Top 15 Zendesk alternatives & competitors for 2025

Let’s be honest, Zendesk is a giant in the customer service world. For years, it’s been the default choice for many. But maybe you’re starting to feel like it’s not quite the perfect fit anymore. The costs might be creeping up, the interface feels a little dated, or you’re curious about newer AI that can actually learn your business.

If any of that rings a bell, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to walk through the top 15 Zendesk alternatives for 2025, comparing them on what really matters so you can find the best tool for your team.

Why look for Zendesk alternatives?

Switching tools isn’t always about hating what you have. Sometimes, you just outgrow it. When it comes to Zendesk, a few common growing pains tend to pop up.

First, the price tag. Zendesk is powerful, no doubt, but that power can get expensive. Key features, extra agent seats, and especially the AI tools often live in the priciest tiers, which can feel like a stretch.

Then there’s the setup. Getting new agents up to speed can be a project in itself, taking time away from actually helping customers.

And even though Zendesk has AI, it can feel a bit tacked on, not woven into the fabric of the platform like some newer tools. This all builds up to the ‘rip and replace’ nightmare. The idea of moving years of tickets and workflows is enough to give anyone a headache. But what if the answer wasn’t to replace Zendesk, but to make it smarter?

How we chose the best Zendesk alternatives

To put this list together, we didn’t just google ‘top help desks.’ We looked at dozens of tools through the lens of what a modern support team actually needs.

• Does it do the job? At a bare minimum, it had to be a solid tool for support, whether that’s through tickets, chat, or a knowledge base.

• How smart is the AI? We focused on platforms with genuinely useful AI for automation or self-service, since that’s a huge driver for change.

• Does it play well with others? We looked at both full-on replacements and smart AI layers that enhance your current setup. How it fits into your workflow is a big deal.

• Is it easy to use? You shouldn’t need a PhD in a piece of software to get started. It has to be intuitive for agents and admins.

• Is it worth the money? We looked for clear pricing and a good bang for your buck.

The best Zendesk alternatives for 2025 at a glance

Here’s a quick look at our top picks to help you compare your options.

Tool	Best For	Standout Feature	Starting Price (per month)
eesel AI	Teams wanting to add powerful AI without replacing their help desk	AI layer that trains on past tickets & docs to automate support	$239/mo (annual)
Freshdesk	All-in-one help desk functionality for SMBs and enterprises	Strong ticketing automation and omnichannel support	$15/agent/mo
Intercom	Proactive support and customer engagement	Messaging-first platform with advanced chatbots for sales & support	$39/seat/mo
Help Scout	Small to medium-sized businesses needing simplicity and affordability	User-friendly shared inbox that feels like a personal email	$20/user/mo
HubSpot Service Hub	Businesses already in the HubSpot ecosystem	Deep integration with HubSpot CRM for a unified customer view	$20/seat/mo
Gorgias	E-commerce businesses (especially on Shopify)	Deep integration with e-commerce platforms to manage orders in-chat	$10/mo (ticket-based)
Kustomer	Enterprises needing a 360-degree customer view	Unified customer timeline that combines all interactions	$89/user/mo
Zoho Desk	Teams looking for a feature-rich, budget-friendly option	Context-aware AI (Zia) and strong integration with Zoho suite	$14/agent/mo
Jira Service Management	IT support and internal service desk teams	Seamless integration with Jira for dev/ops workflows	$22/user/mo
Front	Teams that need high-collaboration on customer issues	Collaborative inbox that unifies email, chat, and social media	$29/seat/mo

A detailed look at the top 15 Zendesk alternatives

Alright, let’s get into the details of each platform and see what makes it a worthy contender.

1. eesel AI

What if you didn’t have to switch at all? That’s the idea behind eesel AI. Instead of making you ditch your help desk, it acts like a brain upgrade, plugging directly into tools you already use like Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Intercom. This completely avoids the migration headache while giving your team a serious boost. It learns from your past tickets, knowledge base articles, and other documents to automate replies, draft answers for agents, and triage tickets with surprising accuracy.

