Zoho Desk alternatives
Top Customer Support & Live Chat like Zoho Desk
The most popular alternative to Zoho Desk is Zendesk. Other great alternatives to Zoho Desk are Freshdesk, Help Scout, Intercom, and HubSpot.
Most alternatives to Zoho Desk are in the Customer Support & Live Chat category, compared here by price, platform and features.
All Zoho Desk alternatives
Zendesk is a customer service platform that brings email, chat, phone, social and messaging requests into a single ticketing system. It includes a help center for self-service articles, workflow automation, reporting and AI agents that can resolve common questions. A large marketplace of apps connects it to CRMs and e-commerce tools, and it serves support teams from startups to large enterprises.
12 Zendesk alternativesPros
- Mature ticketing that handles email, chat, phone and social at scale
- Large marketplace of apps for CRMs and e-commerce tools
- Help center and AI agents deflect common questions
Cons
- Expensive per agent, especially with AI and add-ons
- Setup and administration take time for complex workflows
- No free plan beyond the trial
Cost / LicenseFree trialProprietaryCategoriesFreshdesk is a help desk tool from Freshworks that turns emails, web forms, chats, calls and social messages into tickets for support teams. It includes a knowledge base, SLA management, automations, collision detection and reporting, plus Freddy AI for suggested replies and self-service bots. A free plan covers small teams, and it connects with Freshworks' CRM and other business apps.
12 Freshdesk alternativesPros
- Free plan for small teams with core ticketing
- Turns email, forms, chat, calls and social messages into tickets
- SLA rules, collision detection and automations for busy teams
Cons
- AI features and advanced automation cost extra or need top tiers
- Admin settings get complex as workflows grow
Cost / LicenseFreemiumProprietaryCategoriesHelp Scout is a customer support platform built around a shared inbox that feels like personal email to customers, without ticket numbers or portals. It adds a knowledge base (Docs), the embeddable Beacon widget for live chat and self-service, customer profiles, reporting and AI tools for drafting and summarizing replies. It suits small and mid-sized companies that value a personal tone.
8 Help Scout alternativesPros
- Replies feel like personal email, with no ticket numbers for customers
- Beacon widget combines live chat and help articles on any site
- Clean interface that new agents learn quickly
Cons
- Fewer advanced workflow and reporting options than enterprise help desks
- Free plan is limited, so key features require a paid plan
Cost / LicenseFreemiumProprietaryCategoriesIntercom is a customer service platform that combines a chat messenger for websites and apps with a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center. Its AI agent, Fin, answers customer questions using your support content and can hand conversations over to human agents; it can also be added to other help desks. Product tours and proactive messages help onboard and engage users.
12 Intercom alternativesPros
- Fin AI agent answers questions from your support content
- Polished messenger for websites and mobile apps
- Product tours and proactive messages help onboard users
Cons
- Expensive, with AI resolutions billed on top of seats
- Pricing structure is complex and hard to predict
- More than a small team needs for basic live chat
Cost / LicenseFree trialProprietaryCategoriesHubSpot is a customer platform built around a free CRM, with paid hubs for marketing automation, sales engagement, customer service, content management and operations. Contacts, deals, emails and support tickets share one record, and the Breeze AI tools help with writing, research and agents. It suits small and mid-sized companies that want marketing, sales and support in a single system.
12 HubSpot alternativesPros
- Free CRM that covers contacts, deals and basic email tracking
- Marketing, sales and service share one customer record
- Large integration marketplace and extensive free training via HubSpot Academy
Cons
- Costs rise steeply once you need Professional-tier features
- Marketing pricing grows with the number of marketing contacts
- Upper tiers can involve onboarding fees and annual contracts
Cost / LicenseFreemiumProprietaryFront is a customer operations platform that turns email, SMS, chat, WhatsApp and social messages into a shared inbox teams can work in together. Messages can be assigned, commented on internally and routed with rules, while analytics track response times and workload. Front AI drafts replies and summarizes threads, and the tool serves support, sales and account teams who prefer an email-like workflow.
