I tested 7 tools to find the best Salesforce chatbot for 2025

So, you're a Salesforce power user and your support team is completely swamped. You’ve heard an AI chatbot could lighten the load, but figuring out which one to pick feels like a full-time job in itself. Do you go with the built-in Einstein Bots? A third-party specialist? Where do you even start?

I get it. I’ve been there. To cut through all the noise, I spent the last few weeks getting my hands dirty and testing the top Salesforce chatbot solutions. This is my honest, no-fluff comparison to help you skip the endless sales demos and find the right tool for your team.

We’ll go through what makes a chatbot actually good, the specific things I looked for during testing, and a head-to-head comparison of the 7 best options on the market for 2025.

What defines the best Salesforce chatbot?

A Salesforce chatbot is an AI-powered tool that hooks directly into your Salesforce CRM to handle conversations. Think of it as an automated team member that can chat with customers on your website or even help your own employees with internal questions.

Its main job is to automate tasks using the data you already have in Salesforce and other connected spots. It can answer common questions ("Where's my tracking number?"), qualify new leads ("What's your company size?"), and even resolve support tickets without a human ever stepping in. The big difference between the options out there is how they do this. Native bots like Einstein are built right in, while third-party bots plug into Salesforce to add more flexibility and often, more power.

How I chose the best Salesforce chatbot platforms

Picking the right chatbot isn't just about finding the fanciest AI; it's about how smoothly it actually fits into your team's day-to-day. I’ve seen too many teams get bogged down by clunky setups and rigid tools, so I focused on five criteria that I think really matter.

• Ease of setup and integration: How quickly can you connect it to Salesforce and get it running? Are we talking about needing a developer and a six-week project plan, or can you get it going yourself in an afternoon?

• AI & customization capabilities: Can the AI actually figure out what your customers are asking? And how much control do you have? Can you shape its personality, give it specific instructions, and connect it to other tools to do things like look up an order status?

• Data connectivity: A chatbot is only as smart as the information it can reach. Is it stuck only reading data inside Salesforce, or can it easily tap into your other knowledge sources like a help center, Confluence, or Google Docs to give people the full picture?

• Testing and deployment: You definitely don't want to unleash a confused AI on your customers. Is there a safe way to test the bot on your real data before it goes live? Can you maybe roll it out to a small group of customers first to see how it does?

• Pricing model: Is the pricing straightforward? Or are you going to get hit with surprise fees for every ticket the bot solves, basically getting penalized for being successful?

A quick comparison of the best Salesforce chatbot tools for 2025

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, here’s a quick overview of how the top contenders stack up.

Tool	Best For	Ease of Setup	Key Differentiator	Pricing Model
eesel AI	Teams wanting fast, flexible, and powerful automation	Very High (Self-serve)	Simulate on past tickets; connect any knowledge source	Predictable, by interaction volume
Salesforce Einstein Bots	Teams committed to the native Salesforce ecosystem	Medium (Requires expertise)	Deep, native integration with Salesforce data	Add-on to Service Cloud plans
Ada	Large enterprises needing robust, multi-department automation	Low (Sales-led)	Advanced conversational AI and analytics	Custom (Annual contract)
Drift	Sales and marketing teams focused on lead generation	Medium (Requires onboarding)	Proactive lead engagement and sales playbooks	Custom (Premium pricing)
Qualified	B2B marketing teams using an ABM strategy	Medium (Requires onboarding)	Identifying and routing high-value website visitors	Custom (Varies by traffic)
Intercom	Companies wanting an all-in-one support platform	High (but replaces tools)	Unified helpdesk, chat, and bot platform	By seats & interactions
Zendesk Answer Bot	Teams already using both Zendesk and Salesforce	Medium	Strong ticket deflection within the Zendesk ecosystem	Add-on to Zendesk plans

The 7 best Salesforce chatbot tools

Alright, here’s a detailed look at each platform, based on my hands-on testing.

1. eesel AI

A screenshot of the eesel AI landing page, which is considered the best Salesforce chatbot.

eesel AI isn’t another helpdesk you have to switch to. It’s a smart AI layer that plugs right into the tools you already use, including Salesforce. It really stands out by making powerful AI accessible without all the enterprise-level drama. You can connect all your scattered information, from old Salesforce cases and your help center to internal wikis and documents, to power one seriously intelligent chatbot.

What really sold me was the ability to go live in minutes, not months. Most competitors force you to book a demo just to see the product. With eesel AI, I signed up and had a working bot trained on our help docs in less than 10 minutes, all by myself. The simulation feature is also a huge plus. It lets you test your bot on thousands of your past tickets to see exactly how it would have performed and even calculates your potential ROI before you ever flip the switch for a real customer. That’s the kind of confidence you want before turning an AI loose.