Best for: Businesses that are generally happy with their help desk but need to add powerful, accurate AI automation without the disruption of a full migration.

Key Features:

• AI Agent: Resolves incoming tickets on its own by learning from your actual support history and knowledge sources, not a generic dataset.

• AI Copilot: Sits inside your help desk and drafts accurate, context-aware replies for your human agents in a single click.

• One-Click Integration: Connects to over 100 sources like Confluence, Google Docs, and Shopify to make sure the AI has all the context it needs to be helpful.

• Simulation Mode: Lets you test the AI on your past tickets so you can see its performance and potential return on investment before you activate it.

Pricing: Starts at $239/month (billed annually) for the Team plan, which includes up to 1,000 AI interactions.

Verdict: Honestly, this is the smartest move for teams who are mostly happy with their help desk but want way better AI. It fixes the "limited AI" and "too complex" problems of Zendesk without forcing you to start from scratch. You can level up your support in a few hours, not a few months.

2. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is probably one of the most well-known names on this list, and for good reason. It’s a direct, all-in-one replacement for Zendesk that’s packed with features and serves businesses of all sizes.

Best for: Companies of all sizes looking for a feature-rich, all-in-one help desk.

Key Features: It has a robust ticketing system, AI-powered automation features (they call it "Freddy AI"), self-service portals, and good reporting capabilities.

Pricing: Offers a free plan for up to 10 agents. Paid plans start at $15/agent/month.

Verdict: If you’re set on a complete platform change, Freshdesk is a solid, well-rounded option. Just know that its built-in AI might feel a little generic compared to specialized tools, and you’ll still have to face the music of migrating all your data over.

3. Intercom

Intercom is built around the idea of proactive conversations. It uses a messenger-first approach, blending live chat, bots, and targeted messages to engage with customers throughout their entire journey.

Best for: Sales and marketing-focused teams that want to use support chats to find and keep customers.

Key Features: Proactive live chat, an advanced AI chatbot named "Fin," product tours for user onboarding, and a shared team inbox.

Pricing: Starts at $39/seat/month, but the price can go up quickly as you add more features and contacts.

Verdict: Great for sparking engagement and growth. But be ready for the premium price. It’s also a complete platform switch that centers your entire communication strategy around messaging, which isn’t for everyone.

4. Help Scout

Help Scout keeps things simple. It’s a user-friendly help desk designed for small to medium-sized businesses, stripping away the clutter for a clean interface that feels more like a shared email inbox than a complex ticketing system.

Best for: Smaller teams who want an affordable, no-fuss shared inbox that’s easy to pick up and use.

Key Features: A clean shared inbox, a knowledge base builder ("Docs"), simple reports, and a live chat widget ("Beacon").

Pricing: Starts at $20/user/month.

Verdict: A fantastic, budget-friendly pick if you value simplicity above all else. It doesn’t have the heavy-duty automation or AI that larger teams might need, but that makes it a great candidate to pair with an AI layer like eesel AI to add that power back in.

5. HubSpot Service Hub

If your company is already using HubSpot’s CRM or marketing tools, then the Service Hub is a natural fit. It’s part of that larger ecosystem, giving you a single, unified view of each customer by pulling in data from every interaction they’ve had with your business.

Best for: Businesses already invested in the HubSpot ecosystem.

Key Features: It offers deep integration with the HubSpot CRM, ticketing, a knowledge base, live chat, and customer feedback surveys.

Pricing: Starts at $20/seat/month.

Verdict: If your team lives in HubSpot, this is a no-brainer. The single customer view is incredibly useful. For everyone else, it might feel like you’re paying for a lot of extras you won’t use, and its core help desk tools aren’t as specialized as others on this list.

