Do you want a more personal interaction with your website visitors but can’t be available for questions 24/7?
Using a chatbot software might be a good solution. They are more personal than a typical contact form, and they can help your customers with the answers of your FAQ’s. Also, you can use them as a lead generation tool to improve the conversion rate of your website.
We have reached out to 26 digital experts and asked them the question: which chatbot do you recommend others to use and why?
Here are the ones that they recommend you to use.
Top Chatbot Software 2021
1. Hubspot (6 votes)
HubSpot is the all-in-one platform that includes marketing, sales, and service software that helps your business grow without compromise. They offer a full stack of software for marketing, sales, and customer service, with a completely free CRM at its core.
2. Drift (4 votes)
Drift is the world’s first and only conversational marketing platform. It generate more qualified leads without the use of forms.
3. Collect.chat (2 votes)
Collect.chat helps you to get more leads for your business by switching to a human friendly way of collecting data. Their AI chatbot helps you to connect with your website visitor at any time and collect their data.
3. Intercom (2 votes)
Intercom helps you build better customer relationships with messaging that’s scalable and more personal. You can drive customer satisfaction and faster growth with their Business Messenger chatbot.
3. ManyChat (2 votes)
ManyChat allows you to automate & combine Facebook Messenger, SMS, and E-mail to grow your business. You can build your campaigns intuitively with their visual editor.
3. Tawk.to
Tawk.to is a free live chat software for your website. Via their software you can monitor and chat with the visitors on your website. Instead of an AI chatbot, you can hire chat agents to answer enquiries 24/7.
3. Tidio (2 votes)
Tidio is a free live chat and chatbot builder for your website. By doing so you can reply to your customers in seconds using a chatbot, live chat, email or Messenger.
3. Zendesk (2 votes)
Zendesk is a customer service and sales CRM software designed to create better customer relationships. Their products contains integrated customer support, call center software, and live chat and messaging services.
There could be multiple reasons why you would want to implement a chatbot on your website.
First, using a chatbot on your website could be a way to automate your customer service. By getting an AI chatbot software answering the most frequently asked questions, you will have to spend fewer hours on answering relative easy questions.
Then, using the 24/7 ability of a chatbot could help you to interact with your (potential) customers at any given time. This means you will be no longer bound to the traditional 9-5 for your customers, or have to worry about different time zones.
And lastly, chatbots can help you with the lead generation of your website. Adding an extra way of contact to your website might improve your conversion rate. Also, chatbots are often more personal than the traditional contact forms. This might help to attract a different (more top-of-the-funnel) type of client for your business.
Read What The Experts Said
Find out what each expert had to say about their favorite software. Select the software from the list below.
Timothy D. Christ, MBA
✓ Pure Chat
We use the free version! Simple to install and very user-friendly. Allows for up to 3 people to monitor simultaneously. It helps drive conversions to conversations instead of simply passive browsing on our website! It’s also been used by our clients, so they appreciate the immediate response they can get that way as well!
Samuel Gribben
✓ Tawk.to
We currently use Tawk.to, which is a free solution which integrates perfectly with WordPress hosted websites. This chatbot is brilliant, as it allows us to use shortcut keys for regular messages, such as saying simple introductions or links to relevant articles. We can define set office hours on this so that we aren’t receiving notifications 24/7 and messages received outside of these hours are converted to offline messages / tickets so we don’t miss out on conversions.
Users can upload their files, which is handy for us as a 3D printing service as we can help upload their files to our quotation page and reply back with a cart link which instantly improves conversions. If a customer representative is struggling with the chat, we can transfer / bring in another agent who maybe more knowledgable on the subject.
Daniel Richardson
✓ Zendesk
I recommend using Zendesk Chat on your website just on the strength of its Analytics tool which provides invaluable data on how customers are interacting with your Chatbot allowing you to make tweaks to improve how you deal with your customers and get them deeper into your sales funnel.
Zendesk chat also offers everything else you would expect from a Chatbot including very competitive pricing.
Chris Fugitt
✓ Collect.chat
Ideal for small businesses that drive web traffic to their site, Collect.chat is a super easy to use, code-free chatbot software for collecting leads and booking meetings. Collect.chat makes building basic rule-based bots a breeze.
Pros:
– Easy to use drag & drop builder
– Includes chat UI to add to your site
– Offers chatbot templates available
– Affordable plans
– Has an API
– Great for lead generation & booking meetings
Cons:
No AI component or AI integrations
✓ ManyChat
ManyChat is a chatbot & marketing platform for Facebook Messenger. ManyChat allows you to build code-free chatbots in a matter of minutes. Not only can your bot chat with people through Facebook Messenger, but people can also subscribe to receive ongoing messages from your bot. ManyChat doesn’t include artificial intelligence out-of-the-box. However, you can use third-party tools (Janis.ai) to integrate AI into your ManyChat bot.
