With the release of the WhatsApp API, many shared WhatsApp inbox tools like Helpwise came into existence to simplify ecommerce customer support for businesses.
But if you’re considering alternatives to Helpwise before making the final choice, your search ends here.
We took a trial of over a dozen shared inbox tools like Helpwise with the goal to help ecommerce business owners make a more informed decision.
Before we dive into the alternatives, let’s take a quick look at Helpwise and the features that it offers.
What is Helpwise?
Helpwise is an ecommerce customer support tool that greece mobile phone number list allows you to manage all your support channels methods at one place.
With shared inboxes for email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat and social media accounts, you can easily collaborate with your team and your customers from the same dashboard.
It is also feature-rich and can be a great addition to your business toolkit for more productivity and increased team efficiency.
Pricing:
$20/per user/month billed annually for all support inboxes. 7 day free trial.
Pros:
Multiple support channels: Connects major support channels including Facebook, Twitter, Emails, WhatsApp, and SMS.
Integrations: Integrates with Zapier, Hubspot, Slack, Shopify, etc
Team collaboration: The app allows you to communicate with the team members from the same screen without having to switch over
Workflows and automation: Setup workflows to automate processes with the help of automation rules
Internal FAQs: Create internal help-center for new support team members
Tracking and metrics: Track email load, key metrics and team performance from your account dashboard
Cons:
No unified inbox view: Unlike other shared inbox tools, you cannot view all shared inboxes on a single screen with Helpwise. This can be a deal-breaker for those looking for the real “shared inbox” experience.
Cannot create manual tickets for external channels: You cannot manage and track support for customers who connect from any channel apart from the ones supported by Helpwise.
Unstable mobile app: Currently the mobile app is in a very nascent stage and does not support most of the features that the web app does.
Top Helpwise alternatives for your business
Helpwise is a great tool but there are many businesses who offer better, more thought-out features for Shopify store owners.
Considering the differing requirements, we’ve covered both shared WhatsApp inboxes and omnichannel customer support inboxes in this list.
Brands who talk to customers on different channels like Facebook, Emails, Instagram, Twitter, etc., a shared customer support inbox would be the best fit for you.
Without any further ado, let’s get right into the list.
Top 10 Helpwise alternatives
DelightChat
Zoko
Messagebird
TimelinesAI
Trengo
Twilio Flex
Front
Interakt
Freshchat by Freshdesk
WATI
Missive App
Streamline Customer Service with DelightChat
DelightChat
DelightChat is an ecommerce customer support tool built for SME brands that enables them to deliver out-of-the-box customer service. It’s designed with a conversation-first approach that enables you to manage your store’s support & painlessly resolve customer queries - all from a single screen.
Pros:
Omnichannel inbox that helps you manage WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Emails & Live Chat.
DelightChat enables you to respond to customer queries & collaborate with your team, all from a single screen.
DelightChat offers great value for money being significantly cheaper than the other options on this list.
DelightChat doesn’t penalize you when you add more users to scale up your customer support operations.
Most importantly, you can collaborate with your team right within the app itself. There is no need to toggle between tabs, which leads to a loss in productivity & loss of work hours.
Cons:
For now, DelightChat only integrates with Shopify that allows it to access your Shopify admin dashboard data. However, it will soon be available for other ecommerce platforms like BigCommerce, WooCommerce & Magento.
Sign up today for free!
Zoko
Zoko is a shared inbox for WhatsApp Business. If you support your customers on WhatsApp and are looking for a tool that allows you to share the number with your team, this will be the perfect solution for you.
This is a great fit for businesses who are active only on WhatsApp or do not receive many queries from other channels like Facebook, emails, Twitter or Instagram.
