14 Best Kustomer Alternatives for Customer Service

A good customer service platform should tick all the boxes. Great features, easy to use, integrates with the rest of your tech stack and helps you create automated workflows. Your customers are happy, your customer service team is even happier. Kustomer kind of does that, but there are a lot of boxes it leaves unticked.

If you think Kustomer is too expensive, overly complicated, or just not right for you, we have excellent news. We're going to cover some of the best alternatives to Kustomer today and explain why they're a better choice.

Let's dig right in.

In short - Best Kustomer alternatives for customer support:

1. ✨ Featurebase: Best modern Kustomer alternative for fast-growing startups looking for AI-powered customer support.
2. HubSpot Service Hub: Best for businesses already using HubSpot CRM that want integrated support tools.
3. Zendesk: Best for enterprises that need a scalable, highly customizable support platform.
4. Freshdesk: Best for companies of any size that want flexible omnichannel ticketing and automation.
5. Zoho Desk: Best for businesses using Zoho apps that want multi-channel, AI-powered support at a lower cost.
6. Salesforce Service Cloud: Best for large organizations needing advanced AI, deep customization, and full-CRM integration.
7. Intercom: Best for SaaS and digital businesses that focus on proactive, in-app customer engagement.
8. Gladly: Best for retail or lifestyle brands that want people-centric support with voice, SMS, and chat in one view.
9. Gorgias: Best for e-commerce stores that want tight integrations with Shopify, Magent,o and order workflows.
10. Kayako: Best for teams that need a single view of customer interactions across email, chat, and social without added complexity.
11. Hiver: Best for teams that prefer to manage support directly inside Gmail or Outlook with simple help-desk features.
12. Olark: Best for small and mid-sized businesses that want real-time live chat without heavy setup or cost.
13. Crisp: Best for startups and growing teams that want modern messaging, chatbots, and omnichannel support with simplicity.
14. Tidio: Best for small businesses that need budget-friendly live chat and chatbot capabilities across multiple channels.

Why look for Kustomer alternatives in the first place?

Kustomer is a great alternative if you want all the features for great customer service, but without opting for one of the giants in the space, such as Intercom. However, things are not perfect, and here's why.

1. Kustomer is pretty expensive

Kustomer has only two plans: Enterprise and Ultimate, starting at $89 and $139 per seat per month, respectively. You also pay for AI agents for customers at $0.60 per engaged conversation. In fact, we cover Kustomer pricing in detail in another blog post if you're interested in more details.

Compared to just about any other customer support tool out there, Kustomer can get prohibitively expensive. If you have a sizeable CS team and you use AI to help with customer service, you can easily get into thousands of dollars per month spent on Kustomer.

2. The reporting features are subpar

Kustomer has a robust ticketing system, but when your reps have to report to their manager (or you have to report to the executive level), it gets a little bit complicated.

Kustomer is not built with reporting in mind, and you may struggle customizing your reports to display exactly what you had in mind. Once created, you may face issues sorting them based on your requirements, too.

• "The biggest weakness of Kustomer is reporting. The general reports are not flexible and I cannot adapt them to my needs. The custom reports also have several problems: they cannot be sorted or grouped in folders, they don’t allow me to cross information between customers, conversations, and messages, they are limited in the amount of data per report, and when shared as PDF they often show incomplete information. In the end, the only real solution is to export the data and build dashboards outside the application." (G2 review)
• "The platform can feel a little overwhelming at first because of all the features, and the reporting tools aren’t as intuitive or flexible as they could be. There’s a bit of a learning curve before you feel fully comfortable using it." (G2 review)

3. Getting started can be a challenge

Kustomer has a wide variety of customer support workflows and features. Once you get accustomed to everything, your customer service agents can provide exceptional customer care. But until then, you have to set Kustomer up. Whether you do this on your own or with the help of the Kustomer team, it can be a rough ride.

• "The implementation process could have been more organized. The team seemed a bit hands off, which caused a lot of concern from our end about whether things were going to be completed within the deadline. There have been various bugs that we have caught during our time using it, and although the support team has been responding to our requests quickly, it still feels that there is a lot of waiting time for issues to get fixed on the backend." (G2 review)

The best Kustomer alternatives to improve customer service performance

If Kustomer is too expensive, complicated, or rigid for you, there are plenty of other options for your business needs. Here are the best Kustomer alternatives and why you should give them a try.