Pros:
– Integrates with Facebook Messenger
– Offers several integrations
– Affordable/scalable plans
– Offers an API
– Allows you to message people that interact with your bot
Facebook Messenger open and click-through rates tend to be better than email
Cons:
– Users need to have a Facebook Messenger account to be able to chat with your bot
– Doesn’t include AI bots
✓ Google Dialogflow or IBM Watson Assistant
If you’re looking to build an intelligent chatbot, Google’s Dialogflow and IBM Watson Assistant are worth exploring. Both platforms allow you to take advantage of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and machine learning with your bots. They both give you the ability to start small and scale over time. Their code-free options equip you to build AI bots out of the gate, with the ability to add code and advance features.
Pros:
– Use of AI
– Tools to build intelligent bots
– Robust APIs
– Ability to scale
Cons:
– Plans can be more expensive than other bot solutions
– Advanced features require development
– AI requires QA & training
At Design Pickle, we use ManyChat and Watson to optimize our website communication.
Jesse Spencer-Davenport
✓ Drift
We use the Drift chatbot on our website. Although we weren’t sure how our prospects would interact with it, we’ve been pleasantly surprised! The bot not only provides instant-on information paths 24/7, it also provides a human element of information discovery. Website visitors have been eager to ask questions through the bot, and we’ve converted many valuable leads this way..
We also gate much our static and video content behind the bot. So instead of waiting for a download or an email with requested information, we provide it immediately with a bot on the same screen encouraging interaction.
One of the features I like most about Drift is the ability to trigger the bot based on specific buttons or links clicked on a webpage. This makes bot messaging specific to the apparent needs of our site visitor.
Because Drift integrates with HubSpot, we’re able to customize bot messaging based on what we know about visitors.
Drift is helping us eliminate dependency on boring forms and qualify leads real-time.
Sam Williamson
✓ Facebook Messenger Bot
During busy periods of the year we like to add the Facebook messenger chat function to our WordPress website. We would highly recommend this chatbot to any other small business owners who want a simple addition to their website that they can add themselves and get working within 5 minutes.
There is no development work required and it’s completely free – all you do is install a free WordPress plugin then follow the simple setup instructions. The messenger also works great on mobile devices. If you download the Facebook messenger app onto your mobile you’ll get a notification every time someone messages, so you can respond really quickly.
Ed Marsh
✓ Drift
We use Drift. I would strongly recommend it for several reasons.
The chatbot product itself is very powerful and usable. More importantly, though, it drives results. I’ve seen it run in A/B tests with other chatbot tools and deliver 5X engagement results. Big picture, though, we’re customers of Drift’s vision for sales and engagement. We believe that as good as the current chatbot product is, the suite of tools and capabilities will continue to develop and lead. They’ll help us improve the experience we deliver for prospects and customers. That makes them a winner.
Junaid Ahmed
✓ Intercom
At LambdaTest we are using Intercom. The main reason why we use Intercom is that we think it outsmarts its competition by a mile.
They offer the easiest ways to communicate with users and visitors. They find it easy to connect with us and helps us convert prospects into a sale.
We now automatically convert users via Intercom drip email that is based on events like the first signup, number of tests conducted etc. The best part is any response to an automated email is taken care via chat and instant contact is made.
We are making use of their interactive pop-ups to engage with visitors on our website and with users inside the product.
Not only that we can also automate the help to give to a customer by redirecting him/her to any helpful article on the basis of query received.
Erico Franco
✓ Hubspot
We use Hubspot Chatbot. It has a very nice free and unlimited plan and has a lot of features like automation, personalization, booking meetings with your team. Also, you can automatically provide customer support answers, create tickets, use workflows. Configuring it is very easy as Hubspot gives also you some templates to have where to begin from.
Pedro Henriques
✓ Hubspot
We are using Hubspot Chatbot.
The main reason to use it to have everything under the same marketing automation tool, in this case, Hubspot. Not just for the sake of having a holistic view of the customer journey on the same tool, but also to decrease the number of scripts used on the site. Our website page load speed significantly deteriorated when tried adding multiple marketing automation tools, and that has an impact on SEO.
Rebecca White
✓ Tidio
We are a 100% female e-commerce company in the health and wellness space. We have used chatbots for a few years with success. We have tried a variety of different chatbot services. One of our favorites is Tidio because of its many features and highly customizable chatbots. We found it especially powerful to use a chatbot to offer new visitors a special discount code or offer to subscribe readers of our blog to our mailing list.
