AI Customer Support for Ecommerce
cheaper alternatives to Intercom for a small online business
What ChatGPT and Perplexity actually recommended when asked this, three times each, on 16 October 2026. Results are shown per engine because the two do not agree.
ChatGPT
All figures measured.
| # | Product | Recommended in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crisp | 3 of 3 |
| 2 | Freshdesk | 3 of 3 |
| 3 | Tawk.to | 3 of 3 |
| 4 | Tidio | 3 of 3 |
| 5 | HelpCrunch | 2 of 3 |
| 6 | Help Scout | 1 of 3 |
Scanned 16 October 2026. 3 samples from ChatGPT, round 10. 6 products recommended. Methodology v2026-09-29.1.
Perplexity
All figures measured.
| # | Product | Recommended in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crisp | 3 of 3 |
| 2 | Freshdesk | 3 of 3 |
| 3 | Gorgias | 3 of 3 |
| 4 | HelpCrunch | 3 of 3 |
| 5 | Tawk.to | 3 of 3 |
| 6 | Tidio | 3 of 3 |
| 7 | Chatwoot | 2 of 3 |
| 8 | Help Scout | 2 of 3 |
| 9 | LiveAgent | 2 of 3 |
| 10 | Zoho Desk | 2 of 3 |
| 11 | Boei | 1 of 3 |
| 12 | Front | 1 of 3 |
| 13 | Groove | 1 of 3 |
| 14 | HubSpot Service Hub | 1 of 3 |
| 15 | REVE Chat | 1 of 3 |
| 16 | Text | 1 of 3 |
| 17 | ThriveDesk | 1 of 3 |
Scanned 16 October 2026. 3 samples from Perplexity, round 10. 17 products recommended. Methodology v2026-09-29.1.
Counts, not percentages: with three samples a percentage would imply a precision the sample size cannot carry. “2 of 3” means the assistant recommended that product in two of its three answers to this question.
Sources the assistants cited
- techradar.com 2
- outvio.com 1
- zellyfi.com 1
- chatari.com 1
- trustindex.io 1
- askfront.ai 1
- botpenguin.com 1
- getmacha.com 1
- userlist.com 1
- churntools.com 1
- cheapestalternative.com 1
- chatbot.com 1
Scanned 16 October 2026. 6 samples across ChatGPT and Perplexity, round 10. Methodology v2026-09-29.1.