The best Freshdesk alternative depends on why you are leaving. Zendesk is the closest like-for-like replacement. Zoho Desk is the lowest-priced paid ticketing suite and still has a free plan. Help Scout suits teams that mostly answer email and want less setup. Gorgias fits Shopify stores, FreeScout is the free self-hosted route, and Conecto fits teams that want chat, AI answers and email in one inbox at a fixed workspace price.
We picked the ten alternatives to Freshdesk below by checking what a five-agent team would pay, how each one bills for AI, which channels it covers and what a Freshdesk team would lose or gain by moving. Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page.
Quick picks
- Closest to Freshdesk: Zendesk
- Lowest-priced full help desk: Zoho Desk
- Best for email-first teams: Help Scout
- Best inside Gmail: Hiver
- Best for Shopify stores: Gorgias
- Best free option: FreeScout (self-hosted), or Zoho Desk Free for up to three agents
- Best for chat, AI and email at one price: Conecto
Freshdesk alternatives at a glance
The paid starting point is the cheapest plan that can reasonably replace Freshdesk Growth for the stated use case. Annual prices are marked because monthly billing usually costs more.
| Alternative | Best for | Free plan | Paid starting point | Billing unit | AI pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | Like-for-like replacement | No, trial only | Support Team, $19 per agent monthly, annual billing | Agent | Automated resolution allowances; Copilot $50 per agent |
| Zoho Desk | Lowest-priced ticketing suite | Yes, 3 users | Standard, €14 per user monthly, annual billing (EU page) | User | Zia on Professional; bring-your-own-key AI from Express |
| Help Scout | Email-first support | Yes, 5 users | Standard, $25 per user monthly, annual billing | User | $0.75 per AI resolution |
| Front | Shared email inbox at scale | No, trial only | Starter, $25 per seat monthly, annual billing | Seat | Autopilot and Copilot add-ons |
| Hiver | Support inside Gmail | No, 7-day trial | Growth, $25 per user monthly, annual billing | User | AI agents listed on every plan |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Teams already on HubSpot CRM | Yes, 2 users | Starter, $20 per seat monthly list price | Seat | Credits; Customer Agent needs Professional |
| Gorgias | Shopify and ecommerce support | No, trial only | Basic, $60 monthly for 300 tickets | Tickets, not agents | $0.85 to $1.00 per automated interaction |
| Intercom | AI-first messenger support | No, 14-day trial | Essential, $29 per seat monthly, annual billing | Seat | $0.99 per Fin outcome |
| Conecto | Chat, AI and email in one workspace | Yes, 2 seats | Lite, $25 monthly for 4 seats | Workspace | Metered USD credits, $5 included on Lite |
| FreeScout | Free self-hosted help desk | Yes, open source | $0 license, paid modules optional | Your server | Optional AI modules |
What Freshdesk costs in 2026, and why teams leave
Freshdesk Growth costs $19 per agent per month on annual billing. It includes ticketing and a shared inbox, a customer portal and knowledge base, standard reporting, and the first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions. Pro costs $55 per agent and Enterprise costs $89, both billed annually. Freshdesk's current pricing page offers a 14-day trial and does not list a free plan. Freshworks publishes the plan details.
Three costs grow faster than the Growth price suggests. Several features that growing teams ask for, including multiple SLA policies, custom dashboards, intelligent routing and a multilingual help desk, start on Pro, so five agents go from $95 to $275 a month. After the included sessions, Freddy AI Agent costs $49 per 100 sessions, and Freddy AI Copilot is a $29 per-agent add-on on Pro and Enterprise. Occasional agents need day passes, priced from $2 on Growth to $12 on Enterprise.
Freshdesk Growth is not expensive by itself. Per agent, it sits at the low end of this list. Zendesk Support Team costs the same, Zoho Desk's lower editions cost less, and most other per-seat plans here start between $20 and $29. The useful question is which plan you would need in a year, and what you will pay for AI at your real volume. If your team is happy on Growth and uses little AI, moving may cost more than it saves.
Base monthly cost for five agents on the plan that replaces Freshdesk Growth, before AI usage and add-ons.
1. Zendesk: closest like-for-like replacement
Zendesk is the closest match for a team that wants Freshdesk's structure with more depth. It has tickets, views, triggers, macros, a help center and mature routing, and most Freshdesk admins will recognize the concepts. Support Team costs $19 per agent monthly on annual billing and covers email ticketing. Suite Team adds messaging, live chat, a knowledge base and voice for $55 per agent on annual billing, or $69 month to month. Zendesk has a trial and no free plan. Zendesk lists the plans.
