What should a small business look for in help desk software?
A small business needs a help desk that is free or cheap to start, can be set up in a day, and puts every channel in one queue so nothing is missed when the team is busy. After that, the deciding factor is how the bill grows: per seat, per ticket, per workspace or per AI resolution.
- A real free plan or low entry price: check how many users the free plan allows and whether it expires.
- Setup time: email forwarding, a chat widget and a few saved replies should be enough to go live.
- One inbox for every channel: email, chat and messaging in one place, so a three-person team does not juggle tabs.
- AI that removes work: answering FAQs helps; resolving and acting (refunds, order changes) helps more.
- A clear upgrade path: what you pay at 3 people, and what you pay at 10.
How do the best help desks for small business compare?
Prices are entry list prices billed annually unless noted. AI usage is usually billed on top of seats.
| Tool | Free plan | Entry paid plan | AI | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aftersales | Yes, 1 seat (chat + email, first 50 Agent resolutions) | Starter $24 per seat | Agent resolves and takes actions, $0.99 per resolution | Email, chat, WhatsApp, SMS, social; phone on Growth+ |
| Help Scout | Yes, up to 5 users, 1 inbox | Standard $25 per user | AI Answers, $0.75 per resolution | Email, chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger |
| Freshdesk | Free Program: 2 agents for 6 months | Growth $19 per agent | Freddy AI Agent, 500 sessions included, then $49 per 100 | Email, portal, social; more on Omni |
| Zoho Desk | Yes, 3 users, email ticketing | Express, per agent (local-currency pricing) | Zia AI on higher tiers | Email, plus more channels on paid tiers |
| Zendesk | No, 14-day trial | Support Team $19 per agent | 5 automated resolutions per agent/month, then $2.00 pay-as-you-go | Email on Support; messaging and more on Suite ($55) |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Yes, up to 2 users | Starter $7 per seat (annual), $20 monthly | AI features billed with HubSpot Credits | Email, chat, Messenger; calling minutes on Starter |
| Crisp | Yes, 2 seats, chat + shared inbox | Mini $45 per workspace (4 seats) | AI credits included from Mini | Chat; email from Mini; WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS from Essentials |
| Tidio | Yes, 50 conversations, 10 seats | Starter $24.17/month (100 conversations) | Lyro AI Agent from $32.50/month | Website chat, email, social |
| Gorgias | No, 7-day trial | Starter $10/month (50 tickets) | AI Agent $0.90 per interaction (annual) | Email, chat, social, SMS; built for Shopify stores |
Checked October 2026. Confirm current prices on each vendor's site.
How did we compare these help desk tools?
We judged each tool as a team of one to ten people would, and checked plans and prices on each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026. Where a vendor shows only local-currency prices, we describe the model instead of converting.
- Cost to start: free plan limits and the entry paid price.
- Cost to grow: what happens to the bill as seats, tickets or AI usage rise.
- Setup effort: how much configuration a small team needs before going live.
- Channels: email, chat and messaging in one queue.
- AI: whether it answers, resolves or takes actions, and how it is billed.
Aftersales is our product and we list it first. Each entry, ours included, has an honest "watch out for".
The 9 best help desk software tools for small businesses
1. Aftersales: best for small teams that want AI to do the routine work
Aftersales gives a small team one Inbox for email, web and in-app chat, WhatsApp, SMS, social DMs and Slack Connect, with Agent answering first. Agent resolves conversations end to end in 31 languages and takes actions: it looks up and verifies Shopify orders, creates replacements and issues Stripe refunds within spend limits you set. When it hands off, the person sees the conversation, the data Agent looked up and what it already tried.
For a team of one to ten people, the pricing model matters more than the feature list. Agent never needs a seat, so you add capacity without hiring or buying licenses: you pay $0.99 per resolution, counted once per conversation, and conversations Agent can't help with are free. Lite seats for people who only view, comment or approve are free (20 on Growth). Setup is light: you describe procedures in plain language or import existing macros, and most teams finish migration in an afternoon.
Where it is weaker: the Free plan has one seat, so a team of three that wants to pay nothing should look at Help Scout (5 users) or Zoho Desk (3 users). If all you need is a cheap shared email inbox with no AI, Zendesk Support Team or Freshdesk Growth cost less per seat than Aftersales Growth. And a Shopify store that wants ticket-based pricing may prefer Gorgias.
- Best for
- Teams of 1 to 10 that want an AI agent to resolve routine conversations and take actions, so they can grow without adding seats
- Pricing
- Free $0 (1 seat, live chat + email inbox, first 50 Agent resolutions free, help center). Starter $24, Growth $69, Scale $109 per seat/month billed annually (20% more monthly). Agent $0.99 per resolution. 14-day free trial. See pricing.
- Strengths
- Agent takes actions in Shopify and Stripe with guardrails; free Lite seats; Copilot drafts replies that cite sources; Insights flags issues in real time; GDPR DPA, US-hosted.
- Watch out for
- Free plan is one seat. Workflows, round-robin and phone start on Growth. Confirm niche integrations on a call; other systems connect through the Aftersales API or webhooks.
