Zendesk Alternatives (2026): 15 Help Desks Compared on Seat Price and AI Billing

Short answer: for a small team that mostly answers email, Help Scout is the cleanest Zendesk alternative: $25 a user a month on annual billing, a free plan for up to 5 users, and AI at $0.75 per resolution. Ecommerce brands should look at Gorgias (priced by tickets, not agents) or Richpanel ($0.20 per AI-handled conversation). If the AI agent matters most, Intercom Fin charges $0.99 per outcome on top of seats from $19. To pay nothing for software, self-host FreeScout or Chatwoot. Updated November 9, 2026.

How we checked: plans, seat prices and AI unit prices come from each vendor's own pricing page or help center, read November 9, 2026. Where a price only appears after switching a page to monthly billing, we read it in a browser. Where a vendor does not publish a number, we say "Not stated". We did not test these help desks hands-on, so this guide compares published price, limits and channels, not answer quality.

Zendesk's pricing page lists four customer service plans. Prices are per agent per month:

• AI agents are billed per automated resolution. Zendesk says you pay only when the AI resolves a request without a human. Each plan includes an allowance (capped at 10,000 a year per account, per its help center). Beyond it, resolutions cost $1.50 each if you commit ahead (in blocks of 100 or more) or $2.00 pay-as-you-go.
• Copilot is extra. The agent-assist add-on is $50 an agent a month, paid yearly. A Workforce Engagement bundle is another $50, and the Contact Center add-on is $83.
• Some features bill by use. Zendesk's FAQ says App Builder, Action Builder and Voice are charged on consumption above plan allowances, and local and toll-free numbers are add-ons.
• Trial: 14 days on Suite Professional, with Copilot included. Startups can apply for a 6-month Suite trial for up to 50 agents.

On May 18, 2026 Zendesk introduced automated resolution tiers. Conversations are now sorted into three tiers. An assisted escalation (the AI collected details or routed the case, then a human finished it) and a contained resolution (the customer asked nothing further, but an LLM check could not confirm the issue was solved) do not count against your resolution allowance. A verified resolution, where the LLM check confirms the request was solved, does.

Two things to know. Accounts on the older platform stay on it until they move to tiers, and Zendesk's help center explains how to check which one you are on. And the help article says the allowance is a credit "from which the cost of the automated resolutions is drawn", but the pricing page we read still shows a single $1.50 or $2.00 price per resolution; we found no published price per tier.

• The seat price. AI agents and live chat start on Suite Team at $55 an agent a month on annual billing, or $69 monthly. Help Scout, Front and Hiver all start at $25.
• AI billing is hard to forecast. Five included resolutions per agent is a small allowance: a 5-agent Suite Team account gets 25 a month. Past that, the bill moves with volume, and the 2026 tier change means the count depends on an LLM's verdict.
• Complexity. Support versus Suite plans, AI agents versus legacy AI agents, add-ons, usage-billed builders, and two resolution platforms running side by side. Smaller teams often want one inbox and one price.

Here is one team: 5 full agents, and an AI agent that fully resolves 500 conversations a month. Prices are annual billing unless noted, before tax. For tools that bill per AI conversation or session rather than per resolution, 500 is the minimum you would pay for, because conversations the AI handles but does not resolve are billed too.

What the table leaves out: Hiver, HubSpot, Zoho Desk, Chatwoot, Missive and Tidio do not publish a price per AI resolution we could apply, so they are not in it. Front Starter covers one channel type only. Gorgias's plan also caps tickets (2,000 a month on Pro), then charges $0.36 a ticket. And seat prices are not like for like: a Zendesk Suite seat includes telephony, while Help Scout routes phone through an integration.

Help Scout (our Help Scout listing) is built for teams that answer email and chat together. Its pricing page lists Standard at $25 a user a month on annual billing ($30 monthly), Plus at $45 ($54) and Pro at $75 ($90, 10-user minimum). The Free plan covers 5 users, one inbox, one Docs site and 100 contacts a month. AI Answers, shown as Envoy on the pricing page, costs $0.75 per resolution, charged once per conversation, with a monthly spending cap you set and 3 months of free resolutions for new accounts. Not for: call-heavy teams; phone is via integrations such as Aircall.

