8 Best CRM & Customer Service Integration Tools for 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Customer Service.
Integrating customer relationship management (CRM) with customer service (CS) software lets users sync information between the two tools and communicate with customers from a centralized platform. The best customer support integrations let users reach customers via live chat, email, in-app phone, and social media. It must also provide an efficient ticketing system to help agents manage cases properly. We compared dozens of options to find the eight best CRM and CS integrations based on features, cost, and ease of use.
Here are our picks for the eight best CRM and customer service integrations:
- Best overall CRM-customer service integration: Freshdesk
- Excellent for customer profile enrichment: Zendesk
- Great for live chat tools: LiveChat
- Top pick for voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) calls: HubSpot Service Hub
- Best choice for process automation: HappyFox
- All-around solution for startups and nonprofits: Help Scout
- Great for natively integrated CS tool with their CRM: Insightly Service
- Best choice for social media CS communications: Salesforce Service Cloud
Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software Compared
Free Plan | Starting Price for Paid Plans | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Live Chat Function | Help & Support | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unlimited | $15 per user, per month | 21 days | ✓ | 24/5 live chat, email, and phone | |
No free plan | $49 per user, per month | 30 days | ✓ | 24/5 email, live chat, and phone | |
No free plan | $20 per user, per month | 14 days | ✓ | 24/7 chat, email, and phone support | |
Unlimited | $45 per month for two users included | 14 days | ✓ | Email, live chat, and phone support | |
No free plan | $29 per user, per month | N/A | ✓ | Email, live chat, and phone support | |
No free plan | $20 per user, per month | 15 days | ✓ | 24/6 email support; knowledge base | |
No free plan | $29 per user, monthly | N/A | ✕ | Email and chat for Plus; premium phone support | |
No free plan | $25 per user, monthly | 30 days | ✓ | Premium support is 30% of subscription | |
Freshdesk: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software (Overall)
Pros
- Offers extensive omnichannel communication channels, including live chat, email, and ticketing
- Robust social media management feature, allowing users to answer and resolve customer queries from their social accounts directly from the app
- In-app collaboration tools make it easy for team members to collaborate on complex issues
Cons
- The Omnichannel version doesn’t have a free plan
- Third-party integrations are available only with paid plans
- Doesn’t offer 24/7 customer support
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
Support Desk
- Free: Unlimited user allocation
- Growth: $15
- Pro: $49
- Enterprise: $79
Omnichannel
- Growth: $29
- Pro: $59
- Enterprise: $99
Free trial for both types of plans: 21 days
Add-on:
- Additional bot sessions: $75 for 1,000 bot sessions per month
*Based on annual billing; monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
Freshdesk can be natively integrated with various popular CRMs, including Freshsales, HubSpot CRM, and Salesforce. Once connected, it offers an all-in-one, unified solution that provides agents with multiple communication channels to reach customers and leads saved in their CRM system. The channels include a help desk, live chat, email, and ticketing. It also provides agents with 360-degree customer views and guided resolutions to improve CS agents’ productivity.
However, Freshdesk’s Omnichannel support option doesn’t have a free plan. It also doesn’t provide around-the-clock customer support. Users who want a free plan that covers multiple communication channels can consider HubSpot Service Hub, while those who want access to 24/7 customer support can consider Insightly Service.
Freshdesk Support Desk Plan Summary
Support Desk Plans | Free | Growth | Pro | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|---|
Email Ticketing & Outbound Emails | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Canned Responses & Basic Automations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Knowledge Base & Help Widget | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Mobile App (Android & iOS) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Event & Time-triggered Automations | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Round-robin Ticket Assignment | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Surveys | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Freddy AI | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
More Freshdesk Features
Apart from providing an all-in-one omnichannel customer service solution, below are other notable features Freshdesk offers:
- Extensive integrations: Dozens of integrations with popular CRM software and other apps, such as email marketing and social media management
- Email ticketing: Allows users to automatically convert customer emails into help desk tickets to track, prioritize, and resolve support requests in one place
- Chat and messaging: Lets users engage with customers through live chat and various messaging platforms, including popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Apple Business Chat
- Social media integration: Lets users communicate with their customers on social channels like Facebook and Twitter, and receive notifications about important tweets from its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered social signals monitor
Freshdesk’s omnichannel communication offerings make it an excellent customer service solution for small businesses—especially for teams using other Freshworks products, such as Freshsales. To learn more about what this robust platform can do, read our in-depth Freshdesk review.
