Which LLM is best for customer support use cases in 2025?

Everyone’s talking about using Large Language Models (LLMs) for customer support, and it makes sense. The idea of offering instant, 24/7 help is pretty hard to resist. But we’ve all seen the horror stories, like the Air Canada chatbot that confidently lied to a customer, forcing the airline to honor a refund it made up.

That whole mess points to something a lot of support leaders miss: getting AI right isn't about picking a raw model like GPT-4 over Claude 3. It’s all about the platform that wrangles the model, feeds it your company’s knowledge, and lets you set the rules of engagement.

In this guide, we’re going to cut through the noise. I’ve gone through the top options to help you figure out which LLM platform is best for customer support use cases so you can automate with confidence, not chaos.

Understanding the customer support AI stack

When people say "LLM for customer support," they're not just talking about a single AI model. It’s really a full stack of tech working together to give customers good answers.

Here’s a simple way to think about the parts:

• The foundation (the LLM): This is the engine, like OpenAI’s GPT series or Anthropic’s Claude. It has the raw power to understand questions and write like a human.

• The brain (your knowledge): A raw LLM knows about the world, but it knows zip about your business. To be useful, you have to connect it to your company’s information using a process called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). This lets the AI pull answers straight from your help center, past tickets, and internal docs, which stops it from just making stuff up.

• The controls (the application platform): This is the most important part for any real business. The platform is your dashboard. It’s where you plug in your knowledge sources, set rules for when the AI should jump in, tweak its tone of voice, and decide what it can actually do (like tag a ticket or hand it off to a person).

The best platforms blend these three layers together smoothly, giving you a tool that’s both smart and safe to let loose.

How we evaluated the best LLM platforms

To find the top contenders, we looked at the practical stuff that decides whether an AI tool becomes a core part of your team or a source of constant headaches.

• Ease of implementation: How fast can you actually get this thing running without a team of developers? Can you plug it into your current helpdesk, or do you have to start from scratch?

• Knowledge management: How well does it learn from all your info? Does it only skim your public help docs, or can it dig into the details buried in past tickets, internal Google Docs, and Confluence pages?

• Customization and control: Can you tell it exactly which tickets to handle and which to leave for your human agents? Can you change its personality or give it jobs to do, like looking up an order status?

• Testing and safety: Is there a way to test-drive the AI on your old tickets before it ever talks to a live customer?

• Pricing model: Is the pricing straightforward? Or are you signing up for a per-resolution model that punishes you with a bigger bill whenever you get busy?

A comparison on the top 5 LLM platforms for customer support

The 5 best LLM platforms for customer support in 2025

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

1. eesel AI

The whole idea behind eesel AI is that you shouldn't have to rip out your existing tools. It plugs directly into helpdesks like Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Gorgias and learns from all the knowledge you have scattered around.

• Why it's on the list: eesel AI tackles the biggest fears support managers have: losing control and the AI going rogue. Its most impressive feature is a simulation mode that lets you test your setup on thousands of your past tickets. You can see exactly how it would have replied, get a real forecast of your automation rate, and spot gaps in your knowledge base, all before it interacts with a single customer.

A screenshot of the eesel AI simulation mode, which helps determine which LLM is best for customer support use cases by testing on past tickets.

• Pros:

  • You can set it up yourself in just a few minutes.

  • It pulls together knowledge from past tickets, docs, and help centers.

  • You get fine-grained control to automate certain ticket types and escalate others.

  • The pricing is a flat-rate subscription with no surprise fees per resolution.

• Cons: As a more focused platform, it doesn't try to be an all-in-one suite like Zendesk or Freshworks, so you won't find non-AI features.

• Pricing: eesel AI's pricing is based on a flat monthly fee.

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

  • Business: $799/month for up to 3,000 AI interactions, plus the ability to train on past tickets and use AI actions.

  • Custom: Custom pricing for unlimited interactions and advanced features.

  • Annual plans give you a 20% discount. No hidden fees.

A screenshot of the eesel AI pricing page, showing a flat-rate model which is a key factor in deciding which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

2. Zendesk AI

Zendesk AI is the company's own set of AI features, baked right into the Zendesk platform. It offers things like smart ticket routing, macro suggestions, and a customer-facing chatbot.

• Why it's on the list: If your team lives and breathes Zendesk, its native AI is the easiest path forward. The integration is totally seamless, and it uses all the data you already have in your Zendesk account, from tickets to help center articles.

• Pros:

  • Flawless integration if you're a Zendesk customer.

  • Uses your existing data without a complicated setup.

  • Keeps everything in one place for your agents.

• Cons:

  • You're pretty much stuck with them; it’s useless if you ever want to switch helpdesks.

  • It can be a bit of a "black box," with less direct control over how it automates things compared to dedicated platforms.

  • It has a hard time learning from knowledge sources that live outside of Zendesk.

• Pricing: Zendesk's pricing for AI gets a little complicated. It’s either bundled into bigger plans or sold as add-ons.

