The best Zendesk alternative depends on why you are leaving: Freshdesk and Zoho Desk cost less per agent, Help Scout suits small email-first teams, Intercom publishes every AI price, HubSpot Service Hub fits teams on HubSpot's CRM, and Gorgias fits ecommerce stores with many agents.
Zendesk remains one of the broadest help desks, with native phone, messaging, social channels and hosting in the US, the EU, the UK, Japan and Australia. Teams usually look elsewhere because of cost once AI is switched on, and because its AI-agent billing has become harder to predict. Each alternative below is costed with AI on in the tables further down.
Why teams look beyond Zendesk
- Copilot costs $50 per agent per month and must be bought for every agent seat on the account, not only the agents who use it.
- AI-agent billing is unclear: the pricing page lists $1.50 per automated resolution, while the help center says a dollar resolution allowance of $2 to $10 per seat has replaced it, with tier prices available only from sales.
- EU hosting through the Data Center Location add-on requires Suite Professional at $115 per agent; Suite Team and Support Team cannot use it.
- The contract does not allow seat reductions or downgrades mid-term, and it renews at then-current prices unless you give 30 days' written notice.
- There is no free plan, and the cheapest plan, Support Team, is email ticketing only.
The alternatives, ranked
Tidio
Online stores and other small teams of up to ten agents that also want support to generate sales, through in-chat product recommendations8.9- Price from
- $24.17 per month
- Pricing model
- Per ticket volume
- Free plan
- Yes
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Tidio is a customer service suite for small ecommerce teams: ticketing and an email inbox, live chat, the rule-based Flows chatbot and the Lyro AI agent. It does not charge per agent. Every self-serve plan is a flat price for the whole project that includes 10 seats, and the plan is chosen by how many conversations a human answers: Starter is $24.17 a month for 100 of them, and Growth runs from $49.17 for 250 up to $290.83 for 2,000, on annual billing. Lyro is bought separately, in prepaid monthly packs from $32.50.
The catch: Three meters run at once and none of them covers the others: billable human conversations, Lyro conversations and Flows visitors are bought separately. Worse, the conversation cap is a wall, not a bill - once the month's allowance is used, agents cannot see or answer new messages until the quota resets or you upgrade. And every self-serve plan stops at 10 seats.
Help Scout
Small teams that work mainly in email8.3- Price from
- $25 per agent per month
- Pricing model
- Per seat, plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes
- EU data hosting
- No
Help Scout is a shared inbox, live chat widget and knowledge base for small and mid-size support teams. Paid plans start at $25 per user per month on annual billing, there is a free plan for up to 5 users, and its customer-facing AI agent costs $0.75 per resolution with no charge when the customer still needs a person.
The catch: Data is hosted in the United States only, and the prices on the pricing page are annual-billing prices: paying monthly costs $30 instead of $25 on Standard.
Zoho Desk
Small and mid-size teams that want a complete help desk at a low per-user price8.1- Price from
- $7 per agent per month
- Pricing model
- Per agent seat
- Free plan
- Yes
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Zoho Desk is a ticketing help desk with email, social and WhatsApp channels, a help center and a chat widget, sold as part of the wider Zoho suite. Paid editions start at $7 per user per month on annual billing, there is a free plan for up to 3 users, and the Zia AI assistant is included from the Professional edition at $23. Zia AI Agents come with a free monthly token allowance, but the price of usage beyond it is not published.
The catch: Below Professional there is no bundled generative AI: on Express and Standard, AI features need your own OpenAI or DeepSeek API key, billed by that provider. And once Zia AI Agents use up the free token allowance, they draw on AI credits whose price Zoho does not publish.
Freshdesk
Budget-conscious teams that want EU hosting and a cheap per-agent entry price8.0- Price from
- $19 per agent per month
- Pricing model
- Per seat, plus AI usage
- Free plan
- No
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Freshdesk is Freshworks' help desk, sold in two versions: standalone Freshdesk for email ticketing, and Freshdesk Omni, which adds chat, phone and messaging. Freshdesk starts at $19 per agent per month on annual billing and Omni at $29. The Freddy AI Agent is sold in packs of 100 sessions for $49, and a session is charged whether or not the AI solves the customer's problem.
The catch: Freddy AI Agent sessions are used up whether or not the issue gets resolved, and the price per session is now several times what Freshworks' own June 2025 price list showed: $49 per 100 sessions, against $100 per 1,000 then.
HubSpot Service Hub
Teams already on HubSpot's CRM that want support tickets on the same customer records as sales and marketing7.5- Price from
- $7 per agent per month
- Pricing model
- Per seat, plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes
- EU data hosting
- Yes
HubSpot Service Hub is the customer service part of HubSpot's CRM: ticketing, shared inboxes, live chat, calling, a knowledge base and a customer portal, all on the same contact records as HubSpot's marketing and sales tools. Seats cost $7 (Starter), $90 (Professional) and $150 (Enterprise) per seat per month on an annual commitment. Professional and Enterprise also require one-time onboarding at $1,500 and $3,500. The Breeze Customer Agent costs $0.50 per resolved conversation, paid in HubSpot Credits.
The catch: The advertised prices leave things out. Professional and Enterprise need one-time onboarding ($1,500 and $3,500), the Starter price of $7 assumes an annual commitment against $20 month to month, and the included credits cover only about 60 AI resolutions a month on Professional. If you hold other HubSpot hubs at a higher tier, every Core Seat is priced at that tier.
