Compare AI customer service agents on your own tickets, not on their websites. Most vendors in this space sell by demo, so ask each one for a pilot on real conversations, agree up front what counts as a resolved conversation, and check how the agent hands over to a human and which help desk it plugs into.
Most demos in this category look alike: a friendly agent answers a tidy question, the dashboard shows a big resolved number and everyone nods. If you've seen Decagon and want to compare other AI customer service agents, the useful work starts after the demo. Here are ten options, in no particular order, grouped by the kind of buyer each one is built for.
Platforms built for large support operations
Sierra builds AI customer experience agents for businesses, with more human experiences as its stated aim. Forethought's agents work on top of existing CX platforms and resolve customer issues automatically. Maven AGI is a conversational agent platform that unifies systems and knowledge sources and takes actions, not just answers.
Three more are built with big contact centres in mind. Parloa is a platform to build, test and scale voice and chat agents for enterprise customer service, so it's the one to look at if phone calls are a big part of your volume. Yellow.ai runs enterprise AI agents for both customer and employee experience, powered by multiple LLMs. Cresta describes itself as an AI operating system for customer experience, aimed at contact centres.
Ecommerce agents and lighter starts
Siena AI is built for consumer brands, combining empathy with automation for personalised shopper support. If most of your tickets are about orders, returns and delivery, start with tools that speak that language.
For smaller teams, the question is often where the agent will live. Fin is Intercom's AI customer agent, covering the whole customer journey. Wonderchat pairs AI service and sales agents with a built-in AI-native helpdesk for web chat, email and mobile, which suits a team that doesn't have a help desk yet. eesel AI puts autonomous agents inside the apps you already use, and the vendor says it's ready in minutes.
Why the websites won't settle it
Most vendors here sell by demo, with nothing about what you'd spend on their websites, so you can't compare them on that from the outside. You'll need a conversation with each one, and it's worth having that conversation on your terms.
The bigger trap is the word resolved. In one product it means the customer didn't reply. In another it means the customer clicked a thumbs-up. In a third it means the agent closed the ticket. Those are very different things, and a headline resolution claim on a vendor's page tells you little until you know which one it means.
So agree a definition before any pilot starts, write it down and apply it to every vendor in the same way. Then ask each one to run your own real tickets, not a cleaned-up sample.
Ten support agents in a table
| Tool | Focus | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Cresta | Contact-centre AI | Customer experience work across contact-centre teams |
| eesel AI | Agents inside your existing apps | Agents that work inside tools you already use |
| Fin | Customer agent from Intercom | An AI agent across the whole customer journey |
| Forethought | Enterprise support AI | Agents on top of an existing CX platform |
| Maven AGI | Enterprise CX agents | Unifying systems and knowledge, then taking actions |
| Parloa | Voice and chat agent management | Building and scaling voice and chat agents |
| Siena AI | Ecommerce shopper support | Personalised support for consumer brands |
| Sierra | Enterprise customer agents | AI customer experience agents for large businesses |
| Wonderchat | Agents with a built-in helpdesk | AI agents plus a helpdesk for chat, email and mobile |
| Yellow.ai | Enterprise multi-LLM agents | Customer and employee agents on several LLMs |
Who each agent is built for
Cresta
Best for: Contact centres wanting what the vendor calls an AI operating system for customer experience, aimed squarely at contact-centre teams.
eesel AI
Best for: Small support teams who want autonomous AI agents for customer service and other work living inside the apps they already use, with a free try.
Fin
Best for: Support teams wanting an AI customer agent from Intercom that covers the whole customer journey, which the vendor says is the highest performing.
Forethought
Best for: Enterprise support teams wanting AI agents that resolve customer issues automatically on top of the CX platform they already run.
Maven AGI
Best for: Companies needing a conversational agent platform that unifies their systems and knowledge sources and takes actions for customers.
Parloa
Best for: Enterprise service teams wanting to build, test and scale voice and chat AI agents from one agent management platform.
Siena AI
Best for: Consumer brands wanting AI agents that combine empathy with automation for personalised shopper support, as the vendor describes it.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Sierra
Best for: Large businesses that want AI customer experience agents built for them, with more human customer experiences as the vendor's promise.
Wonderchat
Best for: Growing teams without a help desk who want AI service and sales agents with a built-in AI-native helpdesk for web chat, email and mobile.
Yellow.ai
Best for: Enterprises running AI agents for both customer and employee experience, powered by multiple LLMs.
My advice for support leaders
Start with your help desk and your handover. An agent that can't hand a frustrated customer to a person, with the full conversation attached, will burn goodwill faster than it saves time. Check which help desks each tool plugs into, and whether it can work on top of the one you already run.
Run pilots on your messiest tickets, not your easiest. Password resets and order tracking are where every agent shines. Refund disputes, angry customers and questions that need data from two systems are where they differ.
Keep a person reading a sample of conversations every week during the pilot, and after it. Rules on automated decisions and customer data vary by country, so check your regulator's guidance too. If you're a smaller team weighing chat tools, my list of live chat alternatives, my AI chatbot builder alternatives and my ecommerce help desk alternatives cover the lighter end.
Questions for every pilot
- What exactly counts as a resolved conversation in your product, and how is it measured?
- Can you run the pilot on our own historical or live tickets?
- How does the agent hand over to a person, and what does the person see?
- Which help desk do you plug into, and what happens to tickets if the agent goes down?
- What actions can the agent take in our systems, and who approves them?
- How do we review and correct the agent's answers each week?
Do you make an AI customer service agent? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
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Frequently asked questions
What's an AI customer service agent?
It's software that answers customer questions and, in many cases, takes actions such as updating an order, using your knowledge base and systems. It hands over to a person when it can't help.
How should I define a resolved conversation?
Agree it before the pilot. A strict version is that the customer's issue was fixed and they didn't come back about it within a set period. Apply the same rule to every vendor.
Do AI support agents replace a help desk?
Most work alongside a help desk, so tickets they can't solve go to people with the history attached. A few include their own helpdesk, which can suit teams that don't have one yet.
Why do vendors sell AI agents by demo?
These tools depend on your own systems, ticket types and volumes, so vendors usually want to scope each deal. That's why a pilot on your own tickets is the fairest comparison.
What tickets should I use in a pilot?
Use a realistic mix, including difficult ones such as refunds, complaints and questions that need data from more than one system. Easy tickets make every agent look good.