1. Featurebase ✨

Featurebase is a modern Kustomer alternative that combines AI-powered support, help center, feedback collection, and product updates into a single platform for SaaS. It's loved by thousands of support teams from companies like Lovable, Raycast, and n8n. 💫

Top features:

• Unified inbox – manage your live chat & email conversations in one AI-enchanced inbox with your whole team
• AI agent & automations – fully automate your support with AI and endless custom workflows, like extending trials, offering discounts, qualifying leads, etc.
• Messenger widget – provide AI and human support from anywhere with a customizable in-app widget
• Mobile app – respond to customers, receive notifications, and unblock users on the go
• AI-powered Help Center – a knowledge base with instant AI answers that can be multilingual and private
• Feedback portal & roadmaps – centralize & keep track of all customer requests in one place, and show a public roadmap
• Product updates – publish and schedule release notes, push in-app notifications, and automatically email users
• Embedded surveys – run multi-step NPS, CSAT, or custom surveys targeted by user behavior or events
• Integrations – Slack, Linear, Jira, Discord, HubSpot, and many more

How is Featurebase better than Kustomer: Kustomer is strong for unified CRM and support workflows, but Featurebase offers a combined support + feedback + self-service platform, built specifically for SaaS-driven teams. That means you get the help desk software, the knowledge base, the product feedback loop and the automation tools all in one place, instead of stitching together multiple systems.

Pricing: Featurebase offers a generous Free plan, which includes unlimited support conversations. The paid plans start at $29/month + $0.29 for each AI resolution. The onboarding is super fast, so there's no downside to trying it. 👇

✨ Automate your support with the fastest AI-enhanced Inbox today →

2. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub extends the HubSpot CRM into customer support, combining ticketing, automation, and feedback tools. It’s a good fit for businesses already using HubSpot for sales or marketing and looking to centralize customer operations.

Top features

• Ticketing system: Track and manage customer issues through pipelines.
• Shared inbox: Keep all team conversations organized in one view to improve the productivity of customer service teams.
• Knowledge base: Build a self-service support library for customers.
• Automation & workflows: Assign tickets, send follow-ups, and set triggers automatically.
• Customer feedback tools: Gather NPS and satisfaction data from support interactions.

How it’s better than Kustomer: HubSpot offers stronger integration with marketing and sales tools, making it ideal for teams already in the HubSpot ecosystem. Kustomer focuses on service workflows, while HubSpot provides a unified view across the entire customer journey.

Pricing: starts at $9 per seat per month for the most basic plan.

3. Zendesk

Zendesk is one of the most established helpdesk platforms on the market, offering powerful automation, scalability, and multi-channel support. It’s a popular choice for large teams that need flexibility and advanced reporting across global operations.

While it's the leading customer service software in the market today, its rich feature set comes at a cost of complexity of use.

Top features

• Omnichannel ticketing: Manage customer queries across email, chat, phone, and social.
• Automation and AI tools: Use triggers, workflows, and bots to speed up responses.
• Knowledge base: Build both internal and external self-service portals.
• Advanced reporting: Track KPIs, satisfaction scores, and agent performance.
• Marketplace apps: Extend functionality with thousands of integrations.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Zendesk offers a more mature and customizable ecosystem with stronger analytics and automation. Kustomer focuses on CRM-style timelines, while Zendesk provides customer support teams with more control over complex, high-volume ticket management.

Pricing: Zendesk's pricing starts at $19 per user per month.

4. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service solution that balances affordability with powerful automation. It’s designed for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, that want scalable omnichannel support.

Top features

• Multi-channel ticketing: Consolidate requests from email, chat, phone, and social.
• Freddy AI bots: Automate repetitive questions and classify incoming tickets.
• SLA management: Define deadlines and escalation rules for timely resolution.
• Collaboration tools: Allow teams to share notes and handle tickets together.
• Marketplace integrations: Add CRM, analytics, and communication tools as needed.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Freshdesk is easier to use and more budget-friendly, especially for small and mid-sized teams. While Kustomer focuses on CRM data, Freshdesk simplifies ticket management and automation for faster setup and adoption.

