The Best Helpdesk Software for Businesses in 2024

With remote or hybrid working here to stay, it’s never been more important to invest in solutions that streamline communications. Helpdesk software is one of those. It’ll will allow you to quickly track and troubleshoot issues, create more opportunities for customers or employees to self-service, and encourage collaborative working between agents.

Based on our research and testing, top CRM software provider Zendesk has the best overall helpdesk software system. It has advanced customer feedback capabilities, integrates with a vast array of third-party apps, and has a reasonably priced starting plan ($19 per month).

But, since we know that your needs are as unique as your business, we’re not satisfied with just giving you one recommendation. That’s why our list features six other great helpdesk solutions:

If you’re short on time and want to cut to the chase, go directly to our free quote finding tool. Just tell us a bit about your business, and we’ll connect you with your best-suited providers, who will then be in touch with tailored quotes at no extra cost.

The Best Helpdesk Software At a Glance

We’ve selected the top seven options for a helpdesk software solution. Below find our shortlist, with essential details such as pricing, free trial and key features.

1. Zendesk – Best Overall

Zendesk’s strengths and weaknesses

Zendesk shines when it comes to multi-channel communication. With the Suite Team plan and above, your customers can get in touch with your support team via email, built-in VoIP, website live chat, social media, and a variety of instant messaging apps.

From the Suite Professional plan and above, Zendesk offers handy data analytics into metrics such as response time.

Zendesk also has great help and support options, with 24/7 live support available through a variety of channels. However, we found its training platform to be a little less comprehensive than the one offered by Salesforce. Zendesk’s level of customization also isn’t as good as MS Dynamics’. It’s missing customizable forms, and most of its lower tier plans don’t allow for custom dashboard or tickets, while all MS Dynamics plans do.

Zendesk also has decent team infrastructure features, relating to multi-team collaboration, organization and management. For example, it has some helpful organization features such as manual and automated ticket routing, team hierarchies and separate case queues.

However it lacks a calendar feature and task dashboard, and its team communication feature is only available on its Suite Professional plan and up. These are features which can help teams organize their workload much better and are all offered by competitors, Salesforce and MS Dynamics.

We also think Zendesk could improve on pricing. While $19 per user, per month is not the most expensive plan, Zendesk does not offer a free option as seen with Freshdesk, Zoho Desk and Manage Engine so in that respect is not as accessible for all budgets.

2. Freshdesk – Best for Communicating with Customers

Freshdesk’s strengths and weaknesses

On one of Freshdesk’s lowest price plans, Customer Service Suite Growth ($29 per user, per month), customers will be able to get in touch via five channels of communication: email, VoIP, website live chat, social media and instant messaging apps. It also has self-service support models, so customers can be directed to help options without needing to rely on your agents. This saves time for both your team and your customers.

For comparison, to access the same amount of communication modes with Zendesk, you would be paying $55 per user, per month, or $95 per user, per month plus add-on fees with MS Dynamics. So this really is a generous feature from Freshdesk, making it one of the best value systems.

Freshdek also particularly stands out for its software integrations. Freshdesk has the capacity to link invoicing software such as Quickbooks and Xero, engineering and support via JIRA, Google Apps, live chat, email marketing like MailChimp, cloud document sharing like Dropbox and CRM software too. This means that Freshdesk can slot right in with your existing software framework and make for a straightforward onboarding process.

Its data analysis features are particularly strong, especially in the Pro and Enterprise plans, with metrics showing sentiment analysis, response time, ticket volume and resolution rate. These insights are valuable for performance reviews of your customer service agents and also to better understand how your team can improve.

However, it’s not the best system for internal communication, since it lacks asset management, problem management, contract management and change management. For a more developed internal communications solution, perhaps for IT teams, we’d recommend Manage Engine.

