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Best Zendesk alternatives in 2026
Looking for something other than Zendesk? Below are 10 tools that do the same job, compared with Zendesk's $19/month starting price. 4 of them start cheaper, 4 have a free plan. Ordered by our rating, never by commission.
Zendesk what you have now
Customer service software with ticketing, chat and help center.
No free plan
$19/mo
All Zendesk alternatives
- Help ScoutOur top pick
$25/mo
Shared inbox and help desk that feels like email.
✓ Free plan · Trial: 15 days
- 2FreshdeskMost popular
$19/mo
Help desk and ticketing from Freshworks, with a free plan.
From $19/month · Trial: 14 days
- 3
$29/mo
AI-first customer service platform with messenger and help desk.
From $29/month · Trial: 14 days
- 4
$25/mo
Shared inbox for teams that handle customer email together.
From $25/month · Trial: 14 days
- 5
$10/mo
Help desk built for ecommerce and Shopify stores.
From $10/month · Trial: 7 days
- 6
- 7
$21.50/mo
IT and service desk from Atlassian.
✓ Free plan · Trial: 14 days (extendable to 30)
- 8
$7/mo
Affordable, context-aware help desk from Zoho.
✓ Free plan · Trial: 15 days
- 9
- 10
$11/mo
Help desk with live chat, email and call center.
From $11/month · Trial: 30 days
How do you pick the right Zendesk alternative?
It depends on why you're leaving. On a tight budget? HubSpot Service Hub has the lowest starting price in this list. Want to start free? Jira Service Management has a free plan. Want the best all-rounder? Start with Help Scout.
Before you switch
- Export your data from Zendesk first (contacts, projects, invoices or tickets).
- Check when your Zendesk contract renews; yearly plans usually don't refund unused months.
- Start a free trial of your top pick and import a small test set before you move everything.
See how we check prices, or compare every help desk software side by side on the Help desk software page.