What counts as free help desk software?
Free help desk software is a ticketing or shared inbox tool you can use at $0 with no time limit, as opposed to a 14-day trial. Every free plan we found trades something for the price: a cap on agents, a cap on contacts or conversations, missing automation, vendor branding, or (for open source) your own time spent hosting it.
Free plans also change. Freshdesk, for years the default answer to this question, retired its free-forever plan in 2025 and now offers paid plans from $19 per agent per month after a trial. That is why we checked every plan on this list on the vendor's own site in October 2026 rather than repeating older lists.
Two kinds of "free" show up below. Free cloud plans (Aftersales, Zoho Desk, HubSpot, Help Scout, Jira Service Management, tawk.to, Chatwoot) are hosted for you and capped. Free open source help desks (osTicket, Zammad, FreeScout, and Chatwoot's Community edition) have no agent caps but you run the server, updates and backups.
How do the free help desk plans compare?
The free limit that matters most is usually the first column: how many people can work tickets before you pay.
| Tool | Free limit | What the free plan includes | AI on free plan | First paid step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aftersales | 1 seat | Live chat + email inbox, help center, first 50 Agent resolutions | AI Agent that resolves and takes actions | Starter $24/seat (annual) |
| Zoho Desk | 3 users | Email ticketing, help center | Not on Free | Paid editions per agent |
| HubSpot Service Hub | 2 users | Ticketing, live chat (HubSpot branding), basic bots | Limited bots | Starter per seat |
| Help Scout | 5 users, 100 contacts/mo | 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, Beacon chat, 30-day reports | Basic assist and summarize | Standard $25/user (monthly) |
| Jira Service Management | 3 agents, 2 GB storage | Portal, email channel, basic automation | Not on Free | Standard $20/agent |
| tawk.to | Unlimited agents | Live chat, ticketing, knowledge base | AI Assist, limited free tier | Add-ons from $29/mo |
| Chatwoot | 2 agents (cloud) | Live chat only, 500 conversations/mo, 30-day history | Not on Hacker plan | Startups $19/agent |
| osTicket | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Email ticketing, help topics, SLAs, portal | None built in | Cloud from $12/agent |
| Zammad | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Email, chat, social, phone integrations, knowledge base | AI agents (see vendor) | Hosted from EUR 7/agent |
| FreeScout | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Shared inbox, email, mobile-friendly UI | Paid module | Paid modules |
Checked October 2026 on each vendor's own site. Free plans and prices change often; confirm on each vendor's site before you commit.
How did we compare these free help desks?
We started from tools that people search for as free help desks and kept only those with a $0 plan that is live today and does not expire. We checked each plan on the vendor's pricing page in October 2026 and dropped any tool whose free tier has become a trial.
- Is it really free? No expiry date, no credit card required to keep using it.
- The cap: agents, contacts, conversations, storage or history, and what happens when you hit it.
- Help desk basics: a shared queue, assignment, saved replies, a help center or portal.
- Channels: email only, or chat and messaging too.
- The upgrade path: what the first paid plan costs and whether you have to migrate.
Aftersales is our product and we list it first. Its free plan is one seat, so for some teams another tool here is the better free choice, and we say so in each entry.
The 10 best free help desk software tools
1. Aftersales: best free plan for a solo support owner who wants AI to resolve tickets
The Aftersales Free plan is $0 forever and covers one seat with live chat and email in one Inbox, a public help center, and your first 50 Agent resolutions free. Agent answers in 31 languages and can take actions, such as looking up and verifying a Shopify order, creating a replacement or issuing a Stripe refund, inside spend limits and escalation rules you set.
When Agent hands off, you get the conversation, the data it looked up and what it already tried. After the first 50, Agent costs $0.99 per resolution, counted once per conversation; conversations it can't help with are free. That makes it the strongest free option here if one person runs support and wants routine questions handled without hiring.
Where it is weaker: the free plan has one seat. A team of two or three that wants everyone on a free plan will get more from Zoho Desk (3 users), Help Scout (5 users, low volume) or Jira Service Management (3 agents). If you need unlimited free agents on your own server, look at osTicket, Zammad or FreeScout.
- Best for
- Founders and solo support leads who want a shared inbox plus an AI agent that resolves and acts
- Pricing
- Free $0 (1 seat, live chat + email inbox, help center, first 50 Agent resolutions). Starter $24, Growth $69, Scale $109 per seat/month billed annually; monthly is 20% more. Agent $0.99 per resolution. See pricing.
- Strengths
- Agent takes actions in Shopify and Stripe with guardrails; one inbox for chat and email that grows to WhatsApp, SMS, phone and social on paid plans; upgrade without migrating; GDPR DPA, US-hosted.
- Watch out for
- One seat on Free. No automation workflows or phone on Free. Agent usage beyond 50 resolutions is paid. Confirm niche integrations on a call.
