Zendesk competitors: 12 Zendesk alternatives ranked by seat cost

Queue Bench benchmark desk October 8, 2026

The cheapest Zendesk competitors for a 25-agent team are Jira Service Management at $5,650 a year and Freshchat, Intercom and LiveChat at $5,700, against $16,500 for Zendesk Suite Team, all on annual billing. This list ranks 12 Zendesk alternatives on one metric, seat cost at 25 agents for the cheapest plan with email and live chat, and breaks ties on channel coverage. Vendors without a ranked 25-agent price come after the ranked ten, labelled. Prices are list prices as of 8 October 2026, from the October 2026 seat cost run.

Zendesk sits 9th of 11 on the seat cost leaderboard at 25 agents. Suite Team, the first Zendesk plan with messaging and live chat, is $55 per agent a month billed yearly or $69 billed monthly: $16,500 or $20,700 a year for 25 agents. Zendesk is tied 2nd of 33 on channel and language coverage with 9 native channels, and its AI agents are ranked on AI price per outcome at $1.50 per automated resolution on committed volume or $2.00 pay-as-you-go.

Why buyers look past Zendesk

Chat starts at the second plan. Support Team, at $19 a month billed yearly, is the email ticketing plan; messaging and live chat are listed from Suite Team at $55.
Most ranked alternatives cost less at 25 agents. Jira Service Management, Freshchat, Intercom, LiveChat, Help Scout, Hiver, Freshdesk and eDesk all come in under $16,500 a year; Front ($19,500) and HubSpot Service Hub ($27,000) cost more.
The lower AI rate needs a commitment. $1.50 per automated resolution applies to 100 or more resolutions bought ahead; pay-as-you-go is $2.00. Suite Team includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month, capped at 10,000 a year.
Resolution tiers carry no price on the page. Since 18 May 2026 Zendesk groups resolutions into tiers (assisted escalation, contained resolution, verified resolution), and zendesk.com/pricing still lists one price per automated resolution.
Three channels carry extra fees. SMS, WhatsApp and Slack are marked “Additional fees apply”, so they count as add-ons, not native channels.

Zendesk competitors at a glance

Seat cost is the yearly list price on annual billing for the cheapest plan with email and live chat. “n/r” marks a vendor with no ranked 25-agent price.

#	Vendor	Best for	Seat cost, 25 agents, a year	Seat cost rank	Native channels (of 12)	AI price	G2
1	Jira Service Management	The lowest seat bill at 25 and 100 agents	$5,650	1st	4	$1.00 per AI agent resolution	4.3 (986)
2	Freshchat	Chat and messaging teams that want to start free	$5,700	2=	8	$49 per 100 sessions	None on record
3	Intercom	AI billed per outcome on a low seat price	$5,700	2=	7	$0.99 per outcome	4.5 (3,918)
4	LiveChat	Chat-first teams with no seat cap	$5,700	2=	6	$49.50 per 50 AI resolutions	4.5 (813)
5	Help Scout	Email and chat teams that will stay at 25 agents or fewer	$7,500	5=	8	$0.75 per resolution	4.4 (431)
6	Hiver	A flat seat price with a published voice add-on	$7,500	5=	5	Not published	4.6 (1,292)
7	Freshdesk	A help center and community forum for less	$8,700	7th	7	$49 per 100 sessions	4.4 (3,777)
8	eDesk	Online sellers	$11,700	8th	5	$0.99 per outcome	4.5 (80)
9	Front	Omnichannel shared inboxes up to 50 seats	$19,500	10th	8	Quote only	4.7 (2,515)
10	HubSpot Service Hub	The lowest per-resolution AI price on this list	$27,000	11th	6	$0.50 per resolution	4.4 (3,018)
n/r	Zoho Desk	Matching Zendesk’s channel count	Not ranked (regional pricing)	n/r	9	Not published	4.4 (7,983)
n/r	Salesforce Service Cloud	Consumption-priced AI agents inside a CRM suite	Not ranked (conflicting plans)	n/r	3	$2 per conversation	4.4 (8,436)

How this list is ranked

Rank is seat cost at 25 agents: the list price of the cheapest plan that includes email and live chat, on annual billing, times 25 seats, for a year. Where that plan caps below 25 seats, the next plan up with a list price is used and named. Ties go to the vendor with more native channels out of the 12 counted on the October coverage run. A vendor whose pages conflict, or that publishes no comparable price, is listed after the ranked ten with the reason, never as zero. Zendesk itself is not ranked here. The shared rules for every leaderboard are on how we test.

