤛 UseResponse vs Intercom
If you already manage marketing through other channels and are primarily looking for a tool to manage your customer service needs, UseResponse has your back.It covers all the most important communication channels, allowing you to provide a service in a unified way.
5. HelpCrunch Property
Finally, HelpCrunch's feature set emphasizes efficiency and automation.
This makes it a smart choice if you're looking to provide quality customer service, while minimizing the investment time you and your support team have to make.
🔧 Key features
- Use a dynamic and highly customizable live chat system
- Send automated messages and emails to your customers and leads
- Create targeted and personalized email marketing campaigns
- Use a data-driven ticketing system to handle customer questions and issues
- Track visitor activity and monitor customer profiles and data
💰 Prices
If your budget is particularly tight, you'll appreciate HelpCrunch's low buy-in.The basic plan is only $15 per month per agent.
👋 Ease of use
Your HelpCrunch account gives you access to a centralized dashboard.
Here you can easily manage chats, create automatic and manual messages, and view reports.Your options are clearly defined, and there are several ways to get help if you need it.
🔌 Extensions and integrations
You can integrate HelpCrunch with many external tools, including Slack, WordPress, Google Analytics, WhatsApp, and Zendesk.
🤜🤛 HelpCrunch vs Intercom
Small businesses are often time-consuming, which means it's imperative to find a tool that gets you up and running quickly.Unlike a more complex option like Intercom, HelpCrunch is simple to use and offers plenty of opportunities for automation and streamlining.
Conclusion
When running a small business, you need to strike a balance between getting access to the tools you need and not spending more than your budget can handle.While a solution like Intercom can be valuable, it's also extremely expensive and can contain more features than you really need.
Instead, one of the Intercom alternatives we've discussed in this post might be more suitable for your business.To recap, they include:
- LiveChat: For those who are primarily interested in Intercom's live chat feature, this tool can provide what you need at a much lower cost.
- User.com : This solution offers almost all the features of the intercom , but is considerably cheaper.
- Drift: With this platform, you can access many main options such as email marketing, chatbots, and visitor activity tracking.
- Usage response: If you need a tool that focuses heavily on providing dynamic customer support channels, this is worth checking out.
- HelpCrunch: This time-saving solution makes it easy to automate much of your customer service and marketing.
🔥Bonus.In case you're interested in other CRM solutions – especially those that work 100% within your WordPress website – here's a separate list of the best CRM plugins available.
Have you used one of these Intercom alternatives and what has been your experience with them?Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