2. Zoho Desk: best free plan for a small team that only needs email ticketing
Zoho Desk's Free edition gives three user licenses at no cost and is labelled free forever. It covers email ticketing and a help center, which is enough for a small team that wants tickets out of a shared mailbox.
Zoho says the Free edition does not include automation, multi-department support, SLAs or AI features, and light users are paid plans only. Paid editions (Express, Standard, Professional, Enterprise) are priced per agent and are cheaper on annual billing.
- Best for
- Teams of up to three handling support mostly by email
- Pricing
- Free edition for 3 users. Paid editions priced per agent per month, with up to 34% off on annual billing (Zoho shows local currency, so check the price for your region).
- Strengths
- Three free users; ticketing and help center; part of the wider Zoho suite if you already use Zoho CRM.
- Watch out for
- No automation, SLAs or AI on Free. Email-first: no live chat on the free tier.
3. HubSpot Service Hub: best free plan if you already run your CRM in HubSpot
HubSpot's free Service Hub tools are free for up to two users with no credit card. You get ticketing, live chat with HubSpot branding and basic chatbots, all tied to the free HubSpot CRM, so support sees each contact's history.
It is the natural pick when sales and marketing already live in HubSpot. As a standalone help desk it is thin: two users, branded chat, and most automation and reporting sit in paid Service Hub tiers.
- Best for
- Small teams already using the free HubSpot CRM
- Pricing
- Free for up to 2 users. Starter is priced per seat; HubSpot runs frequent promotional prices, so check its pricing page.
- Strengths
- Tickets and chat linked to CRM records; easy upgrade path inside one vendor.
- Watch out for
- Two users. HubSpot branding on chat. Costs rise quickly on Professional and above.
4. Help Scout: best free plan for a low-volume team that wants a polished shared inbox
Help Scout's Free plan allows up to five users, one inbox, one Docs (knowledge base) site and a Beacon with contact form and live chat. The limit is 100 contacts a month, where a contact is someone who got a reply from your team or had a question resolved by its AI.
That makes it the most generous free plan here on seats, and the tightest on volume. Reporting keeps 30 days of history and you can connect one integration. AI Answers is a separate product at $0.75 per resolution, with a free trial for new accounts.
- Best for
- Teams of up to five with fewer than 100 customers to answer a month
- Pricing
- Free (5 users, 100 contacts/month). Standard $25, Plus $45, Pro $75 per user/month; about 16% less billed annually. AI Answers $0.75 per resolution.
- Strengths
- Clean email-style inbox, Docs site and Beacon chat on Free; unlimited contacts on paid plans.
- Watch out for
- 100 contacts a month goes fast once you grow. One integration and 30-day reports on Free.
5. Jira Service Management: best free plan for IT and internal service desks
Atlassian's Free plan is free forever for three agents with 2 GB of storage and community support, and customers who submit requests are unlimited. You get a customer portal, an email channel, request types, templates and basic automation.
It fits internal IT, HR or engineering request queues, especially if the team already lives in Jira. For customer-facing B2C support it is heavier to set up than a chat-and-email inbox. If you exceed three agents or 2 GB, Atlassian moves you to a Standard trial.
- Best for
- IT and internal service desks, teams already on Jira
- Pricing
- Free for 3 agents, 2 GB storage. Standard $20 and Premium $51.42 per agent/month on Atlassian's list pricing.
- Strengths
- Unlimited requesters; ITSM templates; tight link to Jira issues.
- Watch out for
- Built for service management workflows, not a lightweight customer inbox. Community support only on Free.
6. tawk.to: best free option for unlimited agents on live chat
tawk.to gives live chat, ticketing, a knowledge base, chat pages and contacts for free with unlimited agents. It makes money from add-ons: removing its branding ($29/month), a premium AI Assist tier (from $29/month) and hired chat agents billed by the hour.
It is the cheapest way to put a whole team on chat. The ticketing side is simpler than a full help desk, and the free widget shows tawk.to branding.
- Best for
- Teams that want everyone on live chat for $0
- Pricing
- Free core product, unlimited agents. Remove branding $29/month; AI Assist premium from $29/month; hired agents $1/hour.
- Strengths
- No seat caps; chat, tickets and knowledge base in one free account.
- Watch out for
- Branding on the free widget. Ticketing and reporting are lighter than dedicated help desks.
7. Chatwoot: best open source option that also offers a free cloud plan
Chatwoot is an open source customer support platform. Its cloud Hacker plan is $0 for up to two agents and 500 conversations a month, live chat only, with 30 days of data retention and no help center or Captain AI. Its self-hosted Community edition is free forever with no per-agent fee.
The self-hosted route is where Chatwoot's free offer is strongest, because the cloud Hacker plan is too tight for most live teams.
- Best for
- Technical teams that want an open source omnichannel inbox, hosted themselves
- Pricing
- Cloud Hacker $0 (2 agents, 500 conversations/month, chat only). Startups $19, Business $39, Enterprise $99 per agent/month. Self-hosted Community edition free.