Pricing: Freshdesk's pricing starts at $15 per agent per month.

5. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a cloud-based helpdesk that helps businesses manage support tickets across multiple channels. It’s handy for companies already using Zoho CRM or other Zoho products.

Top features

• Multi-channel ticketing: Manage support via email, chat, phone, and social media.
• AI assistant (Zia): Analyze sentiment, predict ticket tags, and suggest solutions.
• SLA management: Define response time goals and automate escalation.
• Knowledge base: Build public or internal documentation to deflect common queries.
• Custom dashboards: Visualize ticket trends and agent productivity.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Zoho Desk offers similar CRM visibility but at a fraction of the cost. While Kustomer emphasizes detailed customer timelines, Zoho Desk provides accessible automation and analytics for smaller teams with less setup complexity.

Pricing: Zoho Desk pricing starts at €7 per user per month.

6. Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise-level platform for customer service and support. It ties directly into Salesforce CRM, giving large teams a complete view of customers across sales, marketing, and service.

Top features

• Omnichannel case management: Manage customer interactions across chat, phone, social, and email.
• Einstein AI: Predict customer needs, automate routing, and surface insights.
• Knowledge management: Store and share internal or customer-facing documentation.
• Customer 360 view: Access complete history and account data in one place.
• Field service tools: Manage technicians and service appointments on the go.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Salesforce Service Cloud offers far greater scalability and customization. Kustomer provides flexibility for mid-sized teams, but Salesforce is the stronger choice for enterprises needing global operations, advanced AI, and deeper CRM integration.

Pricing: starts at $25 per user per month.

7. Intercom

Intercom is a conversational support platform that combines live chat, bots, and in-app messaging to help businesses deliver real-time engagement. It’s ideal for SaaS and digital-first companies that want to mix proactive communication with customer support.

Top features

• Business Messenger: Chat with customers on your website or inside your product.
• AI chatbots: Automate FAQs and route conversations to the right team.
• Help center: Build a searchable knowledge base for self-service.
• Product tours: Guide users through onboarding and essential features.
• Integrations: Connect with HubSpot, Salesforce, Shopify, and Slack.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Intercom provides stronger in-app engagement and automation for digital products, while Kustomer focuses more on CRM-style customer records. It’s a full-fledged customer engagement platform better suited for SaaS teams that want conversational support rather than ticket-based workflows.

Pricing: Intercom pricing starts at $29 per seat per month + additional AI feature fees.

8. Gladly

Gladly is a customer service platform that focuses on people rather than tickets. It gives agents a single, continuous view of every customer conversation, regardless of channel, making it ideal for retail and service-oriented businesses that prioritize personal, high-touch support.

Top features

• Unified customer timeline: View all interactions across email, SMS, chat, and voice in one continuous thread.
• Voice and SMS support: Manage phone and text conversations from the same dashboard.
• Customer profiles: Access customer history, preferences, and previous interactions instantly.
• Self-service tools: Create branded help centers and chat widgets to handle simple requests.
• Analytics and insights: Track customer satisfaction, agent performance, and channel activity.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Gladly offers a more relationship-focused approach to support, while Kustomer leans toward data and automation. For brands that emphasize human connection and multi-channel engagement, Gladly provides a more natural, people-first experience.

Pricing is not available publicly.

9. Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk built specifically for ecommerce businesses. It connects directly with platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce to give support agents full visibility into customer orders and actions.

Top features

• E-commerce integrations: Manage refunds, order tracking, and customer data directly from the helpdesk.
• Automation rules: Tag, assign, and respond to tickets automatically.
• Macros: Use pre-written responses for common questions.
• Multi-channel inbox: Handle email, chat, social media, and SMS in one place.
• Revenue tracking: Measure sales and revenue generated through support interactions.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Gorgias is purpose-built for e-commerce, making it far easier to manage store-related issues like returns and shipping updates. Kustomer works across industries, but Gorgias provides deeper integrations and automations tailored to online retail.

Pricing: starts at $10 per month, depending on the number of tickets handled.

10. Kayako

Kayako is a customer service platform that gives teams a unified view of the customer journey. It combines email, chat, and social support with contextual information to help agents respond more effectively.