  • Suite Team: $55 per agent/month (annually). This comes with "Essential" AI agents with basic features.

  • Suite Professional: $115 per agent/month (annually).

  • Add-ons: The more powerful AI features are sold separately, bumping up the total cost. You also have to pay for "automated resolutions" as you go ($2 per resolution) or buy them in bundles.

3. Intercom (Fin)

Fin is Intercom's main AI chatbot. It’s built to provide smooth, conversational answers and is known for having a great user interface and being good at proactive support.

• Why it's on the list: Intercom has always been a leader in creating slick, messenger-based experiences, and Fin is no different. It does a great job of answering questions from your Intercom articles and can hold a conversation that feels natural.

A screenshot of the Intercom AI chatbot interface, relevant for comparing which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

• Pros:

  • One of the best conversational user experiences out there.

  • Great for proactive support and engaging with customers on your site.

  • Simple to get going if you're already using Intercom.

• Cons:

  • You don't get a ton of control over its automation rules or persona.

  • It mostly learns from your Intercom knowledge base, so bringing in other sources is tough.

  • The pricing can get tricky and is tied to how many issues it solves.

• Pricing: Intercom's pricing model is a mix of a per-seat subscription and a fee for every resolution, which means your costs can be unpredictable.

  • Base Plans (Annual): You pick from Essential ($29/seat/mo), Advanced ($85/seat/mo), or Expert ($132/seat/mo). You need at least one seat.

  • Fin AI Agent Fee: On top of that, you pay $0.99 for every conversation the AI resolves. So yeah, your bill can jump around a lot depending on how busy you are.

4. Freshworks (Freddy AI)

Freddy AI is the AI layer for the entire Freshworks world, covering everything from Freshdesk for support to their sales and marketing tools. The goal is to give you a single AI experience across all the ways you talk to customers.

• Why it's on the list: If your company has gone all-in on the Freshworks suite, Freddy AI is a natural fit. It can pull context from a sales chat into a support ticket, giving you a better picture of the customer's history.

The AI Agent Studio for building Freddy AI agents, a platform to consider when deciding which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

• Pros:

  • A single AI that works across multiple parts of your business.

  • A solid out-of-the-box choice for existing Freshworks customers.

  • Strong capabilities for handling support across different channels.

• Cons:

  • The AI can feel a bit general-purpose compared to tools built just for support.

  • You only get the real benefits if you're using the whole Freshworks suite.

• Pricing: Freshworks' pricing for Freddy AI is split across its Freshdesk plans, and you have to pay for the higher tiers to unlock the really useful AI features.

  • Free: Very limited AI.

  • Growth: $29 per agent/month (annually). Includes basic Freddy AI features.

  • Pro: $59 per agent/month (annually). Unlocks more advanced AI.

  • Enterprise: $99 per agent/month (annually). Comes with the full set of Freddy AI tools.

5. Gorgias Automate

Gorgias is a helpdesk built specifically for e-commerce, and its Automate feature shows that focus. It’s fantastic at handling the kind of repetitive questions that e-commerce brands get all day long.

• Why it's on the list: For online stores, especially ones running on Shopify, Gorgias Automate is a beast. It connects directly with your store to answer questions like "Where is my order?" or "How do I make a return?" by pulling live data.

A screenshot of the deep Shopify integration within Gorgias, a critical feature for e-commerce companies deciding which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

• Pros:

  • Incredibly deep integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento.

  • Easily handles the most common e-commerce questions.

  • Designed to help turn support chats into sales.

• Cons:

  • It's highly specialized, so it's not a great fit for businesses outside of e-commerce, like SaaS or fintech.

  • Pricing is based on ticket volume and AI usage, which can get expensive and unpredictable for growing stores.

• Pricing: Gorgias' pricing is a bit complicated. It’s based on your monthly ticket count and a separate fee for AI resolutions.

  • Base Plans: Start at $10/month for 50 tickets and climb to $750/month for 5,000 tickets. You'll pay overage fees if you go past your limit.

  • AI Agent Fee: On top of the ticket cost, you pay an extra $0.90 to $1.00 for each resolution the AI handles. This double-dipping can add up fast.

Pro tips for choosing an LLM platform

No matter which platform you’re leaning toward, keep these things in mind:

The eesel AI Copilot drafting a reply, demonstrating an agent-assist feature that helps evaluate which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

A view of the analytics from an eesel AI simulation, showing the ROI when determining which LLM is best for customer support use cases.

Final thoughts: It's about the platform, not the model

The whole debate over which LLM is best for customer support use cases is kind of missing the point. The fanciest AI model in the world is useless if you can't control it, teach it your business, and roll it out safely.

The best platform is the one that fits into your existing workflow, gives you total control over automation, and provides the tools you need to test everything with confidence. For most teams, a flexible, self-serve platform that puts you in the driver's seat is the smartest bet for the long run.

Ready to take the next step?

Want to see how an LLM platform built for control and ease of use can change your support game?

Start your free eesel AI trial and see how it performs on your own tickets in minutes.