Zoho SalesIQ

Zoho SalesIQ suits sales and support teams that need visitor context alongside live chat and automated answers. Its combination of real-time site insights, configurable bots, and messaging channels is broad; the free plan’s 100 monthly chat sessions make it best for teams with modest conversation volume.

Overview

SalesIQ brings lead qualification, customer support, and live conversations into one customer engagement platform. Operators can see visitor location, actions, time on site, and pages visited in real time, giving them context to decide when and how to engage. This breadth favors teams that want visitor insights tied to conversations. The monthly chat allowance on the free tier is a meaningful constraint for busier websites.

Key features

• Visitor insights: Real-time details about a visitor’s location and activity can help sales teams qualify interest and support agents understand what a customer has already viewed.
• Bots: The Zobot builder supports both codeless and programmable bots, offering a simpler path for basic automation and room for custom bot logic. Answer Bot uses Zoho’s Zia AI to respond to common questions from a resource library, which can help handle repeat queries.
• Agent communication: Agents can use voice notes, audio calls, screen sharing, and remote access powered by Zoho Assist. These options help when a written exchange is insufficient, though file sharing is capped at 50 MB per file despite supporting more than 60 formats.
• Messaging channels: Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, WeChat, LINE, and WhatsApp conversations can be brought into one dashboard. That makes SalesIQ relevant to teams already serving customers across these channels.
• Integrations and mobile SDK: Zoho names integrations with Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Analytics, Shopify, Mailchimp, Clearbit, Zendesk, and OpenAI. Its Mobilisten SDK supports Android, iOS, React Native, Cordova, and Flutter, making it an option for teams adding engagement to mobile apps.

Pricing

SalesIQ uses a freemium model, with a 15-day free trial that does not require a credit card. The Free plan costs nothing and includes three operator licenses, 100 chats per month, tracking for 10,000 visitors per month, and 30 days of chat history. That is a useful starting allowance for a small team, but the chat cap can become the deciding limit before visitor tracking does.

The paid plans increase visitor allowances and chatbot capacity, while Basic also raises the session quota and Professional removes it. Each includes one operator, compared with three on Free, so teams should account for additional staffing needs when comparing plans. Basic and Professional specify monthly chat allowances; Enterprise does not specify a chat-session cap. Support is available 24/5, Monday through Friday.

Platforms

SalesIQ is available on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, and offers an API. Desktop apps cover Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, and Fedora. This range suits teams that want to handle conversations across desktop and mobile environments.

Who it's for

SalesIQ is a strong fit for sales and support teams that use visitor behavior to guide conversations, want bots for common questions, or handle messages across several social and messaging services. Its free plan can serve a small operation with up to three operators, provided 100 monthly chats and 10,000 tracked visitors are enough. Teams with more conversations, higher visitor traffic, or a need for multiple custom bots should compare the paid allowances and custom pricing. Teams seeking only a basic, high-volume inbox may prefer a service whose free allowance better matches their workload.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Real-time visitor details give agents context for lead qualification and support.
• Pros: Codeless and programmable bots, plus an AI answer bot, cover both guided automation and common questions.
• Pros: Six named messaging channels can be managed from one dashboard.
• Cons: The free plan allows 100 chats per month, a modest ceiling for active sites.
• Cons: Paid plans include only one operator, compared with three on Free, which may complicate staffing as usage grows.
• Cons: Paid plan pricing is custom, so comparing costs requires a quote.

Alternatives

Consider Chatwoot if open-source software is a priority; its free Hacker plan supports up to two agents and 500 conversations per month. Freshchat may suit teams that need a larger free agent allowance: its free plan supports up to 10 agents and includes a shared inbox for web and mobile chat. For a free option with message credits and an AI chat agent, tawk.to offers 100 monthly message credits, one AI chat agent, and crawling for 100 web pages. JivoChat is another freemium alternative, with five agents on its free plan. Crisp offers two seats and unlimited conversations on its free plan, making it worth considering when conversation volume matters more than AI credits. Brevo Conversations has a free plan for one user. MyLiveChat offers one agent and three years of chat history on its free plan. Smartsupp is a free option for one operator with 25 conversations per month. Browse more options in Live chat software.

Verdict

Choose Zoho SalesIQ if visitor behavior, automated answers, and multi-channel conversations need to work together for sales or support. Its visitor context and flexible bot tools give it a clear role beyond a basic chat inbox. Look elsewhere if the free plan’s 100 monthly chats are too few or if you need more than one operator on a paid plan without custom pricing.