Mike HeapMike is an experienced Product Manager who focuses on all the “non-development” areas of My AskAI, from finance and customer success to product design, copywriting, testing and more.
Table of Contents
- What does automating live chat actually require?
- 1. Does it answer inside the live chat your agents already work in?
- 2. Does it answer straight away, and answer the follow-up?
- 3. Can it hand the chat to an online agent mid-conversation without the customer repeating themselves?
- 4. Does it do the right thing when nobody is online?
- 5. Does it show you which chats needed a person, and why?
- How did I score these AI live chat tools?
- How do the 7 AI live chat tools compare at a glance?
- Where does AI in live chat go wrong?
- Failure mode 1: It keeps the customer from a person, or hands over when nobody is there
- Failure mode 2: The agent picks up cold and the customer repeats everything
- Failure mode 3: The report counts customers who gave up as chats the AI answered
- Can My AskAI handle your live chats?
- How does My AskAI handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using My AskAI?
- How does My AskAI price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can Intercom Fin handle your live chats?
- How does Intercom Fin handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using Intercom Fin?
- How does Intercom Fin price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can Zendesk AI agents handle your live chats?
- How do Zendesk AI agents handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using Zendesk AI agents?
- How do Zendesk AI agents price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can Freshdesk Freddy AI handle your live chats?
- How does Freshdesk Freddy AI handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using Freshdesk Freddy AI?
- How does Freshdesk Freddy AI price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can Tidio (Lyro) handle your live chats?
- How does Tidio (Lyro) handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using Tidio (Lyro)?
- How does Tidio (Lyro) price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can LiveChat (Text AI Agent) handle your live chats?
- How does LiveChat (Text AI Agent) handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using LiveChat (Text AI Agent)?
- How does LiveChat (Text AI Agent) price for 2,000 chats a month?
- Can Crisp (Hugo) handle your live chats?
- How does Crisp (Hugo) handle a live chat end-to-end?
- How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
- Who's using Crisp (Hugo)?
- How does Crisp (Hugo) price for 2,000 chats a month?
- What does AI live chat save you at 2,000 chats a month? (worked example)
- So which AI live chat software is best for customer service?
- FAQs
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We scored 7 AI live chat tools on seven criteria, including handover to an online agent and monthly cost at 2,000 chats. Crisp (Hugo) leads on 58 of a possible 70, My AskAI follows on 56 and Intercom Fin on 55. For the six tools whose published rates cover this volume, the AI adds about $75 to $2,350 a month (Zendesk on pay-as-you-go) to the chat platform's plan and seat fees, and Tidio quotes it through sales. Agents answering every chat would cost an estimated $4,800, at 6 minutes a chat and an assumed $0.40 a minute.
When your team staffs live chat, chats arrive while every agent is already mid-conversation, customers wait several minutes for an answer your team gives twenty times a day, and anything that comes in after the team logs off waits until morning.
Most live chat tools and helpdesks now sell an AI that answers first. They differ in how cleanly the AI hands a chat to a person, what it does once everyone has gone home, and what it costs once you're at real volume. You'll see the whole idea sold as live chat deflection.
I'm Mike, co-founder of My AskAI. We help 200+ ecommerce and SaaS businesses run AI customer service inside the helpdesk they already use, and My AskAI is one of the seven tools below.
Every tool is priced at 2,000 chats a month against about $4,800 for your agents answering all of them by hand. One of our customers, an iGaming operator, brought AI into its Intercom live chat in stages, starting with replies its team could read first.
Crisp (Hugo) tops our scoreboard for AI in a staffed live chat, and on Crisp's own estimate of $0.05 to $0.10 per conversation, its AI comes to roughly $75 to $175 a month at 2,000 chats on the Essentials plan, after the $25 of included credits. Here's the kind of team each tool suits best:
- Crisp (Hugo) (best for a team happy to run its chat in Crisp) - The lowest AI bill here and a clear office-hours message on handover. Summaries for agents need its Plus plan.
- My AskAI (best for a team keeping its current helpdesk chat) - Answers inside Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias and HubSpot chat with a summary on every handover. It costs $319 a month on Pro at this volume.
- Intercom Fin (best for a team already running Intercom) - The strongest reporting in the set and office hours respected on handover. Each outcome is billed, so the cost climbs as it answers more.
- Freshdesk Freddy AI (best for Freshdesk teams on Omni) - Reports abandoned chats on their own line and lets you bulk-test answers before launch. The Chat AI Agent needs Freshdesk Omni.
- Tidio (Lyro) (best for a small team with up to 1,000 AI chats a month) - Separate handover settings for online and offline hours. At 2,000 AI chats a month you're talking to Tidio's sales team.
- LiveChat (Text AI Agent) (best for a team new to live chat) - A per-user Text plan includes the chat inbox and the AI with a monthly allowance of AI resolutions, and the AI can open a ticket if nobody picks up within 30 seconds. Older LiveChat plans don't include the AI Agent.
- Zendesk AI agents (best for a Zendesk team already on a Professional plan) - Native to the Zendesk messaging widget. Its per-resolution charges give the highest AI bill in our table.
What does automating live chat actually require?
TL;DR: Five jobs: answer inside the live chat your agents already use, answer straight away and handle the follow-up, hand the chat to an online agent without the customer repeating themselves, do the right thing when nobody is online, and show you which chats needed a person. Five of the seven tools do each of the first two jobs fully, and three do the handover fully.
The first two jobs are about where and how the AI answers, the next two about reaching a person, and the last about what you can measure afterwards.
1. Does it answer inside the live chat your agents already work in?
Your customer should see one chat window, and every conversation should arrive in the inbox your team already works from. That might be Zendesk Messaging, the Intercom Messenger, Freshchat or the chat inside a live chat tool such as Tidio or Crisp.
When a tool can't do that, you end up with a second chat window on your site, or you move the whole team onto a new chat tool just to get the AI. Either way, your agents lose the history and routing they rely on today.
2. Does it answer straight away, and answer the follow-up?
Customers pick chat because it's fast, so the AI has to reply in seconds and in the customer's own language. It also has to handle the second and third question in the same chat, and look up the customer's own order or account when the answer depends on it.
When it falls short, the customer gets a list of article links and ends up waiting for a person anyway. Answering repeat questions outside live chat (on your help center or by email) is a separate job.
