Help ScoutBest overall for small teams
Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS with 2 Docs sites, 150 workflows and an SLA policy on Standard at $25 per user billed yearly; AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution.
Help desk and live chat software
A help desk is software that collects customer emails, chats and messages into one shared inbox with tickets and a knowledge base; live chat adds a widget on your site. These help desk & live chat reviews compare nine tools on the plan a team needs, AI costs and yearly totals.
FreshdeskBest value with SLAs and AI
Omni Growth includes chat, messaging, SLA management and automations for $29 per agent billed yearly, and Freddy AI Agent costs $245 a month at 500 sessions.
IntercomBest AI agent
Fin is the most developed AI agent here, at $0.99 per outcome; workflows need Advanced at $85 per seat billed yearly. Salesforce now owns the company.
ZendeskBest for multichannel and phone support
Email, chat, social, WhatsApp and voice from Suite Team at $55 per agent billed yearly; SLAs and up to 5 help centers on Professional at $115.
Zoho DeskBest budget help desk
Free for 3 users; live chat, WhatsApp and a knowledge base on Standard at $14 per agent billed yearly and telephony on Professional at $23.
HubSpot CRMBest for HubSpot CRM users
Tickets on the same CRM records as deals, a free plan for 2 users and AI at $0.50 per resolution; the knowledge base and SLAs need Professional plus $1,500 onboarding.
GorgiasBest for Shopify stores
Refunds, cancellations and order edits inside the ticket, priced by tickets not seats: $50 a month billed yearly for 300 tickets, $300 for 2,000.
LiveChatBest for chat-led sales
A polished chat console with proactive campaigns and AI billed only on resolutions; Essential $19 and Growth $79 per user billed yearly.
TidioBest free live chat
A free plan with 10 seats, 50 conversations a month and WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger; Lyro AI from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations.
Compare side by side
Every score and price in one table. Select a column to sort. Prices are US list prices; hover a price for the full terms.
| Help Scout | 8.4 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 7.8 | $25 per user a month | Yes | 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshdesk | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.0 | $19 per agent a month | Yes | – |
| Intercom | 8.1 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.3 | $29 per seat a month | – | – |
| Zendesk | 8.0 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 9.4 | $19 per agent a month | – | – |
| Zoho Desk | 7.9 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 6.4 | 7.2 | $7 per agent a month | Yes | – |
| HubSpot CRM | 7.8 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.8 | Service Hub Professional $90/seat/mo | Yes | – |
| Gorgias | 7.7 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 9.0 | $10 a month | – | – |
| LiveChat | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | $19 per user a month | – | – |
| Tidio | 7.4 | 7.8 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 6.4 | 8.8 | 7.2 | $24.17 a month | Yes | – |
What does a help desk do that a shared inbox can’t?
It assigns every conversation an owner, a status and a deadline, so two agents don’t answer the same customer and nobody’s message sits unanswered over a long weekend. It also hosts a knowledge base. That’s the real upgrade.
Live chat, WhatsApp and an AI agent sit on top. When you add each one, the bill changes.
Which help desk fits your team?
Pick by channel first. Then check the AI price. At volume, it outruns seats. Don’t bother with a phone-first suite if nobody on your team takes calls.
| If your support… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Is mostly email and chat, team of 2 to 25 | Help Scout | Email, chat, WhatsApp, SMS and 2 Docs sites on Standard at $25 per user billed yearly |
| Needs SLAs on a budget | Freshdesk | SLA management and chat on Omni Growth at $29 per agent |
| Leans on an AI agent | Intercom | Fin, billed at $0.99 per outcome |
| Includes phone calls | Zendesk | Voice, social and WhatsApp from Suite Team at $55 per agent |
| Runs a Shopify store | Gorgias | Refunds and order edits inside the ticket, priced per ticket |
| Has almost no budget | Zoho Desk | Free for 3 users; chat on Standard at $14 |
Our Help Scout review has the detail.
When is a help desk overkill?