Zendesk: Best Customer Profile Enrichment features
Pros
- Offers users with rich customer profiles
- AI-powered bots and service analytics tools available across all plans
Cons
- No free plan
- No phone support
- Basic plan does not offer community forum and collaboration tools
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Suite Team: $49
- Suite Growth: $79
- Suite Professional: $99
- Suite Enterprise: $150 p
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing
Zendesk natively integrates with CRM systems like Zoho CRM, Capsule CRM, Nutshell, Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and Pipedrive. The CRM integration allows users to reach their customers straight from their Zendesk account through live chat, chatbots, social media, email, and voice calls. It offers robust customer profile enrichment tools that build a unified customer view where agents can access all information about a specific customer.
However, Zendesk has no free plan or phone support. Users who want access to a free plan can consider HubSpot Service Hub, while those who prefer phone support access can consider Freshdesk.
Zendesk Plan Summary
Suite Team | Suite Growth | Suite Professional | Suite Enterprise* | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Help Center Language | 1 default language | 40+ languages | 40+ languages | 40+ languages |
Answer Bots | Up to 50 | Up to 100 | Up to 500 | Up to 1,000 |
Data Refresh Rate | 24 hours | 24 hours | 1 hour | 1 hour (real-time for live dashboards) |
Data Storage | 50MB per agent | 100MB per agent | 100MB per agent | 200MB per agent |
File Storage | 2GB per agent | 5GB per agent | 5GB per agent | 10GB per agent |
Light Access License** | N/A | Up to 50 | Up to 100 | Up to 1,000 |
*Additional enterprise-ready plans are available starting at $215 per agent, per month, billed annually. Contact sales to learn more about comprehensive solutions for enterprises.
**Light Access licenses give limited permissions to certain individuals so they can monitor tickets and provide subject matter expertise and advice via private comments.
More Zendesk Features
Zendesk provides users with essential customer service and customer profile enrichment tools. Below are features we find most beneficial for users:
- Single customer profile view: Gives customer service reps a single view of everything about a customer, including order history, loyalty status, and web activities
- Intelligent case routing: Offers built-in routing and intelligence features to collect critical customer details and reduce agents’ data entry; it also escalates and routes issues to the agent best suited to help
- Reporting and analytics: Lets users access real-time and historical data to analyze trends in their customer service activities
- Self-service content: Lets users create instructional materials that customers can refer to, saving agents’ time from taking calls
Zendesk is customer service software best for mid-sized to large support teams looking for a scalable customer service solution with robust ticket management and customer profiling features. Read our comprehensive Zendesk review to learn more.
LiveChat: Best Live Chat Tools
Pros
- Live chat function can be used on multiple websites with no additional charge
- 24/7/365 customer support via live chat, email, and phone
- Extensive live chat functionalities, such as message sneak-peek, canned responses, and chat history
Cons
- No free plan
- No in-app phone and features are just limited to live chat functions
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Starter: $20
- Team: $41
- Business: $59
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing’ monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
LiveChat natively integrates with a handful of popular CRM systems, such as Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive, SugarCRM, and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Once integrated, it lets users communicate with customers via LiveChat using various functionalities like message sneak-peeks, canned responses, chat transfers, and chat ratings.
However, LiveChat doesn’t offer a free plan or an in-app phone. Users who want access to free customer service tools can consider either Freshsales or HubSpot Service Hub. Meanwhile, those who need an in-app phone can consider Zendesk.
LiveChat Plan Summary
Starter | Team | Business | Enterprise | |
---|---|---|---|---|
60-day Chat History | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Ticketing System | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited Chat History | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Staffing Prediction | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Work Scheduler | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advanced Reporting | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Dedicated Account Manager | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
HIPAA Compliance | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
More LiveChat Features
LiveChat provides users with a wide variety of live chat tools that easily integrate with their CRM. Below are features we find most beneficial for users:
- Message sneak-peek: Shows users the messages that their customers are typing before they click send, letting them search for an answer faster and respond in seconds
- Canned responses: Lets users save responses to common questions and reuse them in other conversations
- Chat ratings: Allows users to gather feedback to learn if customers are happy with their live chat experience through star ratings and post-chat customer support surveys
- Chat history: Provides customers with a chat transcript and history so they can backtrack messages and reduce the need for repetitive queries
LiveChat’s live chat window provides complete information about the customer that can help agents offer more personalized assistance. (Source: LiveChat)
Live chat is an essential customer support channel due to the accessibility it provides to customers. If you want to learn more about how it can improve your customer service quality, read our article on interesting live chat statistics.
