15 Best IT HelpDesk Ticketing Systems in 2025
The best helpdesk ticketing system reviewed & compared by HR tech experts. See key features, pricing info, best use cases, and more below.
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As your business grows and your customer base expands, a helpdesk ticketing system transforms from a nice-to-have into a must-have. The right ticketing tool speeds up your customer service and tackles the rising tide of queries, requests, and incident reports across various channels. Since many of our readers are on the lookout for these solutions, we’ve gathered some insights to help you find the perfect ticketing system. Let’s dive in!
To choose the best IT support software, we’ve attended demos with several vendors, interviewed industry experts, listened to what end users had to say, and leveraged the experience of our in-house team. As for the features and capabilities of helpdesk ticketing, we think the key ones to look out for are automation, knowledge base, reporting and analytics, and mobile accessibility:
- Automation: Efficiency is vital in managing support requests, and automation is how you can achieve it. We’ve selected helpdesk ticketing systems that support automated ticket routing, categorization, and canned responses, all of which boost the productivity of your support agents and ultimately lead to faster resolution and improved customer satisfaction.
- Knowledge base: Do you want customers to find solutions to common issues on their own? We’ve made sure the picked ticketing software tools are equipped with robust knowledge bases, promoting customer self-service and reducing the number of support tickets your agent would otherwise have to resolve.
- Reporting and analytics: The best ticketing system software gives you real-time data on several metrics, including response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction, so you can pinpoint problems early on and solve them in time.
- Mobile accessibility: This isn't exactly a dealbreaker, but we were on the lookout for mobile-optimized IT ticketing systems, or better yet, ones with dedicated mobile apps, as these enable your support agents to stay connected, respond to customers on time, and reach resolution faster.
For an in-depth understanding of our selection process and guiding principles, check out our editorial guidelines.
Freshservice
Like most products within the Freshworks Inc. family, Freshservice is a robust, comprehensive, and easy-to-use product with a very intuitive interface.
PROS
CONS
Freshservice is a cloud-based IT service management (ITSM) solution with a modern and user-friendly interface. Made specifically with enterprises in mind, Freshservice is ideal for companies looking for an ITIL-compliant solution with features for change management, incident management, release management, and much more.
NHS, M&C Saatchi, TeamViewer, Honda, Judson University
- Starter: This plan costs $19 per agent per month and is billed annually.
- Growth: This plan costs $49 per agent per month and is billed annually.
- Pro: This plan costs $95 per agent per month and is billed annually.
- Enterprise: This plan costs $119 per agent per month and is billed annually.
Best For
Freshservice can be used by companies of all sizes due to their tiered pricing but it is mainly geared towards enterprises. Small and medium-sized companies with less complex needs are recommended to use Freshdesk, Freshworks’ help desk solution.
I use this tool at a customer service desk where I can respond to their questions through live chat, emails, and WhatsApp because it is easy to use, I also use it as a marketing tool where I send promotions and offers to our clients through Whatsapp channel to increase our brand interactions and to inform our clients about ongoing promotions, offers, and product updates. The software is easy and faster to use helping me to stay in touch with our clients all the time they contact us
I like the integration with the caller center, you can easily make calls and receive calls within the tool without multiple logins to different tools, and calls are secure and faster,
There is enough customer care who responds to all questions on time when you contact them. Lastly, the software can be integrated with Facebook and Twitter without any technical knowledge and at no extra cost.
We had used a lot of tools in the past and none was delivering services to our expectations. We needed software that had all communication channels and marketing features in one place and that is why we bought the freshservice. It is helping us reach back to our clients anytime from any channel they use to contact us. The tool is also helping us in marketing where we can reach to our clients through email campaigns and WhatsApp campaigns, I have used the solution for five years and seven months
It is hard to transfer a chat and a call to another operator or to another department which is challenging us more often because it always fails to get transferred. The mobile application does not sync with the web application and hence you end up losing the chat history you had with the clients from the web application when you decide to use the mobile application. They have very limited payment methods where you can use a prepaid card to make payments towards your subscription.