• Pros:

  • It's radically self-serve and incredibly easy to set up. No sales call needed.

  • Connects to over 100 sources, bringing all your company knowledge together in one place.

  • The simulation mode lets you test and deploy without any risk.

  • Pricing is transparent, with no sneaky per-resolution fees.

• Cons:

  • As a newer player, it doesn't have the same brand recognition as some of the giants.

  • The most powerful features, like training on past tickets and creating custom actions, are on the Business plan.

• Pricing:

  • Team: $299/month ($239/month annually) for up to 1,000 AI interactions.

  • Business: $799/month ($639/month annually) for up to 3,000 interactions, unlimited bots, and advanced features like AI actions and simulation.

2. Salesforce Einstein Bots

A screenshot of the Salesforce Einstein Bots landing page, which is considered one of the best Salesforce chatbot options.

Being the native solution, Salesforce Einstein Bots offer the tightest possible integration with your Salesforce data. If your main goal is to build a bot that can look up and update Salesforce records (like checking an order status), then Einstein is a natural place to start. You build conversations using a visual, flowchart-style builder, which works well for creating structured, step-by-step guides.

The trade-off for that power is a whole lot of complexity. Setting up a decent Einstein Bot isn't a simple plug-and-play job; it takes real technical know-how and a lot of time. Its knowledge is also pretty much trapped inside Salesforce. If you want it to answer questions using your external help center or internal wikis, you’re looking at a custom development project. It feels powerful but rigid, almost like a tool from a previous generation of AI.

• Pros:

  • Unmatched native connection to all your Salesforce objects and data.

  • Everything is managed right inside your existing Salesforce org.

  • It's included with some of the higher-tier Service Cloud editions.

• Cons:

  • Has a steep learning curve and can be a real pain to configure.

  • It's difficult to connect to external knowledge sources without writing code.

  • Feels less like a conversation and more like a clunky phone tree compared to modern bots.

• Pricing:

  • Einstein Bots are included in the Service Cloud Unlimited edition ($350/user/month) and up. For the Enterprise edition ($175/user/month), bots are an add-on. Pricing is based on a set number of "conversations," and you have to buy extra packs if you go over, making costs hard to predict.

3. Ada

A screenshot of the Ada landing page, showcasing one of the best Salesforce chatbot platforms.

Ada is a heavy-duty automation platform built for large companies with high-volume support teams. It's known for its powerful AI that can handle complex, back-and-forth conversations across many channels. Ada is great at deflecting a massive number of questions and gives you deep analytics to track how well your bot is doing. It also integrates with Salesforce for handing off to agents and syncing data.

The main thing to know about Ada is that it’s a serious solution with a price tag and implementation process to match. You can't just sign up and start building. The whole process is sales-led, which means demos and a guided onboarding. It's a fantastic fit for companies that have a dedicated team and budget for a huge automation project, but it’s overkill for most teams that just want to get started quickly.

• Pros:

  • Very intelligent AI that can handle complicated customer journeys.

  • Excellent analytics and reporting to help you measure ROI.

  • Strong focus on deflecting a high volume of cases.

• Cons:

  • Expensive, with pricing aimed at the enterprise market.

  • Requires a long sales and setup cycle; there's no self-serve option.

  • Can be overly complicated if your needs are pretty straightforward.

• Pricing:

  • You get custom pricing only after you sit through a demo with their sales team. Contracts are usually annual and based on your total customer contact volume.

4. Drift

A screenshot of the Drift landing page, another top contender for the best Salesforce chatbot.

Drift pretty much invented the "conversational marketing" category, and its focus is still squarely on sales and marketing. Its chatbot is fantastic at proactively engaging website visitors, qualifying leads with data from Salesforce, and booking meetings directly on your sales team's calendars. If your main goal is turning website traffic into sales pipeline, Drift is a top choice.

But while it connects to Salesforce, it’s not really a customer support tool. Its features are built for lead gen, not for solving tricky service issues or deflecting tickets. Using Drift for support feels like trying to hammer in a nail with a screwdriver, and it comes with a premium price tag.

• Pros:

  • Best-in-class for proactive sales chats and qualifying leads.

  • Deep integration with sales workflows, calendars, and your CRM.

  • Powerful tools for targeting and personalizing the experience for website visitors.

• Cons:

  • It's not designed for customer support and lacks deep ticket management features.

  • One of the more expensive options out there.

  • It takes a good amount of setup to create effective sales "playbooks."

• Pricing:

  • Drift (now part of Salesloft) doesn't list public pricing. You have to request a demo to get a custom quote for their plans.

5. Qualified

A screenshot of the Qualified landing page, a platform often cited as the best Salesforce chatbot for B2B.

