Zendesk alternatives

The best Zendesk alternatives

Zendesk is built for large support operations: routing, phone and messaging in one place. If your team is smaller, or most questions are already answered in your docs, one of these may fit better.

Try AskBase on your help centrePaste its address and see the AI answer from your articles. Free.

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At a glance

Zendesk first, for reference, then the alternatives.

  • Zendesk

    Large support teams that need ticket routing, phone and messaging in one place.

    Help centre
    An AI knowledge base on Suite plans.
    How the AI answers
    AI agents resolve requests or escalate them to a person, with an AI action builder, on Suite plans.
    Inbox and channels
    Email ticketing with routing and automations from Support Team; messaging, live chat and phone on Suite plans.
    Starting price
    From $19 per agent a month, billed annually; AI agents from $55.

  • AskBase

    Teams who want a help centre customers can read, an AI that answers from it, and a shared inbox for the rest.

    Help centre
    Published on every plan, on your own domain from $29. Each article is for everyone, the AI only, or your team.
    How the AI answers
    Only from your published articles, linking the ones it used. When they don't cover a question, it says so and offers your team. A person approves every AI draft.
    Inbox and channels
    Shared inbox for support email from $29. No live chat, phone or messaging apps.
    Starting price
    Free; paid plans from $29 a month for the whole team.

  • Freshdesk

    Teams that want a full ticketing help desk with a customer portal and knowledge base.

    Help centre
    Customer portal and knowledge base on every plan.
    How the AI answers
    Freddy AI Agent answers customers; Freddy AI Copilot (an add-on) helps agents reply.
    Inbox and channels
    Ticketing and shared inbox on every plan; multilingual help desk and intelligent routing from Pro.
    Starting price
    From $19 per agent a month, billed annually.

  • Help Scout

    Small and mid-sized teams who want one shared inbox across email, chat and messaging apps.

    Help centre
    Docs sites: 1 on Free, up to 5 by plan, more at $20 a month each.
    How the AI answers
    AI Answers (an add-on) answers from your website or other sources you add, with your team a click away.
    Inbox and channels
    Shared inbox on every plan; live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger from Standard.
    Starting price
    Free for up to 5 users; paid from $25 per user a month, billed annually.

  • Intercom

    Teams built around live chat, who want an AI agent that can also carry out workflows.

    Help centre
    A public help center on every plan; private and multilingual from Advanced.
    How the AI answers
    Fin answers customers and can complete workflows (Procedures), handing over to a person when asked.
    Inbox and channels
    Messenger live chat, shared inbox and ticketing on every plan; WhatsApp and SMS charged per use.
    Starting price
    From $29 per seat a month, billed annually, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome.

  • Crisp

    Small businesses whose support happens in live chat and messaging apps.

    Help centre
    From Essentials: your own domain, multiple languages, sitemap and SEO settings.
    How the AI answers
    An AI chatbot built with a no-code workflow builder; an AI agent trained on your data on Plus.
    Inbox and channels
    Live chat and shared inbox on Free; WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, Line and Viber from Essentials.
    Starting price
    Free; paid from $45 a month per workspace.

From each tool's own pricing page, checked 15 October 2026; each entry below links to its source. Per seat, per user and per agent mean for each person on your team.

Why teams look for a Zendesk alternative

More tool than a small team uses

Skills-based routing, IVR call trees and omnichannel messaging serve big teams well. A team of three answering email may never touch them.

A help centre at the centre

Some teams want their help centre to do the first round of answering: an AI that works only from the published articles, links them, and says when they don't cover a question.

AI on the bigger plans

Zendesk's AI agents and AI knowledge base come with Suite plans, from $55 per agent a month billed annually. Smaller teams look for AI in the plan they'd actually use.

Keeping articles current

Teams want to see which questions their articles don't answer, and get the missing ones drafted for someone to approve.

