Best Customer Engagement Software: 9 Platforms Compared

Braze is the platform most consumer app teams shortlist first, because push, in-app messages and Content Cards aren't add-ons there. They're first-class channels.

How an abandoned-cart message runs in Braze. Your app sends events through Braze's SDK, or your backend posts them to Braze's user track endpoint, which accepts up to 75 attributes, events and purchases per request. A Canvas starts on a schedule, when a user takes an action (for example, adds to cart and doesn't check out) or when your system adds users through the API. Braze checks the audience before anyone enters, then routes each user through message, delay and split steps. Every send passes the per-minute rate limit first and the workspace frequency caps second.

Limits worth knowing. A Canvas can't hold more than 200 steps. Global frequency capping allows up to 10 rules per workspace with windows of up to 30 days; in-app messages and Content Cards don't count against them. Braze's Cloud Data Ingestion syncs straight from Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks and Microsoft Fabric and handles up to 500 million rows per run. Journeys can also test many message variants, and Braze's algorithms send more users down the winning path.

Where it connects. Segment and mParticle are on Braze's list of data partners, Hightouch and Census as reverse ETL partners, and Canvas can sync audiences to Facebook and Google. We didn't find a native Salesforce or HubSpot connector in Braze's partner listings, so plan to route CRM data through the warehouse or a CDP.

Price. Quote only. Braze's four editions (Go, Select, Pro and Enterprise) are priced on monthly active users plus a pool of Action Credits, and it doesn't offer a free plan.

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Source: G2, 1,971 reviews

Iterable suits B2C marketing teams that want to build journeys themselves while the data team keeps the warehouse as the source of truth.

How data and journeys connect in Iterable. Profiles and events reach Iterable through the API or through Smart Ingest, Iterable's warehouse sync, which pulls tables from Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery or Redshift as often as every 15 minutes. A journey starts from one of four entry sources: an event (custom event, purchase, profile update, list subscribe or channel engagement), a scheduled send to a list, an API call from your system, or another journey. From one canvas, the journey sends email, SMS, push, in-app or WhatsApp and changes path based on what the user does next.

Throughput and data sharing. The event API takes 2,000 requests per second and user updates take 500 per second per project, and that's the published ceiling for real-time triggers, so check it against your peak event volume. Engagement data goes back to Snowflake through read-only Secure Data Sharing, so analysts can join message data to revenue without running exports. Iterable's Nova AI features adjust send time, content and channel per user alongside your frequency caps.

Integrations. Iterable's native Salesforce integration launched in September 2026. Iterable's integrations hub lists Meta Ads, Google Ads, Twilio Segment and Movable Ink, and Hightouch and Census work for reverse ETL.

Price. Quote only. Iterable doesn't publish a pricing page; its pricing link leads to a demo request.

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Source: G2, 840 reviews

Customer.io is the most transparent option in this list: it publishes its prices, and it's built around events your product already emits.

How a trial-to-paid campaign runs in Customer.io. Data arrives through Customer.io's JavaScript and mobile SDKs, server libraries, its Pipelines API, or reverse ETL from a warehouse or database as often as every minute. A campaign starts when a person matches its trigger: an attribute or segment change, an event such as trial_started, an inbound webhook, or a date like a renewal. Branches send each person down their own path across email, SMS, push, in-app, WhatsApp, LINE, Slack or a webhook to another system.

What makes it work for B2B. Customer.io's objects let you model accounts, workspaces or courses next to people, so a B2B team can message every admin of an account whose usage dropped. Essentials includes 2 object types, while Premium includes 10. Message limits cap how many messages one person gets in a period, and rate limits throttle email, SMS, push and webhook sends (but not WhatsApp, in-app, LINE or Slack). Message, people and metrics data can be exported to Snowflake.

Stack fit. Customer.io's integration list includes Salesforce, HubSpot and Segment, segments can be exported to Google Ads as audiences, and SSH tunnelling covers MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server sources.

Price. Essentials starts at $100 per month for 5,000 profiles with 1 million emails, and extra profiles cost $0.009 each. Premium starts at $1,000 per month billed yearly; Enterprise is quote only. If you're a startup that's raised under $10 million, you can apply for 12 months free.