One person answering a handful of emails a day? Skip it. In practice, a shared Gmail label works.
If you’ve outgrown it, don’t pay straight away. Help Scout is free for up to 5 users without chat, Zoho Desk free for 3, and Tidio’s free plan covers 10 seats and 50 chats a month.
What does AI support really cost per month?
AI agents bill per resolution, outcome or session. The units differ. Here’s what 500 AI-handled conversations a month cost.
| Tool | Billed per | Cost at 500 a month |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Service Hub | Resolved conversation | $220 |
| Freshdesk | Session | $245 |
| LiveChat | Resolution | $297 |
| Help Scout | Resolution, $0.75 each | $375 |
| Intercom | Outcome, $0.99 each (Fin pricing) | $495 |
| Gorgias | Automated interaction | $636 |
Three more traps catch buyers. Most people miss the middle one, because caps rarely appear in the comparison grid on a vendor’s homepage.
- Plan gates. Zendesk keeps SLAs for Professional at $115 per agent (Zendesk pricing). Don’t forget its WhatsApp and phone fees, billed separately.
- Hidden caps. Help Scout Standard stops at 25 users. LiveChat Essential keeps 60 days of history.
- Onboarding. HubSpot’s knowledge base needs Professional, plus a $1,500 setup fee.
Thin knowledge base? Skip the AI agent for now. It answers mostly from what you’ve written, and a confident wrong answer costs you a frustrated customer.
How should you read our help desk & live chat reviews and scores?
Total cost carries 25% of every research score, channels with the knowledge base and AI pricing take 20% each, and the remaining weight covers automation, ease of setup and integrations such as Shopify.
In practice, the scores separate on the plan a team actually needs, not the cheapest headline tier: the cheapest plan with chat, a help center and automation, priced for 3 and 10 agents, mostly from vendors’ own pricing pages such as Help Scout’s. This category sits in our sales and support section, next to CRMs.
How we score help desks and live chat tools
Every product here is scored 0 to 10 on the same criteria, using published evidence. The overall score is the weighted average.
Price & total costPer-agent (or per-ticket) price on monthly and yearly billing, free plan limits, onboarding fees, and a worked yearly cost for a 3-agent and a 10-agent team on the cheapest plan with live chat, a knowledge base and automation.weight25%
Channels & knowledge baseEmail, live chat, social, WhatsApp, SMS and phone by plan, which are add-ons or integrations, and how many knowledge bases or help centers each plan includes.weight20%
AI agent & AI pricingHow the AI agent is billed (resolution, outcome, session or conversation), included allowances, the real monthly cost at 500 AI resolutions, and agent-side AI add-ons.weight20%
Automation, SLAs & routingWorkflow and rule limits, SLA policies, business hours, round-robin and skills-based routing, and the plan where each starts.weight15%
Ease of use & setupHow quickly a small team can set up and work in the tool, trial length and terms, mobile and desktop apps, and how much admin it needs.weight10%
Integrations, ecommerce & reportingShopify and other ecommerce actions in the ticket, CRM links, marketplace size, and custom reporting by plan.weight10%
Questions people ask
How much does a help desk cost for a small team?
For 3 agents on a plan with live chat and a knowledge base, a year runs from $504 on Zoho Desk Standard to $900 on Help Scout Standard and $1,980 on Zendesk Suite Team. AI agents bill on top: from $220 a month at HubSpot to over $700 at Zendesk for 500 resolutions.
Is there a free help desk with live chat?
Yes, with limits. Tidio's free plan covers 10 seats and 50 chat conversations a month, and Zoho Desk is free for 3 users. Help Scout's free plan supports 5 users but leaves out live chat, which needs Standard at $25 per user billed yearly.
Are AI support agents worth paying for?
Only once your knowledge base answers most common questions. AI agents answer from your articles, and they bill per resolution: $0.75 at Help Scout, $0.99 per outcome at Intercom. That's $375 to $495 a month at 500. When you decide, weigh it against hours spent on repeat questions.