Essential Tools to Improve Customer Retention for Subscription Companies in 2025

In this guide, we’ll cover tools across various categories, customer feedback, CRM, support, marketing automation, and more, offering options for every retention need.

We’ve identified six essential customer retention software tools that help subscription companies retain and grow their customer base by solving key pain points such as churn reduction, feedback management, and customer engagement.

Each tool includes real-world use cases, and for convenience, we’ve linked directly to each company’s pricing page to keep you updated on current costs.

In this guide:

• What is Customer Retention Software and How Does it Help Subscription-Based Companies?
• Types of Customer Retention Tools: Solutions for Every Retention Challenge
  • Customer Retention Tools for Personalized Engagement
  • Customer Retention Tools for Real-Time Issue Resolution
  • Customer Retention Tools for Customer Insights & Loyalty
• The 6 Customer Retention Software Tools That Made the List
• How to Choose the Right Customer Retention Tool for Your Business
• What is the Best Customer Retention Software?

What is Customer Retention Software and How Does it Help Subscription-Based Companies?

Customer retention software encompasses a range of tools designed to help businesses, especially those with subscription models, keep their customers engaged and prevent churn. These tools work by analyzing customer behavior, tracking engagement patterns, and identifying potential churn risks before they become serious problems.

For subscription companies, where recurring revenue is essential, this software is crucial. It helps businesses spot early warning signs, like decreased usage or negative feedback, and allows them to take proactive steps, such as sending personalized messages, offering targeted discounts, or providing additional support to re-engage customers.

Key customer retention software features include real-time analytics, customer segmentation, and churn risk alerts, all of which help companies keep subscribers happy and loyal. Ultimately, customer retention software enables subscription businesses to reduce churn, boost lifetime value, and drive long-term growth.

Types of Customer Retention Tools

Retention tools generally fall into several categories, each addressing a specific need in the customer lifecycle. Here’s an overview of the primary types of customer retention tools and their benefits.

1. Customer Retention Tools for Personalized Engagement

• CRM Software for Seamless Customer Interactions: CRM software centralizes customer data and tracks interaction history, providing a full view of each customer. This centralized approach allows businesses to tailor interactions, automate communication, and ensure customers feel consistently valued, fostering long-term loyalty.
• Marketing Automation Software to Nurture Relationships: Marketing automation software streamlines repetitive outreach tasks, such as follow-up emails and targeted campaigns. By sending personalized content and reminders at optimal times, these tools help nurture customer relationships and encourage ongoing engagement without manual effort.

2. Customer Retention Tools for Real-Time Issue Resolution

• Customer Support Platforms for Swift Problem-Solving: Customer support platforms enhance the customer experience by centralizing inquiries and enabling quick responses across channels like chat, email, and social media. By resolving issues promptly, these tools prevent frustration and reduce the risk of churn, creating a smooth support experience for customers.
• Conversational Engagement Software for Immediate Response: Conversational engagement tools incorporate real-time chat and automated responses to address customer inquiries as they happen. These platforms help maintain customer satisfaction by reducing wait times and providing instant answers, minimizing potential friction points in customer interactions.

3. Customer Retention Tools for Customer Insights & Loyalty

• Feedback Analysis Tools to Gauge Customer Sentiment: Feedback analysis tools gather and interpret customer feedback to uncover satisfaction drivers and pain points. By analyzing sentiment, these tools help businesses make data-driven improvements, building customer loyalty and allowing proactive adjustments to service that prevent churn.
• Customer Loyalty Software for Rewarding Engagement: Loyalty software allows businesses to create and manage reward programs, incentivizing repeat engagement and fostering community. By encouraging customers to interact more frequently through rewards and gamified experiences, these tools help build brand affinity and promote long-term commitment.
• Behavior Analytics Tools for Journey Optimization: Behavior analytics software monitors customer interactions on digital platforms, identifying usage patterns and potential friction points. With insights into customer behavior, businesses can refine the customer journey, address any pain points, and implement targeted improvements to retain and satisfy customers.

