Help desk
How much does help desk software cost? Entry plans for three agents
Quick answer
For a small team, help desk entry plans cost $7 to $26.10 per agent a month billed annually, and $9 to $35 billed monthly. Three agents pay about $21 to $78.30 a month on annual billing. Gorgias charges by tickets instead: $10 a month for 3 seats and 50 tickets. Second-tier plans run $14 to $90 a seat billed annually. Zoho Desk, Help Scout and HubSpot have free plans.
Most help desks charge per agent a month, with a discount for paying a year upfront. Here is what the entry plan (the cheapest paid plan that allows three agents) costs at each help desk we rank, then the upper plans and extras. Prices from each company's pricing page, read Oct 1, 2026.
Entry plans
| Help desk | Entry plan | Per agent a month, billed annually | Billed monthly | Three agents a month, billed annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorgias | Starter | Not offered (monthly only) | $10 for the account (3 seats, 50 tickets) | $10, billed monthly |
| Zoho Desk | Express | $7 | $9 | $21 (up to 5 users) |
| LiveAgent | Small business | $15 | $19 | $45 |
| Freshdesk | Growth | $19 | $23 | $57 |
| Zendesk | Support Team | $19 | $25 | $57 |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Starter | $20 (list) | $20 (list) | $60 |
| Help Scout | Standard | $25 | $30 | $75 |
| Front | Starter | $25 | $35 | $75 |
| Re:amaze | Basic | $26.10 | $29 | $78.30 |
HubSpot's row is its list price. Its pricing page shows Starter at $7 a seat billed annually or $10 monthly, against a struck-through $20, with no terms or end date; we will re-check it on Oct 15, 2026. At the offer, three seats cost $21 a month billed annually or $30 monthly.
Monthly billing costs more
Paying month by month raises the bill at most of these help desks. Three agents on Front Starter pay $105 a month billed monthly instead of $75. On Help Scout Standard it is $90 instead of $75, on Zendesk Support Team $75 instead of $57, and on Freshdesk Growth $69 instead of $57. The published annual savings are up to 34% at Zoho Desk, 24% at Front, 20% at Freshdesk, 16% at Help Scout and 10% at Re:amaze. HubSpot's list price is the same either way, and Gorgias Starter is monthly only.
Paying by tickets: Gorgias
Gorgias prices by monthly tickets, not agents:
- Starter: $10 a month for 50 tickets, then $0.40 a ticket.
- Basic: $60 a month for 300 tickets, then $40 per 100.
- Pro: $360 a month for 2,000 tickets, then $36 per 100.
- Advanced: $900 a month for 5,000 tickets, then $36 per 100.
A store with 100 tickets a month on Starter pays $30. Annual prices are shown only with the AI Agent: Basic with AI Agent is $77 a month billed annually ($924 a year).
Typical second-tier plans
The second plan is where many help desks put live chat, a knowledge base or reports. Prices per agent a month, billed annually:
- Zoho Desk Standard: $14 ($20 monthly), adding live chat and a public knowledge base.
- LiveAgent Medium business: $29 ($35 monthly), adding reports, time rules and a call center.
- Re:amaze Pro: $44.10 ($49 monthly), adding a custom domain and status page.
- Help Scout Plus: $45 ($54 monthly), adding advanced workflows, up to 50 users.
- Freshdesk Pro: $55 ($66 monthly), adding custom real-time dashboards.
- Zendesk Suite Team: $55 ($69 monthly), adding messaging, live chat and a help center.
- Front Professional: $65 ($85 monthly), for omnichannel support, up to 50 seats.
- HubSpot Professional: $90 ($100 monthly on an annual commitment), adding a knowledge base, plus a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.
Top plans
The highest published per-seat price is HubSpot Enterprise at $150 a seat a month, billed annually, plus a one-time $3,500 onboarding fee. Zendesk Suite Professional is $115 an agent billed annually ($149 monthly), and Suite Enterprise + Copilot has no published price. Front Enterprise is $105 a seat, annual only. Freshdesk Enterprise is $89, Help Scout Pro $75 with a 10-user minimum, LiveAgent Enterprise $69, Re:amaze Plus $62.10 and Zoho Desk Enterprise $40, all billed annually. Gorgias Advanced is $900 a month for 5,000 tickets.
Fees and add-ons
- Onboarding. HubSpot requires $1,500 for Professional and $3,500 for Enterprise. Front requires an onboarding package on contracts over $25k, with no price published.
- AI usage. Zendesk includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month on Support Team, then $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go. Gorgias charges $1.00 per AI Agent interaction on Starter. Help Scout AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution. Re:amaze charges $0.85 per AI resolution after 5 per user a month on Basic. Freshdesk sells extra AI Agent sessions at $49 per 100.
- AI assistants. Zendesk Copilot is $50 an agent a month paid yearly. Front's Copilot and Smart QA are $20 a seat each and Smart CSAT $10.
- More inboxes and help centers. Help Scout charges $10 a month per extra Inbox paid annually ($12 monthly), and $20 per extra Docs site annually ($24 monthly). LiveAgent charges $19 a month per extra knowledge base.
- Channels. LiveAgent social channels are $39 a month. Gorgias Voice (from $25 a month) and SMS (from $17 a month) are add-ons from Basic.
- Light agents. Zoho Desk charges $6 per light agent a month, from Standard.
- Tax. Gorgias charges state sales tax where required, and Zoho Desk adds local taxes.
Free plans
Zoho Desk is free for 3 users with email ticketing. Help Scout is free for 5 users, with 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month, and no live chat. HubSpot is free for 2 users. Freshdesk has no permanent free plan; after its trial, an account can switch to the Free Program for 2 agents and 6 months.
What to budget
For three agents on annual billing, expect $21 to $78.30 a month for an entry plan, or $10 a month on Gorgias, billed monthly, if you stay within 50 tickets. Compare them in our help desk ranking, and see how we score help desks.