Our list of 10 best customer success tools to boost retention and growth

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    Quick Summary 

    Customer success tools help businesses improve retention, engagement, and growth by optimizing customer interactions. Our list highlights the best platforms, from AI-powered chat to automated workflows, to streamline customer journeys. Whether you need insights, automation, or seamless collaboration, these tools can provide the solutions. Dive into our podcasts and case studies to learn more about customer journey and experience. 

    Looking for the right customer success tool for your business?

    A well-designed customer success program isn’t just a nice-to-have—it's essential for your success. According to Forrester, it can deliver a 91% ROI over just three years.

    That’s a powerful reminder of how crucial customer success is for driving growth and keeping your customers coming back. The right tools can help you understand the customer journey like never before, pinpoint pain points, and tackle challenges head-on. The result? Happier customers, stronger relationships, and a boost in revenue that fuels long-term success. Customer success isn’t just about satisfaction—it’s about building a future.

    In this TheyDo guide, we’ve listed down the 10 best customer success tools, exploring each in depth. But first…

    Why Listen to Us?

    At TheyDo, we offer AI-driven insights, customer journey mapping, and a structured framework, enabling teams to align strategies and enhance customer experiences.

    quote
    Within this first project, for the team, TheyDo became our single point of truth and a solid repository for what to prioritize and why.
    Fredrik Sterner Cederlöf

    Fredrik Sterner Cederlöf

    Head of Customer Insights & Analytics, CX

    Take Polestar, for example—they used our platform to bring all their customer insights together in one easy-to-access space. This didn’t just simplify their data; it also brought their teams closer, making collaboration a whole lot smoother. 

    By rethinking how they approached the customer journey, Polestar got a clearer picture of their customers and leveled up their ability to deliver amazing experiences at every touchpoint.

    What are Customer Success Tools?

    Customer success tools are all about helping businesses create better experiences for their customers. They make it easy to track, analyze, and improve those experiences by centralizing data, automating tasks, and offering helpful insights to boost retention and satisfaction. 

    These tools come with features like journey mapping, customer health scoring, automated messaging, and integration with CRM and support systems. They help teams spot pain points and address customer needs before issues arise. 

    By simplifying customer journey management, these tools make it easier to organize and analyze interactions. With the help of AI insights and collaboration features, businesses can focus on the right opportunities and keep teams aligned.

    When you use them effectively, customer success tools lead to happier customers, less churn, and stronger long-term relationships.

    Why are Customer Success Tools Important?

    • Increase Customer Retention: By identifying and addressing pain points, businesses can proactively prevent churn and improve long-term loyalty.

    • Enhance Customer Insights: Collect and analyze data, helping teams understand customer needs and optimize their strategies.

    • Improve Efficiency: Automation reduces manual tasks, allowing teams to focus on high-value activities like personalized engagement.

    • Boost Revenue Growth: Satisfied customers are more likely to renew subscriptions, upgrade services, and refer new clients.

    • Align Teams Effectively: Ensures sales, support, and product teams work cohesively toward customer success.

    Top 10 Customer Success Tools for Businesses

    1. TheyDo

    2. Intercom

    3. Gainsight

    4. ClientSuccess

    5. Arrows

    6. Salesforce

    7. ChurnZero

    8. Totango

    9. Planhat

    10. Custify

    1. TheyDo

    TheyDo is a powerful customer journey management platform designed to help organizations map, analyze, and optimize every aspect of their customer experience. By centralizing customer journeys in one place, our platform makes it easier for teams to collaborate across departments, break down silos, and stay aligned with customer-centric strategies.

    Whether you're improving existing processes or innovating new ones, TheyDo provides the tools to prioritize customer needs, drive meaningful change, and deliver exceptional experiences at scale.

    Key Features:

    • Journey AI: Transforms qualitative research into actionable journey maps with AI-driven insights.

    • Journey Mapping: Simplifies organizing customer touchpoints into a structured framework for better clarity.

    • Opportunity Prioritization: Analyzes journey data to highlight high-impact opportunities for improvement.

    • Custom Taxonomy: Allows you to structure customer journeys according to their unique frameworks and terminologies.

    • Collaborative Tools: Aligns cross-functional teams with a shared view of customer journeys for better decision-making. 

    • Integrations: Seamlessly connects with tools like Jira and Qualtrics to enhance workflow efficiency.

    • Unlimited Users: Facilitates collaboration across the organization without user limitations.

    Pricing:

    Our pricing includes a free Starter plan with limited features, suitable for small teams. 