Gorgias
Shopify and other ecommerce brands with many agents and moderate ticket volume7.4- Price from
- $10 per month
- Pricing model
- Per ticket volume
- Free plan
- No
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Gorgias is a help desk built for online stores, above all Shopify stores, with order data in the inbox and an AI agent that can handle refunds, cancellations and address changes. It is priced by billable tickets a month rather than per agent. Basic costs $50 a month for 300 tickets, Pro $300 for 2,000 and Advanced $750 for 5,000, on annual billing. The AI Agent costs $0.90 per automated interaction, and each of those interactions also uses up one of your plan's tickets.
The catch: Every conversation the AI Agent handles is billed twice: once as an automated interaction at $0.90 and once as a helpdesk ticket against your plan's allowance. Beyond the interactions included in your plan, the AI rate rises to $1.50.
Intercom
Software and online businesses that want a customer-facing AI agent at the center of support6.9- Price from
- $29 per agent per month
- Pricing model
- Per seat, plus AI usage
- Free plan
- No
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Intercom is a help desk with a shared inbox, ticketing, live chat Messenger, help center, native phone, SMS and WhatsApp, built around its Fin AI agent. Seats start at $29 per agent per month on annual billing, Fin costs $0.99 per outcome with no included allowance, and unlimited Copilot for agents is $29 per agent. The company behind it renamed itself Fin on May 12, 2026, while the help desk keeps the Intercom name, and Salesforce has signed an agreement to acquire it that had not closed when we last checked.
The catch: Fin charges $0.99 per outcome, and since March 2026 an outcome includes a configured handoff to a human, not only a resolution. A conversation Fin passes to your team through a Procedure you set up is billed even though a person still has to answer it.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Price from | Free plan | EU data hosting | German | Spanish | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | 5.2 | Per seat, plus AI usage | $19 per agent per month | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mid-size and enterprise teams that need phone, messaging and email in one tool |
| Tidio | 8.9 | Per ticket volume | $24.17 per month | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Yes | Online stores and other small teams of up to ten agents that also want support to generate sales, through in-chat product recommendations |
| Help Scout | 8.3 | Per seat, plus AI usage | $25 per agent per month | Yes | No | Not documented | Not documented | Small teams that work mainly in email |
| Zoho Desk | 8.1 | Per agent seat | $7 per agent per month | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Small and mid-size teams that want a complete help desk at a low per-user price |
| Freshdesk | 8.0 | Per seat, plus AI usage | $19 per agent per month | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Budget-conscious teams that want EU hosting and a cheap per-agent entry price |
| HubSpot Service Hub | 7.5 | Per seat, plus AI usage | $7 per agent per month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teams already on HubSpot's CRM that want support tickets on the same customer records as sales and marketing |
| Gorgias | 7.4 | Per ticket volume | $10 per month | No | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Shopify and other ecommerce brands with many agents and moderate ticket volume |
| Intercom | 6.9 | Per seat, plus AI usage | $29 per agent per month | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Software and online businesses that want a customer-facing AI agent at the center of support |
True cost at 3, 10 and 50 agents
| Product | 3 agents · Entry tier · seats only | 3 agents · Entry tier · with AI on | 10 agents · Mid tier · seats only | 10 agents · Mid tier · with AI on | 50 agents · Mid tier · seats only | 50 agents · Mid tier · with AI on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | $165 | $368 | $1,150 | $2,250 | $5,750 | $11,250 |
| Tidio | $133 | $199 | No public price | $583 | Growth is capped at 10 seats | Growth is capped at 10 seats |
| Help Scout | $75 | $188 | $450 | $825 | $2,250 | $4,125 |
| Zoho Desk | $42 | $42 | $230 | $230 | $1,150 | $1,150 |
| Freshdesk | $57 | $155 | $550 | $1,085 | $2,750 | $5,425 |
| HubSpot Service Hub | $21 | $21 | $900 | $1,120 | $4,500 | $5,720 |
| Gorgias | $230 | $365 | $480 | $930 | $3,450 | $5,700 |
| Intercom | $87 | $323 | $850 | $1,635 | $4,250 | $8,175 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Zendesk?
On list price, Zoho Desk: Standard costs $14 and Professional $23 per user per month on annual billing, with a free plan for up to 3 users. Its AI-agent usage beyond the free allowance has no public price, though. The true cost calculator compares full bills with AI on.
Which Zendesk alternative has EU data hosting?
Freshdesk and Zoho Desk let you choose EU hosting at sign-up on any plan, and HubSpot Service Hub hosts paid accounts in Germany. Intercom offers EU hosting only for new workspaces on a sales contract, and Help Scout documents US hosting only. See help desks with EU data hosting.
How do I leave Zendesk without paying twice?
Check your renewal date: Zendesk renews unless you give 30 days' written notice, and seats cannot be reduced mid-term. Gorgias and Zoho Desk document importers from Zendesk. Follow the help desk migration checklist.
Is there a Zendesk alternative with cheaper AI?
Several publish lower or clearer AI prices. Help Scout charges $0.75 per AI resolution and includes AI Drafts from Plus, HubSpot Service Hub charges $0.50 per resolution with agent assist included, and Freshdesk sells Copilot per agent at $29. See AI help desk software.
Related pages
- Zendesk reviewreview
- Zendesk pricing explainedpricing
- Zendesk vs Freshdeskvs
- Zendesk vs Intercomvs
- Gorgias vs Zendeskvs
- Jira Service Management vs Zendeskvs
- HubSpot Service Hub vs Zendeskvs
- Help desk migration checklistguide
- Best help desk softwarebest list
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This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review