HubSpot Service Hub: Best VoIP Technology Features
Pros
- Has a free plan
- Allows users to make high-quality calls directly from the platform
- Has ticket automation and routing features
Cons
- Paid entry-level plan is more costly than other providers and it’s expensive to upgrade to mid-tier and enterprise-level plans
- Doesn’t offer 24/7 customer support
- Free plan lacks access to technical support and is only limited to forums
Monthly Pricing Summary*
- Free: Unlimited user allocation
- Starter: $45 with two users included
- Professional: $450 with five users included
- Enterprise: $1,200 with 10 users included
- Free trial for paid plans: 14 days
Note: More users can be added to all paid plans for an additional cost
*Based on annual billing; monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
HubSpot Service Hub integrates easily with HubSpot CRM and other third-party CRM apps, such as Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Copper, and Insightly. Apart from ticketing, live chat, and team inboxes, HubSpot Service Hub has VoIP functionality that provides excellent call quality, which customers can use directly from the app. It also offers tools for help desk automation, a knowledge base, and customer feedback surveys for seamless customer support.
However, HubSpot Service Hub has steep pricing plans for its Professional and Enterprise plans and doesn’t offer 24/7 customer support. Users who want pocket-friendly pricing options can consider Freshdesk, while those who want 24/7 support should check out LiveChat.
HubSpot Service Hub Plan Summary
Free | Starter | Professional | Enterprise | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Team Email | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Shared Inbox | Limited to 1 shared inbox | Limited to 1 shared inbox | Up to 100 inboxes | Up to 100 inboxes |
Calling | 15 minutes | 8 hours | 16 hours | 33 hours |
Live Chat | ✓ (with HubSpot branding) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Ticket Pipelines | 1 ticket pipeline per account | 2 ticket pipelines per account | Up to 15 ticket pipelines per account | Up to 50 pipeline tickets per account |
Conversation Routing | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Ticket Automation | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Feedback Surveys | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Service Analytics | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Portal | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
More HubSpot Service Hub Features
HubSpot Service Hub provides users with omnichannel customer service tools and robust VoIP functionalities. Below are some of its other notable features:
- Knowledge base: Converts frequently asked questions (FAQ) into a searchable library of help articles, videos, and documentation
- Live chat: Automatically routes customers to readily available customer service reps to get answers to their questions quickly
- Ticket routing: Allows users to route tickets to available customer service reps for faster issue resolutions
- Team inbox: Lets multiple customer service reps access a centralized inbox and take on pending cases to help expedite case resolutions
HubSpot Service Hub is an intuitive customer support platform. It offers users omnichannel communication tools plus advanced features that include automations. Read our HubSpot Service Hub review to explore whether this provider suits your business needs.
HappyFox: Best Process Automation Tools
Pros
- Provides anti-agent collision tools that prevent agents from working on the same case at the same time
- Offers automation functions that help expedite case resolutions
- Easy to set up and use
Cons
- No in-app caller feature
- Integrations are limited to 10 providers
- No free plan or free trial
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Mighty: $29
- Fantastic: $49
- Enterprise: $69
- Enterprise Plus: $89
- Free trial for paid plans: 14 days
Note: Requires a minimum of five users for all plans
*Based on annual billing; monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
HappyFox integrates with 10 popular CRM solutions, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Insightly Service, SugarCRM, Pipedrive, Batchbook, and HubSpot CRM. Once integrated, it provides users with a centralized platform to handle all inbound customer queries. It also enables users to automate entire workflows to prevent tickets from being stuck in a stage. HappyFox also has an automation tool called Smart Rules that triggers actions if prescribed conditions are matched.
However, HappyFox doesn’t have a free plan and only integrates with limited CRM apps. It also doesn’t have an in-app caller and requires integration with RingCentral. Users who want to try customer service software for free can consider Freshdesk, while those who wish to have extensive CRM integrations should consider Zendesk. Meanwhile, those who need an in-app caller can consider HubSpot Service Hub.