Much like Drift, Qualified is a conversational sales and marketing platform built specifically for Salesforce customers. It's especially good at spotting high-value visitors from your target accounts (if you're doing ABM) who are on your website right now and instantly connecting them with the right sales rep. It uses your Salesforce data to figure out who the visitor is and routes them intelligently.

Qualified is a powerful tool for sales teams trying to jump on immediate buying intent. But again, just like Drift, it’s not a support solution. Its strengths are in generating pipeline in real-time, which makes it a poor fit for teams focused on post-sales customer service.

• Pros:

  • Purpose-built for Salesforce sales and marketing teams.

  • Excellent for account-based marketing (ABM) strategies.

  • Gives you real-time alerts and smart routing to connect visitors with reps instantly.

• Cons:

  • This is not a customer support tool.

  • Setting up the advanced routing rules can be complicated.

  • Pricing isn't public and is aimed at mid-market and enterprise companies.

• Pricing:

  • Qualified offers custom pricing based on your website traffic and what features you need. You have to schedule a demo for a quote.

6. Intercom

A screenshot of the Intercom landing page, a popular choice for the best Salesforce chatbot due to its all-in-one platform.

Intercom offers a complete customer communications platform, bundling a helpdesk, live chat, and its chatbot (named Fin) all into one product. The main appeal is having everything in a single, well-designed interface. Fin can answer questions using your Intercom knowledge base and integrates with Salesforce to pull customer data and create leads or cases.

The big trade-off? Adopting Intercom usually means you have to ditch your existing helpdesk. If you’re just looking for a bot to work with your current setup, like Salesforce Service Cloud, Intercom is not the right fit. It's an all-or-nothing deal. This is a big contrast to a tool like eesel AI, which has a powerful Intercom integration so you don't have to rip and replace your setup. The pricing model is also a bit tricky, with costs for both agent seats and a separate fee for every successful AI resolution, which can make your bill unpredictable.

• Pros:

  • An elegant all-in-one platform for support and marketing.

  • The user interface and agent experience are excellent.

  • The AI is nicely integrated into the helpdesk workflow.

• Cons:

  • Often requires replacing your existing tools, not just adding a bot.

  • The pay-per-resolution pricing can get expensive and unpredictable as you grow.

  • Less flexible if you prefer to use different best-in-class tools for different jobs.

• Pricing:

  • Intercom's pricing plans start at $29/seat/month, but the real cost is the $0.99 fee for every conversation resolved by Fin, their AI bot. This per-resolution fee applies to all plans.

7. Zendesk Answer Bot

For the thousands of companies that use Zendesk for their helpdesk and Salesforce as their CRM, Zendesk's Answer Bot is a logical choice. It connects to your Zendesk knowledge base to automatically suggest articles and deflect common questions before they become tickets. And with the Salesforce-Zendesk integration, you can share context between the two systems.

The catch is its total dependence on the Zendesk ecosystem. Its knowledge is locked inside your Zendesk help center, and it doesn't have the advanced, customizable actions you'd find in a more flexible AI platform. It’s a solid choice for basic ticket deflection inside Zendesk, but it’s not as useful if you need a bot that works across your entire tech stack and unifies all your knowledge. For that, you'd be better off with a tool like eesel AI, which integrates with Zendesk and dozens of other platforms.

• Pros:

  • Seamless integration for teams already using Zendesk.

  • Effective at deflecting simple tickets with knowledge base articles.

• Cons:

  • It only works if you're a Zendesk customer.

  • Less flexible and powerful than dedicated, platform-agnostic AI tools.

  • Pricing can be confusing, with another pay-per-resolution model.

• Pricing:

  • Zendesk's AI features are bundled into their Suite plans, starting at $55/agent/month (billed annually). But these plans only include a small number of "automated resolutions" per agent. After that, you pay $1.50 to $2.00 for each extra resolution, which can add up fast.

This video provides a helpful comparison between Salesforce's Agentforce and Einstein Bots, diving into their features and use cases.

Final thoughts: Picking the best Salesforce chatbot for your stack

The "best" Salesforce chatbot really comes down to what you're trying to do. For sales and marketing teams, Drift and Qualified are clear winners. If you want to replace your whole setup with an all-in-one platform, Intercom is very appealing. And for teams with the technical skills to stay deep in the native ecosystem, Einstein is the default choice.

But the common problem with many of these tools is that they're either too rigid, too complicated to set up, or they lock you into their own little world.

If you need a powerful, flexible AI layer that works with your existing tools, brings all your scattered knowledge together, and lets you get started in minutes without a massive upfront commitment, then eesel AI is built for you. It gives you the power of an enterprise solution with the simplicity your team actually needs to get going today.

Get started finding the best Salesforce chatbot

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