    The Management plan starts at $39,000 per year, providing advanced features and unlimited users. For large organizations, the Strategic plan begins at $51,000 per year, including enterprise capabilities and dedicated support.

    Pros

    • Centralizes all customer journeys for easy access.

    • Intuitive interface simplifies journey mapping.

    • AI-powered insights expedite decision-making.

    • Customizable frameworks align with organizational needs.

    • Robust integration capabilities enhance workflows.

    • Unlimited user access promotes widespread collaboration.

    Cons

    • Some users report a learning curve with advanced features.

    2. Intercom

    Intercom is a customer service platform that enhances user engagement through AI-powered support and personalized communication. It enables businesses to proactively assist customers, ensuring satisfaction and loyalty.

    Key Features:

    • AI-Enhanced Help Desk: Integrates inbox, tickets, and help center for streamlined workflows.

    • Proactive Support: Utilizes product tours, outbound messages, and automated surveys to anticipate customer needs.

    • AI Chatbot: Provides accurate, conversational answers based on support content, reducing support volume.

    Pricing:

    Intercom offers three plans: Essential at $39 per seat/month, Advanced at $99 per seat/month, and Expert at $139 per seat/month. Each plan includes varying levels of features to suit different business needs.

    Pros:

    • User-friendly interface simplifies customer interactions.

    • Seamless integration with existing systems enhances efficiency.

    • AI capabilities improve response times and accuracy.

    • Proactive support features anticipate customer needs.

    • Scalable solutions accommodate business growth.

    • Comprehensive analytics provide actionable insights.

    Cons:

    • Some users report a steep learning curve for advanced features.

    • Pricing may be high for small businesses.

    3. Gainsight

    Gainsight is a comprehensive customer success platform designed to help businesses reduce churn, increase revenue, and drive customer advocacy. It provides tools to manage customer relationships effectively and ensure clients achieve their desired outcomes.

    Key Features:

    • Customer Health Scoring: Analyzes customer data to predict satisfaction and retention.

    • Automated Workflows: Streamlines processes to enhance efficiency and scalability.

    • Product Experience Insights: Offers analytics to improve user adoption and engagement.

    Pricing:

    Gainsight offers two plans, Essentials and Enterprise, both at customized pricing based on specific business needs. Interested organizations should contact Gainsight directly for a tailored quote.

    Pros:

    • Comprehensive health scoring predicts customer satisfaction.

    • Automated workflows enhance operational efficiency.

    • In-depth analytics improve product adoption strategies.

    • Customizable dashboards cater to diverse business needs.

    • Robust integration capabilities with various platforms.

    • Strong community support and resources.

    Cons:

    • Some users find the initial setup complex.

    • Steeper learning curve for non-technical users.

    4. ClientSuccess

    ClientSuccess is a customer success software platform designed to help SaaS companies manage, retain, and grow their customer base. It offers a holistic approach to customer lifecycle management, providing actionable insights and analytics to reduce churn and increase revenue.

    Key Features:

    • Customer Pulse™: Monitors real-time customer health to identify risks and opportunities.

    • SuccessCycle™ Management: Manages customer journeys through onboarding, adoption, expansion, and renewal stages.

    • SuccessScore™: Provides a holistic health score combining various customer metrics.

    Pricing:

    ClientSuccess offers three pricing tiers: Startup (up to 500 customers, 10 licenses), Growth (up to 5,000 customers, 50 licenses, custom dashboards), and Enterprise (unlimited customers and licenses, full feature set). Pricing is customized—contact ClientSuccess for details. 

    Pros:

    • User-friendly interface simplifies customer management.

    • Real-time health monitoring enables proactive engagement.

    • Comprehensive lifecycle management enhances customer journeys.

    • Customizable dashboards cater to specific business needs.

    • Robust integration capabilities with popular platforms.

    • Strong customer support and ongoing product improvements.

    Cons:

    • Some users desire more advanced reporting features.

    • Limited integration options compared to competitors.

    5. Arrows

    Arrows is a customer onboarding platform designed for teams using HubSpot. It streamlines the onboarding process by creating collaborative, customer-facing plans that integrate seamlessly with HubSpot, ensuring a unified experience from sales to customer success.

    Key Features:

    • Sales Rooms: Create unified spaces to manage sales and onboarding, ensuring a smooth transition from prospect to customer.

    • Buyer Engagement Tracking: Monitor which stakeholders view shared resources, enabling effective multi-threading across roles.

    • HubSpot Integration: Syncs activity with HubSpot deals, tickets, or custom objects, keeping customer progress centralized.