HappyFox Plan Summary
Plans | Mighty | Fantastic | Enterprise | Enterprise Plus |
---|---|---|---|---|
Smart Rules Automation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Knowledge Base | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Custom Ticket Queues | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Round-robin Ticket Assignment | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Proactive Agent Collision | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Agent Scripting | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
More HappyFox Features
HappyFox provides users with automation features, helping them keep track of their customer service tickets. Below are features we find most beneficial for users:
- Ticket categorization: Allows users to classify inbound tickets into predefined categories, such as products, sales, and support
- Ticket queues: Lets users create custom ticket queues by adding one or more rules to filter tickets based on priority and responsibility
- Agent collision monitoring: Enables users to avoid agent collision by showing who else in the team is viewing or acting on a ticket to avoid agent overlaps
- Ticket auto-assignments: Lets users assign tickets to currently active agents and use load balancing algorithms to balance their team’s ticket assignments and workload
HappyFox is one of the market’s most reliable ticketing and customer service software. Its extensive ticketing tools, task management, help desk reports, and customer surveys are essential to streamline your customer support integration needs. To learn more, read our in-depth HappyFox review.
Help Scout: Best for Startups & Nonprofits
Pros
- Free subscription for startups for the first six months; lifetime discount for nonprofits that starts at 10%
- Simple to use and set up
Cons
- No in-app caller
- Only integrates with seven CRM platforms
- No free plan
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Standard: $20
- Plus: $40
- Pro: $65
- Free trial for paid plans: 15 days
*Based on annual billing; monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
Help Scout integrates with seven popular CRM apps, including Pipedrive, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, PipelineDeals, and HubSpot CRM. It offers users essential customer service tools like live chat, shared inboxes, and a knowledge base.
Help Scout has pricing plans built specifically for startup organizations and nonprofits. Nonprofits get a lifetime discount of 10% off while those that specifically advocate for human rights, environmental sustainability, and underrepresentation in tech as part of their core mission can get up to 100%.
However, Help Scout doesn’t have an in-app caller or a free plan. It also has limited CRM integrations. Users who want an in-app phone can consider HubSpot Service Hub. Those who want a free plan and a customer service platform that integrates with many CRM tools should check out Freshdesk.
Help Scout Plan Summary
Standard | Plus | Pro | |
---|---|---|---|
Mailboxes | 2 | 5 | 25 |
Live Chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
In-app Messaging | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Automated Workflows | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited Reporting History | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Dedicated Account Manager | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Quarterly Team Training | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
More Help Scout Features
Help Scout offers affordable customer service tools to startups and nonprofits. Below are features we find most useful for users:
- Shared inbox: Lets agents take on and answer any pending cases or emails with visibility to the email trail through shared mailboxes
- Knowledge base: Allows customers to do self-help support through available instructional articles and videos
- Live chat: Automatically routes customers to readily available reps to get answers to their questions in real time
- Reporting: Provides users with overall reports on all their ongoing and closed cases, including the number of active cases and customer sentiment toward the quality of support provided
Interested to learn about alternative options for nonprofit users? Read our guide on the best CRM for nonprofits to see which one addresses your business needs best.
Insightly Service: Best Customer Service Tools Within a CRM System
Pros
- Housed within Insightly CRM
- Offers customer satisfaction surveys to help users evaluate the quality of their customer support
- Easy and simple to learn and use as tools and features are laid out intuitively within the platform
Cons
- No free plan and no free trial
- No monthly plans available
- No live chat feature
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Plus: $29
- Professional: $49
- Enterprise: $99
*Based on annual billing
Insightly Service is a service and support application made specifically for Insightly CRM users. It gives users a full view of their customers, including communication and activity history. It also offers customizable dashboard reports to track agent performance against key performance indicators (KPIs). The system also scans keywords in tickets to get actionable insights on the nature of recurring customer issues.
However, Insightly Service has no free plan and doesn’t offer a free trial or month-to-month billing plans. It also doesn’t have a live chat function. Users who need a free plan or free trial should consider Freshdesk, while those who want month-to-month plans can check out HappyFox. Those who need a live chat function can try out LiveChat.
Insightly Service Plan Summary
Plans | Plus | Professional | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|
Ticket Automations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Community Forums | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Custom Queues | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Ticket Sentiment & Keyword Analysis | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Satisfaction Surveys | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Integrations | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
More Insightly Service Features
Insightly Service offers holistic customer views and a customizable dashboard to track agent performance. Below are features we find most beneficial for users:
- Customer satisfaction surveys: Lets users send surveys after resolving cases to get customer feedback
- Community forums: Allows businesses to create forum pages for their customers where they can post their questions and get insights from fellow users
- Knowledge base: Lets users publish instructional articles that cover general and specialized topics that their customers can refer to later
- Notifications and reminders: Sends users reminders for unresolved tickets, so no issue remains unresolved
Insightly Service pairs perfectly with Insightly’s unified CRM and marketing tools. Insightly Service is best for users who want a single, simple system to manage contacts, projects, and customer outreach. Read our extensive Insightly Service review to learn more.