✓ Zotabox
Another one of our favorites is Zotabox. The only issue with Zotabox is that it uses the platform of Facebook messenger, with the result that it is not as customizable and accessible for those that do not use Facebook.
Caleb Rule
✓ Drift
I’d recommend Intercom or Drift. Both are widely-adopted for a reason and allow quick-and-easy customization of messaging to a specific page’s content, and you can incorporate personalization from your database(s) fairly easily. Intercom is better for those with lower budgets, while Drift may be more suitable for larger organizations with a more complex / built-out team structure.
Juliana Hahn
✓ Tawk.to
I currently use the free version of tawk.to. Previously I used another tool but recently switched to tawk.to because it’s much simpler to use. The set-up was very quick and hassle-free. It only took me a few minutes. The customization options are great with tawk.to as it allows me to use my brand colors and I can change the appearance of the chat window to perfectly got with my website.
What’s fantastic is that this tool lets me chat with site visitors directly from my browser and it encourages people to reach out if they have a question. That helps me generate leads and show there’s actually a person behind this site. Even if I’m not online, a message lands in my inbox and I can reply as soon as possible.
The metrics are great too. I can ensure no messages go unanswered, I see how many chats are active and even how happy visitors are with the interaction. All in all, the value I get from tawk.to is amazing and I’m super happy with it.
Jane Kovalkova
✓ User.com
We are using User.com for our customer chat and chatbot. When the team is online, we use it to answer customer questions and engage with them. When we are not online and there is no one to respond, the chatbot takes over to answer some of the most common questions our customers have.
We love User.com for many reasons, but primarily we are fans of it because it’s super simple and easy to use. At the same time, you can set up some pretty complex workflows. For example, we can use it to answer questions about pricing, comparison with our competitors, integrations, and much more. While it doesn’t do the same job as a customer support rep, it does about 80% of it and we can close with the rest as soon as we have the lead’s email. If you have customers from different time zones, I would strongly recommend User.com as a customer support tool and a chatbot.
Daniel Koscielski
First, I’d like to debunk the myth that chatbots are “EITHER OR”—sorry Drift. Meaning, it’s not a chatbot OR a contact form. You can have both. Actually you should have both on your website.
People have different preferences. Phone, email, telephone, chat. It all has its place.
That being said, at STXNext we use a chatbot to drive more leads and engage with users while they are browsing our website. If it works for software agency, it could work wonders for B2C, where there’s no business development involved.
My recommendations are:
✓ Hubspot
Hubspot Bot – no brainer for Hubspot users. You’re getting chatbot out of the box.
It’s really basic but works great overall. You can create chat flows within minutes. The interface is very intuitive. One downside is customization—it’s very limited.
✓ ChatBot.com
If you’re serious about automation Chatbot.com will work great. It integrates with major messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger or Slack.
While it’s more complex in use, it offers a very powerful AI, amazing chat flow templates and robust customization.
Eric Katzman
✓Gupshup
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Gupshup is the leading smart messaging platform. Gupshup enables businesses to build engaging conversational experiences seamlessly across 30+ messaging channels using a single API.
Gupshup offers a comprehensive product portfolio that includes an easy to use omni-channel messaging API, advanced bot building platform and mobile marketing tools.
Gupshup’s messaging platform handles over 4.5 billion messages per month and has processed over 225 billion messages so far, enabling over 36,900 businesses send messages to nearly a billion users across channels including SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Slack, WeChat, Viber, Android RCS, Mobile App and Mobile Web.
GupShup has grown rapidly by helping several leading Enterprises such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, FlipKart, OLA, ICICI, HDFC, Citibank, DishTV and HUL better engage and retain their consumers.
Keeon Yazdani
✓ Tidio
Our company, WE R CBD, currently uses the Tidio chatbot. The Tidio app is affordable at $18 per month and has helped our company increase our conversion rate by answering customers questions on the spot. Tidio is extremely organized, and allows us to assign roles and create profiles for our staff. For example, we are able to assign working days and working hours to each staff member in Tidio.
Christopher Johansen
✓ Hubspot
We utilize the Hubspot chatbot on our website www.anttix.com.
We selected the Hubspot chatbot last year due to the fact it is included free with our CRM. Not only does it integrate with our CRM which makes it awesome and easy to use. It also has a tracking code that enables the chat to track prospects that come to our website which we can easily convert into leads. The other reason we love the Hubspot chatbot is that our prospects and clients find the chat extremely easy to use and easy to communicate with us during business hours.
I also like that the Hubspot app on my phone allows me to message back and forth with the person in chat even if I am not in the office. Then when we are logged off or after hours the chat feature has a chatbot that will answer chat requests, gather information, and email that over to us. The chatbot function emails the conversation so we can answer our prospect or client within a timely fashion. Overall It has helped decrease our response time and allowed us to take our customer service and support to the next level.