3. Can it hand the chat to an online agent mid-conversation without the customer repeating themselves?
A handover should happen when the customer asks, when the AI can't answer, and when the customer is getting frustrated. The agent joins the same chat with a summary of what's been said, the AI stops replying while the agent has it, and the chat can go back to the AI once the agent is done.
Without a summary, your agent asks the customer to explain everything again, and an AI that doesn't go quiet keeps talking over them. Our human handoff comparison goes deeper on handover across every channel.
4. Does it do the right thing when nobody is online?
At 11pm, or when every agent is busy, the customer should be told in plain words what happens next. Their details get taken, and the chat becomes a follow-up your team sees in the morning, as an email or a ticket.
The failure here is an AI that says "connecting you to an agent" into an empty chat, where the customer can wait for hours before giving up. Our after-hours support comparison covers overnight coverage across channels.
5. Does it show you which chats needed a person, and why?
You need to see how many chats ended without an agent, which ones were handed over and for what reason, and which customers left without an answer. Without that split, a customer who gave up looks exactly like a chat the AI answered. Our explainer on containment, deflection and resolution covers the metrics themselves.
We built My AskAI to do these jobs inside the helpdesk chat you already run, with the handover summary switched on for every chat.
How did I score these AI live chat tools?
TL;DR: Seven criteria scored out of 10: the five jobs above, plus whether you can get it live without a developer and what it costs a month at 2,000 chats.
I scored every tool against the five jobs, plus two rows that decide whether you can buy and run it. Every fact comes from the vendor's own website, pricing page and help docs, and where a feature needs a higher plan than the one I've priced, it only counts if the cost row pays for that plan.
Setup times assume you'll use AI to help prepare your answers and handover rules, which brings them down a long way. To make the list, a tool had to answer in a live chat your agents staff and pass the chat to a person on your team. Website chatbots that only answer FAQs, free chat tools whose AI can't hand a chat to a person, and enterprise chat platforms with no published price didn't make the cut.
Here are the seven criteria I scored every tool on:
- Answers inside your existing live chat - replies in the chat and inbox your team already runs, on the plan priced.
- Answers straight away, follow-up included - an instant reply, follow-ups in the same chat, the customer's own details where needed, in their language.
- Hands over to an online agent mid-chat - on request, when stuck or on frustration, with a summary, and the AI quiet while the agent has it.
- Handles chats when nobody is online - what the customer is told and what your team receives when no agent is free.
- Shows which chats needed an agent - chats ended by the AI and chats handed over, with reasons, and customers who left.
- Live without a developer - the vendor's own stated setup, including a way to check replies before customers see them.
- Monthly cost at 2,000 chats - the lowest plan that covers the volume with handover to a live agent.
If you want to run these same checks on your own chats, My AskAI's 30-day free trial has every feature unlocked and needs no credit card.
How do the 7 AI live chat tools compare at a glance?
TL;DR: Crisp (Hugo) leads on 58 out of 70 for a team happy to run its chat in Crisp, My AskAI is second on 56 for a team keeping its helpdesk chat, and Freshdesk Freddy AI is the pick among helpdesk-native AI for reporting abandoned chats.
Here are the seven scores for each tool:
(scores out of 10) | Crisp (Hugo) | My AskAI | Intercom Fin | Freshdesk Freddy AI | Tidio (Lyro) | LiveChat (Text AI Agent) | Zendesk AI agents |
Answers inside your existing live chat | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
Handles chats when nobody is online | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
Shows which chats needed an agent | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Live without a developer | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
Monthly cost at 2,000 chats | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Overall (out of 70) | 58 (83%) | 56 (80%) | 55 (79%) | 54 (77%) | 51 (73%) | 51 (73%) | 49 (70%) |
Same seven criteria, in plain words, with the cost row showing AI charges only:
Criterion | Crisp (Hugo) | My AskAI | Intercom Fin | Freshdesk Freddy AI | Tidio (Lyro) | LiveChat (Text AI Agent) | Zendesk AI agents |
Answers inside your existing live chat | Crisp's own chatbox | helpdesk chats plus widget | Intercom Messenger | needs Freshdesk Omni | Tidio's own chat | Text plans only | Zendesk messaging widget |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | replies in user's language | 95 languages, verified lookups | data connector templates | detects language automatically | English default, others optional | 48 languages, customer data | own data needs actions |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | summary on Plus only | summary always, AI quiet | AI stops on takeover | details collected, summary unclear | transcript, no chat summary | full context passed | summary needs Professional |
Handles chats when nobody is online | names next availability | details collected, helpdesk hours | Messenger says when back | transfer outside hours setting | separate online, offline settings | ticket after 30 seconds | schedules need Suite Growth |
Shows which chats needed an agent | counted by final outcome | handover rates, AI CSAT | assumed and confirmed resolutions | abandoned chats reported separately | leavers counted as resolved | transfers, no reasons | escalations and contact reasons |
Live without a developer | sandboxed Playground | no code, internal notes | preview before launch | draft, preview, bulk tests | ten minutes, Playground | ten minutes, preview | test in widget |
Monthly cost at 2,000 chats | about $75 to $175 | $319 on Pro | $1,188 in outcomes | $980 in sessions | sales-gated at 2,000 | $1,980 in packs | $2,350 pay-as-you-go |
Here's what each row reflects, and what kept every tool short of full marks:
- Answers inside your existing live chat - Crisp, Intercom Fin, Tidio and Zendesk each answer in their own chat, so a team on another chat tool has to move. My AskAI answers inside Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias and HubSpot chat plus the My AskAI widget, with Zendesk Messaging needing Suite Professional and Freshchat a Pro plan. Freddy's Chat AI Agent needs Freshdesk Omni, and LiveChat's AI Agent comes only with a Text plan, so either one means a plan change for many teams.
- Answers straight away, follow-up included - Every tool that uses a customer's own order or account needs something connected first. My AskAI covers 95 languages and looks up the order of a logged-in customer (a visitor who hasn't logged in gets answers from your help content), and Fin uses account details through data connectors your team sets up from templates. Crisp replies to each message as it arrives, before a customer finishes a question split across messages, and LiveChat covers 48 languages. Freddy detects the customer's language, and its chat setup article describes no order lookups. Tidio answers in English until you switch other languages on, and Zendesk needs actions your team builds.
