# Alternatives to Zendesk

The support-ticket incumbent.

Zendesk ranks #5 of 11 in Helpdesk software, with an Alt Score of 86. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $19/agent/month and available on Web, iOS and Android. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zendesk/
Category: Helpdesk software

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Customer service, support, and IT teams at companies ranging from small startups to large enterprises, across industries like retail, tech, finance, and healthcare.
- **What you get**: A unified workspace that consolidates customer conversations from email, chat, voice, messaging, and social media into a single ticketing system. Includes AI agents that can automate responses across channels, a help center for customer self-service, and built-in analytics and quality-assurance reporting. Integrates with over 1,800 third-party apps and business systems.
- **How it works**: Customer inquiries from any channel are routed into Zendesk as tickets in a shared queue, where AI agents can resolve simpler requests automatically and hand off complex ones to human agents. Teams manage, track, and report on all conversations from a single dashboard.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: $19/agent/month (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Chatwoot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/chatwoot.md) | 100 | MIT | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Zammad](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zammad.md) | 100 | AGPL-3.0 | Web |
| 3 | [Help Scout](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/help-scout.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Freshdesk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freshdesk.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Intercom](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/intercom.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Crisp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/crisp.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [Tidio](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tidio.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [LiveChat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/livechat.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [osTicket](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/osticket.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Web |
| 10 | [FreeScout](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/freescout.md) | 64 | AGPL-3.0 | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Helpdesk software checklist | Zendesk | Chatwoot | Zammad | Help Scout | Freshdesk | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starts at | $19/agent/month | $19/agent/month | €7/agent/month | $25/user/month | $19/agent/month | $39/seat/month |
| License | Proprietary | MIT | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Shared inbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live chat widget | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Knowledge base | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automations & SLAs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI answers / copilot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No |
| Free tier limits | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Multi-channel (email, chat, social) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-seat price | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Zendesk. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Support Team For teams that have outgrown a shared inbox and need core support essentials. $19 agent/month paid yearly”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Pricing for the #1 AI customer service solution”
- **Starts at**: $19/agent/month — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Support Team For teams that have outgrown a shared inbox and need core support essentials. $19 agent/month paid yearly”
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “A unified, conversation-focused agent workspace helps your team manage conversations and their status across all web, mobile and social channels in one single view.”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “AI Masterclass 2026 Live workshops for CX and IT leaders ready to move from AI strategy to an executable plan.”
- **Shared inbox**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “A unified, conversation-focused agent workspace helps your team manage conversations and their status across all web, mobile and social channels in one single view.”
- **Live chat widget**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Zendesk Suite is your all-in-one customer service solution. Equipped with ticketing, messaging, live chat, help center, and voice support, it is ideal for businesses providing multi-channel customer s”
- **Knowledge base**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Localize your help center in 40+ languages to serve customers in their native language.”
- **Automations & SLAs**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “response and resolution times via service level agreements (SLA).”
- **AI answers / copilot**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Suite Team For teams ready to unify support channels and automate resolutions with AI Agents. $55 agent/month paid yearly ... Support Team features, plus: AI AI Agents AI Knowledge Base AI Action Buil”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Pricing for the #1 AI customer service solution”
- **Free tier limits**: Partial — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Zendesk offers a free trial so you can explore the product before committing to a paid plan. During the 14”
- **Multi-channel (email, chat, social)**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Zendesk Suite is your all-in-one customer service solution. Equipped with ticketing, messaging, live chat, help center, and voice support, it is ideal for businesses providing multi-channel customer s”
- **Reporting**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Starting with the basics Email and ticketing system Ticket routing Prebuilt analytics dashboards Pre-written responses Customer context Automations and triggers”
- **Per-seat price**: Yes — <https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Support Team ... $19 agent/month paid yearly ... Suite Team ... $55 agent/month paid yearly”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/