The alternatives

We make AskBase, so it's first. The rest are in no particular order. Each says who it suits, what it's good at and what to weigh.

  1. 1

    AskBase

    Teams who want a help centre customers can read, an AI that answers from it, and a shared inbox for the rest.

    Good at

    • A real, published help centre that customers, search engines and the AI all read
    • Answers only from your articles, links its sources, and says “I couldn’t find that” rather than guessing
    • Drafts what's missing from your website, your current help centre or your documents (PDF, Word, Markdown); a person approves every draft
    • Content gaps: the questions it couldn't answer, grouped by meaning and ranked by how often they're asked
    • Import any public help centre by pasting its address; on your domain, every article keeps its address
    • A shared inbox for the questions the AI hands over, with team members and AI answers included in each plan

    Worth weighing

    • No live chat: the chat on your site is the AI, with “Email a person” beside it
    • Email is the only inbox channel: no phone, SMS or messaging apps
    • No SLAs, priorities or automation rules yet
    • The AI answers questions; it doesn't take actions in other systems
    • The Free plan is for one person, without your own domain
    Help centre
    Published on every plan, on your own domain from $29. Each article is for everyone, the AI only, or your team.
    How the AI answers
    Only from your published articles, linking the ones it used. When they don't cover a question, it says so and offers your team. A person approves every AI draft.
    Inbox and channels
    Shared inbox for support email from $29. No live chat, phone or messaging apps.
    Price
    Free, then $29, $79 or $199 a month, with 1, 3, 10 or 25 team members included.
    How the AI is charged
    Included in the plan: 50, 750, 3,000 or 10,000 AI answers a month. No fee per answer or per resolution.

    From the AskBase pricing page, checked 15 October 2026.

  2. 2

    Freshdesk

    Teams that want a full ticketing help desk with a customer portal and knowledge base.

    Good at

    • Ticketing, shared inbox, customer portal and knowledge base from the first plan
    • Multilingual help desk, intelligent routing and multiple SLA policies on Pro
    • Skill-based routing, sandbox and audit logs on Enterprise

    Worth weighing

    • Priced per agent; AI Agent sessions beyond the first 500 are billed per 100
    • Copilot for agents is a separate add-on
    Help centre
    Customer portal and knowledge base on every plan.
    How the AI answers
    Freddy AI Agent answers customers; Freddy AI Copilot (an add-on) helps agents reply.
    Inbox and channels
    Ticketing and shared inbox on every plan; multilingual help desk and intelligent routing from Pro.
    Price
    Growth $19, Pro $55, Enterprise $89 per agent a month, billed annually (20% less than monthly).
    How the AI is charged
    Freddy AI Agent: first 500 sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. Freddy AI Copilot is $29 per agent a month.

    From the Freshdesk pricing page, checked 15 October 2026.

  3. 3

    Help Scout

    Small and mid-sized teams who want one shared inbox across email, chat and messaging apps.

    Good at

    • One inbox for email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
    • Docs sites alongside the inbox, with several knowledge bases from Standard
    • Basic workflows and an SLA policy from Standard; advanced workflows on Plus
    • Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations and unlimited AI Drafts on Plus

    Worth weighing

    • The AI is an add-on, charged per resolution on top of a per-user plan
    • The free plan allows 100 contacts a month
    Help centre
    Docs sites: 1 on Free, up to 5 by plan, more at $20 a month each.
    How the AI answers
    AI Answers (an add-on) answers from your website or other sources you add, with your team a click away.
    Inbox and channels
    Shared inbox on every plan; live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger from Standard.
    Price
    Free for up to 5 users. Standard $25, Plus $45, Pro $75 per user a month, billed annually (monthly billing costs more).
    How the AI is charged
    AI Answers add-on: $0.75 per resolution, billed monthly, with a 3-month free trial and a monthly spending cap.

    From the Help Scout pricing page, checked 15 October 2026.

  4. 4

    Intercom

    Teams built around live chat, who want an AI agent that can also carry out workflows.

