How we rate AI Customer Service tools

Every tool starts at zero and earns points for what it does and what it costs. Here is exactly what earns them.

Last updated September 2026

The short version

We check each tool on 7 things a buyer cares about. Together they are worth 100 points.

The final score is those points out of 10. A tool with 84 points scores 8.4.

Everything comes from the tool's own website. We don't take payment for points.

AI that answers your customersPricingChannelsSecurity and privacyRunning a support teamIntegrationsSupport and branding

What earns points

1. AI that answers your customers

25 of 100 points

Almost every tool here now has an AI that answers customers. What separates them is what it can learn from, whether AI is included in the price, whether it also helps your human team, and how many languages it speaks.

What the AI learns fromup to 3

None	0
1 source	+1
2 to 3 sources	+2
4 sources or more	+3

AI included in the priceup to 2.5

Included in the price	+2.5
Charged per resolution	+1.3
Paid add-on	+1.3
No	0

AI helps your human agentsup to 2.5

Yes	+2.5
No	0

Languages the AI answers inup to 2

1 language	0
2 to 10 languages	+0.5
11 to 49 languages	+1
50 to 99 languages	+1.5
100 languages or more	+2

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 25 of the 100.

2. Pricing

20 of 100 points

What the cheapest paid plan costs each month, and whether you can try it for free first. Cheaper plans earn more points.

Tools charge in different ways, so there is one price table for each. Only the table that matches how a tool charges counts, so a fee per use or a yearly price is never compared with a monthly plan.

Monthly price, cheapest paid planup to 6

Up to $15	+6
Up to $30	+5
Up to $50	+4
Up to $100	+3
Up to $200	+2
Up to $500	+1
Over $500	0

Price per resolution or conversationup to 6

Up to $0.50	+6
Up to $1	+4.5
Up to $1.50	+3
Up to $2.50	+1.5
Over $2.50	0

Price per minute of callsup to 6

Up to $0.08	+6
Up to $0.12	+4.5
Up to $0.20	+3
Over $0.20	+1.5

Free planup to 2.5

Yes	+2.5
No	0

Free trialup to 1.5

None	0
1 to 6 days	+0.5
7 to 13 days	+1
14 days or more	+1.5

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 20 of the 100.

3. Channels

15 of 100 points

Can your customers reach you where they already are: email, chat on your site, phone, WhatsApp, social?

Channels it works inup to 10

None	0
1 channel	+2
2 channels	+3.5
3 channels	+5
4 to 5 channels	+6.5
6 to 7 channels	+8
8 channels or more	+10

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 15 of the 100.

4. Security and privacy

15 of 100 points

Will your customers' data be safe, and can it pass your company's security review?

SOC 2up to 2

Yes	+2
No	0

HIPAAup to 2

Yes	+2
No	0

ISO 27001up to 1.5

Yes	+1.5
No	0

Single sign-onup to 1.5

Yes	+1.5
No	0

Audit logup to 1

Yes	+1
No	0

Choice of data regionup to 1

1 region	0
2 regions	+0.5
3 regions or more	+1

Does not train AI on your dataup to 1

Yes	+1
Only if you opt out	+0.5
No	0

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 15 of the 100.

5. Running a support team

10 of 100 points

Does it give your human team what it needs to work through a queue: tickets, a help center, SLAs and automation?

Shared inbox or ticketsup to 3

Yes	+3
No	0

Help centerup to 2.5

Yes	+2.5
No	0

SLA policiesup to 2.5

Yes	+2.5
No	0

Automation rulesup to 2

Yes	+2
No	0

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 10 of the 100.

6. Integrations

10 of 100 points

Does it plug into the tools you already use, like your CRM, store or helpdesk?

Connects to Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify and othersup to 10

None	0
1 of 8	+2.5
2 to 3 of 8	+5
4 to 5 of 8	+7.5
6 of 8 or more	+10

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 10 of the 100.

7. Support and branding

5 of 100 points

Can you reach the vendor when you need help, and put your own brand on it?

Ways to reach supportup to 5

1 way	+1.3
2 ways	+2.5
3 ways	+3.8
4 ways or more	+5

Remove the vendor's brandingup to 5

Included in a plan	+5
Paid add-on	+2.5
No	0

Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 5 of the 100.

A real example: Zoho

Here is how Zoho got its 9.0.

Section	Points
AI that answers your customers	18.8 of 25
Pricing	20 of 20
Channels	12 of 15
Security and privacy	15 of 15
Running a support team	10 of 10
Integrations	10 of 10
Support and branding	4.4 of 5
Total	90.2 of 100 = 9.0 out of 10

See every fact behind Zoho's score.

When a tool doesn't say

If a tool's website doesn't answer a yes-or-no question, it gets half the points for that item. Not zero, because a missing answer isn't the same as a no, and not full marks, because silence shouldn't beat a vendor who answers honestly. For a number, like a price, it gets the typical value of the tools that do publish one. Every item scored this way is marked on the tool's scorecard.

If a tool leaves out more than a third of what we check, we don't show a score for it at all. A number built mostly on guesses wouldn't be fair to you or to the tool. Right now 38 of the 38 tools we checked have enough information to be scored.

What the score doesn't tell you

We score what a tool offers and what it costs, as its own website describes it. That's not a hands-on test. The score can't tell you whether a tool is easy to use, whether its data is accurate, or whether support answers quickly. The review covers that.

See the AI Customer Service tools ranked or read how we review tools in general.