Salesforce Service Cloud: Best for Social Customer Service
Pros
- Lets users respond to queries from social media platforms directly from the app
- Has extensive omnichannel communication tools, including email, social, and live chat
- In-app phone allows users to make calls directly from the software
Cons
- Does not offer a free plan; expensive to upgrade to higher-priced plans
- Monthly billing option is only available in the lowest-priced plan (the Essentials plan)
Monthly Pricing (per User) Summary*
- Essentials: $25**
- Professional: $75
- Enterprise: $150
- Unlimited: $300
- Free trial: 30 days
*Based on annual billing
**Essentials plan is the only plan that offers monthly billing plans
Salesforce Service Cloud can only be integrated with Salesforce products. It is a feature-rich customer service platform that lets users manage and route cases and tickets, customize customer service processes, access customer activity history, and extract customer service reports. It has excellent social customer service features that let users monitor, listen, and respond to customer posts on social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
However, upgrading to a higher-priced plan in Salesforce Service Cloud requires a steep investment in pricing. Users are also tied to annual plans for its higher-priced plans. In addition, support must be purchased separately for 30% of a user’s total subscription cost. Small businesses that want more affordable plans and monthly billing options should look to Freshdesk, while those who want free access to customer support can consider Zendesk.
Salesforce Service Cloud Plan Summary
Support Desk Plans | Essentials | Professional | Enterprise | Unlimited |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chat (Live Agent) | Limited functionality | ✕ | Additional $75 per user, monthly | ✓ |
Facebook Messenger Support | Limited functionality | ✕ | Additional $75 per user, monthly | Additional $75 per user, monthly |
Case Management & Service Console App | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Telephony Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Service Contracts & Entitlement | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Web Services API | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
24/7 Support & Configuration Services | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
More Salesforce Service Cloud Features
Salesforce Service Cloud offers users essential customer service tools, including managing customer queries from social media accounts. Below are its standout features.
- Social customer service: Lets users route social media cases to the right agent by using keywords, classifiers, and language detection to ensure timely responses
- AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots: Lets chatbots take action on customer queries like checking claims status or modifying orders using natural language on real-time channels like chat and messaging
- Phone integration: Allows users to make calls directly from the app and save call logs for future reference
- Intelligent routing: Lets managers distribute work based on agent skill set, availability, and capacity to handle incoming work based on their case pipeline
Salesforce Service Cloud and Salesforce Sales Cloud integration: Salesforce Service Cloud lets users easily communicate with their customers.
(Source: G2)
Salesforce Service Cloud is full-service customer service software that helps improve the efficiency and productivity of support teams by automating service processes and streamlining workflows. Learn more about its various features and functionalities by reading our Salesforce Service Cloud review.
Visit Salesforce Service Cloud
How We Evaluated the Best CRM & Customer Service Integration Tools
The best CRM and customer service software integrations allow users to scale the customer service capability of their CRM. It gives them tools to communicate with customers using various channels, allowing them to reap the benefits of their customer service software. These include live chat, chatbots, email, and an in-app phone. While using their CS software, a customer or lead’s details from their CRM are easily displayed on their dashboard, letting them provide more personalized support.
- Pricing: Pricing is typically the most crucial factor for small business owners. We also considered the availability of a free version, a range of pricing plans, and other relevant add-on fees.
- General features: The purpose of any customer service software is to provide CRM users with easy solutions to deliver high-quality support to their customers. We looked at the options and evaluated which ones offer the essential features for users.
- Ease of use: User-friendliness and intuitiveness are two of our key considerations when choosing the best customer service software to be integrated with CRMs. We evaluated whether the software requires a high level of technical experience to get users up to speed with using the system.
- Help and support: Support is a critical part of any type of software, especially for teams with no in-house technical support. We analyzed the types of support offered by these providers through live chat, email, and phone, as well as the hours support channels are available.
- Expert score: We looked through existing customer reviews on credible sites to measure the satisfaction current users have and any problems they typically encounter. We also added our thoughts and expert opinion on key features, value for money, and popularity.