The 5 best Engage Hub alternatives for customer service automation in 2025

The idea of an all-in-one "engagement hub" is pretty tempting, right? One single place to handle every customer chat, map out their journey, and let AI do the heavy lifting.

But if you've ever tried to implement one, you know the reality can be a bit different. You often end up with a clunky, complicated system that takes months to set up and refuses to talk to the tools your team already knows and uses every day. If that sounds painfully familiar, you're in the right place.

Finding a modern, flexible tool that enhances your current help desk, without demanding a massive, six-month migration project, is a real headache. That’s why we put this list together. We're focusing on practical Engage Hub alternatives that use AI for customer service automation you can actually set up and get value from, fast.

What is a customer engagement hub and why consider alternatives?

So, what exactly are we talking about here? A customer engagement hub is basically a command center for all your customer conversations. It tries to bring everything together, email, chat, social media, so you can manage it all from one spot.

Typically, these platforms are supposed to juggle a few key things:

• Mapping out customer journeys: They help you automate the different steps a customer takes, like sending a welcome series after they sign up or checking in after a purchase.

• Providing AI-powered chat: They use chatbots and AI agents to give instant answers to common questions, freeing up your human agents for trickier problems.

• Keeping conversations connected: They aim to create a smooth experience, so if a customer starts a chat on your website and follows up via email, the context isn't lost.

• Bringing data together: They pull customer information from different places to give you a single view of who you're talking to.

When they work, these hubs can really improve the customer experience and make your team more efficient. The problem is, the traditional options are often huge, rigid platforms. Luckily, a new breed of more agile tools is showing up, letting you add powerful automation without having to tear down everything you've already built.

How we picked the best Engage Hub alternatives

To put this list together, we didn't just look for the platforms with the longest feature lists. We dug into what actually matters for a busy support team that needs to see results without waiting six months for a consultant to finish their work.

Here’s what we prioritized:

• Can you get started today? We gave big points to tools you can set up yourself, without sitting through a six-week sales cycle or mandatory demos just to try it out.

• How does the AI get smart? The best tools don't make you start from scratch. They connect to the knowledge you already have, whether it's buried in past support tickets, living in your Confluence space, or spread across internal Google Docs.

• Are you in control? We looked for platforms that let you decide exactly how the AI works. That means having flexible workflow builders, the ability to add custom actions, and prompt editors that don't require a computer science degree to use.

• Can you try before you buy? How can you be sure the AI will work for your customers and your questions? The top solutions let you run simulations on your own past tickets, so you can see the results and deploy with confidence.

• Is the price tag a mystery? Nobody likes a surprise bill. We picked tools with clear pricing that doesn't punish you with extra fees for every ticket resolved, especially when you have a busy month.

A quick comparison of the top 5 Engage Hub alternatives

Platform	Best For	Ease of Setup	Key Integrations	Pricing Model
eesel AI	Teams wanting powerful, self-serve AI without replacing their help desk.	Minutes (Self-serve)	Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Confluence, Slack, Shopify	Tiered, based on interactions
Zendesk	Companies already in the Zendesk ecosystem looking for native AI features.	Days to Weeks	Deeply integrated with its own product suite.	Per agent/month + add-ons
Gainsight CS	B2B SaaS companies focused on customer success and preventing churn.	Weeks (Requires onboarding)	Salesforce, CRMs, data warehouses	Custom quote (Enterprise)
IFS	Large industrial companies needing tools tied to their ERP and field service systems.	Months (Requires consultants)	SAP, Oracle, industrial enterprise systems	Custom license (Enterprise)
HubSpot	Businesses looking for an all-in-one CRM, marketing, and service platform.	Days	Its own suite, with a large app marketplace.	Per seat/month + contacts

Our list of the 5 best Engage Hub alternatives in 2025

1. eesel AI

eesel AI takes a different path. Instead of making you move your entire operation to a new platform, it acts as a smart layer on top of what you already use. It plugs directly into your help desk (like Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Intercom) and connects to all your knowledge sources. This lets you automate frontline support and help out your agents without a massive "rip and replace" project.

What's great about it:

• You can be up and running in a few minutes. It's truly self-serve with one-click integrations, so you don't have to talk to a salesperson to get started.

• It pulls in all your knowledge right away, learning from past tickets, internal docs, and your public help center from day one.

• There's a powerful simulation mode that lets you test the AI on thousands of your past tickets. You can see exactly how it would have performed and even calculate your ROI before you turn it on for customers.

• You have full control over what gets automated. It has a customizable workflow builder, lets you add custom actions, and has a simple prompt editor.

eesel AI's simulation mode allows you to test the AI on past tickets to see performance and ROI before going live.

What to consider:

• It’s a specialized AI layer, not a full CRM or help desk. It's built to make the tools you already have much smarter.

• It's a good fit for teams who want best-in-class AI automation and aren't willing to settle for the "good enough" features baked into a single-vendor suite.

Pricing:

eesel AI has straightforward, tiered pricing that starts at $239/month when paid annually. Plans are based on usage (the number of AI interactions), so you won't get hit with unpredictable per-resolution fees.