- Hands over to an online agent mid-chat - My AskAI sends a summary with every handover and stays quiet until your agent hands the chat back (on HubSpot the chat stays with your agent), and by default a customer asking for a person straight away is first asked for a little more detail. Fin goes quiet the moment a teammate takes over, and LiveChat passes the full context, with summaries on Growth and up. Crisp's summary is on Plus, Tidio's covers ticket threads only, Zendesk's needs Professional, and Freddy's comes from a separate chatbot setting or a workflow your team builds.
- Handles chats when nobody is online - Tidio has separate handover settings for online and offline hours and opens a ticket with the transcript, though the email to your team follows five minutes after the last message. Crisp names the next available time, Fin's Messenger says when your team is back once you set office hours (the default is 24/7), Freddy transfers outside business hours with a message you write, and LiveChat can open a ticket when no teammate picks up within 30 seconds (an option you switch on), with working hours on Text's Growth plan and up. My AskAI collects the customer's details on every handover and leaves the out-of-hours message to your helpdesk's own settings. On a Zendesk Team plan, where schedules aren't available, out-of-office triggers handle basic replies.
- Shows which chats needed an agent - Freddy reports abandoned chats as a figure of their own, although a chat only counts as abandoned after a set time with no reply (about a day in Freshdesk's example). Fin splits confirmed from assumed resolutions, but a customer who leaves after Fin's answer without asking for a teammate counts as assumed resolved. Crisp counts each chat once by its final outcome and Zendesk adds contact reasons, and neither vendor's reporting articles list customers who left as an outcome. My AskAI reports handover rates, which handover rules fire most and AI CSAT on every conversation, without a separate line for customers who left. LiveChat shows the share transferred with no reason for each, and Tidio counts a visitor who left as resolved.
- Live without a developer - Every tool here sets up without code, and your team checks answers before launch. Tidio and LiveChat describe going live in about ten minutes with a place to test, Crisp has a sandboxed Playground (tests there use AI credits), and Freddy adds bulk testing in draft. My AskAI connects from each helpdesk's marketplace and starts as internal notes your team reads first on Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias and HubSpot, while on Zendesk Messaging you test in the My AskAI dashboard's chat before switching it on. Fin's workflows and rules take longer to build, and Zendesk needs actions built before replies can use a customer's own data.
- Monthly cost at 2,000 chats - Crisp's $75 to $175 is the lowest AI bill, but it's Crisp's estimate per conversation and needs a $95 Essentials plan (five agents don't fit the cheaper Mini plan). My AskAI's $319 on Pro is higher than Crisp's figure and comes straight from the published plan fee plus extra credits. Freddy's $980 needs the Omni plan on top, and Fin's $1,188 rises with every chat the AI answers. LiveChat's $1,980 is the most it can cost, assuming the AI answers at least one question in every chat, since a chat counts even when it then goes to a person. Tidio has no self-serve price at 2,000 AI chats, and Zendesk's $2,350 on pay-as-you-go is the biggest of the priced AI bills.
Crisp and My AskAI pull ahead of the rest of the field on cost, with the two lowest AI bills here. Between the two, Crisp scores higher on out-of-hours chats, reporting and going live without a developer, and we score higher on handing a chat to an online agent. Intercom Fin, in third, scores higher than both on reporting. If your team already works in Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot chat, the question is whether you'd rather add AI to that chat or move your team onto Crisp.
Where does AI in live chat go wrong?
TL;DR: Three ways: it blocks the way to a person or hands over into an empty chat, the agent picks up cold and the customer repeats everything, and the report counts customers who gave up as chats the AI answered.
You can test for all three in a vendor demo before you sign anything.
Failure mode 1: It keeps the customer from a person, or hands over when nobody is there
The customer asks for a person and gets the same answer back, or gets told an agent is on the way at 11pm and sits in an empty chat. A merchant on a community forum described exactly that:
"I try to talk with a support team member in the live chat with the chatbot and it says a support advisor will soon joins the chat please be patient. I then wait for hours hoping to somebody join the chat and reply me but this does not happen." - a merchant on a community forum
A customer who asks for a person a second time should get one while your team is online. Outside your hours, good tools tell the customer when your team is back and take their details for a follow-up (by email or as a ticket).
In a demo, ask for a person twice, then set the tool's hours to closed and ask again. Read exactly what the customer is told each time.
Failure mode 2: The agent picks up cold and the customer repeats everything
The chat reaches an agent with no summary, so the agent re-asks every question. Sometimes the AI keeps replying while the agent is typing, and the customer gets two answers at once. One reply on Reddit put it this way:
"if the customer has to repeat themselves, the handoff failed regardless of what the dashboard says." - a reply on Reddit
I look for a summary with the chat, the AI quiet while an agent has it, and a way to hand the chat back once the agent is done. In the demo, hand a chat over halfway through and look at what the agent sees when they open it.
Failure mode 3: The report counts customers who gave up as chats the AI answered
A chat that ends without an agent looks like a success, whether the customer got an answer or closed the window in frustration. A tool can count a visitor who left as a resolved chat, so a customer who gave up still adds to the headline number.
That's why I don't trust a headline "handled by AI" figure on its own. You could hit 100% just by making it impossible to reach a person. The same thread adds:
"Containment only says the bot stopped talking." - a reply on Reddit
Good reporting separates chats the AI answered from chats the customer abandoned, with the reasons chats were handed over, read alongside CSAT. Ask the vendor how its report counts a customer who closes the chat without replying.
At My AskAI we count a conversation as resolved only when it wasn't handed to a person, and every handover to your team comes with an AI summary that can't be switched off. Insights then scores every conversation for AI CSAT, including the chats the AI finished without your team, and shows which handover rules fire most often.
Can My AskAI handle your live chats?
TL;DR: My AskAI answers inside the live chat of Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias and HubSpot, plus our website widget, and hands over with a summary every time, covering 3 of the 5 jobs fully. At 2,000 chats a month it costs $319 on Pro.
My AskAI is an AI agent that installs into the helpdesk you already run, as that helpdesk's approved marketplace app. In live chat it answers inside Zendesk Messaging, the Intercom Messenger, Freshchat, Gorgias chat and HubSpot chat, and in our own website widget if you'd rather use that.
We built it for the team that already staffs chat and wants to keep its inbox, routing and history. Handed-over chats arrive in the same helpdesk inbox your agents work from today.