Front (see our Front listing) treats support like a shared email client. Its pricing page lists Starter at $25 a seat a month billed annually (up to 10 seats, one channel type), Professional at $65 (omnichannel, up to 50 seats) and Enterprise at $105. Autopilot, its AI agent, starts at $0.39 per conversation through sales, and Copilot is a $20-a-seat add-on, included on Enterprise. Not for: a team that needs email and chat on the entry plan; Starter supports one channel type.

Hiver (our Hiver listing) comes in two forms: Hiver Omni, a standalone help desk, and Hiver in Gmail. Omni's pricing page lists Growth at $25 a user a month annually ($35 monthly), Pro at $55 ($65) and Elite at $85 ($95), with a 2-seat minimum. AI agents are included on all plans, but the page does not state a usage price. Voice is a $30-a-seat add-on with 1,000 pooled minutes, then $0.03 a minute. Not for: anyone who needs an AI price before talking to sales.

Missive is the low-cost team inbox. Its pricing page lists Starter at $14 a user a month billed yearly (up to 5 users), Productive at $24 (up to 50, with rules and integrations) and Business at $36. AI drafts and rules run on Missive AI credits or your own Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini key. Not for: autonomous AI answers; Missive lists AI drafting and automation, not a customer-facing AI agent, and no live chat widget.

Gorgias (our Gorgias listing) prices by tickets, not agents, so a seasonal team can add people for free. Its pricing page lists Starter at $10 a month for 50 tickets (monthly only), Basic at $60 monthly or $50 annual for 300, Pro at $360 or $300 for 2,000, and Advanced at $900 or $750 for 5,000. Adding the AI Agent bundles a set of automated interactions (30 on Basic, 190 on Pro); past that each is $1.50. Not for: high ticket volume with few agents, where per-ticket pricing costs more than seats.

Richpanel is the per-agent option for stores. Its pricing page lists Pro at $69 an agent a month and Pro Max at $99, both on yearly contracts, with email, chat, SMS, phone, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in one inbox. Customer Service AI is $0.20 per AI-handled conversation, and its Sidekick drafting assistant and self-service portal are listed as free add-ons. Not for: a non-ecommerce business, or anyone who wants to pay month to month.

Intercom Fin is the AI agent many Zendesk teams compare first. On the Intercom helpdesk, seats are $29 a month on Essential ($19 for new customers on annual billing), $85 on Advanced and $132 on Expert, and Fin costs $0.99 per outcome. Fin's pricing page counts an outcome once per conversation: a resolution, or a configured Procedure that ends in a handoff, among others. You can also run Fin on another helpdesk such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshworks with no seat fees and a 50-outcome monthly minimum. Salesforce agreed to buy Fin, formerly Intercom, for about $3.6 billion on June 15, 2026, and said it expected the deal to close in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2027; we did not find a closing announcement. Not for: teams that want a flat monthly AI bill.

eesel AI works inside the helpdesk you already have, Zendesk included, so it is also a way to stay on Zendesk and change only the AI bill. Its pricing page lists a 7-day free trial with 100 credits, then $299 a month for 500 credits up to $1,749 for 5,000. A ticket or chat is one credit however long it runs, there is no seat fee, and overage is $0.80 a credit up to a cap you set. Not for: low volume; 500 credits for $299 is about $0.60 a ticket, against $0.20 to $0.99 elsewhere.

For website chat only, Tidio (our Tidio Lyro listing) has a free plan with 50 conversations and 50 lifetime Lyro AI conversations; Lyro starts at $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations on its pricing page. Chatbase trains a chatbot on your docs from $32 a month on annual billing for 700 message credits, per its pricing page, and its Basic plan ($120) connects to Zendesk. Neither is a full help desk. For more chat options, see our best AI chatbots for websites.

Freshdesk (our Freshdesk listing) is the closest like-for-like suite. Its pricing page lists Growth at $19 an agent a month annually ($23 monthly), Pro at $55 ($66) and Enterprise at $89 ($107). Freddy AI Agent includes 500 sessions once per account, then $49 per 100. Live chat and phone need Freshdesk Omni, from $29 an agent a month annually. We compare it in depth in our Freshdesk alternatives guide. Not for: teams that want AI billed only on success; Freddy counts sessions.