Jira Service Management

$5,650/year Standard (Free covers email and chat for up to 3 agents only). Tiered per-age...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published)

the lowest seat bill at 25 and 100 agents

Jira Service Management is Atlassian's service desk, priced here for customer service use. Its Standard plan is tiered, so the price per agent falls as the team grows: $5,650 a year puts it 1st on seat cost at 25 agents, and $19,700 makes it 1st at 100 agents, against $66,000 for Zendesk Suite Team. The trade is coverage, with 4 native channels against Zendesk's 9. Its AI agent costs $1.00 per resolution with no minimum, below both Zendesk rates.

Watch for: Voice and SMS appear only as on-call alert notifications, so they earn no channel credit.

Freshchat

$5,700/year Growth for a paid row (Free covers email and chat for up to 10 agents at $0 a...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published)

chat and messaging teams that want to start free

Freshchat is the Freshworks live chat product, sold separately from Freshdesk. Growth is $19 an agent a month billed annually, so 25 agents cost $5,700 a year, tied 2nd on seat cost at 25 agents against $16,500 for Zendesk Suite Team. It takes the three-way tie at $5,700 on coverage, with 8 native channels including SMS and WhatsApp, both of which Zendesk sells as add-ons. A Free plan covers up to 10 agents with a chat widget, a shared inbox and connected email.

Watch for: Voice is an add-on and no help center is counted, two channels Zendesk includes natively.

Intercom

$5,700/year Essential

AI billed per outcome on a low seat price

Intercom pairs a helpdesk with Fin, its AI agent. Essential is $19 a seat a month billed annually and $29 billed monthly, so 25 agents cost $5,700 or $8,700 a year, tied 2nd on seat cost at 25 agents. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome, charged at most once per conversation, against Zendesk's $1.50 committed rate per automated resolution. The units differ: a Fin outcome also covers procedure handoffs, disqualifications and self-serve routing.

Watch for: Phone, SMS and WhatsApp are usage-based add-ons, and X and a community forum earn no channel credit.

LiveChat

$5,700/year Essential ($19 annual / $25 monthly per user; Inbox and ticketing system plus...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published)

chat-first teams with no seat cap

LiveChat's Essential plan bundles an inbox and ticketing system with live chat at $19 a user a month billed annually, $5,700 a year for 25 agents, tied 2nd on seat cost at 25 agents. Essential and Growth have no fixed user cap for self-service teams and no minimum team size. AI resolutions come in packs of 50 for $49.50 on top of the 10 a month Essential includes, and several questions in one chat count as one resolution.

Watch for: Voice earns no credit (LiveChat is not a phone system for voice calls), and SMS needs a separate Twilio account.

Help Scout

$7,500/year Standard

email and chat teams that will stay at 25 agents or fewer

Help Scout Standard costs $25 a user a month billed annually, $7,500 a year for 25 agents, tied 5th on seat cost at 25 agents against Zendesk Suite Team's $16,500. It wins the tie with Hiver on coverage, 8 native channels to 5. Standard stops at 25 users and Plus at 50, so a larger team moves to Pro at $75 a user, a Book a Demo plan. AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution, one charge per conversation, with a monthly spending cap available.

Watch for: At 100 agents Help Scout costs $90,000 a year on Pro, more than Zendesk Suite Team's $66,000.

Hiver

$7,500/year Hiver Omni Growth

a flat seat price with a published voice add-on

Hiver Omni Growth is $25 a user a month billed annually ($35 monthly), $7,500 a year for 25 agents, tied 5th, and $30,000 for 100 agents, 5th at that size where Zendesk is 8th. Voice and SMS sit in one add-on at $30 per voice seat a month with 1,000 minutes included, then $0.03 a minute. Zendesk bills voice usage beyond its plan allowances. Hiver lists AI agents on every plan without a price, so it is not ranked on AI price per outcome.