They have Whatsapp integration which comes with free 1000 messages/month whereas other competitors charge for this service independently
Good for support operators.
May not be good for the sales team.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a scalable solution for companies of any size. It packs strong features, including one for gamification to encourage agents to improve their output.
PROS
- Freshdesk enables your customer service team to offer proactive support across multiple channels, including Facebook, Twitter, email, and website, to engage your customers.
- Freshdesk is incredibly user-friendly. Your agents don’t need any specialized coding or technical knowledge to use it. Plus, it offers diverse templates with formatting components to simplify ticketing.
- Freshdesk's free plan is comprehensive, offering you all the features you would need as a small business and then some.
- With Freshdesk, your team can collaborate with each other and resolve issues faster.
- The platform comes with a mobile app that enables agents to provide support on the go. It’s available for both iOS and Android devices.
- In addition to a generous free plan, Freshdesk's paid plans provide great value for money. It gives you several advanced features like gamification at affordable rates.
CONS
- Freshdesk’s marketing is slightly confusing. Most of its advanced features require an upgrade to the highest pricing tears, which users don’t realize until after signing up. Here’s a free vs. paid plan breakdown, so you don’t find yourself making wrong decisions.
- You cannot provide temporary access to seasonal hires, part-time workers, or other team members in the Free plan. While this feature is available, you’ll have to upgrade to the premium plans.
- Freshdesk doesn’t offer dedicated technical support. As a result, complicated issues take longer to resolve.
Freshdesk is a highly scalable, cloud-based help desk system for businesses of all sizes. It features a shared inbox where all customer support tickets from several channels are collated, customizable workflows, automated pop-ups that help deflect common customer queries, and comprehensive dashboards to monitor quality metrics. Freshdesk also offers a team huddle feature that allows you to bring in experts to resolve complex tickets, as well as a gamification feature to motivate agents and improve their performance.
Fiverr, HP, Decathlon, Panasonic, NYU, Henkel, Pearson, Thai Union, American Express.
Freshdesk offers four pricing plans:
- Free: Includes integrated ticketing, knowledge bases, analytics, and email support for up to two agents.
- Growth: Costs $15 per agent per month and includes everything in the Free plan, plus automation, SLA management, in-depth reporting, and custom email servers.
- Pro: Costs $49 per agent per month and includes everything in the Growth plan, plus up to 5000 collaborators, round-robin routing, custom reports and dashboards, and CSAT surveys.
- Enterprise: Costs $79 per agent per month and includes everything in the Pro plan, plus sandbox functionality, bot assistance, and canned response suggestions.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for a comprehensive customer support solution.
We use it every time to chat, engage, and support our customers. The chatbot powered by Freddy AI enables the delivery of automated messages and precise answers to our customers' questions which leads to faster resolution. We also use it for custom reports and scheduled reports.
It is easy to integrate with our social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. It is also cheap to purchase and offers the best chat features with AI-powered chatbots.
We needed a software that would help us communicate effectively with our customers and deliver personalized support quicker. It has not been so long since we started using Freshdesk in our company and it has really been helpful to us.
It requires a trained person to set up the chatbots and the navigation of the software requires someone with computer knowledge.
Freshdesk is cheap and easy to implement. It is also supported on all devices which allows us to work remotely on any device.
The number of customers a company has, the number of employees who offer customer support, and the price of the plan a company needs depending on the number of agents available.
It has helped us communicate easily with our customers and increase our sales due to improved customer care.
A growing organisation that has many customers.
Not good for businesses that do not operate online but Freshdesk is good for any business that has customers that need online services
Zendesk
Zendesk is arguably the most well-known customer support software available today. Among its features are integrated surveys to measure customer satisfaction and analytics dashboards to monitor your team’s performance.
PROS
CONS
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer support solution that allows you to receive, prioritize, and handle customer support requests from different channels including email, chat, and social media, all in one centralized and shared location.