AI agents draw on automated resolution allowances that vary by plan, and Copilot is a separate $50 per-agent add-on on annual billing. Zendesk documents how automated resolutions are counted.
Choose Zendesk when Freshdesk feels too limited and budget is not the main reason you are moving. Five agents on Suite Team cost $275 a month before AI. Our Conecto vs Zendesk comparison covers the trade in more detail.
2. Zoho Desk: lowest-priced full ticketing suite
Zoho Desk is the cheapest way to keep a traditional ticketing help desk with departments, blueprints and multi-channel support. Its free plan covers three users with email ticketing. Paid editions are Express, Standard, Professional and Enterprise, billed per user. Zoho shows prices by region; its European page lists Standard at €14 and Professional at €23 per user per month on annual billing. Check the Zoho Desk pricing page for the price in your currency.
Standard adds instant messaging, a knowledge base, a community forum and CSAT surveys. Professional adds telephony, Zia AI, round-robin assignment, multiple departments and a multilingual help center. Enterprise adds live chat through Zoho SalesIQ and skill-based routing.
The tradeoff is the interface and the setup work. Zoho Desk does a lot, and it fits best when you already use other Zoho apps or have someone who will own the configuration.
3. Help Scout: best for email-first teams
Help Scout suits a team whose support work is mostly email and that wants a calmer, simpler tool than Freshdesk. Its free plan covers five users, one Inbox, one Docs site and 100 contacts a month. Standard costs $25 per user monthly on annual billing or $30 month to month, supports up to 25 users and includes two Inboxes, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Help Scout lists the plans.
AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution, and a customer asking for a person does not count. Help Scout explains how AI resolutions are billed.
Help Scout has fewer admin controls than Freshdesk. Teams that rely on advanced workflows or more than one SLA policy should compare its Plus plan, at $45 per user on annual billing.
4. Front: best shared inbox for email-heavy teams
Front treats support as shared email with assignment, comments and rules, so it suits teams that also handle sales, operations or account work in the same inbox. Starter costs $25 per seat monthly on annual billing, allows up to 10 seats and covers a single channel type. Professional costs $65 per seat and adds omnichannel support (email, SMS, social and WhatsApp), macros and more automation rules. Enterprise costs $105 per seat. Front publishes the plans.
AI Autopilot and AI Copilot are sold as add-ons, so budget for them separately if you want automated replies.
Front is strongest when email collaboration matters more than a customer portal or ticket forms. Five seats on Starter cost $125 a month, but adding chat or social channels moves you to Professional.
5. Hiver: best help desk inside Gmail
Hiver turns a Gmail inbox into a help desk with assignment, notes, ticket statuses and reporting. It suits small teams that already live in Google Workspace and do not want to move agents into a separate app. Hiver also sells a standalone version called Hiver Omni at the same prices. Growth costs $25 per user monthly on annual billing and includes shared inbox ticketing, a help center, rule-based automations, AI agents and AI Copilot. Pro costs $55 and adds a customer portal, SLAs and CSAT surveys. There is a 7-day trial. Hiver lists the plans.
The Gmail version is the reason to choose Hiver. If your team is happy to work in a dedicated tool, compare Hiver Omni against the other help desks here at the same price. Confirm how AI agent usage is billed before you rely on it, because the pricing page lists AI agents on every plan without a usage price.
6. HubSpot Service Hub: best for teams already on HubSpot
HubSpot Service Hub makes sense when your customer records, deals and marketing already live in HubSpot. Tickets attach to the same contacts and companies the rest of the business uses. The free plan supports two users with a shared inbox, live chat and basic tickets. Starter has a $20 per-seat monthly list price, although the pricing page often shows a lower promotional price. HubSpot publishes the tiers.
Professional costs $90 per seat monthly on annual billing or $100 month to month, includes 3,000 HubSpot credits and requires a $1,500 onboarding fee. The Customer Agent, HubSpot's AI agent, needs Professional or Enterprise.
Five Starter seats cost $100 a month. The jump to Professional is large, so pick HubSpot when the CRM connection is the main reason to move.
7. Gorgias: best for Shopify and ecommerce support
Gorgias is built for online stores. It pulls Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce order data into each ticket, so agents see the customer's orders and can act on them without leaving the conversation. It charges by monthly ticket volume, not by agent. Basic costs $60 a month on monthly billing, or $50 a month on annual billing, for 300 tickets. Pro costs $360 a month for 2,000 tickets. A Starter plan costs $10 a month for 50 tickets and three user seats. Gorgias lists the plans.
The AI Agent costs $0.85 to $1.00 per automated interaction depending on the plan, and it is available on every plan.