Top features

• Unified inbox: Combine conversations from email, chat, and social channels.
• Customer journey view: Display all interactions in one timeline.
• Automation workflows: Route and prioritize tickets based on triggers.
• Self-service customer portal: Create a public help center for FAQs and articles.
• Collaboration tools: Share notes and assign tickets across agents.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Kayako focuses more on conversational context and simplicity, while Kustomer leans into CRM-style complexity. For teams that want to maintain a complete interaction history without overcomplicating workflows, Kayako is the more intuitive option.

Pricing is simple, with just one plan at $79 per month.

11. Hiver

Hiver turns Gmail into a helpdesk, giving teams ticketing and collaboration features inside their inbox. It’s ideal for small to mid-sized businesses that rely heavily on email and don’t want to adopt a full-fledged external platform.

Top features

• Shared inboxes: Manage customer emails directly from Gmail.
• Collision detection: Prevent multiple agents from replying to the same query.
• Workflow automation: Assign, tag, and prioritize tickets automatically.
• Private notes: Collaborate internally without cluttering email threads.
• Analytics & reporting: Measure team productivity and response times.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Hiver keeps everything inside Gmail, making it far simpler to use. Kustomer offers more CRM depth, but Hiver is faster to implement and better for teams that primarily communicate through email.

Pricing: Hiver's pricing starts at $25 per user per month.

12. Olark

Olark is a live chat platform designed for small and mid-sized businesses that want to connect with customers in real time. It’s simple, reliable, and focused on helping teams offer quick, personalized support without complex setups.

Top features

• Live chat widget: Add a customizable chat to your website.
• Chat transcripts: Access detailed logs of every customer interaction.
• Automation rules: Send targeted messages or route chats based on visitor behavior.
• CRM integrations: Connect with tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.
• Reporting tools: Track agent performance and chat activity.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Olark offers faster setup and real-time engagement without the learning curve of a full CRM-based platform. It’s a better choice for smaller teams that prioritize live communication over complex automation.

Pricing: Olark's pricing starts at $29 per user per month.

13. Crisp

Crisp is a budget customer messaging platform that unifies chat, email, and social communication in one interface. It’s a strong fit for startups and SaaS companies that want live chat and automation with a clean, easy-to-use design.

Top features

• Multi-channel inbox: Manage messages from chat, email, and social media together.
• Chatbots and automation: Automate FAQs and lead qualification.
• Shared knowledge base: Help customers find answers on their own.
• Co-browsing: Guide users in real time by viewing their screens.
• Integrations: Connect with CRMs, analytics, and CMS tools.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Crisp is simpler and far more affordable, offering a sleek interface and modern automation for smaller teams. Kustomer provides depth and CRM-style management, but Crisp delivers faster, more direct communication tools.

Pricing: Crisp's pricing starts at 45EUR per workspace per month.

14. Tidio

Tidio combines live chat and AI-powered chatbots in one platform, helping businesses automate responses and stay connected to customers across multiple communication channels. It’s especially effective for e-commerce and small business support.

Top features

• Live chat widget: Engage visitors instantly with customizable branding.
• AI chatbots: Automate common inquiries and capture leads.
• Multichannel support: Manage chats, emails, and social messages in one place.
• Visitor tracking: See who’s browsing and initiate proactive conversations.
• Mobile apps: Stay in touch with customers from anywhere.

How it’s better than Kustomer: Tidio focuses on speed, simplicity, and affordability in customer communications. While Kustomer offers CRM-driven complexity, Tidio helps smaller teams provide quick, automated, and personal support without overhauling their setup.

Pricing: Tidio's pricing starts at $24.17 per month for 100 billable conversations.

Final verdict

Despite its simple and intuitive interface, self-service options, and a decent feature set, some people still can't stomach Kustomer. The difficulty of getting started, issues with customization, and most of all, high pricing, are enough to put people off.

Featurebase is the best modern Kustomer alternative with an affordable AI-powered live chat & help center. It comes with omnichannel support, custom automations, a mobile app, and much more. It's loved by thousands of companies like Lovable, Polymarket, and Raycast.

What's best is that it comes with a Free plan, and you can migrate your help center with just one click, so there's no downside to trying it out! 👇

✨ Switch from Kustomer and get the fastest AI-powered inbox & help center →