The 7 top AI tools to automate customer support in 2025

Let's be honest, your support team is probably drowning. The same questions pop up over and over, and customers expect instant, perfect answers around the clock. You’re likely stuck in that classic dilemma: either burn out your current team, let customer satisfaction scores slip, or somehow convince the higher-ups to let you hire a bunch of new people. Not great options.

This is where AI automation can actually help. It's not about replacing your team with robots; it’s about giving them a serious assist. The right tool can take care of the repetitive stuff, freeing up your agents to handle the tricky problems where a human touch really makes a difference.

But with a sea of options all claiming to be the best, which ones are for real? I’ve gone through the ringer, testing platform after platform to get past the marketing fluff. Here’s my straight-up list of the 7 top AI tools to automate customer support that will actually make your life easier in 2025.

What are AI tools for automating customer support?

Simply put, these are software tools that use artificial intelligence to handle customer conversations without a human needing to step in every time. Think of them as a new, incredibly efficient teammate who is amazing at the basics.

Their main gigs usually fall into a few buckets:

• Answering common questions instantly: They can clear a huge number of tickets off your plate by giving immediate answers to things like "Where's my package?" or "How do I reset my password?"

• Routing and tagging tickets automatically: Instead of someone manually sifting through every new ticket, the AI can figure out what it’s about, who needs to see it, and how urgent it is.

• Giving human agents a hand: Some tools act like a copilot, suggesting replies or pulling up the right help article to help your team respond faster and more consistently.

• Providing 24/7 support: They don't need sleep, so your customers can get help whenever they need it through chatbots and AI agents.

These tools learn by connecting to your company's existing knowledge, like your help center articles, past support tickets, and internal docs. This is how they figure out how to talk to your customers in your brand’s voice.

How I picked these AI tools

Not all AI tools are built the same. Some promise you the moon but deliver a clunky setup and a surprise bill. When I put this list together, I focused on what really matters to a busy support team.

• Time-to-value: How fast can you get it working and see results? I looked for platforms that don't require a six-month project and a team of developers to get going.

• Customization and control: Can you actually decide what the AI does and how it behaves? The best tools let you build your own workflows and set the AI's tone, not just hand you a rigid bot.

• Knowledge integration: How well does it learn from the stuff you already have? I prioritized tools that can tap into your existing helpdesk, wikis, and documents without making you migrate everything.

• Testing and reliability: Can you test it safely before unleashing it on customers? Being able to see how the AI would have handled past tickets is a huge plus for rolling it out with confidence.

• Pricing transparency: Is the cost clear and predictable? I favored tools with straightforward, flat-rate plans over confusing "per-resolution" models that penalize you for being successful.

Comparing the top AI tools

Here’s a quick look at how our top choices stack up against each other.

Feature	eesel AI	Zendesk AI	Intercom (Fin)	Forethought	Ada	Gorgias	Crescendo.ai
Setup Time	Minutes (Self-Serve)	Days to Weeks	Days	Weeks	Weeks	Days	Weeks
Keeps Helpdesk?	Yes	N/A (Is the helpdesk)	No (Replaces it)	Yes	Yes	N/A (Is the helpdesk)	Yes
Trains on Past Tickets?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Connects to Docs/Wiki?	Yes	Limited	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Simulation Mode	Yes (Advanced)	No	No	Basic	No	No	No
Pricing Model	Flat-rate (per interactions)	Per Agent + Add-ons	Per Agent + Resolutions	Quote-based	Quote-based	Per Ticket	Per Resolution

The 7 top AI tools to automate customer support in 2025

Let's dive into the details of the tools that made the cut. I'm starting with my top pick because its approach is powerful, easy to use, and just plain smart.

1. eesel AI

eesel AI is a support automation platform that plugs right into the tools your team already uses, like Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, and even Slack. What makes it stand out is that it doesn't force you to ditch your helpdesk. Instead, it adds a smart AI layer on top, learning from all your scattered knowledge, whether it's in past tickets, help center articles, Confluence pages, or Google Docs.

Why it's on the list: I put eesel AI at the top because, frankly, its approach just makes sense. You can get it running in minutes, not months, with a setup you can handle yourself and one-click integrations. It gives you full control over what gets automated, lets you test everything on your old tickets first, and then roll it out when you’re comfortable. Best of all, the pricing is clear and predictable. You won't get a shocking bill just because you had a busy month.

Pros:

• Super simple, self-serve setup; you can start for free in minutes.

• It works with your existing helpdesk, so you don't have to change your team's workflow.