How does My AskAI handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer opens chat on your site and asks whether they can change their delivery address. Our AI replies in seconds, in their language (95 are supported), from your help center and other connected knowledge, and handles the follow-up in the same chat. For a logged-in customer, it can also look up their order or account through a connection to your systems.
If the customer asks for a person, the AI can't answer, or it senses they're getting frustrated, it hands the chat to your team inside the same helpdesk. Your agent gets an AI summary of the conversation, and from that moment our AI stays quiet until your agent hands the chat back or the ticket closes. You decide which topics always go to a person with Handover & Escalation guidance, written in plain English.
You can trace any reply, too: ask Echo, the AI assistant in your dashboard, why the AI gave an answer and which source it used.
When nobody is online, what the customer is told comes from your helpdesk's own office-hours settings. On every live chat handover, our AI can collect the customer's name and email first, and on Zendesk Messaging those details go straight onto the ticket your team picks up.
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
Here's how we do on each job, with three of the five fully covered. We're also the only tool here that answers inside several different helpdesks' live chat.
Job | My AskAI |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ✅ Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias, HubSpot, our widget |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ✅ 95 languages, own-account lookups for logged-in customers |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ✅ summary every time, AI quiet until handed back |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ⚠️ customer details collected, your helpdesk's hours message |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ⚠️ handover rates, AI CSAT on every conversation |
Insights shows handover rates and which handover rules trigger most. It also rates 100% of conversations for AI CSAT.
You connect your helpdesk from its marketplace and your help center with no code, and on Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias and HubSpot the AI can start by writing its replies as internal notes your team reads first. On Zendesk Suite Professional or above, the AI answers in Zendesk Messaging, and you test it in our dashboard's chat before switching it on.
Who's using My AskAI?
TravelJoy installed our approved Zendesk Ticket app and Zendesk Messaging app. It went from 24% AI resolution with its previous AI to 80% with ours, across its Zendesk tickets and messaging together.
An iGaming operator rolled My AskAI into its Intercom live chat in stages, with internal-note replies to a test audience first and direct replies after. It resolves 44% of 4,687 Intercom chats with AI over 30 days at 72% AI CSAT, and those figures cover the traffic it has reached so far. A footwear brand answers customers in our website chat widget and in Freshdesk, and resolves 95% of about 5,300 monthly tickets with AI across the two, at 90% CSAT.
How does My AskAI price for 2,000 chats a month?
Pro costs $199 a month and includes 1,000 credits, with each extra credit at $0.12. A typical helpdesk chat uses about one credit (every two AI replies make one), so 2,000 chats come to $199 plus 1,000 × $0.12, or $319 a month.
We charge per chat, answered or handed over, so the bill doesn't climb as the AI gets better, and Pro covers up to 5,000 tickets a month. Add-ons such as Tasks bill on top only where you use them, which includes collecting details on handover. That $319 is the second-lowest AI bill in this post.
Choose My AskAI if:
- Your team already runs chat in Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot and wants to keep it.
- You want every handover to arrive with a summary and the AI to stay quiet while your agent has the chat.
- You want to read the AI's replies as internal notes before customers see them.
- You want a monthly bill that stays predictable as the AI answers more chats.
Don't choose My AskAI if:
- Your team's chat runs in Tidio, LiveChat or Crisp and you plan to keep it there.
- You're on Zendesk Suite Team and want the AI inside Zendesk Messaging without moving to Suite Professional.
- You want the AI to write its own out-of-hours message separate from your helpdesk's settings.
For more on My AskAI, see our AI live chat page, our chatbot-to-human handoff page, our Guidance page, our Insights page and our pricing page.
Can Intercom Fin handle your live chats?
TL;DR: Intercom Fin answers in the Intercom Messenger, respects your office hours on handover and has the strongest reporting here, covering all 5 jobs fully. At a 60% answer rate, 2,000 chats cost about $1,188 a month in outcomes.
Fin is Intercom's AI agent. It answers inside the Intercom Messenger and hands chats to your team inside Intercom.
Customers get a clear message when your team is away, and Intercom's help docs spell out exactly what they see outside your hours.
How does Intercom Fin handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer opens the Messenger and asks a question, and Fin answers from your support content. Intercom offers data connectors, with ready-made templates, so Fin can use a customer's own account details in a reply (handy when the answer depends on their order or plan).
When an escalation rule matches, Intercom's escalation article says Fin "does not generate an answer" and hands the conversation to your team. Once a teammate takes over, "Fin stops responding" and the chat is assigned to them.
Outside your hours, Intercom's office hours article says "the Messenger will let them know when your team will be back in the office," so the customer isn't left waiting in an empty chat. Watch the default, though: office hours "are not specified by default, meaning availability is set to 24/7, always-on," so set your hours before launch.
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
Fin is the one tool here that fully covers every job.
Job | Intercom Fin |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ✅ Intercom Messenger |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ✅ data connectors for account details |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ✅ Fin stops responding on takeover |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ✅ Messenger says when your team is back |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ✅ resolution, escalation, assumed and confirmed rates |
I've scored Fin's reporting a 9 because its reports split resolutions a customer confirmed from ones Fin assumed, and show the escalation rate alongside.
Intercom's workflows article says "Your workspace office hours will always be respected when Fin does a handover from a workflow," and you can preview Fin before it goes live. Most of the setup time goes on building the workflows and rules around it, so it takes a little longer than the ten-minute starts elsewhere in this set.
Who's using Intercom Fin?
Anthropic and Lightspeed both run Fin. Anthropic chose to buy it rather than build one in-house, and Lightspeed needed an AI that works across its products, regions and languages.
How does Intercom Fin price for 2,000 chats a month?
Fin's pricing page says "All Intercom plans include access to Fin, and pricing is simple: $0.99 per outcome," on top of your Intercom seats. At the 60% answer rate I've used for every per-outcome tool, 1,200 outcomes cost $1,188 a month. The page also says "You're not charged when a conversation is simply passed to your team without an outcome."
At nearly four times our $319, and rising with every chat it answers, Fin makes most sense at this volume when reporting is your deciding factor.
Choose Intercom Fin if:
- Your team already runs its live chat in the Intercom Messenger.
- You want office hours respected automatically every time Fin hands over.
- You want reports that separate confirmed resolutions from assumed ones.
Don't choose Intercom Fin if:
- Your live chat runs outside Intercom and you plan to keep it there.
