Reliable customer support software is at the core of any successful business. It has your back 24/7 – answering questions, solving problems, and keeping your customers happy.
When you Google top customer support software, the name Zendesk almost always pops up. Zendesk is an award-winning software that offers customized solutions for businesses of all sizes. With a knowledge base, online communities, and multiple support channels, it’s no wonder why it’s a go-to for many.
But here’s the thing: Zendesk isn’t the only game in town. In fact, there are plenty of alternatives out there that offer similar features at a more affordable price point. So, let’s explore some of the best Zendesk alternatives for help desk software and see how they stack up.
- Zoho Desk
- Freshdesk
- HubSpot Service Hub
- Salesforce Service Cloud
- Help Scout
- Groove
- HappyFox
- Gorgias
- Front
- Intercom
1. Zoho Desk
A focus on simplifying customer service operations and improving customer experiences makes Zoho Desk one of the best Zendesk alternatives. Its contextual AI system, Zia, helps support agents quickly solve customer issues by providing relevant content and automating tasks. Zia also shares appropriate solutions from your knowledge base, auto-tags tickets, and performs sentiment analysis to provide in-depth insights into your customer support operations.
With customization options for your support portal, you can tailor the look and feel to match your brand. Plus, it integrates with many other Zoho products (like CRM and project management) and third-party software to offer a well-rounded customer service solution. Additional features such as ticket management and multi-channel reporting make Zoho Desk a strong contender in the customer support software game.
Best for
Organizations that require seamless integration with other Zoho products and AI support that improves customer experiences.
Main features
- Contextual AI, Zia, simplifies customer service
- Self-service support portal customization
- Work mode allows agents to organize tickets automatically
- Automatic ticket assignment based on skills and workload
- Live dashboard that summarizes support activity
Pricing
- Standard: $20 /user/month billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Professional: $35/user/month billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Enterprise: $50/user/month billed monthly (Free trial included)
*Save up to 35% on annual plans
2. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is another strong alternative to Zendesk, offering a robust set of features, including multichannel automation and reporting. Its Omniroute feature auto-assigns emails, chats and calls to agents based on their skills and availability, ensuring agents handle each support request quickly and efficiently. The platform’s fully customizable help widget supports customers by providing contextual support and understanding when customers are frustrated with advanced sentiment detection.
Freshdesk also offers a gamification element, allowing agents to earn badges and climb leaderboards based on their performance. This adds friendly competition to the customer support game, motivating agents to provide top-notch service. Plus, you can customize your support portal with Zoho Desk to match your brand aesthetic and make it easier for customers to find solutions on their own.
Best for
Organizations looking for feature-rich customer support software with gamification elements to motivate agents.
Main features
- Customize agent roles to give differential permissions
- Customer satisfaction surveys to track performance
- Shared inbox that unifies and manages customer conversations from multiple channels to improve collaboration
- Chatbot powered by Freddy AI to provide instant and specific answers to FAQs
Pricing
- Free: Up to 10 agents
- Growth: $15/agent/month, billed annually or $18 /agent/month, billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Pro: $49/agent/month, billed annually or $59/agent/month, billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Enterprise: $79/agent/month, billed annually, or $95/agent/month, billed monthly
3. HubSpot Service Hub
Renowned for its marketing and sales software, HubSpot offers a comprehensive customer service solution with Service Hub. Its omni-channel messaging provides a premium customer experience regardless of how they choose to contact your team. The extensive knowledge base allows customers to easily find solutions independently and reduces the need to contact support.
HubSpot Service Hub supplements this with the customer portal, which empowers customers to take control of their support experience by managing their tickets and accessing relevant resources. VoIP calling also allows agents to communicate with customers directly within the platform, and live chat provides customers with real-time support.
Best for
Teams using HubSpot as their primary CRM and looking for an integrated customer support solution.
Main features
- Seamless communication through omni-channel messaging and VoIP calling
- Shared inbox that connects email, Facebook Messenger, live chat and other channels to improve collaboration and response time
- Conversation intelligence that captures details of every customer interaction
- Customer feedback surveys that analyze customer sentient to enhance support
- Service analytics to track key customer support metrics
Pricing
- Free
- Starter: $45/month
- Professional: $450/month
- Enterprise: $1,200/month
4. Salesforce Service Cloud
One of the most popular Zendesk alternatives and also one of the most prominent CRM software, Salesforce offers its own comprehensive customer support solution with Service Cloud. This customer service software focuses on creating a personal touch with every support interaction by supporting customers on any channel, automating workflows, and getting actionable insights from every customer interaction.
