SaaS directory
8 Zendesk alternatives for 2026
The tools buyers compare with Zendesk, side by side on price, pricing model and what each one is built for.
Why teams look beyond Zendesk
- Teams wanting flat all-in pricing: Copilot, WEM, QA and 24/7 support are paid add-ons.
- Very small teams that need a free plan (none listed)
From Zendesk's published plan limits and recurring themes in public reviews. See the Zendesk review for sources.
Zendesk vs. its alternatives
| Tool | Pricing model | Starting price | G2 rating | Knowledge base and self-service | AI agents and assistance | Integrations | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zendesk Current | per agent | $19 per agent/month billed annually (Support Team) | 4.3 (7,001 reviews) | Guide knowledge base included in Suite plans. | AI agents billed per automated resolution; Copilot $50/agent/month on Professional and up. | Per agent plus per-resolution AI fees and add-ons. | |
 Freshdesk | per agent | $19 per agent/month billed annually (Growth) | 4.4 (3,750 reviews) | Knowledge base and customer portal on all plans. | Freddy AI Agent: 500 sessions included, extra $49 per 100; Copilot $29/agent/month (add-on on Pro, included on Enterprise) | Connector app tasks $80 per 5,000. | Per agent plus AI session packs. |
 Help Scout | per user | Free up to 5 users; Standard $25 per user/month | 4.4 (428 reviews) | Docs site included (1 on Free; additional sites $20/month annual) | AI Answers $0.75 per resolution; monthly spend cap available; 3 months free for new accounts. | Salesforce, Jira, HubSpot on Plus. | Per user plus per-resolution AI. |
 Freshservice | per user | $19 per agent per month, billed annually | 4.6 (1,339 reviews) | Freddy AI Copilot add-on $29 per agent per month on Pro and Enterprise. | Per agent plus Asset Unit packs. | ||
 Zoho Desk | per user | Free edition (3 users); paid from INR 420 per user/month billed annually (price shown in INR on the vendor site; no USD price confirmed) | 4.4 (7,830 reviews) | Zia AI from Professional; Express supports AI agents with your own LLM key or Zoho LLM (30M free tokens per month) | Per user per month; light agents INR 345 on Professional and Enterprise. | ||
 Notion | per user | Free; Plus $10 per member per month billed annually | 4.6 (10,967 reviews) | Slack link previews, GitHub and Jira embeds noted; no native help desk. | Per member per month; yearly saves up to 20%. | ||
 Salesforce Service Cloud | per user | $25 per user/month (Starter Suite) | 4.4 (7,200 reviews) | Self-service help center from Core. | Full Agentforce for Service suite on Max; Casey help agent on Advanced. | AgentExchange marketplace from Pro Suite; Slack included in Core and up. | Per user per month, annual contracts, add-ons for AI and channels. |
 Confluence | per user | Free up to 10 users; Standard about $5.42 per user per month billed annually | 4.1 (4,233 reviews) | Jira, Jira Service Management, Trello and Marketplace apps; Slack not named on features page. | Per user per month, annual, tiered by user count. | ||
 HubSpot Service Hub | per user | Free for up to 2 users; Starter $7 per seat/month annual | 4.4 (2,918 reviews) | Knowledge base SSO with up to 2 access groups on Professional, 100 on Enterprise. | Customer Agent and Data Agent consume HubSpot Credits; 14-day Customer Agent trial with Pro/Enterprise seat. | Per seat plus credits for AI. |
The alternatives in detail
Freshdesk
Help desk from Freshworks with three per-agent plans, session-based AI pricing and a built-in knowledge base.
- Starting price
- $19 per agent/month billed annually (Growth)
- Pricing model
- per agent
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (3,750 reviews)
- Ticket automation and routing
- Intelligent routing and multiple SLA policies on Pro; skill-based routing on Enterprise.
- Knowledge base and self-service
- Knowledge base and customer portal on all plans.
- AI agents and assistance
- Freddy AI Agent: 500 sessions included, extra $49 per 100; Copilot $29/agent/month (add-on on Pro, included on Enterprise)
- Reporting and SLA tracking
- Custom dashboards on Pro; Freddy AI Insights on Enterprise.
Choose it if
- SMB support teams wanting low entry price and SAML SSO on every plan.