The 6 Customer Retention Software Tools That Made The List:

1. Chattermill: AI-driven feedback analysis that helps subscription companies proactively identify and resolve customer dissatisfaction to reduce churn.
2. HubSpot CRM: software that automates personalized communication and tracks s to keep subscribers engaged.
3. Chargebee: Subscription billing and payment management that minimizes involuntary churn caused by failed payments through automated recovery processes.
4. Zendesk: that centralizes support inquiries and enables fast issue resolution to prevent customer frustration and churn.
5. Appcues: Onboarding and platform that delivers personalized in-s, ensuring new subscribers quickly see the value of your product.
6. ActiveCampaign: A robust marketing automation tool with advanced segmentation and CRM features that drive customer engagement and retention.

Each tool addresses specific retention challenges that subscription companies encounter. Below, we dive into how these tools can help you retain customers, improve satisfaction, and grow your business.

1. Customer Feedback Tools: Understanding What Keeps Subscribers Engaged

Chattermill: AI-Powered Feedback Analytics to Boost Retention

Chattermill uses AI-driven sentiment analysis to help subscription businesses analyze customer feedback and identify churn risks early. This tool is essential for businesses that need to manage large volumes of feedback across different channels (e.g., surveys, social media, support tickets) and want to understand customer sentiment at scale. It helps companies spot dissatisfaction early, allowing them to act quickly and improve retention.

Problem Solved:

Chattermill helps solve the problem of unstructured feedback from multiple channels, which can be hard to analyze manually. By using AI, businesses can extract valuable insights from raw customer data, enabling them to improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn.

How HelloFresh Reduced Churn with Chattermill:

HelloFresh uses Chattermill to analyze customer feedback at scale, addressing customer concerns early, improving retention, and even discovering new product opportunities based on feedback insights.

**Chattermill Pricing**:

• Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request, based on business requirements.
• Pricing Page: Chattermill Pricing

Other Companies Using Chattermill:

• Uber: Leverages Chattermill’s sentiment analysis to understand and improve its services globally.
• Deliveroo: Uses Chattermill to analyze feedback and act on insights to improve satisfaction and retention.

Additional Options:

1. Hotjar (Free and Paid): Feedback tool that helps you understand how users are interacting with your site through heatmaps and surveys.
2. Google Forms (Free): A free tool for creating simple surveys to gather feedback directly from customers.
3. Alchemer: (Paid): Alchemer is a flexible survey and customer feedback platform that helps businesses collect, analyze, and act on customer insights to improve decision-making and customer experience.

Learn how HelloFresh grew with Chattermill’s insights

Explore Chattermill’s subscription service offerings

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: Managing Customer Interactions and Engagement

HubSpot CRM: Automating Customer Communication to Improve Retention and Relationships with Customers

HubSpot CRM helps subscription companies manage customer relationships by automating personalized communication, tracking customer journeys, and keeping customers engaged. It is ideal for companies that want to track every customer interaction, ensuring that subscribers receive the right communication at the right time, whether it’s an onboarding email, a renewal reminder, or a promotional offer.

Problem Solved:

HubSpot solves the problem of disjointed customer communication. By automating emails and tracking all interactions in one place, it ensures that no customer falls through the cracks, reducing churn due to lack of engagement.

**HubSpot CRM Pricing**:

• Pricing:
  • Free version available with basic CRM features.
  • Starter: $50/month
  • Professional: $800/month
  • Enterprise: $3,600/month
• Pricing Page: HubSpot CRM Pricing

Companies Using HubSpot CRM:

• Zapier: Uses HubSpot to automate customer communication and manage user interactions, helping improve .
• Typeform: Leverages HubSpot to track and run targeted email campaigns for its subscription services.

Additional Options:

1. Zoho CRM (Free and Paid): A flexible CRM platform that includes s and integrates well with other tools.
2. Bitrix24 (Free and Paid): A free CRM option that includes sales tracking, task automation, and .
3. Freshsales (Free and Paid): A CRM tool designed for s that need to track s and automate communication.

3. Subscription Billing and Payment - Customer Retention Management Software

Chargebee: Streamlining Subscription Billing and Retention

Chargebee handles recurring billing and subscription management, helping businesses reduce churn from failed payments through automated recovery processes. This tool is perfect for subscription companies with complex billing setups or multiple pricing tiers. It minimizes involuntary churn by automating payment retries and sending reminders for failed payments, ensuring that customers remain subscribed.