8 Front alternativesPros
- Email-like shared inbox that feels familiar to new users
- Internal comments and assignment replace forwarding and CCs
- Rules and analytics help balance workload and response times
Cons
- Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for larger teams
- Advanced analytics and automation are reserved for higher plans
- No free plan beyond the trial
Cost / LicenseFree trialProprietaryGorgias is a customer support platform designed for online stores, with deep integrations for Shopify and other e-commerce platforms. Agents see order details next to each ticket and can edit, refund or cancel orders without leaving the help desk. It centralizes email, chat, social media and SMS, and its AI Agent can handle common requests such as order tracking and returns.
8 Gorgias alternativesPros
- Order details appear next to each ticket for Shopify stores
- Agents can refund, edit or cancel orders without leaving the help desk
- AI agent handles routine requests like order tracking and returns
Cons
- Built for e-commerce, so less suited to other types of businesses
- Pricing tied to ticket volume can be hard to predict in busy seasons
Cost / LicenseFree trialProprietaryCategoriesPlatformsChatwoot is an open-source customer engagement platform positioned as an alternative to Intercom and Zendesk. It unifies website live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and SMS in one shared inbox, with a help center, canned responses, automation rules and an AI assistant called Captain. Teams can self-host it for free or use the paid cloud version.
11 Chatwoot alternativesPros
- Open source and free to self-host, keeping conversations on your servers
- One inbox for chat, email, WhatsApp, social channels and SMS
- Includes a help center, canned responses and automation rules
Cons
- Self-hosting requires maintaining the server, updates and integrations
- Reporting and workflows are less deep than in Zendesk or Intercom
Cost / LicenseFreemiumOpen sourceCategoriesPlatformsLiveChat is a live chat tool that lets support and sales teams talk with website visitors in real time. Agents get canned responses, chat routing, visitor tracking, a preview of messages as they are typed and performance reports, with AI help for writing replies. It is made by Text, the company behind ChatBot, HelpDesk and KnowledgeBase, and connects to many e-commerce and CRM tools.
9 LiveChat alternativesPros
- Message preview shows what visitors type before they send it
- Canned responses, routing and visitor tracking for fast replies
- Many integrations with e-commerce and CRM tools
Cons
- Per-agent pricing becomes expensive as the team grows
- Chatbots and ticketing require separate products from the same company
- No free plan beyond the trial
Cost / LicenseFree trialProprietaryCategoriestawk.to is a free live chat platform that lets businesses add a chat widget to their website and answer visitors from the web, desktop or mobile apps, with no limit on agents. It also includes ticketing, a knowledge base and real-time visitor monitoring. The company earns money through optional paid add-ons, such as removing its branding, AI assistance or hiring agents to staff the chat.
8 tawk.to alternativesPros
- Free live chat with no limit on the number of agents
- Includes ticketing, a knowledge base and visitor monitoring
- Web, desktop and mobile apps to answer from anywhere
Cons
- Removing tawk.to branding requires a paid add-on
- Interface and reporting feel basic next to premium tools
- AI assistance is sold as a paid extra
Cost / LicenseFreemiumProprietaryCategories
Zoho Desk vs its alternatives at a glance
Pricing, platforms and the key features of Zoho Desk, compared with its most popular alternatives.
| App | Pricing | Platforms | AI assistant | Analytics | Built-in automations | Integrations | Knowledge base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zoho Desk | Freemium | Web, iPhone, Android | |||||
 Zendesk | Free trial | Web, iPhone, Android | |||||
 Freshdesk | Freemium | Web, iPhone, Android | |||||
 Help Scout | Freemium | Web, iPhone, Android | |||||
 Intercom | Free trial | Web, iPhone, Android | |||||
 HubSpot | Freemium | Web, iPhone, Android |
Zoho Desk alternatives: frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Zoho Desk?
The most popular alternative to Zoho Desk is Zendesk: Customer service software with ticketing and AI agents. Other great alternatives are Freshdesk, Help Scout, Intercom, and HubSpot.
Is there a free alternative to Zoho Desk?
Yes, 5 alternatives are free or have a free plan, including Freshdesk, Help Scout, HubSpot, and Chatwoot.
Is there an open source alternative to Zoho Desk?
Yes, one open source alternative is listed: Chatwoot.
Is Zoho Desk free?
Zoho Desk has a free plan, with paid plans that unlock more features.
Compare Zoho Desk with its alternatives
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