The top 7 EngageBay AI alternatives for customer support in 2025

EngageBay has certainly made a name for itself, especially for small businesses. It packs marketing, sales, and support tools into one pretty affordable package, which is awesome when you're just getting started. But if you’re here, I’m guessing you’ve started to feel the limitations.

Maybe you're hunting for EngageBay AI alternatives because you need smarter, more dedicated AI for your support team. Or you're just not sold on the idea of replacing your entire tech stack to get better automation. You might just want something that’s quicker and easier to get going.

Whatever the reason, you're in the right spot. I’ve pulled together a list of the best alternatives for 2025, with a focus on tools that really nail AI-driven customer support. From specialized AI layers to full-blown CRMs, this guide will help you figure out what's next.

What is EngageBay AI?

EngageBay is an all-in-one CRM platform built to help small and medium-sized businesses juggle their marketing, sales, and customer service from one place. Its biggest selling point is that it’s affordable and comes with a ton of features, like email marketing, landing pages, a sales CRM, and a helpdesk.

Its AI features are sprinkled throughout its different modules, or "bays." You get an AI chatbot for your site, AI to help you write email templates, and predictive lead scoring for your sales crew. It's a generalist tool, through and through. It does a little bit of everything, which is great at the beginning. But for teams who want to seriously scale their support automation, that lack of depth can start to feel like a bottleneck.

How I picked the best EngageBay AI alternatives

I didn't just go looking for EngageBay clones. My goal was to find platforms that solve its weak spots, especially for teams that are getting serious about customer support. Here’s what I focused on:

• AI that actually helps support teams: How good are the AI features for customer support? I’m talking about actually resolving tickets, sorting them correctly, and giving real help to your agents.

• How fast can you get it working?: I prioritized tools that you can set up yourself, quickly, without sitting through months of onboarding calls.

• Plays well with others: Does the tool make the helpdesk you already use (like Zendesk or Freshdesk) better, or does it try to make you move your whole life over to its platform?

• The real cost: What do you actually get for your money? I looked for clear, predictable pricing that doesn’t hit you with surprise fees later.

A quick comparison of the top EngageBay AI alternatives

Tool	Best For	Starting Price	Key AI Feature	Free Trial
eesel AI	Adding powerful, self-serve AI to your existing helpdesk	$239/mo (billed annually)	Autonomous AI agents that train on your past tickets	Yes
HubSpot Service Hub	Companies already using the HubSpot ecosystem	$15/seat/mo (billed annually)	AI-powered ticket summaries and chatbots	Yes (Free Tools)
ActiveCampaign	Advanced marketing and sales automation	$49/mo (billed annually, Plus plan)	Predictive sending and complex automation workflows	Yes (14 days)
Zoho CRM	Businesses wanting an affordable, feature-rich suite	$14/user/mo (billed annually)	"Zia" AI assistant for predictions and suggestions	Yes (Free Plan)
Freshsales	Sales teams needing AI-powered lead scoring and insights	$9/user/mo (billed annually)	"Freddy AI" for deal insights and forecasting	Yes (21 days)
Bitrix24	Teams that need an all-in-one workspace with a CRM	$49/mo for 5 users (billed annually)	"CoPilot" AI assistant for a variety of tasks	Yes (Free Plan)
Salesforce Service Cloud	Large companies needing a highly scalable, custom solution	$25/user/mo (billed annually)	"Einstein AI" for predictive insights and case routing	Yes (30 days)

A deep dive into the 7 best EngageBay AI alternatives

Let's take a closer look at the platforms that made the cut.

1. eesel AI

eesel AI isn't just another all-in-one CRM. It's a specialized AI platform built to make the customer support tools you already know and use so much better. It plugs right into your helpdesk (like Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Intercom), your chat tools like Slack, and all your scattered knowledge sources to handle frontline support, draft replies for agents, and sort tickets all on its own.

Why it's on the list: It’s the perfect pick for teams who like their current helpdesk but need to bolt on a powerful, customizable, and ridiculously easy-to-set-up AI layer. Instead of ripping out your current system, you just make it smarter.

Key AI Features:

• Autonomous AI Agent: This is more than a simple chatbot. The AI Agent learns from your team's past ticket responses and your knowledge bases to solve customer problems from start to finish, often without a human needing to get involved.

• AI Copilot: Your agents will never have to stare at a blank reply box again. The AI Copilot drafts on-brand replies right inside your helpdesk, which can cut response times in half.

• Simulation Mode: This is a big deal. You can test the AI on thousands of your old tickets to see exactly how it would have done. You get a real ROI estimate before you ever let it talk to a live customer.

• Knowledge Unification: It connects to all the places your knowledge lives, even outside your official help center, like in Confluence, Google Docs, and Notion. This gives it a complete brain to pull answers from.

Pros:

• Go live in minutes, not months: The setup is truly self-serve with one-click integrations. You can be up and running without ever having to talk to a salesperson.