6. Gorgias

Gorgias was built from the ground up for e-commerce stores. Its superpower is its deep integration with platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, which lets agents see and even edit order information right inside the support conversation.

Best for: E-commerce businesses, especially those running on Shopify.

Key Features: Deep e-commerce platform integration, social media support, live chat, and automation rules based on customer shopping data.

Pricing: Starts at $10/month but is based on ticket volume, so your costs grow with your store.

Verdict: If you run an online store, just stop here. Gorgias is almost certainly the best tool for you. It’s designed to solve the exact problems retail support teams face every day.

7. Kustomer

Kustomer is a CRM and support platform aimed at larger companies. It organizes every customer interaction (chats, emails, calls) into a single, continuous timeline, giving agents a complete picture of who they’re talking to.

Best for: Large enterprises that need a holistic, omnichannel view of their customers.

Key Features: A unified customer timeline, support across all channels (email, chat, social, voice), AI for sentiment analysis, and intelligent routing.

Pricing: Starts at $89/user/month.

Verdict: Kustomer is great for providing super personalized, context-rich support at scale. However, its high price and complexity mean it’s really only a fit for bigger companies with the budget and team to manage it.

8. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is another strong all-in-one competitor, known for cramming a ton of features into a very reasonably priced package. It’s part of the huge Zoho suite of business apps, which is a bonus for anyone already using other Zoho products.

Best for: Teams looking for a feature-rich, budget-friendly option that connects well with other business tools.

Key Features: Context-aware AI ("Zia"), multi-department ticketing, a self-service portal, and smooth integration with the Zoho CRM.

Pricing: A free plan is available. Paid plans start at a very friendly $14/agent/month.

Verdict: Zoho Desk offers incredible bang for your buck. Its built-in AI, Zia, is handy for basic tasks, but like other native AIs, it might not have the depth of a dedicated AI platform that trains on your specific business data.

9. Jira Service Management

While most people know Jira for managing development projects, Jira Service Management is its IT service management (ITSM) tool. It’s designed to help IT, ops, and dev teams work together to solve incidents and requests quickly.

Best for: IT support and internal service desk teams, especially if you’re already using Jira.

Key Features: Seamless integration with Jira Software, plus workflows for incident, change, and asset management.

Pricing: A free plan is available. Paid plans start at $22/user/month.

Verdict: If your support team lives and breathes IT or internal requests, JSM is a no-brainer. It speaks the language of technical workflows in a way most customer-facing help desks don’t. For your external customers, though, it might feel a little too structured.

10. Front

Front is a customer communication hub built around a collaborative shared inbox. It pulls your emails, social media messages, texts, and live chats into one place so your team can easily tackle customer issues together.

Best for: Teams that need to collaborate heavily to solve customer problems.

Key Features: A unified inbox for all your channels, internal comments and assignments, powerful automation rules, and detailed analytics.

Pricing: Starts at $29/seat/month.

Verdict: Front turns customer communication into a team sport. It’s less of a traditional help desk and more of a modern communication platform, which is its greatest strength.

11. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is a feature-packed help desk with strong omnichannel support. It comes with a popular live chat tool, a full ticketing system, and even call center features.

Best for: Businesses wanting a versatile, all-in-one solution with a focus on real-time support.

Key Features: A universal inbox, advanced live chat with proactive invites, a built-in call center, and a customer portal.

Pricing: Starts at $9/agent/month, with a free version available.

Verdict: A very capable and affordable all-rounder. You get an impressive number of features for the price, though the interface can feel a bit dated compared to some of its sleeker competitors.

12. HappyFox

HappyFox is another solid multi-channel help desk that prioritizes being simple and easy to use. It offers a strong ticketing system, self-service options, and task management to keep support teams organized.

Best for: Companies wanting a straightforward, easy-to-implement help desk.

Key Features: A powerful ticketing system, knowledge base, community forums, and task management tools.

Pricing: Starts at $39/agent/month, with a five-agent minimum.

