Every tool starts at zero and earns points for what it does and what it costs. Here is exactly what earns them.
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 customersPrice and free accessChannelsSecurity and privacyRunning a support teamIntegrationsSupport and branding
What earns points
1. AI that answers your customers
25 of 100 pointsAlmost 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
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. Price and free access
20 of 100 pointsWhat 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: a $0.99 fee per resolution 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 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 pointsCan 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 pointsWill your customers' data be safe, and can it pass your company's security review?
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 pointsDoes 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
Each section adds up to 10, then counts for 10 of the 100.
6. Integrations
10 of 100 pointsDoes 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 pointsCan 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.
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.
A real example: Zoho
Here is how Zoho got its 9.0.
| Section | Points |
|---|
| AI that answers your customers | 18.8 of 25 |
| Price and free access | 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.
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.