- Strengths
- Open source; cloud and self-hosted options; paid plans add every channel and AI credits.
- Watch out for
- Free cloud plan is chat only with 30-day retention. Captain AI, SLAs and SSO are paid.
8. osTicket: best classic open source ticketing system
osTicket is a long-running open source ticketing system you can download free. It covers email piping into tickets, help topics for routing, ticket filters, SLAs with escalation, custom fields, agent collision avoidance and a customer portal.
It is reliable for straightforward email ticketing at no license cost. The interface is dated next to newer tools, there is no built-in AI, and you handle hosting and upgrades yourself, or pay for the cloud-hosted edition.
- Best for
- IT teams and organizations that want free email ticketing on their own server
- Pricing
- Open source download free (community support). Cloud-hosted edition from $12 per agent/month.
- Strengths
- Unlimited agents; SLAs, help topics and custom fields; large install base.
- Watch out for
- Self-hosting work. Dated interface. No live chat or AI out of the box.
9. Zammad: best open source help desk for multiple channels
Zammad is open source and free to install on your own servers. It handles email, chat, SMS, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp Business, plus phone integrations, with a multilingual knowledge base, SLAs and escalations, triggers and a customer portal.
It is the most complete free open source option here, and the best fit for teams in Europe that want to keep data on their own infrastructure. Zammad also sells hosted plans and paid support contracts if you later want someone else to run it.
- Best for
- Teams with in-house ops that want a full-featured self-hosted help desk
- Pricing
- Self-hosted free. Hosted plans from EUR 7 per agent/month (annual); self-hosted support contracts from EUR 2,999/year.
- Strengths
- Wide channel coverage; SLAs; knowledge base; time accounting; no agent caps when self-hosted.
- Watch out for
- You run servers, updates and backups. Advanced setups take time.
10. FreeScout: best free self-hosted alternative to a Help Scout-style inbox
FreeScout is a free, open source help desk and shared inbox built on PHP and Laravel. It runs on ordinary shared hosting, with unlimited agents and tickets, email integration and a web installer and updater.
The core is free; extras such as a knowledge base, AI, CRM and Jira integration are paid modules. It suits small teams that want a familiar email-style inbox with no subscription.
- Best for
- Small teams that want a lightweight email inbox on cheap hosting
- Pricing
- Core free and open source. Optional paid modules.
- Strengths
- Unlimited agents and tickets; light enough for shared hosting; web updater.
- Watch out for
- Knowledge base and AI cost extra as modules. Self-hosted, so you own maintenance.
Start free, keep the same inbox when you grow.Aftersales Free includes live chat, email and your first 50 Agent resolutions. See plans.
Which free help desk plans have disappeared?
Two well-known free plans are no longer what they were. Check these before you follow an older recommendation.
- Freshdesk: its pricing page now lists Growth ($19), Pro ($55) and Enterprise ($89) per agent/month billed annually, with a 14-day trial and no free-forever plan. See our Freshdesk pricing breakdown and Freshdesk alternatives.
- Chatwoot cloud: the free Hacker plan still exists but is chat only, two agents and 30 days of history, so most teams treat it as a test account.
Free plans can be withdrawn with notice. If you build on one, keep an export of your tickets and help articles so a forced move is a small job.
When does a free help desk stop being free?
Free stops being free at a predictable point. Here is an example for a team of three agents answering about 400 customers a month. Assumptions: list prices only, monthly volume steady, prices checked October 2026.
- Zoho Desk Free: $0 for three users, as long as email ticketing without automation or SLAs is enough.
- Jira Service Management Free: $0 for three agents within 2 GB storage.
- Help Scout: 400 contacts is over the 100-contact free limit, so Standard at $25 per user monthly is $75/month.
- Aftersales: Free covers one seat. Three seats on Starter is $72/month billed annually. If Agent resolves 200 of the 400 conversations, that adds 200 x $0.99 = $198, about $270/month in total, and the routine half of the queue no longer needs a person.
The cheapest line is not always the cheapest outcome. If an AI agent resolves conversations that would otherwise need another hire, per-resolution pricing can cost less than a free tool plus extra headcount. Our resolution rate guide explains how to estimate your own share.
Which free help desk is best for your team?
- One person running support who wants AI to resolve routine tickets: Aftersales.
- Up to three people, email only: Zoho Desk Free.
- Up to five people with low volume: Help Scout Free.
- Already on the HubSpot CRM: HubSpot Service Hub free tools.
- IT or internal requests: Jira Service Management Free.
- Whole team on live chat for $0: tawk.to.
- Unlimited agents on your own server: Zammad for many channels, osTicket for classic email ticketing, FreeScout for a light shared inbox, Chatwoot Community for open source chat-first support.
Ready to pay a little for more? See the best help desk software for small business, the best ticketing systems and the best shared inbox software, or browse the blog.