3. Zoho Desk – Best Value for Money

Zoho Desk’s strengths and weaknesses

Like Manage Engine and Freshdesk, Zoho Desk offers a free plan, and its most expensive Enterprise plan is still cheaper than some competitors’ entry-level plans, at $40 per user, per month. This makes it ideal for smaller businesses looking to upscale their communications without the investment, or for larger businesses wanting an affordable option.

It’s not only cheap, but it also offers some sophisticated features such as data insights into response time, ticket resolution rate and custom reports. This is a feature offered by Zendesk, but for $115 per user, per month vs. Zoho’s $14-$40 per user, per month.

Customers can only communicate via email with Zoho Desk’s lower-tier plans, or website live chat and social media if you choose a premium plan. They could improve by offering more communication channels, as demonstrated by Freshdesk, which additionally offers built-in VoIP and instant messaging.

4. Salesforce Service Cloud – Best for Software Integrations

Salesforce Service Cloud’s strengths and weaknesses

While it is on the pricier side with a starting price of $25 per user, per month, compared with Freshdesk ($15), Zendesk ($19) and  Zoho Desk ($14), Salesforce stands above the rest for its help and support options.

Its Trailhead training platform offers tons of courses, some free, some paid, for in-demand skills such as Google Workspace and AI. This offers great opportunities for your business to upskill and get the maximum potential out of your software.

In terms of integrations, Salesforce offers many first and third-party integrations such as customer service apps, CRM apps, VoIP and other communication apps. This means that you don’t need to change anything about your existing software framework when implementing Salesforce and its help and support options will ensure that it’s a smooth transition.

The platform also has high-end security features, customization features and capacity for creating a strong team infrastructure.

Its main downside is again, that it’s one of the most expensive options on the market. However, if you’re looking for a trusted software that is a household name, with strong features, reliable onboarding support, extensive integrations, ultimately helping you create a strong helpdesk infrastructure, then Salesforce may be worth the investment.

5. Manage Engine – Best for Team Organization

Manage Engine’s strengths and weaknesses

Created specifically as an internal helpdesk platform, Manage Engine offers everything that IT teams need to keep the business connected.

It rivals industry leader, Salesforce when it comes to its organizational features. From its lowest plan, it includes a unified case queue, task dashboard, calendar, and message broadcasting within the platform as well as both manual and automated ticket routing.

With Manage Engine’s organizational features and capacity, IT teams are equipped to handle large volumes of support requests. On top of that, Manage Engine enables businesses to create self-service assets so that employees can consult these documents for help and be more self-sufficient while saving your employees in IT time spent solving issues.

It also offers analytics features and security features such as threat detection and response, which is incredibly important for IT teams facing potential data breaches, malware and phishing attempts. Security should be a primary concern for IT teams seeking helpdesk software. Manage Engine offers SSO (single sign-on), custom permissions, multi-factor authentication and data restrictions based on role, to help avoid cybersecurity attacks.

Bear in mind that Manage Engine is not suitable for external helpdesk teams such as customer support agents, this is because it lacks the capacity for integration with third-party customer support apps that are necessary to create a seamless support infrastructure. It does offer extensive first-party integrations with its own software add-ons with features such as password management, analytics and an application manager.

Although Manage Engine no longer advertises its pricing, it used to be in the $10-$58 per user per month range, making it an affordable option, on par with Zoho.

6. MS Dynamics – Best for Customization

MS Dynamics’s strengths and weaknesses

In terms of features, MS Dynamics offers great flexibility for customizing objects, task types, ticket types, dashboards, fully editable forms and a custom automation builder, making it the most customizable platform we tested.

It also allows for a lot of software integrations, from CRM to VoIP. So, it suits businesses with pre-existing software platforms who want their helpdesk software to fit in with their processes, not change their whole workflow to suit a new software platform.

MS Dynamics is compatible with third-party apps as well as its own extensive first-party library. Microsoft has also begun implementing generative AI within its apps, to provide an even more proactive approach to problem-solving.

