5 tools compared
Best helpdesk and support software
Inbound tickets, shared inboxes, live chat, help centres and the SLA reporting behind them.
The field
Every helpdesk worth considering
Cheapest first. Ranked properly once you tell us about your team.
Freshdesk
Full-featured ticketing at roughly half the price of the category leaders.
$15 · free tier
Help Scout
Simple, human shared inbox plus docs, priced for small support teams.
$25 · free tier
Front
Shared inbox that keeps email feeling like email while adding assignment and SLAs.
$29
Intercom
Messenger-first support with AI resolution and in-product engagement.
$39
Zendesk
The enterprise ticketing standard, with deep SLA and reporting tooling.
$55
Prices are unverified estimates — useful for comparing orders of magnitude, not for budgeting. Confirm the current figure with the vendor before you commit to anything.
Feature matrix
What each helpdesk can do
Generated from the dimensions this category is compared on, so it stays true as the catalogue changes. Blank means we have not established it either way.
| Capability | Freshdesk | Front | Help Scout | Intercom | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels | Email, Live chat, Phone | Email, Live chat | Email, Live chat | Email, Live chat | Email, Live chat, Phone, Social |
| SLA tracking | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Customer help centre | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI ticket deflection | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shared inbox that still reads like email | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SAML single sign-onAvailable on some tier — check which, it is usually the expensive one. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | No | No | No |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Native mobile apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
How to choose
The questions that actually decide a helpdesk
Everyone asks about price and seat count. These are the ones specific to this category — and the ones our questionnaire asks you.
- 01
How many tickets do you handle a month?
Under 500 · 500 to 3,000 · 3,000 to 20,000 · More than 20,000
- 02
Where do requests arrive?
Email and shared inboxes · Live chat in the product · They should be answering themselves · Phone
- 03
Do you have response-time commitments?
Contractual SLAs with customers · Internal targets only · None
The trade-offs
What each one asks you to accept
No tool here is strictly better than the others. These are the prices of admission.
Interface and reporting feel a step behind the premium tools.
Reporting and SLA tooling are light for larger operations.
Weaker as a high-volume, self-service ticketing system.
Resolution-based AI pricing makes the monthly bill hard to predict.
Agent seats are expensive and most useful features sit on higher tiers.
10 comparisons
Head to head
If you have narrowed it to two.
Questions
Choosing a helpdesk
What is the best helpdesk?
There is no single best one, and any page that names one without asking about your team is guessing. The credible options are Freshdesk, Front, Help Scout, Intercom, Zendesk. Which fits depends on the answers to the 3 questions this category turns on, plus your team size and budget — our questionnaire scores all 5 against them in about three minutes.
Is there a free helpdesk?
Freshdesk, Help Scout all have a free tier. The limits differ sharply though — usually on history, seat count, or exactly the features that pass a security review. Check what the free tier withholds before you plan around it.
How much should we expect to pay for a helpdesk?
Median list price across the tools we cover is about $25 per seat per month, which is roughly $15,000 a year for 50 people. Real bills land above that once you add the tier that includes single sign-on, and again once add-ons appear.
When is it worth switching helpdesk?
When the problem is a capability the current tool does not have — a price that scales the wrong way, a compliance control it cannot enforce, an integration that does not exist. When the problem is how your team uses the tool, a new one reproduces the same mess in a fresh interface within six months, and you will have paid for the privilege.
What should we compare helpdesks on?
The dimensions that actually separate them: channels, sla tracking, customer help centre, ai ticket deflection, shared inbox that still reads like email. Price matters, but it is rarely the thing that decides whether a tool survives contact with your team.