Watch for: Seats start at 2, then 5, then go up in steps of 5, and social networks are not named, so they earn no channel credit.

Freshdesk

$8,700/year Freshdesk Omni Growth

a help center and community forum for less

Freshdesk sells two lines: plain Freshdesk plans are email-led, and live chat is stated for Freshdesk Omni. The email plus chat basket starts at Omni Growth, $29 an agent a month billed annually, $8,700 a year for 25 agents and 7th on seat cost at 25 agents. Like Zendesk it counts a native help center and community forum, but phone is an add-on, and X and an in-app SDK earn no credit. Freddy AI Agent is billed per session, $49 per 100, whether or not the AI resolves the request.

Watch for: The 500 free AI sessions are one time per account, not monthly.

eDesk

$11,700/year Essential ($39 annual / $49 monthly per user; Email, Live Chat and Social mes...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published)

online sellers

eDesk tiers its plans by the number of online stores. Essential covers 1 online store or marketplace at $39 a user a month billed annually, $11,700 a year for 25 agents, 8th on seat cost at 25 agents. The AI Agent comes with every plan and costs $0.99 per outcome, charged once per ticket and never for doing nothing. Its 5 native channels lean on messaging: email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and X.

Watch for: Live chat, voice and the knowledge base carry "Additional fees may apply", so they count as add-ons.

Front

$19,500/year Professional

omnichannel shared inboxes up to 50 seats

Front's Starter plan covers one channel type, email or chat, so the email plus chat basket starts at Professional: $65 a seat a month billed annually, $19,500 a year for 25 agents, 10th on seat cost at 25 agents and above Zendesk. Professional caps at 50 seats, and 100 agents need Enterprise at $105 a seat, annual only, which is $126,000 a year. Front ties Help Scout and Freshchat on coverage with 8 native channels. Its G2 score, 4.7 from 2,515 reviews, is the highest on this list.

Watch for: Front publishes only a starting-at AI price with Talk to sales, so it is quote only on AI price per outcome; voice and SMS run through integrations.

HubSpot Service Hub

$27,000/year Professional

the lowest per-resolution AI price on this list

HubSpot Service Hub lists Starter at $20 a seat, but Starter caps at 10 users and the customer agent needs Professional or Enterprise. At 25 agents that means Professional at $90 a seat billed annually, $27,000 a year and last of 11 on seat cost at 25 agents. The customer agent costs $0.50 per resolution, against Zendesk's $1.50 committed rate, paid through HubSpot Credits that every HubSpot AI feature shares.

Watch for: Starter shows $7 and $10 prices as limited-time offers for new customers; the run uses the $20 list price.

Zoho Desk

Regional pricing only

matching Zendesk's channel count

Zoho Desk ties Zendesk on coverage with 9 native channels, tied 2nd of 33, and the two sets differ by one channel each: WhatsApp is native on Zoho Desk and voice is native on Zendesk. Zoho prices by region and currency, and this run has no settled US price for it, so Zoho Desk is not ranked on seat cost. No per-outcome AI price is published, so it is not ranked on AI price per outcome either.

Watch for: Phone runs through telephony integrations such as Twilio, Zoho Voice and Amazon Connect, and SMS is an outbound notification add-on.

Salesforce Service Cloud

Conflicting published prices

consumption-priced AI agents inside a CRM suite

Salesforce Service Cloud is not ranked on seat cost because salesforce.com does not settle which plan holds the email plus chat basket: Pro Suite names "Enhanced, Real-Time Chat" in its blurb, while the feature matrix prices Enhanced Messaging as an extra per-user charge. Agentforce is ranked on AI price per outcome at $2 per conversation, the same $2 the page also labels "Help Agent Resolutions". Coverage is 3 native channels, tied 31st, with most messaging channels sold as add-ons.

Watch for: The Salesforce pricing page does not define what ends a billable Agentforce conversation.

