{
    "title": "Zendesk Alternatives 2027: 11 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/zendesk/",
    "summary": "The best Zendesk alternatives in 2027 are Intercom (best overall, $19/seat/mo), Help Scout (best free plan: 5 users, 1 inbox) and Chatwoot (best open source, MIT). Zendesk itself starts at $19/agent/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 11 Nov 2026; 8 more are compared below, including 3 with a free plan and 2 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Zendesk",
        "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo billed yearly",
        "free_plan": "No",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
        "pricing_url": "https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/"
    },
    "task": "customer support software",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-11",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-11",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Intercom",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/seat/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "AI-agent-first support inbox",
            "difference": "Prices its Fin AI agent per outcome, from $0.99 each, and also sells Fin standalone with no seats required, so the AI agent can sit on top of another helpdesk.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.intercom.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.intercom.com",
            "zekai_score": 9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/intercom/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Freshdesk",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Per-agent helpdesk with AI add-ons",
            "difference": "Its Freddy AI Agent includes the first 500 sessions on every plan, then charges $49 per 100 sessions; the Freddy Copilot add-on is $29 per agent on Pro and Enterprise.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/",
            "website": "https://freshdesk.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/freshdesk/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Help Scout",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$25/user/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free: 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site",
            "best_for": "Shared-inbox support for small teams",
            "difference": "Has a free plan for up to 5 users with 1 inbox and 1 Docs site, and charges its Envoy AI add-on $0.75 per resolution with a monthly spending cap.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.helpscout.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/help-scout/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Jira Service Management",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$21.50/agent/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free forever for 3 agents",
            "best_for": "IT and internal service desks on Atlassian",
            "difference": "Free forever for 3 agents, and Standard includes Rovo agents with 250 Rovo credits per user per month; built around IT service requests in the Atlassian stack.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management",
            "zekai_score": 8.1,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/jira-service-management/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Salesforce Service Cloud",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$25/user/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Case management tied to Salesforce CRM",
            "difference": "Five editions from Starter Suite at $25 to Max at $550 per user per month; Agentforce for Service is sold separately and paid on Flex Credits in higher editions.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.salesforce.com/service/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.salesforce.com/service/",
            "zekai_score": 8.2,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/salesforce-service-cloud/"
        },
        {
            "name": "HubSpot Service Hub",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free for up to 2 users",
            "best_for": "Support tickets inside HubSpot CRM",
            "difference": "Free tools plan for up to 2 users; AI agents run on HubSpot Credits at $0.010 each, and Professional carries a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/service",
            "website": "https://www.hubspot.com/products/service",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/hubspot-service-hub/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Front",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$25/seat/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Shared inbox for email-heavy teams",
            "difference": "Starter is capped at 10 seats, Professional at 50; its Autopilot AI agent starts at $0.39 per conversation and Copilot costs $20 per seat as an add-on.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://front.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://front.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/front/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Tidio",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$24.17/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "50 billable conversations a month, 10 agents",
            "best_for": "Live chat and chatbot for small shops",
            "difference": "Priced by billable conversations rather than seats: Free covers 50 a month and 10 agents, Starter 100; Lyro AI Agent is an add-on from $32.50 per month.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.tidio.com/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.tidio.com",
            "zekai_score": 6.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/tidio/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Chatwoot",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo (Cloud) (hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "Open-source omnichannel support inbox",
            "difference": "MIT-licensed self-hosted inbox with live chat and email; the hosted Hacker plan is free for 2 agents and 500 conversations a month, paid Cloud plans start at $19 per agent.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.chatwoot.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.chatwoot.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/chatwoot/",
            "zekai_score": 8.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/chatwoot/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Zammad",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Self-hostable ticketing with hosted option",
            "difference": "AGPL-3.0 ticketing system with Docker, Helm and DEB/RPM install paths; hosted plans run EUR 7 to EUR 25 per agent per month billed annually, and there is no free tier.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://zammad.com/en/pricing",
            "website": "https://zammad.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/zammad/zammad",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/zammad/",
            "zekai_score": 7.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/zammad/"
        },
        {
            "name": "osTicket",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "GPL-2.0",
            "best_for": "Classic PHP ticketing on your server",
            "difference": "GPL-2.0 PHP and MySQL ticket system that runs on an ordinary web host; it is a plain ticketing tool and its repo does not describe built-in AI agents.",
            "website": "https://osticket.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/osticket/",
            "zekai_score": 6.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/osticket/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Zendesk in 2027?",
            "a": "Intercom is the best overall Zendesk alternative on this page ($19/seat/mo). For no cost, Help Scout has a free plan (Free: 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site). To self-host, Chatwoot is open source (MIT)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Zendesk?",
            "a": "No. Zendesk has no free plan; paid plans start at $19/agent/mo billed yearly, checked on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Zendesk?",
            "a": "Yes. Chatwoot, Zammad, osTicket are open source and free to self-host. Help Scout, Jira Service Management, HubSpot Service Hub, Tidio have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Zendesk alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 11 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Intercom $95/mo, Freshdesk $95/mo, Chatwoot $95/mo, against Zendesk $95/mo for Zendesk. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Intercom or Zendesk?",
            "a": "Prices its Fin AI agent per outcome, from $0.99 each, and also sells Fin standalone with no seats required, so the AI agent can sit on top of another helpdesk. Choose Intercom if you want the AI agent billed per resolved outcome and may keep another helpdesk for tickets. Stay with Zendesk if you want AI agents, messaging and telephony bundled into a single per-agent suite price."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Zendesk?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Zendesk bills AI agent resolutions on top of seats: each plan includes 5 automated resolutions per agent per month (10 on Suite Professional), after which committed resolutions cost $1.50 and pay-as-you-go $2.00 each (11 Nov 2026); Zendesk's Copilot add-on costs $50 per agent per month billed annually and Contact Center $83; the included Copilot allowance is 5 uses per agent, pooled and capped at 500 uses per instance each month (11 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is better than Zendesk?",
            "a": "It depends on the job. Intercom suits AI-agent-first support, Freshdesk is the closest like-for-like helpdesk, Help Scout fits small shared-inbox teams, and Jira Service Management fits internal IT service desks."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is Zendesk worth it compared with Freshdesk?",
            "a": "Both start at the same annual per-agent price. Zendesk bills AI resolutions per automated resolution, while Freshdesk includes 500 AI sessions on each plan and then sells blocks of 100."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/zendesk/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}