Problem Solved:

Chargebee helps solve the problem of revenue loss from failed payments. By automating dunning processes (payment retry) and offering flexible billing options, Chargebee ensures seamless payment experiences and reduces involuntary churn.

**Chargebee Pricing**:

• Pricing:
  • Performance: starting at $599/month
  • Custom Enterprise plans available upon request
• Pricing Page: Chargebee Pricing

Companies Using Chargebee:

• Freshworks: A leading SaaS company that uses Chargebee for subscription management, recurring billing, and dunning processes.
• Calendly: Utilizes Chargebee to manage its subscription billing and ensure seamless payment collection for its scheduling platform.

Additional Options:

1. Stripe Billing (Paid): A powerful recurring billing solution that integrates with many platforms and automates payment processes.
2. Recurly (Paid): Offers a full-featured subscription billing platform with automated dunning and advanced billing features.
3. Zoho Subscriptions (Free and Paid): Provides an affordable billing solution for small to medium-sized subscription businesses.

4. Customer Support Software: Enhancing Customer Satisfaction and Retention

Zendesk: Centralizing Support to Solve Customer Issues Faster

Zendesk enables subscription companies to centralize customer support and streamline issue resolution, improving customer satisfaction and retention. By managing inquiries across multiple channels (email, chat, social media), Zendesk ensures that support teams can respond quickly and efficiently, preventing customer frustration from escalating into churn.

Problem Solved:

Zendesk solves the problem of delayed customer support. By centralizing support tickets and automating workflows, it ensures that customer issues are resolved quickly, improving customer satisfaction and retention.

**Zendesk Pricing**:

• Pricing:
  • Sell Team: Starting at $25/user/month
  • Sell Growth: Starting at $69/user/month
  • Sell Professional: Starting at $149/user/month
  • Sell Enterprise: Starting at $219/month
• Pricing Page: Zendesk Pricing

Companies Using Zendesk:

• Airbnb: Uses Zendesk to provide multi-channel customer support and ensure quick resolution of s globally.
• Shopify: Leverages Zendesk to manage customer inquiries, providing fast and efficient support to its merchants and customers.

Additional Options:

1. Freshdesk (Free and Paid): A customer support platform that provides multi-channel support with an intuitive interface, ideal for small to medium businesses.
2. HelpScout (Free and Paid): A simple help desk platform that is easy to use and offers email.

5. Onboarding and Customer Engagement Platforms: Reducing Early-Stage Churn

Appcues: Personalizing Onboarding to Engage New Subscribers

Appcues helps subscription companies improve customer onboarding by creating personalized in-app experiences, ensuring that new subscribers get value from the service early, reducing early-stage churn. This tool is perfect for companies looking to guide users through the initial stages of using their product with step-by-step tutorials, in-app messages, and engagement triggers.

Problem Solved:

Appcues solves the problem of poor onboarding experiences, which are a major cause of early churn. By offering personalized in-app guides and tutorials, Appcues ensures new users quickly learn how to use your product, increasing their engagement and reducing the risk of them leaving.

**Appcues Pricing**:

• Pricing:
  • Essentials: $249/month
  • Growth: $879/month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing available on request
• Pricing Page: Appcues Pricing

Companies Using Appcues:

• Amplitude: Uses Appcues to onboard new users with in-app tutorials, helping customers get the most out of their analytics platform.
• Notion: Implements Appcues to guide new users through its features, ensuring customers quickly understand and adopt the product.

Additional Options:

1. Userpilot (Free Trial and Paid): A user onboarding tool that provides in- to help new users get started with your product.app guidance
2. WalkMe (Paid): A digital adoption platform that creates customized in-app tutorials and guides to improve .user engagement
3. Pendo (Free Trial and Paid): A product experience platform that helps companies create personalized onboarding flows and in-app tutorials.

6. Marketing Automation Software: Engaging Subscribers and Reducing Churn

ActiveCampaign: Advanced Marketing Automation for Enhanced Subscriber Engagement

ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive marketing automation tool that helps subscription businesses build strong relationships with customers through personalized communication and robust segmentation. ActiveCampaign goes beyond basic email marketing, offering advanced automation features, customer segmentation, and a built-in CRM. This helps companies maintain engagement with their subscribers and reduce churn through targeted, personalized messaging.