Gorgias is the clear pick for a Shopify brand and a poor fit for most other businesses. Ticket-based pricing helps a large team with a steady volume, but seasonal peaks raise the bill through overage charges.
8. Intercom: best for AI-first messenger support
Intercom suits teams that want chat and an AI agent at the center of support rather than email tickets. Fin is its AI agent. Essential costs $29 per seat monthly on annual billing and includes the Messenger, a shared inbox, tickets and a public help center. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome. There is a 14-day trial and no free plan. Intercom publishes the plan details.
Five Essential seats cost $145 a month before Fin outcomes. Intercom is a bigger change for a Freshdesk team than Zendesk or Zoho Desk, because the workflow starts in the Messenger. Our guide to Intercom alternatives for small business explains how Fin outcomes compare with other AI billing units.
9. Conecto: best for chat, AI and email at one workspace price
Conecto fits teams that want website chat, AI answers and email in one inbox without per-agent pricing. You pay per workspace. The free plan covers two seats, a chat widget, a shared inbox, a help center and 100 CRM contacts. Lite costs $25 a month for four seats and $5 of AI credits. Scale costs $65 a month for 10 seats and $15 of credits. Conecto's pricing page shows every limit.
You can connect an existing support mailbox over IMAP and SMTP, so customer emails arrive in the same inbox as chat. On paid plans the AI support agent can answer chat and email from your knowledge, show the sources behind each answer and hand off to a person with the conversation attached. Tickets with priorities and categories, branded email replies and round-robin team routing start on Lite. AI usage draws from a visible USD budget with a per-reply ledger instead of sessions or outcomes.
Conecto does not offer Freshdesk-style SLA policies or a customer portal. Teams that depend on detailed SLA policies should look at Zendesk or Zoho Desk first. Five agents need the $65 Scale plan, because Lite stops at four seats.
10. FreeScout: best free self-hosted help desk
FreeScout is free, open-source help desk software with a shared mailbox, assignment and private notes. It runs on your own server and is built with PHP and Laravel, so ordinary web hosting can run it. The core is free. A knowledge base, workflows, satisfaction ratings, live chat and AI integration come as paid modules, each sold as a lifetime license for one installation. FreeScout lists the modules.
If you do not want to manage a server, FreeScout's documentation lists managed hosting providers starting at about $3 a month. See the hosting options.
The cost is your time. Someone has to install updates, run backups and handle email deliverability. FreeScout suits a technical team that wants control and a zero license bill.
Five-agent cost comparison
This table models five agents on the plan that replaces Freshdesk Growth. It uses public list prices and excludes AI usage, taxes and add-ons unless stated.
| Product and plan | Five-agent base cost | Billing basis | AI in this figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freshdesk Growth | $95 monthly equivalent | $19 per agent, annual billing | First 500 Freddy sessions included |
| Freshdesk Pro | $275 monthly equivalent | $55 per agent, annual billing | First 500 Freddy sessions included |
| Zendesk Support Team | $95 monthly equivalent | $19 per agent, annual billing | Email ticketing only; AI excluded |
| Zendesk Suite Team | $275 monthly equivalent | $55 per agent, annual billing | Resolution allowances; Copilot excluded |
| Zoho Desk Standard | €70 monthly equivalent | €14 per user, annual billing (EU page) | Zia not included on Standard |
| Help Scout Standard | $125 monthly equivalent or $150 monthly | $25 per user annual, $30 monthly | AI Answers excluded |
| Front Starter | $125 monthly equivalent | $25 per seat, annual billing, one channel type | AI add-ons excluded |
| Hiver Growth | $125 monthly equivalent | $25 per user, annual billing | AI agents listed, usage price not published |
| HubSpot Service Hub Starter | $100 monthly | $20 per seat list price | Customer Agent unavailable on Starter |
| Gorgias Basic | $60 monthly or $50 annual | 300 tickets per month, not per agent | AI Agent interactions excluded |
| Intercom Essential | $145 monthly equivalent | $29 per seat, annual billing | Fin outcomes excluded |
| Conecto Scale | $65 monthly | Per workspace, 10 seats | $15 monthly AI credits included |
| FreeScout | $0 license | Your own server or managed hosting | Optional paid modules |
Treat the table as a starting budget. AI is where totals drift apart, because each vendor counts a different unit: Freddy sessions, Zendesk automated resolutions, Help Scout resolutions, Gorgias automated interactions, Intercom outcomes and Conecto USD credits. Take your last 90 days of tickets and estimate how many an AI agent could close without a person, then price that number in each vendor's own unit.
How to choose a Freshdesk alternative
Start with the reason you are leaving. It narrows the list faster than any feature grid.