What the seat price leaves out

Seat cost is one line of the bill. AI usage is billed on top for every vendor here that prices it: per automated resolution on Zendesk, per outcome on Intercom and eDesk, per session on Freshdesk and Freshchat, per resolution on Help Scout, HubSpot Service Hub and Jira Service Management, and in packs of 50 on LiveChat. The AI price leaderboard groups those prices by unit, and the resolution rate guide sets out what each vendor counts. Add-on channels are the second line: Zendesk’s SMS, WhatsApp and Slack, Intercom’s phone, SMS and WhatsApp, and Hiver’s voice seat all sit outside the seat price. At 25 agents, monthly billing costs more than annual billing for every ranked vendor; on Zendesk Suite Team it is $20,700 a year against $16,500. For the wider field, the help desk software rankings and the ticketing software list use the same runs, and two head-to-heads go deeper: Zendesk vs Freshdesk and Zendesk vs Intercom.

Seat cost by team size

Yearly list prices on annual billing unless marked. Ranks in the first column follow the 25-agent order.

Rank	Vendor	5 agents	25 agents	100 agents	Native channels
1	Jira Service Management	$1,250	$5,650	$19,700	4
2	Freshchat	$1,140	$5,700	$22,800	8
3	Intercom	$1,140	$5,700	$22,800	7
4	LiveChat	$1,140	$5,700	$22,800	6
5	Help Scout	$1,500	$7,500	$90,000	8
6	Hiver	$1,500	$7,500	$30,000	5
7	Freshdesk	$1,740	$8,700	$34,800	7
8	eDesk	$2,340	$11,700	$46,800	5
9	Front	$3,900	$19,500	$126,000	8
10	HubSpot Service Hub	$1,200 (Starter list price)	$27,000	$108,000	6
n/r	Zoho Desk	Not ranked	Not ranked	Not ranked	9
n/r	Salesforce Service Cloud	Not ranked	Not ranked	Not ranked	3

The pick

On seat cost at 25 agents, Jira Service Management is the cheapest Zendesk alternative at $5,650 a year, for teams whose queue fits 4 native channels. Freshchat, Intercom and LiveChat tie at $5,700: Freshchat for the most channels of the three, Intercom for an AI agent billed per outcome, LiveChat for chat with no seat cap. Help Scout fits teams that will stay at 25 agents or fewer. Zoho Desk is the one alternative on this list that matches Zendesk’s 9 native channels, though its seat price is not ranked.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Zendesk alternative?

Ranked on seat cost at 25 agents, Jira Service Management comes first at $5,650 a year on annual billing, then Freshchat, Intercom and LiveChat tied at $5,700. For coverage close to Zendesk's, Zoho Desk matches its 9 native channels, and Help Scout, Front and Freshchat have 8.

How much does Zendesk cost for 25 agents?

Zendesk Suite Team, the first plan with messaging and live chat, is $55 per agent a month billed yearly or $69 billed monthly: $16,500 or $20,700 a year for 25 agents. That is 9th of 11 on seat cost at 25 agents.

Which Zendesk competitors cost less at 100 agents?

Jira Service Management ($19,700 a year), Freshchat, Intercom and LiveChat ($22,800 each), Hiver ($30,000), Freshdesk ($34,800) and eDesk ($46,800) all cost less than Zendesk Suite Team's $66,000 on annual billing. Help Scout, HubSpot Service Hub and Front cost more at that size.

Is Zendesk AI cheaper than Intercom Fin?

No on the printed price. Zendesk charges $1.50 per automated resolution on committed volume of 100 or more, or $2.00 pay-as-you-go; Intercom Fin charges $0.99 per outcome. The units differ: a Fin outcome also covers handoffs, disqualifications and self-serve routing, while a Zendesk automated resolution is a request resolved without escalation to a human.

Why are some Zendesk alternatives not ranked?

A vendor is ranked only on a published, comparable price. Zoho Desk is listed without a rank because Zoho prices by region and this run has no settled US price for it, and Salesforce Service Cloud because its pricing page conflicts on which plan includes chat. Neither is shown as zero.