Companies like Adidas, Asana, and Philips trust Salesforce Service Cloud to manage their customer support, demonstrating the variety and scale that this platform can handle. Customer 360 breaks down silos and offers a complete view of the customer across sales, marketing, and support. Its ticketing system automatically assigns tickets to the right agent, and the service console allows agents to find relevant information from every support interaction quickly.
Best for
Organizations looking for a comprehensive, scalable customer support solution with personalized touchpoints.
Main features
- Customer 360 to break down silos and offer a complete view of the customer
- Service console to access relevant information from every support interaction
- Automated workflows for efficient resolution
- Omni channel support to communicate on any channel
- Online and offline access with the field service app
Pricing
- Essentials: $25/user/month (billed annually) (Free trial included)
- Professional: $75/user/month (billed annually) (Free trial included)
- Enterprise: $150/user/month (billed annually) (Free trial included)
- Unlimited: $300/user/month (billed annually) (Free trial included)
5. Help Scout
Help Scout is a popular Zendesk alternative due to its emphasis on simplicity and providing excellent customer experience. Trusted by over 12,000 businesses like Nordstrom and Honey, its shared inbox allows teams to work together effectively, while automation and integrations with other software streamline the support process.
Create a knowledge base for customers to find solutions independently, improving response time and reducing support volume. Its live chat feature allows customers to get support in real-time, and you can collaborate with other customer support team members through notes. Help Scout allows customer support teams to analyze performance and track critical metrics with advanced reporting. Help Scout’s workflows will enable you to create repeatable processes for your team to follow to provide consistent support.
Best for
Mid-sized businesses looking for a straightforward, easy-to-use customer support solution with features to streamline the support process and provide excellent customer experience.
Main features
- Shared inbox for teams to collaborate on customer support
- Automation and integrations to streamline support processes
- Integrated knowledge base for customers
- Customer management and reporting to track support performance
- AI support from Beacon that suggests relevant content and provides customers with answers to common issues
Pricing
- Standard: $25/user/month*
- Plus: $50/user/month*
- Pro: Custom quote (annual only)
*Save up to 20% with a yearly plan
6. Groove
A focus on customer happiness makes this Zendesk alternative stand out from the rest. Groove turns customer support agents into superheroes with features such as private notes, assignments, and mentions to improve collaboration. Its collision detection feature allows agents to see if someone is already working on a ticket before they take it on to prevent double work.
Groove integrates with other tools, such as Mailchimp, Stripe, Slack, and Shopify to provide a full view of the customer and their interactions. An extensive knowledge base reduces support volume and provides self-service for faster resolution times. Its automated ticketing system allows Groove to prioritize and route tickets for efficient support, and a centralized dashboard to track KPIs summarizes team performance.
Best for
Businesses that want a solution that already integrates with common tools and automates support processes for a focus on customer happiness.
Main features
- Omnichannel support, including email, live chat, social media, and phone
- Private notes that only you and your team members can see
- Customer history to see all previous interactions
- 25+ integrations
- Mobile app for on-the-go support
- Reporting dashboard
Pricing
- Starter: $12/user/month, billed annually or $15/user/month, billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Plus: $20/user/month, billed annually or $25/user/month, billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Pro: $35/user/month, billed annually or $40/user/month, billed monthly (Free trial included)
- Enterprise: Custom quote
- Early Stage Startups (less than ten employees): 93% discount off Pro Plan
7. HappyFox
PCMag Editors’ Choice for Best Help Desk Software four years in a row, HappyFox is a Zendesk alternative that focuses on creating a positive support experience for employees and customers. Its all-in-one ticketing system includes a shared inbox for teams to collaborate on support and an organized system for routing and prioritizing tickets.
Automations reduce manual work, improving response time and allowing agents to focus on solving customer issues. HappyFox also includes a comprehensive knowledge base for self-service solutions, live chat support, reporting insights, and integrations with various tools such as Salesforce, Jira, Facebook, and Twitter. HappyFox is a customizable help desk solution that allows you to tailor the platform for your specific needs and team processes.