- A bill that rises with every chat the AI answers is hard to budget for.
- Cost at a few thousand chats a month is your deciding factor.
If you run Intercom and want a lower AI bill, My AskAI installs into the Intercom Messenger for $319 a month at this volume. Your agents keep working in Intercom, and every handover reaches them with a summary.
For more on Intercom Fin, read our Intercom Fin complete guide, our Intercom Fin alternatives roundup and our My AskAI vs Intercom Fin comparison.
Can Zendesk AI agents handle your live chats?
TL;DR: Zendesk AI agents answer natively in the Zendesk messaging widget and go quiet when an agent takes over, with schedules and summaries on higher plans. At 2,000 chats a month the AI costs about $2,350 on pay-as-you-go.
Zendesk's AI agents are the native choice for a team whose live chat is the Zendesk messaging widget. Once you add an AI agent, Zendesk's standard messaging responses are replaced by the AI agent's own.
Business-hours schedules and the summary for your agent both need a plan above Suite Team, the lowest plan that puts the AI in the widget.
How do Zendesk AI agents handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer opens the messaging widget and the AI agent answers, in any of 80+ languages. Looking up the customer's own order needs actions your team builds.
When the chat passes to an agent, Zendesk's handoff article says "the AI agent can no longer respond to the conversation," and your agent can hand it back afterwards. The AI summary for agents is on "Suite and Support Professional plans and above," so on the Suite Team plan I've priced, your agent reads the transcript instead.
Before handing over, Zendesk's availability step checks your schedule or whether any agents are online. Its business hours article notes that schedules aren't available on Team plans, so on Suite Team, out-of-office triggers handle basic replies instead, and an after-hours chat can become a ticket.
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
Zendesk fully covers answering in the messaging widget. Its reports track escalations and automated resolutions (its reporting articles don't list customers who left as an outcome of their own), and the other three jobs need a higher plan or actions your team builds.
Job | Zendesk AI agents |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ✅ Zendesk messaging widget |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ⚠️ 80+ languages, own data needs actions |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ⚠️ AI stops on handoff, summary needs Professional |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ⚠️ schedules need Suite Growth |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ⚠️ assisted escalations, automated resolutions, contact reasons |
The AI agent dashboard reports assisted escalations, automated resolutions and contact reasons. An escalation can still show as an automated resolution when "the AI agent created a ticket for follow-up and then finished the conversation itself." Setup is simple too, with test conversations in the widget before launch.
Who's using Zendesk AI agents?
Liberty London is a UK premium department store that uses Zendesk AI to sort incoming tickets and send each one to the right team.
How do Zendesk AI agents price for 2,000 chats a month?
Zendesk's pricing page puts Suite Team at $69 per agent a month on monthly billing, with 5 automated resolutions per agent included. With 5 agents that's 25 included, so at the same 60% answer rate I've used throughout, the other 1,175 resolutions cost $2.00 each on pay-as-you-go, or $2,350 a month, and $1,762.50 at the $1.50 committed rate. Only a verified automated resolution counts against the bill, and the seats come on top.
That's the biggest of the priced AI bills in this post. If you want to keep Zendesk and still get a lower AI bill, our guide to adding AI to Zendesk without Zendesk AI walks through the options.
Choose Zendesk AI agents if:
- Your team runs its live chat in the Zendesk messaging widget and plans to stay.
- You're already on a Suite Professional plan, so schedules and summaries are included.
- You want the AI to go quiet the moment an agent takes a chat.
Don't choose Zendesk AI agents if:
- You're on Suite Team and need business-hours schedules or a summary for your agents.
- A per-resolution bill of over $2,000 a month at this volume is hard to justify.
- Looking up a customer's own order has to work without your team building actions.
If you're on Zendesk Suite Professional or above, My AskAI answers inside Zendesk Messaging with a summary on every handover. It costs $319 a month at this volume.
For more on Zendesk AI, read our Zendesk AI agent complete guide, our Zendesk AI alternatives roundup and our My AskAI vs Zendesk AI comparison.
Can Freshdesk Freddy AI handle your live chats?
TL;DR: Freddy AI's Chat AI Agent answers in Freshworks chat on Freshdesk Omni, reports abandoned chats separately and can be bulk-tested before launch, covering 3 of the 5 jobs fully. At 2,000 chats a month the AI sessions cost about $980.
Freddy AI is the AI built into Freshworks, and its Chat AI Agent is the part that answers live chat. It needs a "Freshdesk Omni plan with AI Agent Studio enabled," so a team on plain Freshdesk moves up a plan to get it.
Freddy is my pick for seeing which customers gave up, because it separates a customer who stopped replying from one who got an answer more plainly than any other tool here.
How does Freshdesk Freddy AI handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer opens chat and the Chat AI Agent answers, detecting the customer's language automatically and handling the follow-up questions in the same chat.
Handover triggers on phrases you set, and Freshdesk's handover article says "You can choose to collect customer details before transfer." A summary as a private note is available for Freshchat chatbots after ten interactions, through a chatbot summarization setting, or as a workflow step your team builds. The AI Agent Studio chat articles don't describe an automatic summary for the chat agent.
The same handover article has a "Transfer outside business hours" setting, where you choose to transfer to an agent or a group and write the message the customer sees. Write that message carefully (it's all the customer sees until your team is back).
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
Three of the five jobs are fully covered, and the Omni plan and the handover summary hold back the other two.
Job | Freshdesk Freddy AI |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ⚠️ Freshworks chat, Freshdesk Omni needed |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ✅ detects the customer's language |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ⚠️ details collected, chat summary not documented |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ✅ transfer outside business hours setting |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ✅ escalated and abandoned reported separately |
Freddy's reports list "Escalated to Human Agent" and a separate "Abandoned" figure (for "conversations where the customer stopped responding before resolution").
Testing before launch is Freddy's other strong point. The AI agent setup article describes a draft state, a "Preview" for testing single questions and an "Evaluate" option for "bulk query testing," so your team can run a batch of real questions before any customer sees an answer.
Who's using Freshdesk Freddy AI?
At Hobbycraft, a UK arts and crafts retailer, Freddy AI chatbots now answer up to 30% of questions, leaving its agents more time for crafting advice.
How does Freshdesk Freddy AI price for 2,000 chats a month?