    Good at

    • Live chat, shared inbox, ticketing and a help center in one product
    • Fin can carry out workflows (Procedures), not only answer questions
    • Fin also works with other helpdesks, such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk
    • Workflow automation and round robin assignment from Advanced; SSO, HIPAA support and SLAs on Expert

    Worth weighing

    • Cost grows with seats and with every Fin outcome
    • Product tours, checklists and surveys are a separate add-on
    Help centre
    A public help center on every plan; private and multilingual from Advanced.
    How the AI answers
    Fin answers customers and can complete workflows (Procedures), handing over to a person when asked.
    Inbox and channels
    Messenger live chat, shared inbox and ticketing on every plan; WhatsApp and SMS charged per use.
    Price
    Essential $29, Advanced $85, Expert $132 per seat a month, billed annually. 14-day free trial.
    How the AI is charged
    Fin AI Agent: $0.99 per outcome, at most once per conversation. No charge if Fin can't answer or the customer asks for a person.

    From the Intercom pricing page, checked 15 October 2026.

  5. 5

    Crisp

    Small businesses whose support happens in live chat and messaging apps.

    Good at

    • Website live chat and a shared inbox, even on the free plan
    • WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, Line and Viber in one inbox from Essentials
    • A no-code workflow builder for chat flows
    • A flat price per workspace, with 4 to 20+ seats included on paid plans

    Worth weighing

    • The help center starts at Essentials
    • AI is measured in credits, estimated in automated conversations
    Help centre
    From Essentials: your own domain, multiple languages, sitemap and SEO settings.
    How the AI answers
    An AI chatbot built with a no-code workflow builder; an AI agent trained on your data on Plus.
    Inbox and channels
    Live chat and shared inbox on Free; WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, Line and Viber from Essentials.
    Price
    Free with 2 seats, then Mini $45, Essentials $95, Plus $295 a month per workspace. Extra agents $10 a month.
    How the AI is charged
    AI credits included: $5 on Mini (around 90 automated conversations), $25 on Essentials (around 450), $75 on Plus (around 1,350). None on Free.

    From the Crisp pricing page, checked 15 October 2026.

Which one to choose

For a large ticketing operation with phone support, Zendesk is hard to beat, and we'd say so.

  • A help centre that answers people, an AI that works only from it, and a shared inbox for a small team: AskBase
  • A full ticketing help desk with SLAs and a customer portal: Freshdesk
  • One shared inbox across email, chat and messaging apps: Help Scout
  • Live chat with an AI agent that carries out workflows: Intercom
  • Live chat and messaging apps for a small business: Crisp
  • Skills-based routing, phone and messaging for a big team: stay with Zendesk

Questions people ask

What's the best Zendesk alternative for a small business?
If you need a full help desk, Freshdesk and Help Scout are the closest. If your team is small and most questions are answered in your docs, AskBase gives you a help centre, an AI that answers only from it, and a shared inbox for the rest.
Is there a Zendesk alternative that's simpler to set up?
AskBase is set up in an afternoon: import your help centre by pasting its address, paste one line of code for the AI chat, and forward your support email. It does less than Zendesk: no phone, live chat or automation rules.
How is Zendesk priced?
Zendesk's pricing page lists Support Team at $19, Suite Team at $55 and Suite Professional at $115 per agent a month, billed annually. AI agents are on Suite plans and billed in automated resolutions beyond an allowance. We checked it on 15 October 2026.
Can I move my Zendesk help centre to AskBase?
If it's public, yes. Paste its address and AskBase imports the articles. Point your domain at AskBase and each article keeps its address.
Does AskBase do ticketing?
For email, yes: every message to your support address becomes a conversation with an owner and a status, with internal notes and saved replies. There are no SLAs, priorities or automation rules yet.

More comparisons

See your help centre in AskBase

Paste its address and have the AI answering from your articles this afternoon.