2. Help Scout: best free plan for an email-first team of up to 5
Help Scout is a shared inbox that feels like email, which keeps setup and training short for people who have never used a helpdesk. Its free plan covers up to 5 users with one inbox and one Docs knowledge base site, the most generous free seat count in this list. Paid plans add more inboxes, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
It is a better pick than Aftersales if your team is two to five people, mostly answers email and wants to pay nothing for now. AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution, less than Aftersales Agent, though Help Scout positions it around answering questions rather than taking actions in other systems.
- Best for
- Email-first teams of up to 5 that want a free, easy-to-learn shared inbox
- Pricing
- Free for up to 5 users (1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 10 saved replies). Standard $25, Plus $45, Pro $75 per user/month; annual billing saves 16%. AI Answers $0.75 per resolution.
- Strengths
- Familiar email feel; generous free plan; knowledge base included; clear per-resolution AI price.
- Watch out for
- Free plan limits saved replies and tags to 10 each. Advanced workflows and round robin start on Plus; SSO and HIPAA on Pro.
3. Freshdesk: best low-cost ticketing with room to grow
Freshdesk is a full ticketing system with a customer portal, knowledge base and reports from its Growth plan, at $19 per agent per month billed annually. Every plan includes 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions before extra sessions are billed. For small businesses, Freshdesk also runs a Free Program: up to two agents at no cost for six months, after which you choose a paid plan.
It suits a small team that expects to grow into structured ticketing with SLAs and routing. If you already use Freshdesk and want stronger automation, Aftersales Agent can run inside Freshdesk with no seats and no migration.
- Best for
- Small teams that want classic ticketing, a portal and a low per-agent price
- Pricing
- Growth $19, Pro $55, Enterprise $89 per agent/month billed annually. Free Program: 2 agents for 6 months. Freddy AI Agent: 500 sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. Freddy Copilot $29 per agent on Pro and Enterprise. See Freshdesk pricing.
- Strengths
- Mature ticketing; low entry price; AI sessions included on every plan.
- Watch out for
- The free option ends after six months. Multilingual helpdesk, custom dashboards and multiple SLA policies need Pro.
4. Zoho Desk: best free plan for teams already on Zoho
Zoho Desk's free edition gives three users email ticketing with no billing, and paid editions run from Express up to Enterprise. It is a natural choice if you already run Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps, because the data sits in the same family of products.
Zoho shows prices in your local currency, and its paid plans sit at the low end of per-agent pricing. Note that the three free users do not carry over: on Standard, the user limit rises to 5.
- Best for
- Small teams on a tight budget, especially those already using Zoho apps
- Pricing
- Free edition: 3 users, email ticketing. Paid editions Express, Standard, Professional and Enterprise, priced per agent per month in local currency; annual billing saves up to 34%.
- Strengths
- Free plan for three; low paid entry point; fits the wider Zoho suite.
- Watch out for
- The free edition is email ticketing only. Standard caps at 5 users. AI (Zia) features sit on higher tiers.
5. Zendesk: best for small teams that expect to scale fast
Zendesk is the default enterprise helpdesk, and its Support Team plan at $19 per agent per month billed annually ($25 monthly) is an affordable way in for email ticketing. Messaging, voice and a help center arrive with Suite Team at $55. Each plan includes a small allowance of automated AI resolutions per agent, then extra resolutions cost $2.00 pay-as-you-go.
Pick it if you know you will grow into a large team and want the broadest marketplace now. For a three-person team, expect more configuration work than Help Scout or Aftersales. If you already run Zendesk, you can add Aftersales Agent inside it with no migration. See Zendesk pricing.
- Best for
- Small teams planning to grow into a large, multi-team support operation
- Pricing
- Support Team $19/agent/month annual ($25 monthly). Suite Team $55 ($69), Suite Professional $115 ($149). 5 automated resolutions per agent/month on Team plans, 10 on Professional; extra $2.00 pay-as-you-go. No free plan; 14-day trial.
- Strengths
- Large ecosystem; scales to big teams; strong reporting on higher tiers.
- Watch out for
- No free plan. Chat and messaging need Suite. AI beyond the allowance adds up quickly at $2.00 per resolution.
6. HubSpot Service Hub: best if your sales and marketing already live in HubSpot
HubSpot's free tools cover up to two users with basic ticketing and live chat (with HubSpot branding), all tied to the same CRM records your sales team uses. Service Hub Starter is listed at $7 per seat per month on annual billing or $20 monthly, and includes HubSpot Credits that power AI features.
It is the strongest choice when one contact record shared by sales, marketing and support matters more than helpdesk depth. Watch the jump to Professional: $90 per seat per month annual plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee.
- Best for
- Small businesses already using HubSpot CRM for sales or marketing
- Pricing
- Free for up to 2 users. Starter $7/seat/month annual ($20 monthly), 500 HubSpot Credits. Professional $90/seat annual ($100 monthly) plus $1,500 one-time onboarding. Extra credits $0.010 each pay-as-you-go.
- Strengths
- One CRM for support, sales and marketing; cheap Starter seat; calling minutes included.