    Pricing:

    Arrows offers three pricing plans:

    • Growth Plan: $500/month, includes unlimited participants, bi-directional data sync with HubSpot deals or tickets, and HubSpot timeline events.

    • Business Plan: $1,250/month, adds advanced data points, dynamic task branching, and syncing with HubSpot custom objects.

    • Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing, offers SSO, audit logs, and automated user lifecycle management.

    All plans feature a 7-day free trial, unlimited internal and external participants, AI-powered suggestions, and customizable branding. 

    Pros:

    • Seamless integration with HubSpot enhances workflow efficiency.

    • Customer-facing plans improve client engagement during onboarding.

    • Real-time engagement tracking provides actionable insights.

    • AI-powered suggestions optimize sales processes.

    • User-friendly interface simplifies plan creation and management.

    • Customizable templates cater to diverse business needs.

    Cons:

    • Limited functionality outside the HubSpot ecosystem.

    • Some users desire more advanced reporting features.

    6. Salesforce

    Salesforce is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers a comprehensive suite of tools to manage sales, service, marketing, and more. Its Customer Success Platform is designed to help businesses connect with customers, streamline processes, and drive growth.

    Key Features:

    • Sales Cloud: Automates sales processes to boost productivity and close deals faster.

    • Service Cloud: Enhances customer support with AI-powered tools and self-service options.

    • Marketing Cloud: Delivers personalized marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

    Pricing:

    Salesforce offers CRM pricing for both enterprises and SMBs:

    Enterprise Plans:

    • Enterprise – $165/user/month (flexibility & web API).

    • Unlimited – $330/user/month (intelligent automation & developer support).

    • Einstein 1 Sales – $500/user/month (advanced AI-driven CRM for sales teams).

    SMB Plans:

    • Starter Suite – $25/user/month (basic CRM with sales, service & commerce).

    • Pro Suite – $100/user/month (enhanced CRM with advanced tools).

    • Enterprise – $165/user/month (same as the enterprise plan, billed annually).

    Plans are billed annually, except the Starter Suite, which offers monthly billing.

    Pros:

    • Comprehensive CRM solution integrates sales, service, and marketing.

    • Highly customizable to fit unique business processes.

    • Robust analytics provide actionable insights.

    • Extensive AppExchange marketplace offers numerous integrations.

    • Strong community support and resources.

    • Regular updates introduce innovative features.

    Cons:

    • Some users find the platform's complexity challenging.

    • Pricing can be prohibitive for smaller businesses. 

    7. ChurnZero

    ChurnZero is a customer success platform designed to help subscription businesses reduce churn, increase customer engagement, and drive growth. It offers real-time insights into customer health and behaviors, enabling proactive management of customer relationships.

    Key Features:

    • Customer Health Scoring: Analyzes customer data to predict satisfaction and retention.

    • Automated Workflows: Streamlines processes to enhance efficiency and scalability.

    • In-App Communications: Engages users directly within the application to boost adoption.

    Pricing:

    ChurnZero offers customized pricing based on specific business needs. Interested organizations should contact ChurnZero directly for a tailored quote.

    Pros:

    • Real-time customer insights enable proactive engagement.

    • Highly customizable health scores reflect unique business metrics.

    • Seamless CRM integration enhances data synchronization.

    • Automated workflows improve team efficiency.

    • In-app messaging boosts user engagement.

    • Comprehensive analytics inform strategic decisions.

    Cons:

    • Some users find the initial setup complex.

    • Limited native integrations compared to competitors.

    8. Totango

    Totango is an agile customer success platform that enables businesses to design, run, measure, and scale customer journeys to retain and grow their customer base. It offers a modular approach, allowing organizations to implement composable elements tailored to specific customer success goals.

    Key Features:

    • SuccessBLOCs: Provides pre-built modules with best practices and dashboards for various customer journey stages.

    • Customer Health Scoring: Analyzes customer data to predict satisfaction and retention.

    • Automated Workflows: Streamlines processes to enhance efficiency and scalability.

    Pricing:

    Totango offers three pricing tiers:

    • Enterprise: 10 seats, 2,000 accounts, multiple teams.

    • Premier: 20 seats, 10,000 accounts, dedicated support.

    • Growth (Catalyst): 2,500 accounts, expansion tracking, playbooks.

    AI-powered Unison plans include risk detection and CRM integrations. Pricing is customized—contact Totango for details. 

    Pros:

    • Modular design allows tailored implementations.

    • Real-time customer insights enable proactive engagement.