Problem Solved:

ActiveCampaign addresses the issue of engagement gaps by enabling businesses to create personalized communication flows based on customer behaviors, preferences, and lifecycle stages. Its automation reduces manual tasks, ensuring timely communication without requiring constant oversight from the marketing team.

**ActiveCampaign Pricing**:

• Pricing:
  • Starter: $15/month
  • Plus: $49/month
  • Pro: $79/month
  • Enterprise: Starting at $145/month
• Pricing Page: ActiveCampaign Pricing

Companies Using ActiveCampaign:

• Make-A-Wish: Leverages ActiveCampaign’s automation to engage supporters, personalizing outreach based on donor behavior.
• Booktopia: Uses ActiveCampaign’s email marketing and automation features to engage customers with relevant offers and personalized recommendations.

Additional Options:

1. Klaviyo (Free and Paid): An email marketing platform built for e-commerce and subscription businesses, offering segmentation and personalized email flows.
2. Sendinblue (Free and Paid): A versatile platform offering email automation, segmentation, and transactional email services.
3. Drip (Free Trial and Paid): Tailored for e-commerce brands, Drip provides automation for creating personalized, targeted email campaigns.

How to Choose the Right Customer Retention Tool

Assess Your Current Customer Retention Strategy

Start by evaluating your existing customer retention approach. Review your engagement practices, churn rates, and specific customer journey pain points to pinpoint where improvements can be made. Tools like Chattermill use AI-driven sentiment analysis to provide deep insights into customer feedback across multiple channels, enabling you to identify dissatisfaction and potential churn risks early on. With analytics platforms like Chattermill and ProfitWell, you can implement targeted retention strategies based on real-time data.

Prioritize Your Customer Retention Solution: Identify Key Features Needed

Once you’ve assessed your strategy, define the features that will address your specific needs. Consider tools with customer segmentation, churn risk alerts, and journey analytics. Chattermill provides deep sentiment tracking and categorization, helping you understand customer satisfaction and identify improvement areas. Similarly, HubSpot CRM’s journey analytics visualizes the entire customer lifecycle, highlighting touchpoints that may need enhancement for better engagement.

Evaluate Integrations and Scalability

Choose tools that integrate seamlessly with existing systems like CRM, marketing automation, and analytics platforms, and are scalable as your business grows. Chattermill and Zendesk, for example, offer strong integrations with CRMs and customer support platforms, giving you a unified view of customer interactions. Hotjar’s easy integrations with other platforms allow it to provide a holistic view of customer behavior as your retention strategy evolves alongside business growth.

Consider Automation and Efficiency

Automation can greatly streamline your retention efforts, making customer engagement efficient and impactful. ActiveCampaign automates personalized email campaigns, keeping customers engaged through regular, targeted messaging. Meanwhile, Chattermill’s automated feedback analysis reduces manual effort, providing insights without constant hands-on processing. Automation in tools like Drift, with AI-driven chat, also allows you to engage customers in real-time, focusing manual efforts on high-impact areas.

By leveraging the right combination of tools like Chattermill for feedback analysis, HubSpot for CRM, and ActiveCampaign for automation, you can build a comprehensive retention strategy that adapts with your business, driving customer loyalty and sustainable growth.

Which Tool is the Best for Customer Retention Software?

The best customer retention software depends on the specific challenges your subscription business is facing. If you need to analyze feedback and understand customer sentiment, Chattermill is ideal for turning feedback into actionable insights—learn more in this customer feedback analysis guide. For managing customer relationships and ensuring every interaction is tracked and personalized, HubSpot CRM offers robust tracking and engagement tools. If billing issues are causing involuntary churn, Chargebee helps automate payment retries and streamline subscription management.

For businesses focused on customer support, Zendesk provides centralized support tools to resolve issues quickly. If onboarding is a key pain point, Appcues personalizes in-app experiences to engage new users and reduce early-stage churn. And for marketing automation to maintain subscriber engagement, Mailchimp helps deliver personalized, timely communication. To go even deeper into customer insights, check out customer experience analysis and explore our voice of the customer templates for strategies to capture and act on feedback.

Take Action: Want to improve customer retention? Explore how Chattermill can help your subscription business reduce churn and grow.

Learn how HelloFresh uses Chattermill

Request a demo of Chattermill today

‍