Pricing:
$24.99/month for 500 monthly unique customers
Pros:
If you can stay within the tier limits of their plans, Zoko can be quite an affordable solution for your business
You can send WhatsApp messages with response buttons that allow users to interact with the message
Improve team communication and accountability with ticket assignment depending on the type of query
Can create WhatsApp chatbots where users can respond to bot messages with specific numbers of keywords to get the desired information
Cons:
Very basic in terms of functionality as it focuses completely on WhatsApp
Zoko is a basic tool and you may need to consider alternatives if you’re looking for better support with integrations
Since the pricing is based on the number of conversations, you can expect the costs to rise as the number of chats increase.
Looking for a feature-rich and affordable Customer Support Helpdesk?
Try DelightChat, the omnichannel helpdesk that lets you manage support across channels from one screen while helping you save 10+ hours every week through automations.
Learn more
Messagebird
Messagebird is a customer service automation tool that helps you create flows and chatbots for responding to customers. It supports channels like Live Chat, WhatsApp, Voice and more from a centralized dashboard.
With the help of conversation flows and auto-response bots, automating your support is completely possible with Messagebird.
Pricing:
Free upto 50 conversations. Then $50 to $150 monthly based on number of conversations
Pros:
The app is priced competitively and offers a lot of features for the price
It offers good documentation for the supported APIs and integrations
Offers SMS capabilities in the CRM and can be a plus for those looking for text messaging
You can automate part of your customer conversations with the conversation flow builder
Cons:
The customer support team is slower than you’d expect and generally responds after 24 hours.
Clumsy UI that takes a lot of time to get used to and isn’t designed intuitively
Message deliverability is lower compared to competitors so your customers may miss messages
TimelinesAI
TimelinesAI is a popular shared WhatsApp inbox designed to help you manage multiple WhatsApp Business numbers from the same dashboard.
It works best for teams that interact a lot with clients through different channels over a long period of time, and you want to keep all this knowledge in the same place, shareable and available for all team members.
Pricing:
$25/month billed yearly for 1 WhatsApp number and 5 team members
Pros:
Manage and collaborate with team members from the same chat screen
Add multiple WhatsApp numbers to TimelinesAI for seamless communication
Chat history is backed up in the cloud
Integrates with existing CRMs like Pipedrive and others through Zapier
Cons:
Can only work with WhatsApp and does not integrate with social media or Email channels
As your team grows, the cost of using Timelines can grow as well
Customizations of any sort are locked for business plan users
Trengo
Trengo is a very well-known helpdesk tool. One of the caveats of this is the cost.
While it seems cheap to start with, the costs add up as you purchase add ons and pay a monthly fee for each addon.
But if budget is not a constraint, the costs will be compensated by their mature interface and a variety of integrations that are available.
Trengo also merges your Email, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, voice, live chat and many more applications in one place.
Pricing:
Starts at $15/agent/month. Addons for shared inboxes at additional monthly cost
Pros:
Intuitive UI for quick onboarding
A seamless shared inbox experience with all support channels on the same screen
Build an internal help center within the tool to help new team members learn the processes
Internal team collaboration is possible with higher plans. The basic plan only offers a team inbox
Cons:
Difficult to view the historical closed tickets so customers have to repeat their issues
Costs can go sky-high if you do not actively keep track of all the addons and product usage
Outlook and Office365 integration is not available
Minimum of 4 seats for using Whatsapp feature.
Twilio Flex
Twillion is an official WhatsApp Business API provider. Owing to the popularity of the business API, they also launched a shared inbox tool - Twilio Flex.
They have solid API documentation as the company was first introduced as a WhatsApp BSP.
The Flex app can merge SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and many other support channels. It is a modular tool where features can be added or removed as per business requirements.
Pricing:
$1/user/hour or $150/user/month
Pros:
Supports phone calls, VoIP, messaging, WhatsApp, email and more.
Cheaper for new businesses to start out with the hourly plans
Highly extensible if you’re technically sound
Monitoring of sms and call status process is seamless.
Cons:
Needs technical knowledge to get started else you’ll need to connect with the support team at Twilio
Slower customer support
Message deliverability is lower for mass messages or emails
Prices can go high as you add team members.
Front