    • Highly customizable health scores reflect unique business metrics.

    • Automated workflows improve team efficiency.

    • Robust integration capabilities with various platforms.

    • Strong community support and resources.

    Cons:

    • Some users find the initial setup complex.

    • Steeper learning curve for non-technical users.

    9. Planhat

    Planhat is a customer success platform designed to help businesses manage customer relationships, reduce churn, and drive growth. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools to analyze customer data, monitor health scores, and automate workflows.

    Key Features:

    • Customer 360 View: Provides a holistic view of customer data, enabling informed decision-making.

    • Health Scoring: Analyzes various metrics to assess customer health and predict churn risks.

    • Automated Playbooks: Streamlines customer success processes with predefined actions and tasks.

    Pricing:

    Planhat offers customized pricing based on specific business needs. Interested organizations should contact Planhat directly for a tailored quote.

    Pros:

    • Intuitive interface simplifies customer data management.

    • Robust integration capabilities with various platforms.

    • Customizable dashboards cater to specific business needs.

    • Real-time health monitoring enables proactive engagement.

    • Automated workflows improve team efficiency.

    • Strong customer support and ongoing product improvements.

    Cons:

    • Some users find the initial setup complex.

    • Limited native integrations compared to competitors.

    10. Custify

    Custify is a customer success platform tailored for B2B SaaS businesses, aiming to reduce churn and enhance customer lifetime value. It consolidates customer data from various sources, providing a comprehensive view to proactively manage client relationships.

    Key Features:

    • Customer 360 View: Aggregates data from multiple systems to offer a holistic understanding of customer engagement and health.

    • Health Scoring: Defines key performance indicators to assess and monitor the health of customer portfolios.

    • Automation: Enhances efficiency by automating daily workflows, allowing teams to focus on strategic tasks.

    Pricing:

    Custify offers customized pricing based on specific business needs. Interested organizations should contact Custify directly for a tailored quote.

    Pros:

    • Intuitive interface simplifies customer data management.

    • Real-time health monitoring enables proactive engagement.

    • Automated workflows improve team efficiency.

    • Seamless integration with existing systems enhances efficiency.

    • Comprehensive analytics inform strategic decisions.

    • Strong customer support and ongoing product improvements.

    Cons:

    • Some users desire more advanced reporting features.

    • Limited native integrations compared to competitors.

    Criteria to Consider When Choosing the Right Customer Success Tool

    Selecting the best customer success tool requires careful evaluation of key factors to ensure it meets business needs and enhances customer engagement. Here are the most important criteria to consider:

    • Integration Capabilities – Ensure the tool integrates with your existing tech stack, including CRM, support platforms, and analytics tools, to streamline workflows and prevent data silos.

    • Scalability – Choose a platform that can grow with your business, supporting increasing customer volumes, additional users, and evolving requirements without performance issues.

    • Automation & AI Features – Look for automation capabilities such as customer health scoring, task automation, and AI-driven insights to improve efficiency and decision-making.

    • Customer Health Tracking – A strong tool should provide real-time health scores based on engagement, product usage, and support interactions to proactively prevent churn.

    • Customization & Flexibility – The platform should allow businesses to tailor dashboards, workflows, and customer segmentation based on specific operational needs.

    • User Experience & Adoption – A tool with an intuitive interface and minimal learning curve ensures teams can adopt it quickly and maximize its benefits.

    • Collaboration & Team Alignment – The tool should enable cross-functional teams (sales, support, product) to collaborate on customer success initiatives.

    • Analytics & Reporting – Robust reporting features help track customer trends, churn risks, and engagement metrics, ensuring data-driven decision-making.

    • Customer Engagement Tools – Features like in-app messaging, surveys, and automated emails improve proactive communication and enhance customer experience.

    • Cost & ROI – Evaluate pricing based on feature value, scalability, and impact on customer retention and revenue growth.

    A well-chosen customer success tool helps businesses optimize customer relationships, streamline processes, and drive long-term success.

    Choose TheyDo as Your Customer Success Tool

    Choosing the right customer success tool is critical for improving customer retention, engagement, and overall business growth. From AI-powered support to automated workflows, the tools on this list help businesses optimize customer journeys. Among them, TheyDo stands out for its journey-centric approach, ensuring teams stay aligned and proactive.

    Our solution empowers businesses to map, manage, and optimize customer journeys with AI-driven insights and structured collaboration. By centralizing customer experience data, it enables organizations to identify high-impact opportunities and act on them effectively.

    Join leading teams in mastering customer journeys with your free sign-up at TheyDo today!