- Watch out for
- Free chat carries HubSpot branding. Big price step from Starter to Professional. AI usage is metered in credits, which takes some forecasting.
7. Crisp: best flat pricing for a chat-led small team
Crisp charges per workspace rather than per seat, which is unusual and very predictable for small teams. The free plan includes two seats with a chat widget and shared inbox. Mini at $45 a month covers four seats and adds an email inbox; Essentials at $95 covers ten seats and adds WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, a knowledge base and workflows. AI credits are included from Mini.
For a ten-person team, Essentials is far cheaper than any per-seat helpdesk here. Aftersales is the stronger pick if you need AI that takes actions such as refunds.
- Best for
- Chat-led teams that want flat, predictable pricing
- Pricing
- Free (2 seats). Mini $45, Essentials $95, Plus $295 per workspace/month; extra agents $10/seat. AI credits included (about $5, $25 and $75). 14-day trial.
- Strengths
- Flat pricing covers up to 10 seats on Essentials; omnichannel inbox; AI credits bundled.
- Watch out for
- Ticketing arrives on Plus. Included AI credits cover a limited number of automated conversations before you buy more.
8. Tidio: best for a small website or store starting with chat
Tidio combines live chat, a ticketing inbox and its Lyro AI Agent. The free plan includes 50 billable conversations a month and 10 seats, plus a one-time batch of 50 Lyro conversations, so a small store can try chat and AI without paying. Paid plans are priced by conversation volume rather than by seat.
It is a good first step for a business whose support is mostly website chat. Once email and messaging volume grows, a fuller helpdesk tends to fit better. See Tidio pricing.
- Best for
- Small websites and stores that start with chat and want simple AI
- Pricing
- Free: 50 conversations/month, 10 seats. Starter $24.17/month annual (100 conversations). Growth from $49.17/month. Lyro AI Agent from $32.50/month. 7-day trial.
- Strengths
- Generous free seat count; quick to install on a website; AI and chat flows in one tool.
- Watch out for
- Pricing by billable conversations can climb as volume grows. Lighter helpdesk features than Freshdesk or Zendesk.
9. Gorgias: best for very small Shopify stores
Gorgias is a helpdesk built for ecommerce, priced by tickets rather than seats. Starter costs $10 a month for 50 tickets, and Basic $50 a month annually for 300. For a one- or two-person Shopify store with low volume, that is hard to beat. AI Agent costs $0.90 per interaction on annual plans.
It is a better fit than Aftersales for a tiny store that wants ticket-based pricing and nothing outside ecommerce. Ticket overages add $0.36 to $0.40 each, so busy months cost more. See Gorgias pricing.
- Best for
- One- or two-person Shopify stores with low ticket volume
- Pricing
- Starter $10/month (50 tickets), Basic $50 annual or $60 monthly (300 tickets), Pro $300 (2,000 tickets), Advanced $750 (5,000 tickets). Overage $0.36 to $0.40 per ticket. AI Agent $0.90 per interaction annual, $1.00 monthly. No free plan; 7-day trial.
- Strengths
- Ecommerce-first workflows; ticket-based pricing suits tiny teams; low entry price.
- Watch out for
- Costs rise with ticket volume, not team size. Less suited to businesses outside ecommerce.
How much does help desk software cost for a 3-person team?
For three agents, the monthly bill ranges from $0 to a few hundred dollars before AI. Example, using list prices billed annually:
- Zoho Desk Free: $0 for 3 users (email ticketing only).
- Help Scout Free: $0 for up to 5 users (1 inbox).
- HubSpot Service Hub Starter: 3 x $7 = $21/month.
- Crisp Mini: $45/month flat for up to 4 seats.
- Freshdesk Growth: 3 x $19 = $57/month.
- Zendesk Support Team: 3 x $19 = $57/month.
- Aftersales Starter: 3 x $24 = $72/month. Growth: 3 x $69 = $207/month.
- Help Scout Standard: 3 x $25 = $75/month.
Now add AI. Example assumptions: 600 conversations a month, and an AI agent resolves 200 of them. On Aftersales that is 200 x $0.99 = $198 a month, and the other 400 conversations cost nothing extra. Those 200 conversations are work your three people no longer do, which is often cheaper than a fourth hire. To estimate your own rate, use our resolution rate guide.
Start free, add seats only when you need them.One seat, live chat and email, and your first 50 Agent resolutions are free.
Which help desk is best for your small business?
- Small team that wants AI to resolve and act (refunds, order changes): Aftersales.
- Two to five people, mostly email, paying nothing: Help Scout Free.
- Three people on a strict budget, or already on Zoho: Zoho Desk Free.
- Classic ticketing at a low per-agent price: Freshdesk Growth.
- Planning to scale into a large support org: Zendesk.
- Sales and marketing already in HubSpot: HubSpot Service Hub.
- Chat-led team of up to 10 wanting a flat bill: Crisp.
- Small website starting with chat: Tidio.
- Tiny Shopify store with low volume: Gorgias.
Not sure free is enough? Compare the best free help desk software, or, for a young company, the best customer support software for startups. More comparisons are on the blog.