Zendesk is a full help desk for teams of any size. It has no free plan, and the plans with live chat start at $55 per agent a month. If you are a small business, several other tools cost less to start, and a few are free for a small team.
All facts below come from each vendor's own pages, as of October 2026. Prices are in US dollars and can change by country and billing period.
What Zendesk costs today
Zendesk's pricing page lists Support Team at $19 per agent a month billed annually, or $25 monthly. That plan covers email and ticketing. Messaging, live chat, phone and AI agents start at Suite Team, which is $55 billed annually, or $69 monthly. There is a 14-day free trial and no free plan.
The short version
- Freshdesk: a close match to Zendesk, with a free option for two agents for six months.
- Zoho Desk: the lowest paid prices here, and a free plan for 3 users.
- Help Scout: a shared email inbox and knowledge base, free for up to 5 users.
- HubSpot Service Hub: free tools, and a good fit if you already use HubSpot's CRM.
- Front: team email with ticketing, for businesses that live in their inbox.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk Growth is $19 per agent a month billed annually, or $23 monthly. Pro is $55 billed annually. Each paid plan includes the first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions. Freshworks' help centre describes a Free Program for up to two agents that lasts six months.
Suits you if you want a full help desk like Zendesk and mostly answer email. Less of a fit if you want a free plan with no end date. See Zendesk vs Freshdesk for the details.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk has a free plan with 3 user licences and limited features. US prices per user per month, billed annually, are Express $7, Standard $14, Professional $23 and Enterprise $40. On monthly billing they are $9, $20, $35 and $50. Standard adds chat, messaging apps such as WhatsApp, and a knowledge base. Zoho's AI assistant, Zia, comes with Professional and Enterprise. Every paid plan has a 15-day trial.
Suits you if price matters most, or you already use other Zoho apps. Less of a fit if you want a very simple tool, since Zoho Desk has many settings.
Help Scout
Help Scout has a free plan for 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 help site and 100 contacts a month. Paid plans are priced per user: Standard is $25 a month billed annually, or $30 monthly, and includes live chat, SMS and social messaging. Plus is $45 billed annually. Its AI Answers add-on costs $0.75 per resolution, with a free trial for the first three months.
Suits you if most of your support is email and you want a simple shared inbox. Less of a fit if you want phone support built in, since calls come through an integration such as Aircall. See Help Scout vs Zendesk.
HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot's customer service software has a free version with ticketing, team email and an AI assistant. Starter is normally $20 per seat a month and adds live chat and simple ticket automation. HubSpot shows a lower price for new customers for a limited time. Professional starts at $100 per seat a month and adds a knowledge base and an AI customer agent.
Suits you if you already keep customers in HubSpot's CRM. Less of a fit if you need a knowledge base on a small budget, since it starts at Professional. There is more on HubSpot in HubSpot alternatives for small business.
Front
Front works like a team email client with ticketing added. Starter is $25 per seat a month billed annually, or $35 monthly, for up to 10 seats and one channel type, such as email or chat. Professional is $65 billed annually and adds more channels. There is a 14-day free trial and no free plan.
Suits you if your support, sales and operations all happen in shared email. Less of a fit if you want a free start. See Help Scout vs Front.
If you mostly use chat
If customers reach you through a chat box on your site, a chat-first tool may suit you better than a help desk. Tidio and Crisp both have free plans. They are covered in Intercom alternatives.
How to choose
- Write down your channels. Email only, or chat, social and phone too?
- Count who answers. Most of these tools charge per person.
- Start on a free plan or trial with real messages. Forward one week of customer emails.
- Build your five most common answers as saved replies, then as help articles. The guide to creating an FAQ page helps here.
- Check the limits you would hit, such as contacts on Help Scout's free plan or users on Zoho's.
Whichever tool you pick, clear and kind replies matter more than features. Customer service email templates has wording you can adapt.