Freshworks' Omni pricing page lists "Additional AI Agent sessions $49 /100 sessions." Every chat the AI answers counts as a session, so 2,000 chats come to at most 20 packs, or about $980 a month. Freshworks gives 500 free sessions once per account, and the Omni Growth plan the AI needs is $35 per agent a month on monthly billing, on top.
That $980 is cheaper than the per-outcome tools and three times our $319. If you'd rather stay on plain Freshdesk, our guide to adding AI to Freshdesk without Freddy AI covers that route.
Choose Freshdesk Freddy AI if:
- Your team is on Freshdesk Omni and runs its live chat there.
- You want abandoned chats reported separately from chats the AI answered.
- You want to bulk-test answers before the AI goes live.
Don't choose Freshdesk Freddy AI if:
- You run plain Freshdesk and don't want to move to Omni.
- You want an automatic summary for your agent on every chat handover.
- Around $1,000 a month in AI sessions at this volume is more than you want to spend.
If your team runs Freshdesk or Freshchat, My AskAI answers inside Freshchat with a summary on every handover. It can start by writing replies as internal notes.
For more on Freddy AI, read our Freshdesk Freddy AI agent complete guide, our Freddy AI alternatives roundup and our My AskAI vs Freshdesk Freddy AI comparison.
Can Tidio (Lyro) handle your live chats?
TL;DR: Tidio's Lyro answers in Tidio's own live chat and lets you set handover separately for online and offline hours, covering 2 of the 5 jobs fully. At 2,000 AI chats a month it's past the self-serve limit, so pricing goes through Tidio's sales team.
Tidio is a live chat tool for small and growing teams, and Lyro is its AI agent. According to Tidio's help docs, Lyro "will always take over new incoming chats first" when it's switched on.
For a small team that works in Tidio, I think it's one of the easiest starts in this set. Its weaker spots are reporting and pricing at higher volumes.
How does Tidio (Lyro) handle a live chat end-to-end?
A visitor asks a question in Tidio's chat and Lyro answers from your content. Tidio's Lyro article shows it answering in English by default, with other languages something you switch on.
During online hours, Lyro offers a "Talk to a person" option and "will pass the entire conversation on to the regular conversations inbox." The AI summary in Tidio is "for ticket threads only," so your agent reads the chat itself (on a long chat, that means scrolling back through all of it before replying).
Outside online hours, "If Lyro is allowed to transfer the chat, it will first inform the visitor that nobody's available." With tickets switched on, the ticket "will include a transcript of the conversation for quick reference," and your team gets an email about it. Tidio also lets you "decide about how these situations are handled separately for online and offline times."
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
Answering in its own chat and handling out-of-hours chats are the two jobs Tidio (Lyro) covers fully, with separate handover settings for online and offline hours.
Job | Tidio (Lyro) |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ✅ Tidio's own chat |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ⚠️ English by default, other languages switched on |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ⚠️ "Talk to a person," whole chat passed, no chat summary |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ✅ tells the visitor, ticket with transcript |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ⚠️ counts visitors who left as resolved |
Of the five jobs, reporting is Lyro's weakest. Lyro Analytics counts a chat as resolved "where the visitor either left the conversation or hasn't asked for a live agent's assistance," so a customer who gave up counts as an answer. Handovers get a separate "Transferred to agent" metric.
Setup is quick. Tidio says "In just 10 minutes, you can have a fully operational agent ready to assist your customers!", and there's a Playground to test in. Operating Hours come with the Starter, Growth and Plus packages, and for the 2,000 AI chats I've used throughout, Tidio's pricing page points to Plus or Premium.
Who's using Tidio (Lyro)?
Burker used Lyro to scale support across global markets, and Tidio's story says it cut email traffic by roughly 50%.
How does Tidio (Lyro) price for 2,000 chats a month?
Lyro bills every conversation with at least one AI reply, so all 2,000 chats count. Tidio's pricing page lets you buy Lyro yourself up to 1,000 conversations a month, at $700, and says "Higher quota is available on Plus and Premium plans." Plus "Starts at $ 300 /mo. + monthly usage," with a contact-sales button.
Lyro is the one I'd look at for up to 1,000 AI chats a month, where the self-serve price is right there on the page.
Choose Tidio (Lyro) if:
- You're a small team happy to run live chat inside Tidio.
- You want different handover behavior for online and offline hours.
- You handle fewer than 1,000 AI chats a month and want to buy without a sales call.
Don't choose Tidio (Lyro) if:
- You need reporting that separates customers who left from chats the AI answered.
- You expect 2,000 or more AI chats a month and want a published price.
- Your agents rely on a summary when they pick up a handed-over chat.
If your team would rather keep its chat in Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot and add AI to it, My AskAI answers inside those chats. On Pro it costs $319 a month at 2,000 chats, and the same plan covers up to 5,000 tickets.
For more on Tidio, read our Tidio complete guide, our Tidio Lyro alternatives roundup and our My AskAI vs Tidio comparison.
Can LiveChat (Text AI Agent) handle your live chats?
TL;DR: LiveChat's Text AI Agent answers in LiveChat, passes full context on handover and can open a ticket if nobody picks up within 30 seconds, covering 3 of the 5 jobs fully. At 2,000 chats a month the AI resolution packs cost up to $1,980.
LiveChat is the chat your agents staff, and its answering AI is the Text AI Agent. LiveChat's AI page says "AI Agent is a Text-only feature," included in a per-user Text plan, and that "If you're still on a legacy LiveChat plan, AI Agent isn't part of your subscription."
For a team new to live chat, I think one plan with the inbox and the AI together is simple. If you're on an older LiveChat plan, getting the AI Agent means moving to Text.
How does LiveChat (Text AI Agent) handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer starts a chat and the AI agent answers, in any of 48 languages. It can use the customer's own data to tailor its reply.
Text's AI agents help article says "Transfers occur when specific conditions are met, for example, if the AI agent can't provide an answer or the user requests to speak with a human expert." According to the AI page, the chat goes over "with the full context attached, so the agent picks up mid-thread instead of starting over." Chat summaries are on Growth and up, and the help article doesn't describe handing a chat back to the AI.
When nobody picks up, "If no teammate is available within 30 seconds, the AI agent can step in and create a support ticket." Offline chats are then answered by email and in the widget, according to Text's chat statuses article. Working hours come with the Growth plan and above.