Verdict: HappyFox is a reliable and user-friendly platform. That five-agent minimum, however, might make it a tough sell for very small teams or startups just getting off the ground.

13. Salesforce Service Cloud

As you’d guess from the name, Salesforce Service Cloud is a beast of an enterprise-grade customer service platform. It ties directly into the Salesforce CRM, giving agents a complete history of every customer.

Best for: Large enterprises, especially those already using Salesforce for sales and marketing.

Key Features: AI-powered workflows ("Einstein"), omnichannel routing, extensive customization options, and deep CRM integration.

Pricing: Starts at $25/user/month, but you’ll need the much pricier plans for the real enterprise-level features.

Verdict: For huge organizations that need a highly customizable and data-heavy platform, Service Cloud is a top pick. For just about anyone else, it’s probably too complex and too expensive.

14. Hiver

Hiver has a neat trick: it turns your Gmail inbox into a full-fledged, collaborative help desk. It’s built for teams that love Gmail and don’t want to leave it to manage customer support.

Best for: Teams that run their entire support operation out of Gmail.

Key Features: Shared inboxes inside Gmail, email assignments, collision alerts (so two people don’t reply to the same email), analytics, and SLAs.

Pricing: Starts at $15/user/month.

Verdict: A brilliant tool for its specific audience. If your team practically lives in Gmail, Hiver is a seamless way to add help desk power without having to learn a whole new tool.

15. Helpjuice

Helpjuice is a dedicated knowledge base tool designed to make customer self-service as effective as possible. It’s not a full help desk, but it’s a fantastic Zendesk alternative for companies that want to build a world-class help center.

Best for: Companies focused on scaling support through great documentation and self-service.

Key Features: Intelligent search, deep analytics on how articles are performing, easy customization, and collaboration tools for content writers.

Pricing: Starts at $120/month for up to 4 users.

Verdict: As a standalone knowledge base, Helpjuice is top-notch. Its analytics are great for figuring out what customers are searching for and where your help content is falling short. It’s a great tool to pair with a lightweight help desk.

How to choose the right Zendesk alternatives for your business

With so many choices, how do you actually pick one? Here are a few practical questions to ask.

First, what’s the real problem?

Before you get lost in feature comparisons, ask yourself: is Zendesk itself the problem, or are you just hungry for smarter, cheaper AI? If it’s the AI, an add-on layer like eesel AI can save you a world of hurt by upgrading what you already have instead of making you move.

Can you try before you buy?

Don’t trust the polished sales demos. The only way to know if a tool will work is to test it with your real customer questions and data. The best tools, especially AI ones, offer simulation modes that let you see how they perform on your past tickets. This proves their value before you spend a dime.

What’s the real price?

Look past the monthly per-agent fee. Think about the hidden costs: migrating your data, retraining your team, paying for implementation help, and any "essential" add-ons that aren’t in the base price. The sticker price is rarely the final bill.

Do Zendesk alternatives play well with others?

Your help desk can’t be an island. Make sure any tool you’re considering connects easily with your other critical software, whether that’s your CRM, e-commerce platform, or internal wiki like Confluence. A support tool that can’t access your company’s knowledge is a support tool that can’t do its job.

Conclusion on Zendesk alternatives: Move beyond the limits of traditional help desks

Look, Zendesk is a solid tool, but it’s not the only game in town anymore. The world of customer service has exploded with options, and there’s a whole range of Zendesk alternatives built for different teams, budgets, and needs. Whether you want an all-in-one replacement like Freshdesk or a super-specialized tool like Gorgias for your e-commerce shop, you have choices.

But remember, the smartest move isn’t always the biggest one. If your real goal is to get powerful AI, make your agents’ lives easier, and give customers instant answers, think about enhancing the tools you already have. An AI layer like eesel AI can give you all the next-gen benefits without the next-level headache of a full migration.

Try eesel AI for free or book a demo today.