HubSpot Service Hub suits teams already on HubSpot CRM. Its pricing page lists free tools for up to 2 users, Starter at $7 a seat a month on annual billing for new customers ($20 monthly), and Professional at $90 annually ($100 monthly) plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Customer Agent, the AI agent, is on Professional and above and draws on HubSpot Credits (3,000 a month on Professional); the page does not state credits per conversation. Not for: a team that wants a cheap AI agent; it starts at Professional.

Zoho Desk is the lowest-priced paid suite here: a free edition for 3 users, then Express at $7 a user a month annually ($9 monthly), Standard at $14 ($20), Professional at $23 ($35) and Enterprise at $40 ($50). Live chat and instant messaging start on Standard, telephony on Professional. AI agents use your own model key or Zoho's model, with up to 30 million free tokens a month listed. Not for: teams that want vendor-managed AI pricing; with your own key, model costs land on your provider bill.

FreeScout is a free, self-hosted help desk and shared inbox built with PHP and MySQL, licensed AGPL-3.0, that can run on shared hosting with unlimited agents and mailboxes. Live chat, WhatsApp and other channels are paid modules with lifetime licenses per installation; the AI Integration module is free. Not for: a team with nobody to run updates and backups.

Chatwoot is an open-source live chat and support inbox. Its pricing page lists a free cloud plan for 2 agents and 500 conversations a month (live chat only), Startups at $19 an agent a month with 300 Captain AI credits, Business at $39 with voice and 500 credits, and Enterprise at $99. Extra credits are $20 per 1,000. It can also be self-hosted for free. Not for: anyone expecting a per-resolution price; the page does not say how many credits a conversation uses.

• Mostly email, under 10 agents: Help Scout, or Missive if you do not need an AI agent.
• Shopify or another store: Gorgias if your team changes size, Richpanel if ticket volume is high per agent.
• The AI agent is the point: Intercom Fin on a cheaper helpdesk, or eesel AI on the one you have.
• You need a full suite at a lower seat price: Freshdesk or Zoho Desk. Stay on HubSpot if your CRM is there.
• No software bill: FreeScout or Chatwoot, self-hosted.
• Your agents mostly need help writing replies, not a customer-facing bot: see our best AI email assistants.

Before you switch, pull your last three months of Zendesk data: agents, tickets per month and AI resolutions. Then price each shortlist tool on its own unit (seat, ticket, session, resolution or outcome). If you stay, check whether your account has moved to resolution tiers, and set Zendesk's limit so AI agents pause at the allowance instead of billing overage. See current Zendesk plans on our Zendesk AI listing.

What is the best alternative to Zendesk?

For small teams, Help Scout: $25 a user a month on annual billing, a free plan for up to 5 users, and AI at $0.75 per resolution. For ecommerce, Gorgias or Richpanel. For the strongest AI agent, Intercom Fin at $0.99 per outcome. To self-host, FreeScout or Chatwoot.

How much does Zendesk cost in 2026?

Per Zendesk's pricing page on November 9, 2026: Support Team $19 an agent a month on annual billing ($25 monthly), Suite Team $55 ($69), Suite Professional $115 ($149), Suite Enterprise by quote. Copilot is $50 an agent a month extra. AI agents include 5 to 15 automated resolutions per agent a month, then $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go.

What changed in Zendesk's automated resolution billing in May 2026?

On May 18, 2026 Zendesk introduced resolution tiers. Assisted escalations and contained resolutions do not count against your allowance; only verified resolutions, confirmed by an LLM check, do. Accounts on the older platform stay on it until they move to tiers.

Is there a free alternative to Zendesk?

Yes. Help Scout has a free plan for 5 users and one inbox, Zoho Desk a free edition for 3 users, HubSpot free tools for 2 users, and Chatwoot a free cloud plan for 2 agents. FreeScout and Chatwoot can be self-hosted at no license cost.

Which Zendesk alternative is cheapest for a 5-agent team with an AI agent?

On published prices for 5 agents and 500 AI resolutions a month, Front Starter with Autopilot comes to about $320 (one channel type, starting rate), Freshdesk Growth with Freddy about $340, Richpanel about $445 and Help Scout about $500, against $987.50 on Zendesk Suite Team.

Did Salesforce buy Intercom Fin?

Salesforce signed an agreement on June 15, 2026 to buy Fin, formerly Intercom, for about $3.6 billion and said it expected the deal to close in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2027. We did not find a closing announcement on November 9, 2026. Fin's prices are unchanged at $0.99 per outcome.