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
LiveChat (Text AI Agent) fully covers answering straight away, handing a chat to an online agent and handling chats when nobody is online. It can open a ticket on its own when no agent answers within 30 seconds.
Job | LiveChat (Text AI Agent) |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ⚠️ Text plan required |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ✅ 48 languages, customer data |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ✅ full context passed to the agent |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ✅ ticket after 30 seconds, email follow-up |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ⚠️ share transferred, no reason per transfer |
Text's reports overview shows "The percentage of chats that were escalated from the AI agent to a human agent," plus missed and abandoned chats. It doesn't show why each chat was transferred.
Setup is LiveChat's strongest row in my scoring. The AI page says "Most teams have the conversational AI software live in under ten minutes without a developer," and you can preview answers before switching it on.
Who's using LiveChat (Text AI Agent)?
Text's customer stories include Wembley Stadium and Fuse, two teams that handle their customer conversations in Text's chat and inbox.
How does LiveChat (Text AI Agent) price for 2,000 chats a month?
On Text's pricing page, the Essential plan includes 10 AI resolutions a month, with extra packs of 50 at $49.50. A chat counts as a resolution once the AI has answered at least one question, even if it then transfers, so I've assumed the AI answers something in all 2,000 chats. That's 1,990 extra resolutions, or 40 packs, which comes to $1,980 a month on top of the Text plan itself at $25 per user on monthly billing.
Of the AI bills with a published price, only Zendesk's pay-as-you-go bill is bigger, so LiveChat scores 4 on cost. Our LiveChat AI pricing breakdown goes into the packs in more detail.
Choose LiveChat (Text AI Agent) if:
- You're new to live chat and want the inbox and the AI in one plan.
- You want a ticket created automatically when nobody picks up a chat.
- You want to be live in an afternoon without a developer.
Don't choose LiveChat (Text AI Agent) if:
- You're on an older LiveChat plan and don't want to move to Text.
- You need working hours or chat summaries on the entry plan.
- You want to see why each chat was handed to an agent.
If your team already runs chat in a helpdesk and doesn't want a new chat tool, My AskAI adds AI to Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot chat. Every handover arrives with a summary.
For more on LiveChat, read our LiveChat AI complete guide and our My AskAI vs LiveChat comparison.
Can Crisp (Hugo) handle your live chats?
TL;DR: Crisp's Hugo answers in the Crisp chatbox, tells customers when your team is next available and has the lowest AI bill here, covering 4 of the 5 jobs fully. At 2,000 chats a month the AI comes to roughly $75 to $175 on Crisp's own per-conversation estimate.
Crisp is a live chat and inbox platform, and Hugo is its AI agent. According to Crisp, "Hugo is included by default starting from the Mini plan, so you do not need a separate subscription to get started."
For a team choosing a live chat tool from scratch, Crisp is a strong place to start, with the highest overall score in this set.
How does Crisp (Hugo) handle a live chat end-to-end?
A customer opens the Crisp chatbox and Hugo answers in their language. Crisp says it replies "in the same language as the user's" and takes each message as it arrives, since "Hugo cannot wait for a sequence of user messages before replying."
Crisp's escalation article lets you "Automatically escalate when the user is frustrated or asks for a human." If an agent replies while Hugo has the chat, "he will interrupt himself and route that conversation to your human-dedicated inboxes." The conversation summary for your agent is Plus-only, so on the Essentials plan I priced, your agent reads the chat without one.
Hugo's interface settings include "Show office hours availability when escalating," so Hugo tells the customer when your team is next available. Crisp treats support as unavailable "when no operators are online, or if they are all set to invisible," and the chat carries on by email.
How does it handle the 5 things a support team needs?
For Crisp (Hugo), the conversation summary your agent gets at handover needs the Plus plan. When Hugo escalates an out-of-hours chat, it names your next available time.
Job | Crisp (Hugo) |
Answers inside your existing live chat | ✅ Crisp chatbox and inbox |
Answers straight away, follow-up included | ✅ replies in the user's language |
Hands over to an online agent mid-chat | ⚠️ escalates on frustration, summary on Plus |
Handles chats when nobody is online | ✅ names the next available time |
Shows which chats needed an agent | ✅ counted by final outcome, escalation rate |
Reporting is solid. Crisp's Hugo analytics say "Each conversation is counted once based on its final outcome," with an escalation rate alongside (though its conversation funnel doesn't name customers who left as an outcome).
Crisp's getting started article describes a Playground where "Changes and tests made there are scoped to this sandbox and do not affect your production configuration." Tests there use AI credits, so budget a little for them.
Who's using Crisp (Hugo)?
Crisp's testimonials include Emma and Decathlon, two consumer brands that run customer conversations through Crisp's chat and inbox.
How does Crisp (Hugo) price for 2,000 chats a month?
Five agents don't fit the Mini plan's 4 seats, so I've priced Crisp's Essentials plan at $95 a month per workspace, with 10 seats and $25 of AI credits included. Crisp says "On average, a full Hugo-handled conversation costs around $0.05 to $0.10 USD, but this remains only an estimate." Across all 2,000 chats, that's $100 to $200, or $75 to $175 a month after the included credits.
That's the lowest AI bill here and earns a 9 on cost. Keep Pay-As-You-Go switched on, because Hugo stops answering when the credits run out.
Choose Crisp (Hugo) if:
- You're choosing a live chat tool and happy for your team to work in Crisp.
- You want the AI to tell customers when your team is next available.
- You want the lowest AI bill at a few thousand chats a month.
Don't choose Crisp (Hugo) if:
- Your agents need a summary on handover and you don't want the Plus plan.
- You want a fixed per-chat price.
- Your team already works in a helpdesk's chat and doesn't want to move.
If your team already runs chat in Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot, My AskAI adds AI to that chat. Your agents keep the inbox, routing and history they use today.
For more on Crisp, read our Crisp AI complete guide, our Crisp chat alternatives roundup and our My AskAI vs Crisp comparison.
What does AI live chat save you at 2,000 chats a month? (worked example)
TL;DR: At 2,000 chats a month, agents answering every chat cost about $4,800, and the AI options here cost about $75 to $2,350 a month, assuming the AI answers 60% of chats for the tools that charge only for chats the AI ends.