• The simulation mode lets you confidently test on past tickets before going live.

• It pulls together knowledge from everywhere, including past tickets and internal wikis.

• Transparent, flat-rate pricing without sneaky per-resolution fees.

Cons:

• It's a newer name, so it doesn’t have the same brand recognition as giants like Zendesk or Intercom.

• The most complex, enterprise-level features for specific workflows require a custom plan.

Pricing:

eesel AI's pricing is refreshingly straightforward. The Team plan is $299/month ($239/month billed annually) and covers up to 1,000 AI interactions. The Business plan is $799/month ($639/month annually) for 3,000 interactions and adds key features like training on past tickets and using AI to triage tickets.

2. Zendesk AI

Zendesk is a behemoth in the customer service world, and its AI features are built directly into its platform. Zendesk AI gives you AI agents, a copilot for your human agents, and tools for smart ticket routing and creating help center content.

Why it's on the list: If your team already lives in Zendesk, using its native AI is a no-brainer for a smooth, integrated experience. It’s been trained on billions of real support tickets, so it handles common situations well right from the start.

Pros:

• Seamless integration if you’re already a happy Zendesk customer.

• Pre-trained on a massive amount of data, so it performs well out of the box.

• Offers a full suite of tools, from chatbots to agent assistance.

Cons:

• The biggest catch? You're locked into the Zendesk ecosystem. If you use another helpdesk, this isn't for you.

• The pricing can get complicated and expensive quickly. You often need to buy several add-ons to get all the AI features.

• It doesn't have a good simulation mode, so you're mostly guessing how your automations will work before you turn them on.

Pricing:

Zendesk's pricing starts with its Suite plans, like the Suite Team plan at $55 per agent/month (billed annually). But the really powerful AI features are usually add-ons or locked in higher-tier plans like Suite Professional ($115/agent/month) or Suite Enterprise ($169/agent/month). The final cost is often much higher than the initial price you see.

3. Intercom

Intercom is a well-known "conversational relationship platform" famous for its slick chat widget. Its AI agent, Fin, is designed to have surprisingly human-like conversations and resolve customer issues by learning from your help documentation.

Why it's on the list: Intercom excels at creating engaging, bot-led conversations that work well for both sales and support. Fin is probably one of the most advanced AI agents out there for pure conversational skill.

Pros:

• Great for proactive, chat-based sales and support.

• The Fin AI agent is powerful and can handle some pretty complex questions.

• It bundles support, marketing, and sales tools into a single platform.

Cons:

• It's an all-or-nothing deal. You don't add it to your helpdesk; it becomes your helpdesk.

• The pricing model is a frustrating mix of per-seat and per-resolution fees, which can get expensive and unpredictable fast.

• It has a hard time learning from knowledge outside its own system. If you have important info in Confluence or Google Docs, it can't use it.

Pricing:

Intercom's pricing starts with plans like Essential at $29 per seat/month, but that’s just the start. The real kicker is the $0.99 per AI resolution fee on top of your seat licenses. This pay-as-you-go model makes budgeting a headache for any growing team.

4. Forethought

Forethought is a generative AI platform that connects with helpdesks like Zendesk and Salesforce to help automate support. It has different AI "agents" for different tasks: Solve for deflecting tickets, Triage for routing them, and Assist for helping human agents.

Why it's on the list: Forethought's main advantage is that it's made to enhance your existing helpdesk, not make you switch. Its AI-powered ticket triage is especially good at automatically categorizing and prioritizing new requests.

Pros:

• Integrates with major helpdesks, so you can keep your current setup.

• Really strong at automatically sorting and routing tickets.

• The generative AI can summarize long ticket threads, which saves agents a ton of time.

Cons:

• The setup is often complicated and takes a while. This isn't a tool you'll have up and running in an afternoon.

• Pricing is completely quote-based and hidden behind a sales call, so you have no idea what it might cost without a demo.

• It’s not a self-serve platform. You have to go through their sales process to get started.

Pricing:

Quote-based. You have to contact their sales team for any pricing details. This lack of transparency can be a big roadblock for teams that want to move fast.

5. Ada

Ada is a no-code, AI-focused platform for building and managing powerful customer service chatbots. It's designed so that non-technical teams can create complex conversational flows to handle a high volume of customer questions.

Why it's on the list: In the world of no-code chatbots, Ada is a definite leader. The platform is user-friendly, makes it relatively easy to build sophisticated chat experiences, and has strong support for multiple languages.