- Teams with moderate AI chatbot volume (500 sessions included)
Skip it if
- Teams needing audit logs without paying for Enterprise.
- Teams wanting a free plan (none listed)
Worth knowing
- SAML SSO is on all plans but audit logs are Enterprise only.
- AI is priced per session (a 72-hour email window counts as one), not per resolution.
- Day passes for occasional agents: $2 Growth, $7 Pro, $12 Enterprise.
Help Scout
Shared-inbox style help desk with a built-in Docs knowledge base and per-resolution AI pricing.
- Starting price
- Free up to 5 users; Standard $25 per user/month
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (428 reviews)
- Ticket automation and routing
- Advanced workflows and round robin on Plus; unlimited workflows and SLAs on Pro.
- Knowledge base and self-service
- Docs site included (1 on Free; additional sites $20/month annual)
- AI agents and assistance
- AI Answers $0.75 per resolution; monthly spend cap available; 3 months free for new accounts.
- Integrations
- Salesforce, Jira, HubSpot on Plus.
Choose it if
- Small support teams under 25 users that want a simple inbox plus Docs.
- Teams needing HIPAA support (Pro plan, BAA)
Skip it if
- Teams needing SSO below the Pro plan (SSO is an add-on or Pro, 10 users minimum)
Worth knowing
- Free and Standard cap contacts at 100 per month.
- AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution with an optional monthly spending cap.
- Pro requires at least 10 users and holds SSO/SAML and HIPAA.
Freshservice
Freshworks' ITSM tool with a built-in asset module whose software license and SaaS discovery features sit in higher tiers.
- Starting price
- $19 per agent per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.6 (1,339 reviews)
- Usage signal
- Compares purchased entitlements to user login activity (Harvest Licenses, announced 2026-04-02)
- Automated reclaim
- Identifies unused licenses; automated reclaim not verified.
- App coverage with seat data
- Software license management extended to SaaS; SaaS Discovery listed in higher ITAM tiers.
- Rightsizing recommendations
- Flags unused or redundant licenses against purchased counts.
Choose it if
- IT teams that need a help desk and CMDB first and license tracking second.
- Mid-size companies that want transparent per-agent pricing and a 14-day trial.
Skip it if
- Buyers who want a pure SaaS spend or renewal tool without ticketing.
- Companies with large device or license counts who want flat, predictable asset pricing.
Worth knowing
- Asset management is billed in Asset Units (packs of 500) on top of agent seats, so device and license counts drive cost.
- Software license and SaaS discovery are not in the entry tier.
- Software discovery scans Windows and Linux without local agents on the targets.
Zoho Desk
Help desk in the Zoho suite with a free 3-user edition, four paid tiers and bring-your-own-key generative AI.
- Starting price
- Free edition (3 users); paid from INR 420 per user/month billed annually (price shown in INR on the vendor site; no USD price confirmed)
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (7,830 reviews)
- AI agents and assistance
- Zia AI from Professional; Express supports AI agents with your own LLM key or Zoho LLM (30M free tokens per month)
- Pricing model
- Per user per month; light agents INR 345 on Professional and Enterprise.
- Target company size
- Free edition to Enterprise tier.
Choose it if
- Small teams that want a free 3-agent start.
- Zoho CRM or Zoho One customers.
Skip it if
- Buyers needing SSO or audit-log details from public docs (not published on pricing page)
Worth knowing
- Free edition covers 3 user licenses with email ticketing only.
- Light agents cost INR 345 per month on Professional and Enterprise; Enterprise includes 50.
- Trial reverts to Free edition after 15 days, not suspension.
Notion
All-in-one workspace for wikis, docs and lightweight project databases, priced per member with SSO starting on Business.
- Starting price
- Free; Plus $10 per member per month billed annually
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.6 (10,967 reviews)
- Authoring and editing experience
- Block editor with databases and docs.
- Search and AI answers
- Notion AI bundled in Business and Enterprise (third party); Free/Plus limited trial.
- Internal vs public access control
- Workspaces, teamspaces, guests (10 on Free); SAML SSO Business+, SCIM Enterprise.
- Versioning and review workflows
- Page history (7 days on Free)
Choose it if
- Startups and small teams combining wiki and project tracking.
