Lower is better
Seat Cost Leaderboard
Seat cost sets the floor of any helpdesk budget, separate from AI usage fees. Queue Bench captures the cheapest plan that bundles email and live chat. Three team sizes: 5, 25 and 100 agents. AI resolution and add-on charges are recorded separately.
25 agents (USD/seat/year)
$5,650/year
Jira Service Management $5,700/year
Freshchat $5,700/year
Intercom $5,700/year
LiveChat $7,500/year
Help Scout
| Rank | Vendor | Value (USD/seat/year) | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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) | Pricing page |
| 2= | 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) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Intercom | $5,700/year | Essential | Pricing page |
| 2= | LiveChat | $5,700/year | Essential ($19 annual / $25 monthly per user; Inbox and ticketing system plus...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 5= | Help Scout | $7,500/year | Standard | Pricing page |
| 5= |  Hiver | $7,500/year | Hiver Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 7 |  Freshdesk | $8,700/year | Freshdesk Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 8 |  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) | Pricing page |
| 9 |  Zendesk | $16,500/year | Suite Team | Pricing page |
| 10 |  Front | $19,500/year | Professional | Pricing page |
| 11 |  HubSpot Service Hub | $27,000/year | Professional | Pricing page |
5 agents (USD/seat/year)
$290/year
Tidio $1,140/year
Crisp $1,140/year
Freshchat $1,140/year
Intercom $1,140/year
LiveChat | Rank | Vendor | Value (USD/seat/year) | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tidio | $290/year | Starter (Free is a separate $0 row with 50 conversations). Priced per workspa...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Crisp | $1,140/year | Essentials ($95/month per workspace, 10 seats included); monthly billing x12 (annual billing not published) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Freshchat | $1,140/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) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Intercom | $1,140/year | Essential | Pricing page |
| 2= | LiveChat | $1,140/year | Essential ($19 annual / $25 monthly per user; Inbox and ticketing system plus...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 6 | HubSpot Service Hub | $1,200/year | Starter | Pricing page |
| 7 | Jira Service Management | $1,250/year | Standard (Free covers email and chat for up to 3 agents only). Tiered per-age...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 8= | Help Scout | $1,500/year | Standard | Pricing page |
| 8= | Hiver | $1,500/year | Hiver Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 10 | Freshdesk | $1,740/year | Freshdesk Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 11 | eDesk | $2,340/year | Essential ($39 annual / $49 monthly per user; Email, Live Chat and Social mes...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 12 | Zendesk | $3,300/year | Suite Team | Pricing page |
| 13 | Front | $3,900/year | Professional | Pricing page |
100 agents (USD/seat/year)
$19,700/year
Jira Service Management $22,800/year
Freshchat $22,800/year
Intercom $22,800/year
LiveChat $30,000/year
Hiver | Rank | Vendor | Value (USD/seat/year) | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jira Service Management | $19,700/year | Standard (Free covers email and chat for up to 3 agents only). Tiered per-age...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Freshchat | $22,800/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) | Pricing page |
| 2= | Intercom | $22,800/year | Essential | Pricing page |
| 2= | LiveChat | $22,800/year | Essential ($19 annual / $25 monthly per user; Inbox and ticketing system plus...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 5 | Hiver | $30,000/year | Hiver Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 6 | Freshdesk | $34,800/year | Freshdesk Omni Growth | Pricing page |
| 7 | eDesk | $46,800/year | Essential ($39 annual / $49 monthly per user; Email, Live Chat and Social mes...; annualized from monthly billing (no annual plan published) | Pricing page |
| 8 | Zendesk | $66,000/year | Suite Team | Pricing page |
| 9 | Help Scout | $90,000/year | Plus ($75/seat/mo, annual billing; Standard capped below 100 seats) | Pricing page |
| 10 | HubSpot Service Hub | $108,000/year | Professional | Pricing page |
| 11 | Front | $126,000/year | Enterprise ($105/seat/mo, annual billing; Professional capped at 50 seats) | Pricing page |
Not ranked
| Vendor | Reason |
|---|---|
| Gorgias | No seat-based pricing model |
| Zoho Desk | Price varies by region |
| Kustomer | Quote only |
| Gladly | Quote only |
| HappyFox | No seat-based pricing model |
| Salesforce Service Cloud | Conflicting prices across sources |
| Tidio | No published price |
| Crisp | No published price |
| Richpanel | Conflicting prices across sources |
| Missive | No seat-based pricing model |
| Decagon | No seat-based pricing model |
| Sierra | No seat-based pricing model |
| Ada | No seat-based pricing model |
| Forethought | No seat-based pricing model |
| Netomi | No seat-based pricing model |
| Yuma AI | No seat-based pricing model |
| eesel AI | No seat-based pricing model |
| Lorikeet | No seat-based pricing model |
| Parloa | No seat-based pricing model |
| Cognigy | No seat-based pricing model |
| PolyAI | No seat-based pricing model |
| Maven AGI | No seat-based pricing model |
| Siena AI | No seat-based pricing model |
Methodology
Sample: 34 helpdesk and AI customer service vendors evaluated: 13 with published seat pricing (ranked), 16 AI-only (not applicable), 2 price on request, 2 conflicting data, 1 regional pricing unconfirmed. Crisp is ranked only at the 5-agent size; extra-seat pricing is not published.
The run read each vendor's public pricing page for per-agent seat pricing. The ranked value is the total yearly cost (annual billing) for the cheapest plan that includes both email and live chat support. Where only monthly billing is published, the yearly cost is monthly rate multiplied by 12 and noted. Three seat-count variants are tracked: 5, 25 and 100 agents. Where a plan caps seats below the variant count, the next qualifying plan is substituted and noted. AI-only vendors with no traditional seat model are recorded as not applicable.
Limitations: List prices are not negotiated rates. Add-on pricing (AI resolutions, voice, SMS) is not included in the seat cost. Monthly-billing vendors show annualized figures; no annual discount applies. Vendors change plans and prices without notice. AI-only vendors with no seat model are excluded from ranking.