HelpCrunch is a complete customer communication solution that offers live chat, chatbot, knowledge base, and email marketing tools. Its versatile software supports multichannel communication for businesses of all sizes. Brands rely on HelpCrunch for customer support, sales, lead generation, and driving customer engagement.
Whether you’re looking for a complete digital communication suite or just a single tool for customer communication, HelpCrunch has a wide array of choices to fit your needs.
HelpCrunch Pros and Cons
Pros
- Affordable solutions
- Supports live chat in mobile apps
- Auto messaging for engagement
Cons
- Chatbot unavailable with Basic plan
- No support for integrated ticketing
- Limited CRM features
About HelpCrunch
HelpCrunch is best known for its live chat and chatbot solutions. It’s a great way to connect with your customers and website visitors in real-time by offering live support from a real person or automated responses from a bot. In addition to these features, HelpCrunch offers knowledge base solutions and email marketing tools to help businesses connect and improve the customer experience across multiple channels and touchpoints.
We really like HelpCrunch’s versatility with how these solutions can be used for so many different use cases. For example, you can add a live chat bot to your site that’s designed to generate and qualify leads. But the live chat can also be used to provide sales assistance, customer support, or just a quick way to keep your visitors engaged.
HelpCrunch Health and Stability
HelpCrunch was founded in September 2016. So it’s a relatively new company in this space, especially when comparing it to alternatives.
The platform initially launched as a live chat solution specifically for mobile apps. But it didn’t gain as much traction as the founders hoped. So, the team relaunched it as an all-in-one customer communication product in 2018. This newer version of software included the web-based solution that HelpCrunch uses today.
HelpCrunch is small, and we get the impression that it still has that startup feel and mentality. But the company has posted stories on its blog about gaining more site traffic and revenue growing 160% per year since the pivot to a web-based solution. All signs are pointing in the right direction for the company.
HelpCrunch Pricing
HelpCrunch offers straightforward and transparent plans for brands of all sizes. The platform can accommodate solo users who just want to use one or two features. But they also provide solutions for larger organizations seeking unlimited everything.
Plans start at $15 per month, and businesses can save 20% by signing up for annual billing.
HelpCrunch Pricing Structure
There are three different HelpCrunch plans: Basic, Pro, and Unlimited. Chatbot functionality is not available on the Basic plan.
One interesting aspect of HelpCrunch’s pricing structure is its flexibility. By default, the Basic and Pro plans start with a single user and don’t include outbound emails. But you can completely customize these plans based on how many team member seats you need and how many emails, if any, you’re planning to send. You’ll see the price adjust as you change the user count and email volume.
For example, you could sign up for a Basic plan with three team members and 10,000 emails. Or you could get the Pro plan for 15 team members without emails. The plans are completely flexible based on what you’re looking for, and you can choose to see prices per month or billed annually, which come with a discount.
Generally speaking, HelpCrunch is more affordable than other live chat solutions on the market. But it doesn’t have a free plan.
HelpCrunch Trials and Guarantees
HelpCrunch has a 14-day free trial and does not require a credit card to sign up. The trial includes up to five team members using the fully-featured Pro plan.
You can save 20% on HelpCrunch when you sign up for annual billing.
HelpCrunch Live Chat Software
HelpCrunch’s live chat software is its shining star. It’s a simple and affordable way to add live chat functionality to any website and for any use case. Brands can use HelpCrunch for sales, support, lead generation, and more. Overall, it’s a solid option for any business looking for a live chat tool.
What Makes HelpCrunch Live Chat Software Great
Mobile app live chat: Besides adding live chat to your website, HelpCrunch also supports live chat through iOS and Android mobile apps. This isn’t something you’ll see available from every live chat solution on the market, and it’s definitely something that we recommend for brands looking for ways to improve the mobile experience for their customers. If you have an app, HelpCrunch should be a strong candidate on your radar.