- Teams wanting flexible databases and docs in one tool.
Skip it if
- Teams needing time tracking or workload planning.
- Companies needing SCIM or audit logs below Enterprise.
Worth knowing
- SAML SSO starts on Business ($20); SCIM and audit log are Enterprise only.
- Data residency is Enterprise only.
- Business Associate Agreement (HIPAA) available to Enterprise only.
Salesforce Service Cloud
Enterprise case-management and contact-center platform from Salesforce, now packaged with Agentforce AI agents.
Rebranded: Listed by G2 and GetApp as Agentforce Service (formerly Salesforce Service Cloud); salesforce.com pricing page is under 'Service' with Starter to Max editions.
- Starting price
- $25 per user/month (Starter Suite)
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (7,200 reviews)
- Channel coverage
- Digital channels and contact center on Max; Digital Channels otherwise add-on.
- Ticket automation and routing
- Case management from Core; more automation from Pro Suite up.
- Knowledge base and self-service
- Self-service help center from Core.
- AI agents and assistance
- Full Agentforce for Service suite on Max; Casey help agent on Advanced.
Choose it if
- Large support organizations already on Salesforce CRM.
- Teams that need contact center, workforce management and deep customization.
Skip it if
- Small teams, entry editions start at $25 per user and real service features start at Core $195.
- Teams without admin resources, reviewers cite training burden.
Worth knowing
- The core service features (case management, help center) start at Core $195 per user, not the $25 headline.
- Annual billing is required from Pro Suite upward.
- Max ($550) is the only edition with the full Agentforce suite and contact center.
Confluence
Atlassian's per-user wiki and team documentation tool, tightly linked to Jira and sold in Free, Standard, Premium and Enterprise tiers.
- Starting price
- Free up to 10 users; Standard about $5.42 per user per month billed annually
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.1 (4,233 reviews)
- Authoring and editing experience
- Real-time collaborative editing with inline and page comments.
- Search and AI answers
- Advanced search, labels and hierarchy; Rovo AI summarizes and explains jargon (Standard and up per third party)
- Internal vs public access control
- Page and space permissions for users, groups and anonymous from Standard.
- Versioning and review workflows
- Page history, compare and revert on Free.
Choose it if
- Teams already on Jira or Jira Service Management.
- Internal wikis and project documentation at any size.
Skip it if
- Public customer-facing help centers as the main goal.
- Buyers who need SSO without buying an extra Atlassian Guard subscription.
Worth knowing
- Free plan caps at 10 users; Standard 1 to 10 users listed at $680 per year.
- Atlassian raised cloud list prices on 2025-10-15 (Standard +5%, Premium +7.5%, Enterprise +7.5% to 10% per Valiantys) and again for Premium and Enterprise on 2026-10-13.
- SAML SSO and SCIM need an Atlassian Guard subscription billed per managed user across the org (third-party sources conflict on tier)
HubSpot Service Hub
Help desk tier of HubSpot sitting on its CRM, with per-seat plans, credit-based AI agents and mandatory onboarding fees on upper tiers.
- Starting price
- Free for up to 2 users; Starter $7 per seat/month annual
- Pricing model
- per user
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (2,918 reviews)
- Knowledge base and self-service
- Knowledge base SSO with up to 2 access groups on Professional, 100 on Enterprise.
- AI agents and assistance
- Customer Agent and Data Agent consume HubSpot Credits; 14-day Customer Agent trial with Pro/Enterprise seat.
- Pricing model
- Per seat plus credits for AI.
- Target company size
- Free to Enterprise.
Choose it if
- Companies already on HubSpot CRM wanting tickets tied to contact records.
- Teams of 1 to 2 starting on the free tools.
Skip it if
- Buyers avoiding mandatory onboarding fees ($1,500 Professional, $3,500 Enterprise)
Worth knowing
- Professional and Enterprise require one-time onboarding of $1,500 and $3,500.
- AI agents draw from HubSpot Credits (500 / 3,000 / 5,000 by tier)
- Knowledge base access groups are capped at 2 on Professional versus 100 on Enterprise.
When to stay with Zendesk
- Support teams that want a broad omnichannel suite with a regional data hosting option.
- Teams comfortable paying per AI resolution.