• Total control over workflows: You decide exactly which tickets the AI should handle and what it's allowed to do, like checking an order status in Shopify or adding the right tags to a ticket.

• Enhances what you have, doesn't replace it: It works smoothly with your current helpdesk, so you can skip the headache of a full migration.

Cons:

• It’s a dedicated support automation tool, not a full sales and marketing CRM.

• The pricing is based on the value it delivers (the number of interactions), which is different from the per-seat model most CRMs use.

Pricing:

The pricing for eesel AI is straightforward and doesn't charge you per resolution. Plans start with the Team tier at $239/month (billed annually) for up to 1,000 AI interactions and include the AI Copilot, Slack integration, and training on your docs. The Business plan at $639/month unlocks the full AI Agent and lets you train it on your past tickets.

2. HubSpot Service Hub

Part of the giant HubSpot ecosystem, Service Hub is customer service software designed to help teams manage and grow their support operations. It combines a shared inbox, help desk automation, a knowledge base, and reporting all in one spot.

Why it's on the list: If your whole company is already living and breathing HubSpot for marketing or sales, adding the Service Hub just makes sense. It's a tight, natural fit.

Key AI Features:

• AI-powered chatbots: You can build bots to answer common questions and qualify leads on your website.

• AI ticket summaries: It can automatically create a short summary of a long customer conversation to save agents some reading time.

• AI content assistant: Helps with writing knowledge base articles and email replies.

Pros:

• It works perfectly with the rest of the HubSpot platform, giving you a single view of each customer.

• The user interface is clean and feels familiar if you've used other HubSpot products.

Cons:

• The AI features are nowhere near as customizable as what you'd get from a specialized tool.

• It gets very expensive, very fast as you add more contacts and unlock more of their "Hubs."

• It locks you into their ecosystem, which makes it tough to bring in other best-in-class tools if you ever want to.

Pricing:

HubSpot's pricing can be a bit of a maze. Service Hub has a free plan with basic tools. The Starter plan is $15/seat/month (billed annually), but for any real automation and AI, you’re looking at the Professional plan. That starts at $90/seat/month and requires a $1,500 one-time onboarding fee. The Enterprise plan kicks off at $150/seat/month plus a $3,500 onboarding fee.

3. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform that really excels at email marketing and building complicated automation flows. It also includes a sales CRM and some basic service features.

Why it's on the list: It has one of the most powerful and flexible automation builders on the market, which is a huge step up from what EngageBay offers.

Key AI Features:

• Predictive Sending: It uses machine learning to figure out the exact best time to send an email to each person on your list.

• Win Probability: It analyzes your deal data to predict how likely you are to close a sale.

• Sentiment Analysis: It can read customer messages to get a sense of their mood, helping your team figure out who needs a reply first.

Pros:

• Amazing for building highly personalized marketing journeys.

• Great for businesses that want to tie marketing, sales, and support together in one automated workflow.

Cons:

• Its customer service tools feel like an add-on compared to its powerful marketing features.

• The interface can feel pretty complicated, especially if you're new to this kind of tool.

• The AI is more about optimizing marketing and sales than it is about actually solving support tickets.

Pricing:

ActiveCampaign's pricing is based on how many contacts you have. To get the CRM and service features, you'll need the Plus plan, which starts at $49/month (billed annually) for 1,000 contacts. The Pro plan, which has features like predictive sending, starts at $149/month.

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is the centerpiece of the huge Zoho suite of business apps. It’s a CRM that's overflowing with features for sales, marketing, and support, all at a price that’s tough to argue with.

Why it's on the list: For businesses watching their budget, it offers an incredible amount of functionality and is a solid, affordable choice.

Key AI Features:

• "Zia" AI Assistant: Zoho's AI, "Zia," shows up all over the platform to give you predictions, make suggestions, and automate tasks.

• Best Time to Contact: Zia will suggest the best time to call or email leads based on when they've been most active.

• Anomaly Detection: It can flag when something is off with your sales trends, like a sudden dip or spike.

Pros:

• It’s extremely affordable for the number of features you get.

• It connects deeply with dozens of other Zoho products, from accounting to HR.

Cons:

• The user interface can feel a bit dated and cluttered compared to more modern tools.

• The AI is broad, but it doesn't have the specialized focus you need for complex support automation.

• The sheer number of options and settings can be a lot for new users to take in.

Pricing:

Zoho CRM has a free plan for up to 3 users. Paid plans are very competitive, starting with the Standard plan at $14/user/month (billed annually). You'll need the Enterprise plan, at $40/user/month, to get the Zia AI features.

5. Freshsales

Part of the Freshworks family, Freshsales is a sales-focused CRM made to help teams close deals faster. People like it for its clean look and built-in communication tools.

Why it's on the list: Its AI assistant, Freddy, gives you practical tips and information that both sales and support teams can actually use.