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Source: G2, 974 reviews

MoEngage covers the same app-first ground as Braze, but it adds product analytics in the same tool and a wide set of regional messaging channels.

How a Flow is set up in MoEngage. MoEngage's SDK and API track events, and file imports (S3, SFTP, CSV) and direct warehouse imports from Snowflake, BigQuery or Databricks fill in the rest. You set a Flow's audience as all users, a property filter or a saved segment, then pick an entry: an event, a fixed time, exit from another Flow, or a business event such as a price change that fans out to an audience. Exit conditions pull users out from wherever they're in the Flow, and the Flow's conversion goal applies to every message inside it.

Timing and testing controls. Delays run from 5 minutes to 30 days, and the entry limit window (how often one user can re-enter) runs from 1 day to 1 year. A Flow-level control group gives you a holdout without building a second journey. Business-event Flows can't run more than 5 activations per hour or 20 per day. Warehouse Segments build audiences on Snowflake, Databricks or BigQuery without copying the data, but they're an add-on.

CRM and commerce connections. MoEngage's native Salesforce integration syncs contacts, leads, opportunities and custom objects, though MoEngage notes it may need a paid add-on. Shopify sends store events directly, MoEngage works as a Segment source, and Connected Segments push audiences to ad networks (also an add-on). The Flows API can read and control Flows but not build them.

Price. Quote only. Growth and Enterprise are priced on monthly tracked users, and WhatsApp, RCS, LINE, Viber, Telegram, Warehouse Segments and Connected Segments are sold as add-ons.

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Source: G2, 534 reviews

Insider One combines a customer data platform, website personalization and messaging, which suits retailers who want the site and the inbox to know the same thing about a shopper.

How a back-in-stock journey runs in Insider One. Insider One's web tag and app SDKs collect behavior, server-side and batch imports add the rest, and identity resolution merges anonymous and known records into one profile. Journeys are built in Architect, Insider One's drag-and-drop builder. A shopper enters on an event, an attribute change, a date, past behavior, a website action, a price drop or a back-in-stock signal, then moves through waits, conditions and A/B splits to channel steps: email, SMS, WhatsApp, web or app push, onsite, in-app, or a Facebook or Google ad audience.

Commerce triggers and warehouse segments. The price-drop and back-in-stock starters are built in, so you don't need to engineer those events. Zero-copy segments run their queries on your Snowflake, BigQuery or Databricks compute and store only membership; a query can run up to 60 minutes, and the warehouse bills you for it. The BigQuery sync runs every 15, 30 or 45 minutes, hourly or daily, needs a last-updated column, and doesn't pass deletions.

Catalog of connections. Insider One's integration catalog lists Salesforce, HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics as sources, Shopify and VTEX for commerce, Segment, mParticle, Tealium, Hightouch and Census for data, and Google, Facebook and TikTok ads as destinations.

Price. Quote only. Insider One doesn't publish a rate card.

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Source: G2, 1,430 reviews

Klaviyo is built around the store connection, and that's its main advantage: the profile fills with orders and browse events on day one.

How a store connects to Klaviyo flows. Connect Shopify and Klaviyo pulls in the store's customer profiles, orders and onsite events such as Viewed Product. Segments are built from what people did and who they're, and they update in close to real time. A flow starts from a list, a segment, a metric (an event like Placed Order), a date property, a price drop or low inventory. Klaviyo re-checks profile filters before each step and again at send time, so someone who bought in the meantime drops out of an abandoned-cart flow.

Flow logic and audiences. A split can't route to more than 20 paths. Segments can use Klaviyo's predicted customer lifetime value. Lists and segments sync to Meta as custom audiences every hour, and Meta needs at least 100 profiles to match. Importing from and exporting to Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift or Databricks needs the paid Advanced KDP add-on, and export runs on a fixed hourly schedule.

Outside the store. Klaviyo's integration directory lists more than 350 integrations. Klaviyo's Salesforce sync brings up to 3 objects (lead, contact, account, opportunity or other) into profiles each hour, one way. We didn't find a native HubSpot integration.

Price. The free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month. That's enough to set up flows, but not much more. Email starts at $20 per month for 251 to 500 profiles with 5,000 sends, then $30 for up to 1,000 profiles. SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and RCS are billed per message, and Klaviyo doesn't publish a single US rate for them.

