Help desk software

Everything below links to the page it comes from, and says when we checked it.

Price three agents, not one

Eight of the nine charge for each agent or seat, so the price on the card is only the start. At the regular price billed annually, three agents on the entry plan cost:

• Gorgias Starter: $10 a month for the whole account, billed monthly only. It covers 3 user seats and 50 tickets a month, and each extra ticket costs $0.40.
• Zoho Desk Express: $21 a month ($7 a user), for up to 5 users.
• LiveAgent Small business: $45 a month ($15 an agent).
• Freshdesk Growth: $57 a month ($19 an agent).
• Zendesk Support Team: $57 a month ($19 an agent).
• HubSpot Service Hub Starter: $60 a month ($20 a seat).
• Help Scout Standard: $75 a month ($25 a user).
• Front Starter: $75 a month ($25 a seat), for up to 10 seats.
• Re:amaze Basic: $78.30 a month ($26.10 a team member).

Gorgias grows with your ticket count, not your team: at 100 tickets a month, Starter comes to $30. HubSpot shows its $20 struck through beside a promotional $7 a seat paid annually, or $10 paid monthly, with no terms or end date on the page. Plan on $20; we will check the offer again by Oct 15, 2026. Checked Oct 1, 2026.

Check what the entry plan leaves out

We check five things on each entry plan: a shared email inbox, live chat, a knowledge base, automation and reporting.

• Gorgias, Help Scout and Re:amaze include all five.
• Freshdesk Growth includes four. Live chat is in Freshdesk Omni, a separate product.
• LiveAgent Small business includes four. Reports are a Medium business addition, though real-time dashboards come with every plan.
• Front Starter includes four. It handles one channel type, so a team answering email there can't add live chat without moving to Professional.
• Zendesk Support Team includes three. Live chat and a knowledge base start on Suite Team, at $55 an agent a month paid yearly.
• Zoho Desk Express includes three. Live chat and a public knowledge base start on Standard; Express has a private one for agents.
• HubSpot Service Hub Starter includes three: one shared inbox, live chat and 30 dashboards. The knowledge base starts on Professional, and Starter's ticket routing reads "Workflows not included".

Checked Oct 1, 2026.

If you sell on Shopify

Our ranking for ecommerce stores lists the help desks whose own pages state at least two of these on the entry plan: a Shopify integration, order details beside the ticket, refunds or order edits from the help desk, and reply templates that pull in order data. Six qualify.

• Gorgias and Freshdesk state all four. Agents can refund and cancel orders without leaving the ticket.
• Help Scout shows full order details and lets you refund, cancel, edit or duplicate recent orders from the sidebar.
• Re:amaze shows orders in the conversation and fills templates with order status. It says agents can modify orders but doesn't name refunds.
• LiveAgent and Front show the customer's orders beside the ticket. We didn't find a refund action on either.
• Three don't qualify. Zendesk's Shopify setup needs Chat, which Support Team lacks. HubSpot syncs orders one way, so you can't change them there. Zoho's own Shopify extension for Zoho Desk starts on Professional.

Checked Oct 1, 2026.

How the ranking weighs them

The monthly cost for three agents counts for 40% of the score, what the entry plan includes 30%, and the free plan and support 15% each. If one of these matters more to you than its weight, read the ranking with that in mind. The formula behind each criterion is on how we score help desk software.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free help desk?

Three of the nine have a free plan:

• Zoho Desk Free Edition: 3 users and email ticketing, free forever.
• Help Scout Free: 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month, with no live chat.
• HubSpot free tools: up to 2 users, no credit card.

Freshdesk has no free plan. After its 14-day trial you can move to the Free Program, which allows 2 agents for 6 months. Checked Oct 1, 2026.

Can I try a paid plan before I pay?

• Gorgias and LiveAgent: 30 days, no credit card.
• Help Scout and Zoho Desk: 15 days, no credit card.
• Freshdesk, Zendesk, Front and Re:amaze: 14 days. Zendesk's trial runs on Suite Professional, Front's on Professional features and Re:amaze's on Plus, and Front and Re:amaze ask for no card.

Checked Oct 1, 2026.

What support comes with the entry plan?

• Freshdesk gives paid accounts 24/7 in-product chat for urgent issues and live chat 24/5, and lists a sales and support phone line.
• Zendesk offers messaging that passes you to a person or a callback, and a US toll-free line staffed 8am to 6pm Eastern on weekdays.
• Zoho Desk Express gets email and phone. Chat support starts on Professional.
• LiveAgent gives Small business best-effort support; 24/7 support starts on Medium business.
• Gorgias lists Starter with its "Community" support tier, while its help docs offer chat or email.
• HubSpot Starter gets email support, per its pricing FAQ; its product catalog says email and in-app chat.
• Help Scout offers email only, Front an AI chat that turns into an email ticket, and Re:amaze email and a contact form.

Checked Oct 1, 2026.

Can I cancel whenever I want?

• Re:amaze is month to month with no cancellation fee. Cancelling takes effect at once, with no refund for unused time.
• Zoho Desk lets you cancel any time and drops you to the Free Edition. Zoho refunds in full within 45 days of an annual purchase.
• Help Scout ends the account immediately, and its terms allow a full refund if you ask within 30 days of your first payment.
• LiveAgent stops billing as soon as you cancel, but may keep 50% of unused annual credit as a cancellation fee.
• Freshdesk suspends the account 24 hours after you cancel, and Front keeps payments already made.
• Gorgias and Zendesk want 30 days' notice before the term ends; Gorgias asks for it even on monthly plans. HubSpot doesn't allow cancelling mid-contract, so you pay to the end of the commitment term.

Checked Oct 1, 2026.

What costs come on top of the plan price?

• Gorgias: $0.40 for each ticket over 50 a month. Its AI Agent adds $30 a month on Starter for 30 automated interactions.
• Help Scout: $10 a month paid annually for each inbox beyond the 2 on Standard, or $12 paid monthly.
• Zendesk: AI agent resolutions beyond 5 an agent a month cost $1.50 each committed, or $2.00 pay as you go.
• LiveAgent: social channels are $39 a month on Small business, and each extra knowledge base $19.
• HubSpot: Professional carries a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Starter does not.

Checked Oct 1, 2026.