Every row is priced for 2,000 live chats a month, chat only, with 5 agents. For Intercom Fin and Zendesk, which charge only for chats the AI ends, I've assumed the AI answers 60% of chats, or 1,200, and hands the other 800 to your team. That's a cautious rate, set below the median in our own AI resolution rate benchmark study.
The no-AI row assumes 6 minutes of agent time per chat, the low end of the 6 to 8 minutes a live chat benchmark guide calls healthy. I've assumed that time costs $0.40 a minute. The median US wage for customer service representatives is $21.53 an hour, about $0.36 a minute, and $0.40 rounds that up to allow for overheads. For AI inside a platform you already pay for, each row counts the AI charge and names the plan it needs:
Scenario | Monthly cost at 2,000 chats | Effective $/chat | Notes |
No AI (agents answer every chat) | $4,800 | $2.40 | 2,000 chats × 6 minutes × $0.40 |
My AskAI (Pro) | $319 | $0.16 | $199 incl. 1,000 credits + 1,000 × $0.12; about 1 credit a chat, every chat billed |
Crisp (Hugo) | $75 to $175 | $0.04 to $0.09 | 2,000 conversations at Crisp's $0.05 to $0.10 estimate, less $25 included credits; needs a Crisp plan (Essentials, $95) |
Freshdesk Freddy AI | $980 | $0.49 | 2,000 sessions at $49 per 100; the Chat AI Agent needs Freshdesk Omni (Growth, $35 per agent on monthly billing) |
Intercom Fin | $1,188 | $0.59 | 1,200 outcomes × $0.99; Intercom seats not added |
LiveChat (Text AI Agent) | $1,980 | $0.99 | 1,990 extra resolutions in 40 packs of 50 at $49.50 (10 included), assuming the AI answers a question in every chat; needs a Text plan ($25 per user on monthly billing) |
Zendesk AI agents | $2,350 | $1.18 | (1,200 − 25 included) × $2.00 pay-as-you-go, $1,762.50 committed; needs Suite Team ($69 per agent) |
Tidio (Lyro) | Not self-serve at this volume | - | Self-serve Lyro stops at 1,000 conversations ($700); above that the page shows Plus from $300 a month plus usage |
The saving is the agent time on the chats the AI ends. At 60%, the AI ends 1,200 chats worth about $2,880 of agent time, and the 800 it hands over cost roughly $1,920. So with My AskAI, your monthly total comes to about $2,239 against $4,800, and those 800 chats reach your agents with a summary attached. To run the same sum on your own chat volume, our AI support agent ROI calculator works it out for any vendor.
The per-outcome rows (Intercom Fin and Zendesk) grow with every chat the AI ends. Our Pro plan covers up to 5,000 tickets a month, so the same plan still fits if your chats double.
So which AI live chat software is best for customer service?
TL;DR: Crisp (Hugo) is the top pick on 58 for a team happy to run its chat in Crisp, and My AskAI is second on 56 for a team keeping the helpdesk chat it already runs. A team already on Intercom that wants the strongest reporting should look at Intercom Fin, on 55.
If you're choosing a live chat tool from scratch, or your team already works in Crisp, start with Crisp (Hugo), and budget for the Plus plan if your agents want a summary on handover.
We're the pick for a team that already staffs chat in Zendesk Messaging, Intercom, Freshchat, Gorgias or HubSpot and wants to keep it, with a summary on every handover. Fin suits a team on Intercom that values reporting above cost, and Freshdesk Freddy AI is the one to try if you're already on Freshdesk Omni.
Whichever tool you pick, here's a rollout order that keeps the risk low:
- Pick the questions first - export last month's chats and let AI group them by topic, which takes about half an hour.
- Set the handover rules - decide which topics always go to a person, and check what the customer sees when nobody is online.
- Test on a small group - run replies as internal notes, or on a test group of chats, so your team reads the AI's answers first.
- Widen one topic at a time - switch on direct replies for the topics that held up, then add the next.
That's close to the path the iGaming operator took with its Intercom live chat, starting with internal-note replies to a test audience before switching to direct replies. To see how our AI works in your own chat, try My AskAI free for 30 days, with no credit card.
FAQs
Chatbot vs live chat: what's the difference?
What is live chat customer service?
Live chat customer service is support delivered through a small chat window on your website or app, where customers message your team and get replies in real time. It's popular because customers get answers without waiting on email or holding on the phone, which is also why a slow reply in chat stands out so much.
Which AI has the best live chat?
Crisp (Hugo) scores highest in our comparison. Like My AskAI, it's well ahead of the other tools on cost, and it edges past us on out-of-hours chats, reporting and going live without a developer, while we're stronger on handing a chat to an online agent. The right pick for you depends on whether you want to keep your current chat or move to a new one. My AskAI is the pick for adding AI to a helpdesk chat you already run, and Intercom Fin is strongest on reporting.
What is the best AI for live chat deflection?
Freshdesk Freddy AI and Intercom Fin score highest here, 9 out of 10 each, on reporting which chats needed an agent. Freddy reports abandoned chats separately, Fin splits confirmed from assumed resolutions, and LiveChat's reports show missed and abandoned chats. Tidio's Lyro Analytics counts a visitor who left as resolved. At My AskAI we count a chat as resolved only when it wasn't handed to a person, and we score every conversation for AI CSAT.
Which AI live chat software hands a chat over to a human agent without the customer repeating themselves?
My AskAI hands over with an AI summary on every chat, which can't be switched off, and stays quiet until your agent hands the chat back. LiveChat's Text AI Agent passes the full context to the agent, and Zendesk's AI goes quiet once an agent takes over, though its AI summary needs a Professional plan. Crisp and LiveChat keep their summaries on higher plans too, so check the plan you're buying.
How do you reduce repetitive support tickets in live chat with AI?
Start with the questions your agents answer most in chat, make sure your help center covers them, and let the AI answer those inside your existing chat while everything else goes to a person. If your help center is thin, My AskAI can draft starter articles from your historic tickets for your team to review. Our guide to reducing repetitive support tickets covers the wider process.
Are there AI live chat tools for multilingual customers?
Yes, all seven tools here answer in the customer's own language. My AskAI supports 95 languages, Zendesk's AI agents 80+, and LiveChat's Text AI Agent 48, while Crisp's Hugo and Freshdesk Freddy AI detect the customer's language and reply in it. Intercom Fin and Tidio's Lyro answer in multiple languages too, although Lyro works in English by default until you switch other languages on.