If Freshdesk feels too limited
Move to a bigger suite. Zendesk Suite and Zoho Desk Professional give you deeper routing, telephony and reporting. Expect to pay more than Freshdesk Growth.
If Freshdesk feels too expensive
Price the plan you would actually need. If you are on Pro for routing or SLAs, Zoho Desk Professional and Help Scout Plus cost less per agent. If most of your volume is chat, Conecto's workspace pricing removes the per-agent multiplier. If you can run a server, FreeScout removes the license cost.
If Freshdesk feels too complicated
Help Scout, Hiver and Front are simpler to run day to day. They give up some admin depth in exchange for a tool agents can learn in an afternoon.
If you sell online
Gorgias is built around order data. A Shopify brand with a high ticket volume will usually get more from it than from a general help desk.
If you want AI to answer first
Compare how each AI agent hands off to a person, what it costs per answer and what happens when the budget runs out. Intercom, Zendesk and Conecto are the most AI-centered options here, and they bill in three different ways.
Start from the reason you are leaving Freshdesk, then compare the two or three tools on that branch.
How to move off Freshdesk without losing history
A help desk migration goes wrong when something quietly stops working after the switch. Use this checklist before you cancel.
- Export your data. Export tickets, contacts and companies from Freshdesk, plus knowledge base articles. Check that the new tool can import the format, and decide how much ticket history you need to keep.
- Rebuild canned responses. Copy your saved replies and macros. This is a good moment to rewrite the ones agents no longer use.
- List every automation. Write down each dispatch rule, SLA policy and time-based trigger, including the one that closes tickets with no reply. Our closing ticket due to no response templates help when you rebuild that workflow.
- Move email forwarding last. Point your support address at the new tool only after a test ticket goes in and a reply comes out with the right sender name.
- Redirect help center links. If your knowledge base lived on a Freshdesk domain, set up redirects so old article links in emails and search results still work.
- Run both tools for a week. Keep your Freshdesk account active, with no new email routed to it, so agents can look up old conversations while the new inbox fills.
The customer support email templates guide has ready replies for the first weeks, when customers notice a new sender address or ticket format.
Methodology and disclosure
We compared the ten products using public pricing pages and official help documentation, checked on October 8, 2026. Prices are shown in USD before tax and labeled when annual billing is required, except Zoho Desk, which showed only regional pricing to us and is quoted from its European page in euros. Trials are listed separately from permanent free plans.
For each product we looked at the cheapest plan that could replace Freshdesk Growth for its use case, the billing unit, the channels it covers, how it charges for AI, how it hands off to a person and the main limitation for a small team. We kept each vendor's AI unit intact because sessions, resolutions, outcomes, interactions and USD credits measure different things.
Our conclusions come from documentation, not hands-on testing of every product. Conecto publishes this article and appears in the list. No vendor paid for placement. Prices and packaging change often, so check the linked vendor pages before you buy.
Practical questions about Freshdesk alternatives
Does Freshdesk still have a free plan?
Freshdesk's pricing page, checked on October 8, 2026, lists Growth, Pro and Enterprise with a 14-day trial and does not show a free plan. If you need a free help desk, Zoho Desk Free covers three users, Help Scout's free plan covers five users with 100 contacts a month, and FreeScout is free to self-host.
What is the closest alternative to Freshdesk?
Of Freshdesk's direct competitors, Zendesk is the closest in structure. Tickets, views, triggers, macros and the help center work in a similar way. Zoho Desk is the closest at a similar price.
Is there a free alternative to Freshdesk?
Yes. FreeScout is free open-source software you host yourself. Zoho Desk, Help Scout, HubSpot Service Hub and Conecto have permanent free plans with limits on users, contacts or features.
Is Zendesk more expensive than Freshdesk?
At the entry level they cost the same. Zendesk Support Team and Freshdesk Growth are both $19 per agent on annual billing. Zendesk Suite Team, which adds chat, messaging and voice, costs $55 per agent, the same as Freshdesk Pro. AI costs differ, so compare them at your own volume.
What is the best Freshdesk alternative for a small team?
For an email-first team, Help Scout. For a team where most conversations start in website chat, Conecto, because the price stays the same as you add seats within a plan. For a team with no budget and some technical skill, FreeScout.
Make the shortlist from your real ticket queue
Pick two tools from the branch that matches your reason for leaving, then run a week of real tickets through both. Check how they handle email threading, handoff from AI to a person and the reports your manager asks for. If most of your support starts in website chat and you want AI with a visible budget, start with Conecto's free plan and connect your support mailbox to test both channels side by side.