Key AI Features:

• Freddy AI: This is the AI engine for all Freshworks products. It provides predictive lead scoring, offers insights on your deals, and can spot accounts that might be at risk of churning.

• AI Chatbots: You can put these on your website to generate leads and answer basic support questions.

• Smart-links and activity tracking: Uses AI to get a better read on how potential customers are interacting with your emails and content.

Pros:

• The interface is clean, modern, and really easy to navigate.

• There's a strong focus on giving you AI-driven information you can actually do something with.

Cons:

• It's mainly a sales tool. The marketing and full-blown service automation aren't as strong.

• For a complete solution, you pretty much have to buy into the whole Freshworks ecosystem (like adding Freshdesk for full support features).

Pricing:

Freshsales pricing includes a free plan. The Growth plan starts at $9/user/month (billed annually). To get Freddy AI features like contact scoring, you'll need the Pro plan at $39/user/month.

6. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a massive, all-in-one platform that tries to be a complete "workspace" for your business. It combines a CRM with project management tools, internal chat, website builders, and a whole lot more.

Why it's on the list: It's one of the most comprehensive free EngageBay alternatives you can find, packing a staggering number of tools into one platform.

Key AI Features:

• CoPilot: An AI assistant that's woven throughout the platform. It can help write emails, summarize chats, brainstorm ideas, and transcribe calls.

• CRM field autocompletion: The AI can listen to a call summary and automatically fill out the fields in a deal record for you.

Pros:

• It has a very generous free plan that includes unlimited users.

• It's a good option if you want to replace not just your CRM, but also your project management and internal chat tools.

Cons:

• The interface is known for being complex and can be a real headache for new users.

• The AI features are general-purpose assistants, not specialized engines built for support automation.

• Since it's a jack-of-all-trades, most of its individual tools aren't the best in their category.

Pricing:

Bitrix24 has a free plan with unlimited users. Paid plans are based on users and features, starting with the Basic plan at $49/month for 5 users (billed annually).

7. Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Service Cloud is the enterprise-level customer service platform from the biggest name in CRM. It’s built for huge scale, deep customization, and really complex support organizations.

Why it's on the list: It's the high-end, enterprise choice with incredibly powerful (and incredibly complex) AI.

Key AI Features:

• Einstein AI: Salesforce's AI is behind everything. It runs chatbots, predicts how many cases you'll get, recommends knowledge articles to agents, and automates how cases are routed and categorized.

• Service Replies: Einstein can draft relevant responses for agents to use as a starting point.

Pros:

• It's extremely powerful, scalable, and can be customized to do almost anything you can dream up.

• It has a massive ecosystem of third-party apps on its AppExchange.

Cons:

• It's very expensive, and there are a lot of hidden costs for add-ons and implementation.

• You'll need serious technical expertise and a lot of time to get it set up. We're talking months, not minutes.

• It's way more than most small to medium-sized businesses need.

How to choose the right EngageBay AI alternatives for your team

Feeling a bit lost in all the options? Don't sweat it. The right choice really just depends on the answers to a few key questions.

First, ask yourself: are you looking to rip everything out and start fresh, or just make your current helpdesk way smarter?

If you need a whole new system for sales, marketing, and support, a platform like HubSpot or Zoho could be the right move. But if you’re happy with your current helpdesk and just want to add top-tier support automation, a specialized tool like eesel AI is a much smarter, faster, and more affordable choice.

How important is a quick, do-it-yourself setup?

If you don't have the time or budget for a months-long, consultant-led implementation, you need to stick with tools that let you get started on your own. eesel AI is designed to be live in minutes, which is a world away from the long setup process for systems like Salesforce.

What kind of AI control do you actually need?

Are you looking for a simple chatbot, or do you need a powerful engine you can train on your own data and customize with specific rules? The more control you want, the more you should lean towards a dedicated AI platform that gives you the keys.

And what's your real budget?

Look past that per-user monthly fee. Think about mandatory onboarding fees, implementation costs, and pricing models that charge you more for successfully helping more customers. A transparent model with no per-resolution fees means your costs will be predictable as you grow.

This video provides a concise overview of the top 5 EngageBay alternatives, including HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, ActiveCampaign, and Freshsales.

Wrapping up our list of EngageBay AI alternatives

While EngageBay is a solid starting block for a lot of businesses, it's pretty clear that one size doesn't fit all. As you grow, you're going to need more specialized and powerful tools, especially when it comes to AI-powered customer support.

You really have two paths you can take. You can pick another all-in-one platform, but you might just find yourself in the same situation a year or two down the road. Or, you can bring in a best-in-class, specialized AI solution that improves the tools you already use. For most support teams with big ambitions, that second path is the more modern, flexible, and effective way to go.

It gives you the power of enterprise-grade AI with the simplicity and speed of a self-serve tool. If you're ready to see how a dedicated AI agent can completely change your support workflow without a painful migration, you should check out eesel AI.

Start your free trial with eesel AI and see it in action in minutes.