The 5 best Freshchat alternatives for in-app chat for lenders

The quality of support you offer on your lending app is just as important as the app itself. 1 in 5 customers are willing to stop using your loan service for slow response times via online chat. Think of it this way: a glitchy, unreliable app will drive customers away faster than you can say “loan approval.” But so also will the slickest app lose users if it’s difficult to get help when they need it.

Pair a well-designed app with excellent customer support, and you’ve got a recipe for success! That’s why in-app chat, where customers can connect with you instantly when they need help, is one of the smartest investments you can make in your lending app.

Having that direct line of communication builds trust and helps resolve problems quickly. Which is why 63% of consumers prefer live chat as a channel of support communication, and leads to 40% increase in conversion rate.

Lendsqr already integrates with Freshchat for seamless chat support – but are there other Freshchat alternatives that offer even more flexibility for lenders?

Let’s explore your options.

Intercom

Intercom goes beyond Freshchat by offering powerful live chat features and unique tools to help you engage with your customers in more ways.

Features

Live chat: Intercom’s live chat feature can be used with a lot of integrations. It’s easy to customize to fit your brand colors. You can choose which support options you want to offer your customers for a smooth experience.

Help center: Intercom allows you to create a knowledge base of support articles in multiple languages, using your own website domain and any other tools you use. It supports 45 languages and lets you customize the layout, add your logo, and set a welcome message for your visitors.

Content analytics: With Intercom, you can see how well each help center article is performing including views, reactions, comments, etc.

Integration: Intercom connects smoothly with a variety of other software programs you might already be using. This makes it a great choice for businesses that want to create one system for managing customer conversations on different channels.

Product tour: This new feature helps users get familiar with your app quickly and easily. It includes a user-friendly interface that doesn’t need coding knowledge to set up, with features like targeting specific user groups, tracking how users engage with the tours, and pre-made templates to save you time creating tours.

Team reporting: You can also get reports on how your customer support team is doing. Track individual and team performance and show how well your support inbox is being managed.

New features: Recently, Intercom announced new features such as ticketing workflows, real time or any time support, and advanced charts that make it easier to compare different sets of data.

Pricing

Intercom’s pricing begins at $39/month for a single user and scales up to $999/month for up to 10 agents. They also offer a special program with reduced pricing for startups.

User reviews

• Intercom is praised for being easy to use and offering many useful features.
• Users like the intuitive design and helpful support team.
• Some find certain parts of the interface less intuitive and could be improved.
• Intercom is commended for its integration with CRMs, customer support features, and the addition of Product Tours.

Feature read: 5 Freshworks features to improve your customer support team’s productivity

Tawk.to

Tawk.to offers a surprisingly robust live chat solution completely free of charge, making it a great choice for businesses of all sizes. Even with its free plan, Tawk.to includes a wide suite of features to help you improve customer support and engagement.

Features

Live chat: Tawk.to offers a free live chat service with all the essential features you need to start engaging with your customers.

Chat interface: The chat interface is easy to customize and allows your support agents to view up to four chats side by side and manage conversations with four customers at once.

Chat features: It provides helpful features to smoothen your customer support interaction including automated greetings, pre-written replies to common questions, a glimpse of what customers are typing before they send it, the ability to collect feedback after a chat, the option to send email transcripts of conversations, and even screen sharing.

Mobile application: Your customer support team can answer chats and assist customers directly from their phones via the mobile app for uninterrupted service.

Supported languages: Tawk.to supports 27 languages, making it easy to communicate with a global audience.

Add-on features: For a monthly fee, Tawk.to offers additional services such as hiring live chat agents, automating your live chats with an AI powered chatbot, or removing their branding from the chat interface.

Analytics: Tawk.to provides performance data and lets you view your chat history, giving you valuable insights into your customer interactions.

Integration: Tawk.to integrates with various third-party systems using tools like REST, CSV, online CSV data sources, and their simple HTML Script widget.

Customization: Tawk.to allows you to customize their chat widgets to match your brand. You can adjust chat colors, use attention bubbles to grab customer attention, and even incorporate your brand name.

Training and support: Tawk.to offers helpful training options (including a Business Messaging Masterclass) and 24/7 live chat support if you have any questions.

Pricing

Tawk.to stands out by offering its core live chat software completely free with no plans to change that in the future.

However, some add-on features, like hiring professionally trained live agents costs $1/hr,  removing Tawk.to branding from their products cost $29/month, and automating your live chats with an AI powered chatbot for your website costs $29/month.

User reviews

Users generally find Tawk.to to be an excellent live chat solution that helps them engage with website visitors and customers in real time.

Some noted minor issues with the mobile app’s notifications and found the web dashboard slightly cluttered, but overall Tawk.to gets high marks for being easy to use, affordable, and backed by good customer support.

Feature read: Lendsqr teams up with Freshworks, offering $10k credit to startup lenders

Zoho SalesIQ

Zoho SalesIQ goes beyond basic live chat and aims to be a complete customer engagement platform.  Its powerful feature set is designed to help you understand visitor behavior, proactively engage with potential leads, and streamline collaboration within your support team.

Features

Live visitor tracking: Zoho SalesIQ allows you to see what visitors are doing on your website, helping you identify and prioritize those who are most likely to convert.

Team collaboration: The platform encourages smooth team workflows with features like the ability to take notes during chats and easily transfer chats between agents.