Rob Jager
✓ Zendesk
We use Zendesk. It offers several features that we like, such as notification of a visitor, ability to email a transcription of the chat, ability to track information, use on our smart phones, and creating tickets. We don’t always use all the features, but they are there.
Yasir Shamim
✓ SnatchBot
I mainly use SnatchBot.This platform is a little bit robust, but it is free and apart from your website you can integrate the chatbot with various other communication apps (Skype, Messenger, etc.). You use if statements to connect the interactions and can connect them using keywords or extracted data.
Most other popular chatbot building platforms like ManyChat and Chatfuel, can only be integrated with one or a few communication platforms (like Messenger + Telegram), or like Botsify they charge extra for placing a bot on your website (it was like that the last time I checked).
With these platforms creating a chatbot is a piece of cake. You just need to add interactions and connect chatbot answers with different keywords.
Aaron Luther
✓ Intercom
At AlltimePower we love Intercom. Our business is a two-sided marketplace and Intercom allows us to customize our communications to both of our user types right out of the box. We also find the article feature extremely helpful for recurring customer support issues.
Zhen Tang
✓ ManyChat
I’ve been using ManyChat for the website of my law firm for almost a year now. It is an excellent chatbot platform for a chatting tool that can easily integrate with Facebook. This feature allows us to engage with our target audience quickly, grow subscribers list, and increase brand awareness.
You can start building flows very fast, and there are also many ways to publish and spread bot. I like the fact that there’s a “Basic Builder” and a “Flow Builder,” making it easy for everyone to start building their bot. The support is also great; anytime I needed help, there was someone available to help me.
✓ TARS
I also recommend TARS chatbot, which is easy to learn, simple to set up, and no more spending the budget on development. Using Tars, it is easy to reach customers and fulfil their expectations. TARS is straightforward to use with zero coding or development skills required.
TARS has not any performance impact to the website response time which is good. Chatbot templates will save your time and effort to implement. It is also useful to integrate your Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and AdWords conversion tag to track results and measure your campaign.
Houman Asefi
✓ Wix.com
We are using native Wix.com chatbot.
The native nature of this chatbot makes it very easy to integrate with the website. We did not need to do any programming or extra charge as well.
The conversion rate is high as well. If visitors start to chat with our chatbot, there is a 74% chance they register to get more information.
Dustin Brackett
✓ Hubspot
We are huge fans of the HubSpot chatbot. For us, what sets it apart from others is that it is tied to the CRM. Being able to make your chatbot work for whatever your need (knowledge base, qualifying leads, support, etc) while being able to tailor the experience to whoever is actually chatting with your bot is powerful. It’s resulted in many closed deals for ourselves and our clients. It’s also very nice that they have a free version that anyone can use to get started.
Evan Nison
✓ Chatra
As a communications professional working in cannabis PR, cannabis marketing and cannabis SEO having the ability to respond quickly is the name of the game, that’s why we use Chatra as the chatbot on our website.
During our extensive research, Chatra stood out as the most cost-effective premium plan that provided some really useful features.
We’re able to customize for our brand colors, receive alerts when a visitor is on the site, and most importantly directly answer questions the moment a visitor has them. We’re here to be helpful and would recommend Chatra for any businesses looking to do the same.
Neil Andrew
✓ Hubspot
If you use HubSpot’s marketing automation products, then their chatbot is a great fit. It allows for super customizable chatflows and feeds all that information back into the HubSpot CRM, allowing for customer records to be automatically updated. You can also trigger workflows off the back of chats, for example opening support tickets or sending email resources.
However, if you’re not using HubSpot’s marketing suite then the chatbots are going to be of limited use.
✓ Drift
Drift is probably the number one solution out there for lead generation. The bots are hyper-customizable and can integrate with a huge range of third party tools. It is quite expensive (if you’re not on the startup plan, which offers a whopping 93% off!), but for websites that have a large volume of traffic it’s a great choice for top-tier lead generation.
Chatbot FAQ
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a software program that simulates human conversations on your website. It interacts with your website visitor via instant messages, and can guide the visitor to get the information that they need.
What are the most popular chatbots?
Our experts voted for Hubspot and Drift. See our article for the full list of chatbots that you could consider using for your website.
Are chatbots free to add to your website?
There are definitely free options available if you don’t want to spend any money. Often, you will only get access to basic features of the chatbot software.
Does having a chatbot improves my website’s conversion rate?
Yes – having a chatbot could improve the conversion rate of your website. Having an extra form of contact could generate extra leads and/or sales. We recommend A/B testing to see if this is also the case for your website.