Why it's on our list:

It directly tackles the biggest headaches of traditional platforms: slow setups, siloed knowledge, and rigid automation you can't control. It’s designed for teams that want to move fast and see an impact right away.

2. Zendesk

You can't talk about customer service without mentioning Zendesk. As one of the biggest names out there, it offers a full help desk suite with its own built-in AI tools for automation and agent assistance. If your team is already living in the Zendesk world, using their AI can feel like the logical next step.

What's great about it:

• It’s a mature, all-in-one platform for ticketing, building a help center, and running reports.

• Naturally, all of its features are tightly woven together within the Zendesk ecosystem.

What to consider:

• Zendesk's AI mostly learns from data that lives inside Zendesk. This makes it a real challenge to bring in knowledge from other places like Confluence, Google Docs, or a separate company wiki. Your AI is only as smart as the information it can reach.

• Getting everything set up can be surprisingly complex and take a fair amount of time.

• The costs can add up fast. You typically pay per agent, and then you'll pay more for the advanced AI features and other add-ons.

Why it's on our list:

It’s a major player in the help desk space and a common starting point for teams looking into AI. Just be aware of the limitations that come with its "walled garden" approach to knowledge.

3. Gainsight CS

Gainsight is a big name in the customer world, but it has a very specific focus: Customer Success (CS) for B2B companies. Its whole purpose is to help you reduce churn and spot opportunities to grow accounts by giving you a 360-degree view of customer health.

What's great about it:

• It's built from the ground up for B2B SaaS companies whose businesses depend on customer success metrics.

• It offers really deep analytics on customer health, how they're using your product, and engagement trends.

What to consider:

• This isn't a tool for handling real-time, frontline support questions. It’s more about managing the long-term relationship with a customer after the sale.

• It's a serious investment that requires a dedicated team to manage. You don't just flip a switch and turn it on.

• It's not going to act as an AI agent that resolves tickets in your help desk.

Why it's on our list:

It represents the "customer success" angle of engagement, which is a related but very different challenge from support automation. It's a great tool for what it does, but it won't solve your immediate support ticket backlog.

4. IFS

IFS is a huge enterprise software company that sells everything from ERP systems to Field Service Management (FSM). Its customer engagement tools are just one piece of a massive suite designed for large, industrial organizations.

What's great about it:

• It has incredibly deep connections with other enterprise systems used in specific industries like manufacturing, aerospace, and energy.

• It's extremely powerful for managing complex service operations that involve physical equipment and sending technicians into the field.

What to consider:

• For most companies that just need to automate customer support, this is serious overkill.

• It's incredibly complex and expensive, often requiring months (or years) of work with consultants to get it running.

• You can't just sign up and try it. It's not a self-serve platform by any stretch.

Why it's on our list:

It’s a good example of the high-end, enterprise-grade alternative. If "customer engagement" for you means scheduling a technician to service a jet engine, IFS might be a fit. If not, you can safely look elsewhere.

5. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot is known for its all-in-one platform that combines marketing, sales, and service tools. Its main draw is the integrated CRM, which gives you a complete picture of a customer's journey, from when they were just a lead to becoming a loyal fan. The Service Hub adds the customer support piece to this puzzle.

What's great about it:

• It’s great for connecting your support efforts to your marketing and sales workflows.

• The single CRM gives everyone a complete view of every interaction a customer has had with your company.

What to consider:

• The Service Hub and its AI features are more general-purpose than what you'd get from a dedicated support automation platform. It’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades.

• Its automation is often better suited for marketing funnels than for resolving tricky, technical support questions.

• It can be difficult to pull in deep knowledge from outside of HubSpot, which can limit how helpful its AI can be.

Why it's on our list:

It's a popular all-in-one choice that many businesses look at, but it's important to know its limits when it comes to deep support automation.

3 pro tips for choosing the right alternative

1. Don't start by tearing everything down

The "rip and replace" approach, where you ditch your current tools for a whole new system, sounds bold, but it's usually slow, expensive, and painful. Look for a solution that plugs into your current help desk and knowledge bases first. This gets you value much faster and with way less disruption for your team and customers.

2. Ask for a test drive on your own data

Don't just take a salesperson's word for it. Any platform that's confident in its AI will let you test it on your own historical data in a safe environment. This is the only real way to see how it will perform and get a clear idea of your ROI before you sign any contracts.

3. Take a close look at the pricing model

Be careful with per-resolution or per-ticket fees. These models can create unpredictable bills that shoot up during busy times, basically penalizing you for being efficient and helping more customers. Look for clear, usage-based pricing that grows predictably as you do.

This video explores some of the exciting alternatives to major platforms like HubSpot, which is helpful context when searching for the right tool.

The future of Engage Hub alternatives is fast, flexible, and integrated

The days of being locked into a single, clunky system are numbered. The smartest Engage Hub alternatives don't force you to start from scratch. They're flexible, connect to your existing knowledge, and give you the reins to control your automation. It's a much faster and saner way to get things done, delivering a better experience for both your customers and your team.

Ready to see how quickly you can launch a powerful AI support agent that learns from all your team's knowledge? Try eesel AI and go live in minutes, not months.