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Source: G2, 1,368 reviews

For a B2B team on HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub is the engagement tool with the fewest moving parts: contacts, segments, emails and deals live in one database.

How a nurture workflow runs in HubSpot. Contacts, companies and deals already sit in HubSpot's CRM, or come in from Salesforce through the native sync on Professional and Enterprise. You build active or static segments from properties, events and list memberships, with up to 250 filters (60 on associated records). A workflow enrolls records on a filter, an event, a schedule or a webhook, then sends a marketing email, updates a property, creates a task for sales or, with the SMS add-on, sends a text to opted-in contacts.

Plan gates to check. Workflows start at Professional, so that's the real entry point for triggered engagement, not Starter. The same segments feed workflows and ad audiences, so suppression lists stay consistent. Re-enrollment is off by default, and that's a setting that catches teams whose welcome or renewal workflows should run more than once.

Sync and channel limits. HubSpot's Salesforce integration syncs contacts, companies, deals and activities both ways on Professional and Enterprise; our HubSpot Salesforce integration guide covers its setup and sync errors. We didn't find mobile push or in-app messaging in Marketing Hub's plans, so app-first teams should look at the platforms above.

Price. Starter is $7 per seat per month as a new-customer offer ($20 regular) with 1,000 marketing contacts. Professional starts at $800 per month billed annually with 3 core seats, 2,000 marketing contacts and $3,000 onboarding; Enterprise starts at $3,600 per month with $7,000 onboarding. See our HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing breakdown for contact tiers.

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Source: G2, 15,978 reviews

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the enterprise choice when journeys need to act on Sales Cloud and Service Cloud records and there's an admin team to run it.

How Journey Builder moves a contact. Every journey in Salesforce's Journey Builder starts from an entry source: a data extension, an API event, an audience, a CloudPages form, or Salesforce data and events. Contacts then move through email, SMS and push activities, waits and splits, and Customer Update activities that write values back to a data extension. Goals are checked during waits, so a contact who converts leaves the journey instead of getting the next reminder.

Ads, CRM steps and editions. The Ad Audience activity pushes contacts into paid audiences on Google, Meta and other networks from inside the journey. Sales and Service Cloud steps, such as creating a task for an account owner, need Salesforce's Marketing Cloud Connector. On the current packaging, two-way SMS and WhatsApp conversations are an Advanced edition feature.

Platform direction. Marketing Cloud Next unifies profiles in Data 360, Salesforce's data platform, and existing Engagement journeys keep running when a customer upgrades. If your CRM isn't Salesforce, most of the reason to pick it goes away.

Price. Salesforce's pricing page now sells Marketing Cloud Next: Growth at $1,500 and Advanced at $3,250 per org per month, billed annually. Existing Marketing Cloud Engagement customers move to Engagement+ at $2,000 per org per month.

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Source: G2, 4,850 reviews

Intercom is the pick when engagement happens inside the product: onboarding tours, feature announcements and chat, tied to the same record your support team's already using.

How an onboarding Series runs in Intercom. Customer data reaches Intercom through Intercom's Messenger snippet, the REST API, CSV import or app integrations; custom attributes have to be created in Intercom first. A Series starts when a user or company matches its entry rules, for example a trial account that hasn't invited a teammate by day 3. It then moves them through content blocks (in-app chats and posts, product tours, banners, email, push), wait blocks and tag blocks. Goals measure conversion in a time window, and exit rules remove anyone whose data changes.

AI agent and targeting. Fin, Intercom's AI agent, answers questions in the same Messenger, but it's billed per resolved outcome rather than per seat. Targeting runs on custom data attributes, with a soft limit of 250 active attributes per workspace and no nested objects or arrays. Outbound campaigns need the Proactive Support Plus add-on, which includes 500 messages a month.

CRM connections. Intercom's Salesforce app polls Salesforce for changes every 5 minutes, the Intercom-built HubSpot app sends data one way from Intercom to HubSpot, and Segment can feed user events from web, mobile and server.

Price. Essential is $29 per seat per month billed annually, Advanced $85 and Expert $132. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome, Proactive Support Plus is $99 per month for 500 messages, and email campaigns, SMS and WhatsApp are pay as you go.

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Source: G2, 3,925 reviews