Top 5 Alternatives to ManyChat for Accounting Firms

Intercom is a widely used customer messaging platform that blends live chat, automation, and help‑center integration into a single suite. Founded in 2011, Intercom has evolved into a tool that helps businesses drive engagement, support, and sales through real‑time conversations. The platform’s core strengths include a robust inbox that aggregates messages from chat, email, and in‑app interactions, and a chatbot builder that allows non‑developers to create guided flows for lead qualification and support. Intercom also offers a knowledge‑base integration, letting users embed help articles directly into chat windows, and a powerful automation engine that can trigger messages based on user behavior. The platform supports integrations with major CRMs, marketing stacks, and e‑commerce solutions, allowing firms to track conversation history and funnel leads into their existing workflows. Pricing for Intercom starts at $39/month for the Basic plan, which includes live chat and basic automation, and scales up to $99/month for the Pro plan, adding advanced automation, custom bots, and more extensive integrations.

Drift is a conversational marketing platform that specializes in real‑time chat, lead qualification, and meeting scheduling. Its flagship feature is the conversational chatbot that can be deployed on any website via a single JavaScript snippet. Drift’s bot is highly configurable, allowing firms to set up automated qualification questions, route conversations to sales or support teams, and even book meetings directly within the chat window. The platform also offers a robust scheduler that integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, and other calendar services, making it easy for clients to book consultations at their convenience. Drift’s analytics dashboard provides insights into conversation metrics, lead quality, and conversion rates, helping firms refine their outreach strategies. The pricing model is a bit more opaque, with Drift offering custom quotes based on the number of seats and features required. Typical deployments for small to medium businesses start in the low thousands of dollars per month, but pricing is highly variable.

HubSpot offers a free chatbot builder as part of its marketing hub, making it an attractive option for accounting practices with tight budgets. The chatbot can be created using a visual editor that incorporates conditional logic, allowing firms to guide visitors through FAQs, collect contact information, and even schedule meetings. Because it is integrated directly into HubSpot’s CRM, all conversation data is automatically stored in contact records, enabling follow‑up and nurturing. The platform also provides pre‑built templates for common use cases such as booking appointments or sending newsletters. While the free tier covers basic chatbot functionality, advanced features like AI‑powered intent recognition and multi‑step flows require a paid HubSpot Marketing Hub subscription, which starts at $45/month. HubSpot’s analytics dashboard offers insights into conversation performance, conversion rates, and visitor engagement.

Zoho SalesIQ is a live‑chat and visitor‑tracking solution that also offers chatbot capabilities. The platform is known for its real‑time visitor monitoring, allowing accounting firms to see which pages a prospect is viewing and then proactively engage them with a chat widget. Zoho SalesIQ’s chatbot can be customized via a drag‑and‑drop interface and supports integration with Zoho CRM to associate conversations with customer records. The service includes basic analytics, visitor segmentation, and the ability to trigger emails or alerts based on visitor behavior. Pricing starts at a free tier for up to 5 agents and a paid tier at $14/month per agent, which unlocks advanced features such as AI chatbots, custom widgets, and multi‑channel support.