Profanity management: Zoho SalesIQ includes built-in profanity management tools to help protect your support agents against abusive behavior.

AI-powered personalization: Zoho SalesIQ’s “Zia” AI assistant helps you unlock valuable insights from your data and personalize interactions for each visitor.

Proactive chatbots: The platform lets you create proactive chatbots that automatically initiate conversations with visitors, increasing engagement and driving conversions.

Hybrid chatbots: Zoho SalesIQ combines the power of AI with guided chatbot building, giving you flexibility and control over your automated chat experiences.

Customizable chat interface: Customize your chat widgets to align with your branding, including colors, attention-grabbing elements, and your own uploaded images.

Multilingual support: Zoho SalesIQ supports 27 languages, making it easier to communicate with customers from around the world.

Mobile app: Their dedicated mobile app empowers your support team to respond to chats and provide assistance no matter where they are.

Extensive integrations: Zoho SalesIQ connects easily with a large number of third-party apps and platforms, giving you the potential to create a truly integrated customer engagement solution.

Pricing

Zoho SalesIQ is more budget-friendly than Freshchat. They have a free plan and paid plans start at just $7 per support agent each month, while Freshchat’s cheapest paid plan is $39 per agent per month. Zoho SalesIQ packs in more features with its basic paid plan, including chatbots, something Freshchat reserves for their more expensive plans.

User reviews

Customers often find Zoho SalesIQ a powerful and affordable alternative to Freshchat, especially for boosting leads and streamlining teamwork. Many reviews praise Zoho SalesIQ’s AI-powered features, ability to proactively start conversations with visitors, and the wide range of integrations it offers, giving it an edge over Freshchat.

Feature read: How to use Route Mobile with Lendsqr for sending SMS

Zendesk

If you own a large enterprise with complex customer service requirements, then consider Zendesk. Here’s what it helps you with:

Features

Ticketing system: Zendesk’s robust ticketing system allows businesses to track, manage, and resolve customer inquiries efficiently. It helps you track each issue, make sure someone deals with it promptly, and ensures nothing gets lost.

All support channels in one place: Zendesk brings all your customer communication channels together – email, chat, social media, even phone calls. Customers get a smooth experience, no matter how they reach out.

Help customers help themselves: Zendesk lets you create a knowledge base – like a big FAQ section for your customers. This saves time for you and your team since customers can often find answers on their own.

Chat, messaging & phone support: If customers need more help, Zendesk offers live chat, messaging, and phone support in real-time to solve problems quickly.

Reports and insights: Zendesk gathers tons of data and turns it into clear reports. This helps you understand how your support team is doing, what customers are asking about, and how to improve.

Workflows and automation: Zendesk can automate repetitive tasks, making your support process faster and smoother.

Customization and integrations: Zendesk is highly customizable to fit how your business works. You can also configure it with a lot of other tools and apps you might already use.

Built-in CRM: Zendesk includes customer relationship management (CRM) features. CRM feature allows you keep track of all your customer details and interactions in one central place.

Pricing

Zendesk is built to handle growing customer support teams. While their Support Suite Professional plan starts at a higher price ($89 per user per month), it also includes more features and lets you customize it heavily to fit your exact needs.

User reviews

Some users find it to be heavy, boring, and not very intuitive, especially for ecommerce businesses. But it is able to scale and handle the complex needs of many businesses, making it a reliable choice still.

Feature read: How to use Infobip with Lendsqr as an SMS provider

TIDIO

Tidio gives you powerful tools to help customers directly on your website and beyond.

Features

Live chat: Tidio’s live chat widget lets you customize its look and collect helpful customer info before the chat even starts. You can also track what people do on your site and rate how satisfied they are with the support they receive.

Chatbots: Tidio has ready-made chatbot templates to handle common questions (shipping, discounts, orders, etc.), freeing up your team.

Email inbox integration: Tidio gathers all your emails right alongside your chats, so you never miss an important customer message.

Real time visitor monitoring: See what visitors are doing on your site in real-time so you can offer proactive help or answer questions before they even ask.

Multichannel communication: Tidio lets you handle customer conversations from many popular channels (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and email) in one place.

Tidy ticket management: Easily turn chat conversations into support tickets and assign them to the best team member to address the issue.

Pricing

Tidio has a free plan that’s perfect for starting out and their paid plans start at $39 per month.

User reviews

User reviews on G2 and Capterra rate Tidio highly, with 4.7 and 4.8 out of 5 stars respectively. Tidio is praised for being an affordable customer service solution with useful features like live chat, chatbots, and email inbox integration.

Some users have reported limited widget customization opportunities and lack of platform development/updates. Users have also complained about Tidio’s lack of a knowledge base feature since customer self service is becoming popular.

Use these Freshchat alternatives to support your customers

Your customers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to reach you for solutions, so choose wisely. Intercom has specially powerful features like product tours for onboarding. Tawk.to is excellent for budget-conscious businesses that still need a wide range of chat features. Zoho SalesIQ is a smart choice if conversion optimization is a priority.

Zendesk with its ticketing system and complete support suite for handling complex inquiries is best suited for larger teams that need enterprise-level solutions. Tidio is a neat option for businesses that want a simple, user-friendly platform with chatbot templates to automate tasks.

Of all these Freshchat alternatives, the best in-app chat platform is the one that is easy for your customers to reach you with, and meets your business needs. If you want to integrate your in-app chat platform to your Lendsqr loan management software, simply reach out to [email protected].