However, there’s no in-built method of collecting customer feedback, which means you may have to link a third-party app to achieve this goal. Luckily, MS Dynamics has many opportunities for integration. If you’re seeking a helpdesk software that has this feature built-in, then Zendesk may be your best bet.

Other drawbacks include the fact that MS Dynamics doesn’t offer multi-channel communication and customers can still only contact you via email on the Professional plan. Whereas on Freshdesk’s rival ‘Omnichannel’ plan, customers have access to support via social media, built-in VoIP and instant messaging features and it’s a whole lot cheaper too.

7. Sugar Serve – Best for Data Analysis

Sugar Serve Review

While it’s renowned for its data analysis capabilities, Sugar Serve is one of the most expensive offerings on our list at $80 per user, per month.

Sugar Serve is strongest when it comes to data management and analysis, offering insights into metrics such as AI-based sentiment, agent response time, ticket resolution rate, ticket volume and handling time.

It generates custom reports and also offers suggestions powered by generative AI tech to give a predictive edge to your problem-solving and customer support. Having the capacity to analyze these intricacies is invaluable as it’ll allow you to spot seasonal trends, and patterns and gauge customer pain points so that you can optimize your support methods.

Sugar Serve supports email communication and with an add-on from Amazon Connect, built-in VoIP and website live chat too. For such an expensive plan, you may expect more channels of communication, as demonstrated by Freshdesk, which offers built-in VoIP, instant messaging and social media on top of Sugar Serve’s communication channels.

Another plus is that it only offers one plan, which makes life easier when deciding on which plan to choose. On the other hand, it’s a less scalable option than competitors like Zendesk, which offers a range of pricing tiers.

Buying Guide: How to Choose Helpdesk Software

When choosing helpdesk software, carefully consider your needs. Just because a system has a wide gamut of features doesn’t mean you’ll need all of them, and you may be better off going with a simpler, or less expensive system.

To help you make a decision, we’ve listed some common helpdesk software features, and what their use-case is:

• Ticket tracking – Helpdesk software allows support tickets to be logged, assigned, prioritized, and tracked through resolution. This provides visibility into open issues and service level status.
• Self-service – Customers can often log and track their own tickets or find answers via self-service knowledge articles which eases the workload of agents.
• Reporting – Helpdesk software reports on metrics like ticket volume, resolution time, agent workload and more, to show areas of success and improvement.
• Automation – Some helpdesk platforms have automation capabilities like auto replies and reminders. This saves agents time by outsourcing repetitive tasks.
• Multi-channel support – Many helpdesk tools allow customers to contact via email, phone, live chat, social media and other channels.
• Agent collaboration – Features like shared ticket queues and notes allow agents to efficiently work together.
• Integration – Helpdesk software can integrate with your existing software systems to enrich tickets and give more insight into queries.

Remember, you might not need all of these features. Our advice is to separate your must-haves from your nice-to-haves, and choose the system that best fits your budget.

How We Test Helpdesk Software for Businesses

We tested 7 market-leading helpdesk software products to evaluate them in terms of functionality, usability, cost, scalability, and more so we can make the most useful recommendations to US businesses.

Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in five main categories of investigation and 17 subcategories – in fact, we covered 75 areas of investigation in total. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting’ to ensure the product’s final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers – and that’s our product testing algorithm in a nutshell!

Our main testing categories for helpdesk software are:

Help & Support: the resources and assistance available to users when they encounter issues or require guidance while using the helpdesk software, including email, online chat, and phone support as well as 24/7 help availability and staff training.

Customization: the ability to tailor the helpdesk software to suit the specific needs and processes of the organization, e.g. customizing task and ticket types, adding integrations, and more.

Features: the functionalities and capabilities provided by the helpdesk software, such as case management tools, self-service functionality, and the available ticket channels.

Team Infrastructure: determining if a platform makes it easier to manage large teams, including team dashboards, team hierarchies, and unified case queues.

Pricing: the cost associated with using the helpdesk software. It includes factors such as licensing fees, subscription plans, and additional charges for add-on modules or features.