Pros:

• Powerful and intuitive no-code chatbot builder.

• Excellent multilingual support for global companies.

• A great choice for brands that want to automate a large chunk of their chat volume.

Cons:

• It doesn't learn from messy, unstructured knowledge (like your past tickets) nearly as well as other platforms. It relies more on flows you build by hand.

• It can get very expensive, with pricing that scales with usage.

• It's mainly a chatbot platform and lacks the built-in agent-assist or triage tools you'd find in more complete solutions.

Pricing:

Quote-based. Just like Forethought, you have to request pricing from their sales team, which makes it hard to compare and plan your budget.

6. Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk built specifically for e-commerce stores. It integrates deeply with platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, and its automation is laser-focused on answering questions like "Where is my order?" in a snap.

Why it's on the list: If you run an e-commerce business, Gorgias is tough to beat. Its tight connection with sales platforms lets both AI and human agents pull up order information and even process refunds right inside the helpdesk.

Pros:

• Incredible integration with Shopify and other e-commerce platforms.

• Perfect for automating common e-commerce support tasks like order lookups and returns.

• Brings all customer communication (email, social media, chat) into one place.

Cons:

• It's built for e-commerce and e-commerce only. If you're a SaaS company or in another industry, it’s not the right tool for you.

• Pricing is based on how many tickets you get, which can be unpredictable and spike during busy times like Black Friday.

• Its AI feels more like it's following a set of rules than having a real conversation compared to other tools on this list.

Pricing:

Gorgias's plans are based on ticket volume. The Basic plan is $50/month for 300 tickets. The Pro plan is $300/month for 2,000 tickets. AI Agent interactions are an extra cost, starting at $0.90 per resolved conversation.

7. Crescendo.ai

Crescendo.ai is a unique support automation platform that combines AI with a team of humans for quality control. It offers AI voice assistants for phone support alongside live chat and email, with a big focus on getting things right.

Why it's on the list: Crescendo's "human-in-the-loop" approach is pretty interesting. It includes access to a team of specialists who review the AI's work, which could be a good option for teams that want a more managed, hands-off service.

Pros:

• Offers a "human-in-the-loop" service for quality assurance.

• One of the few platforms here with AI voice assistants for phone support.

• Includes advanced features like sentiment analysis and CSAT scoring.

Cons:

• The pay-per-resolution model can lead to unpredictable and potentially high costs.

• The managed service style isn't great for teams that want full, hands-on control over their AI and workflows.

• Getting started is more involved than with a fully self-serve platform.

Pricing:

Crescendo.ai uses a pay-per-resolution model. There's a platform fee of $2,900/month, plus a cost per "solve", starting at $1 for an AI solve and $2 for a human-assisted one. You'll need to contact their sales team for a final quote.

This video explains how you can fully automate your customer service with an AI tool that handles all customer messages.

How to choose the right AI tool for your team

Alright, that was a lot. Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Don't sweat it. Picking the right tool isn't about finding the one with the longest feature list. It's about finding the one that fits your team, your workflow, and your budget.

To make it simple, just ask yourself three things:

1. Do you want to keep your current helpdesk? If you love your Zendesk or Freshdesk setup, you need a tool that plugs into it, not one that makes you start from scratch. This immediately narrows your list to tools like eesel AI or Forethought.

2. How much control do you want? If you want to start small, test safely, and have fine-grained control over what the AI does, look for platforms that offer simulation modes and let you roll things out gradually.

3. What’s your budget like? Do you prefer a predictable monthly cost you can set and forget? Or are you okay with a bill that changes every month based on how many tickets you resolve?

If you want to keep your helpdesk and prefer a self-serve tool with predictable pricing, eesel AI is a really strong candidate. If you don't mind a sales-led process, Forethought is another option. If you're ready to switch platforms entirely and you’re in e-commerce, Gorgias is built just for you. Otherwise, you can compare the all-in-one solutions like Zendesk and Intercom to see which fits your budget.

The best AI tools are flexible and integrated

Look, the best AI tools to automate customer support don't force you into a corner. They work with the tools you already have, give you control to automate at your own pace, and offer clear value without tricky pricing.

The point of all this was never to replace your amazing human agents. It’s to get them out of the weeds. By letting AI handle the repetitive tickets that drain everyone's energy, you free up your team to focus on building actual customer relationships and solving the hard problems where they really shine.

Ready to see how a flexible AI layer can transform your support without blowing up your entire workflow? Try eesel AI for free and see how fast you can get up and running. You can go live in minutes, not months.