Best for
Businesses across various industries looking for a user-friendly support solution with an emphasis on automation to improve response time and customer satisfaction.
Main features
- All-in-one ticketing system for collaboration and organization
- Omni channel support to streamline customer communication
- Knowledge base for self-service solutions
- Live chat support for immediate assistance
- Customizable platform and workflows
Pricing
- Mighty: $25/agent/month, billed annually, or $39/agent/month, billed monthly
- Fantastic: $49/agent/month, billed annually, or 59/agent/month, billed monthly
- Enterprise: $69/agent/month, billed annually, or $79/agent/month, billed monthly
- Enterprise Plus: $99/agent/month, billed annually or $89/agent/month, billed monthly
*All plans require a minimum of 5 help desk agents.
**2-year and 3-year plans available.
8. Gorgias
Gorgias is a Shopify help desk alternative that offers customer support through multiple channels all in one organized platform. Its automation features include canned responses, ticket assignments for team collaboration, and integrations with tools such as Facebook Messenger.
This Zendesk alternative focuses on turning customer support into profits by engaging with customers before they visit your website and tracking sales generated by agents over social media, live chat, and text. Its user-friendly interface allows for quick onboarding and training of new agents, making it a great support solution for small to mid-sized eCommerce businesses.
Best for
Ecommerce businesses looking for an all-in-one support platform.
Main features
- 80+ integrations, including Instagram, BigCommerce, Shopify, Klaviyo, and Yotpo
- Intent and sentiment detection to understand customer needs
- Macros that deliver pre-made responses to save time
- Revenue statistics to track sales generated by support agents
- Order management to turn returns and refunds into repeat customers
Pricing
- Starter: $10/month
- Basic: $50/month billed annually or $60/agent/month, billed monthly
- Pro: $300/month billed annually or $360/agent/month, billed monthly
- Advanced: $750/month billed annually or $900/agent/month, billed monthly
- Enterprise: Custom quote
9. Front
Front is a Zendesk alternative providing a 360-degree perspective on customer support through shared inboxes for teams to collaborate and a comprehensive communication history for each customer. It helps agents focus on the right tasks through features like assigning and prioritizing tickets and automation to reduce manual work.
Front provides native customer data and advanced analytics to track team performance, customer satisfaction, and common support issues. It allows team members to collaborate in real time and share knowledge to provide the best support possible. Workflows that automate analytics and manual tasks aid teams to scale their customer support and provide efficient service.
Best for
Teams of all sizes looking for a unified communication platform with customizable workflows and advanced analytics.
Main features
- Shared team inboxes for collaboration
- Task assignments and prioritization
- Customizable automation to reduce manual work
- 360-degree customer profile with communication history
- Collaborative workspace for teams
- Rules-based workflow automation
Pricing
- Starter: $19/person/month billed annually
- Growth: $49/person/month billed annually
- Scale: $99/person/month billed annually
10. Intercom
Intercom is a Zendesk alternative that focuses on building a direct communication channel between businesses and their customers through live chat, personalized messaging, and a help center knowledge base. It’s trusted by over 25,000 companies, including Amazon, Meta, Atlassian, Microsoft, and Notion.
Intercom’s comprehensive customer data platform allows for personalized marketing and support interactions. It integrates with over 300 tools to provide a seamless customer experience and offers automation features to streamline support tasks. Its team inbox makes it easy for teams to collaborate and solve customer issues quickly. With Intercom, support agents can focus on building customer relationships while providing efficient service. Its unified dashboard allows complete visibility into customer communication and satisfaction and scaling as a business grows.
Best for
Businesses looking for a customer communication platform with personalized messaging and seamless integrations.
Main features
- Live chat to engage with customers in real-time
- Help center with knowledge base
- Targeted outbound chat for personalized marketing
- Integrations with over 300 tools
- Team inbox with tags to prioritize and assign tasks
Pricing
Plans start at $74 per month for very small businesses when billed annually.
Create the best support experience for your customers with a Zendesk alternative
Your customers are the backbone of your business, so providing top-notch support is crucial. The right customer support software can make all the difference in building strong customer relationships and growing your business.
Consider investing in a Zendesk alternative like one of the tools above to streamline your support processes and provide personalized customer interactions. Happy customers equal happy business.