Affordable for any budget: You can’t beat HelpCrunch’s live chat software starting at $15 per month. Other live chat solutions on the market are more than double this, and they force you to lock in annual contracts. But even if you’re a solopreneur or just want to add a modern live chat box to your small business website, you won’t be chased away by HelpCrunch’s pricing.
Quick installation: Whether you’re adding the live chat widget to your website, mobile app, or both, the setup is ultra simple. It doesn’t require any technical experience, and you can install the widget in under two minutes. You’ll be up and running the same day, and it will start communicating with your customers immediately.
Team collaboration features: HelpCrunch brings all your live chat communications into a single shared inbox for all your team members. So everyone can see incoming messages from customers, no matter which channel they’re coming from. You can clearly see which messages are unread so they can be answered promptly.
Auto messaging for engagement: You can use HelpCrunch to set up automatic messages whenever a website visitor or app user lands on a page. This starts the live chat, encouraging people to engage and move the conversation along. It works really well if you’re trying to generate leads or move people through your customer engagement flow.
Where HelpCrunch Live Chat Software Falls Short
No integrated ticketing: HelpCrunch is not a complete help desk solution with integrated ticket support. The integrations are pretty limited, even if you already use a help desk tool. Zendesk and Jira integrations are currently listed as “coming soon” to HelpCrunch.
Chatbot unavailable with entry-level tier: If you’re considering HelpCrunch’s entry-level Basic plan, be aware that it doesn’t come with chatbot functionality. You can still set up an auto-message to greet your customers, but it won’t be a full back-and-forth conversation with a bot. This means that you’ll only be able to communicate with customers when real human team members are available to chat.
Limited CRM: While you can use HelpCrunch to collect customer data and lead information, the platform lacks dedicated CRM features. So for things like mass email marketing at scale or pipeline management for sales teams, you’ll likely need to use HelpCrunch in conjunction with other tools. It’s definitely not a replacement for a fully-featured CRM like Salesforce.
Bugs and glitches: Most verified user reviews about HelpCrunch are overwhelmingly positive. But the negative reviews all seem to have one thing in common: they experienced situations where the live chat software wasn’t working as it should.
Limited training resources: HelpCrunch’s installation and setup are relatively easy. But when it comes to using the software, there’s definitely a learning curve. It would be easier to figure out if HelpCrunch had more training options, documentation, and dedicated training manuals.
HelpCrunch Knowledge Base Software Review
Every HelpCrunch plan comes with a knowledge base. The Pro and Unlimited plans even come with multilingual knowledge base capabilities.
The tool is pretty solid and feature-rich, and it works best for moving customers or website visitors from a live chat bot to a self-help article based on their requests.
However, it’s fairly basic when you compare it to other options on the market. It’s not ideal for highly technical documentation or IT service management. If you don’t already have a knowledge base solution, it’s nice that HelpCrunch comes with one. But I wouldn’t recommend it as a standalone knowledge base product simply because there are better alternatives available.
HelpCrunch Email Marketing Software Review
Email marketing functionally can be added to any HelpCrunch plan.
It’s nice that HelpCrunch doesn’t charge you based on how many users are on your email list. You’re only charged for how many emails you send per month. However, this email solution can’t really compete when you compare it side-by-side with dedicated email platforms.
For one thing, it’s not a fully-featured CRM. It doesn’t provide the same level of contact list control, segmentation, and customization as other top options in this space. I could see using HelpCrunch for quick, one-off emails as follow-ups to live chat engagements. But I wouldn’t consider it a replacement for your dedicated email marketing software.
Final Verdict
In short, HelpCrunch is a powerful and affordable live chat solution. It’s one of the easiest ways to add live chat functionality to any website or mobile app—without breaking the bank.
HelpCrunch is versatile enough to accommodate a wide range of use cases for things like customer support, sales, and lead generation. While it may not be the most advanced tool on the market, we still recommend it to any business looking for live chat software.