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.
Customer service, support, and IT teams at companies ranging from small startups to large enterprises, across industries like retail, tech, finance, and healthcare.
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.
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.
Why people leave Zendesk
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Helpdesk software checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Helpdesk software checklist | Zendesk | Chatwoot | Zammad | Help Scout | Freshdesk | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Shared inbox | ||||||
| Live chat widget | ||||||
| Knowledge base | ||||||
| Automations & SLAs | ||||||
| AI answers / copilot | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Free tier limits | ||||||
| Multi-channel (email, chat, social) | ||||||
| Reporting | ||||||
| Per-seat price |
Every fact and feature listed for Zendesk is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Subscription verified 2026-07-11
Support Team For teams that have outgrown a shared inbox and need core support essentials. $19 agent/month paid yearly
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-11
Pricing for the #1 AI customer service solution
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Starts at $19/agent/month verified 2026-07-11
Support Team For teams that have outgrown a shared inbox and need core support essentials. $19 agent/month paid yearly
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Platforms Web, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-11
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.
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
AI Masterclass 2026 Live workshops for CX and IT leaders ready to move from AI strategy to an executable plan.
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Shared inbox Yes verified 2026-07-11
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.
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Live chat widget Yes verified 2026-07-11
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
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Knowledge base Yes verified 2026-07-11
Localize your help center in 40+ languages to serve customers in their native language.
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Automations & SLAs Yes verified 2026-07-11
response and resolution times via service level agreements (SLA).
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
AI answers / copilot Yes verified 2026-07-11
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
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-11
Pricing for the #1 AI customer service solution
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Free tier limits Partial verified 2026-07-11
Zendesk offers a free trial so you can explore the product before committing to a paid plan. During the 14
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Multi-channel (email, chat, social) Yes verified 2026-07-11
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
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Reporting Yes verified 2026-07-11
Starting with the basics Email and ticketing system Ticket routing Prebuilt analytics dashboards Pre-written responses Customer context Automations and triggers
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/ -
Per-seat price Yes verified 2026-07-11
Support Team ... $19 agent/month paid yearly ... Suite Team ... $55 agent/month paid yearly
https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/
FAQ
Yes. Freshdesk, Crisp and Tidio have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Chatwoot, Zammad and osTicket — every license claim links its source.