With the help of triggers, you’re able to automatically assign and escalate tickets to specific groups, send automated responses and follow-ups, notify customers and agents of certain updates and tag certain tickets for easy reporting and information retrieval. Among Zendesk’s features are also integrated surveys to measure customer satisfaction and analytics dashboards to monitor your team’s performance.
Mailchimp, Uber, Khan Academy
Zendesk offers three paid plans: Team, Professional, and Enterprise. These plans cater to different business sizes and range from $19 to $115 per agent per month, billed annually.
To find out which plan suits your business, visit Zendesk's pricing page. You can sign up for a free 14-day trial or contact Zendesk's team for a demo.
Best For
We use Zendesk Daily. We use it to first log the contact information of all of our prospects. Once the information is logged we send out the initial information to them through Zendesk as well. For people that want additional information we call and record from Zendesk. We also complete follow-up emails and calls through Sell. All of our ongoing communication with our prospects are handled through Zendesk
- The ability to record calls
- The email integration with your phone to see all conversations in one place
- The ability to categorize prospects by labels
We got it to manage our communication while recruiting tutors
- The user interface is a little old fashion
- The calling experience is not the best
- The appointment scheduling feature is not intuitive
It is a more reliable product in terms of stability and functionality.
The stability of the tool, how often does it crash or have reports of down. How user-friendly is it, would people be able to use it by just signing up? Finally, how affordable. is the tool
There hasn't been much significant change since we have using it, it already meets our needs
Any organization or individual that is managing a large volume of contacts and leads/ prospects
Users that don't have multiple steps in their communication process and are not communicating with a large volume of people
ServiceDesk Plus
ServiceDesk Plus is a very comprehensive ITSM solution that’s trusted by some of the thousands of businesses, including 9/10 of Fortune 100 companies.
PROS
CONS
ServiceDesk Plus is a full-stack service management platform with both cloud and on-premise deployment options. With features for incident management, problem management, change management, and much more, ServiceDesk Plus provides midsize and large companies with great visibility and control over their IT issues to ensure that they suffer no downtime.
Disney, Honda, ABC, Etihad Airways, RBS, Dell, Siemens
ServiceDesk Plus has 3 plans: Standard, Professional, and Enterprise. The pricing of those plans isn’t disclosed upfront. Contact ServiceDesk Plus’ sales team to get a custom quote.
Best For
ServiceDesk Plus is best for midsize and large companies.
We used ServiceDesk Plus daily to manage and track IT support requests, ensuring that issues were resolved quickly and efficiently. The customizable workflows allowed us to prioritize tickets based on urgency and automate task assignments, streamlining the ticket management process.
The AI support agent was particularly helpful in handling routine queries and reducing the load on our IT team, enabling them to focus on more complex issues. During my six-month internship, I primarily used ServiceDesk Plus to monitor ticket statuses, facilitate communication between teams, and ensure prompt resolutions—all of which significantly improved our service efficiency and employee satisfaction.
- ServiceDesk Plus offers customizable workflows that enable technical teams to efficiently manage and prioritize IT support tickets.
- The AI support agent helps reduce the workload on the IT team by automating responses to common queries and issues, effectively filtering out simpler requests.
- The platform provides a comprehensive 360° view of IT operations, enabling better integration and coordination across departments.
Our organization implemented ServiceDesk Plus to address the challenge of managing IT support requests efficiently and enhancing the overall employee experience. Before adopting this tool, we faced difficulties with disorganized ticketing systems, delayed response times, and a lack of integration between IT support and other business functions.
ServiceDesk Plus offered customizable workflows that streamlined ticket management and improved our ability to track and resolve issues promptly. The AI support agent significantly reduced the workload on our IT team by handling common queries and requests.
Additionally, the platform’s capabilities extended beyond IT, creating a unified approach to service delivery across the organization. I’ve personally used ServiceDesk Plus for six months during an internship, and it greatly improved our service efficiency and user satisfaction.
- The user interface could be more intuitive and streamlined to improve the overall user experience for IT staff.
- Some advanced features, like detailed reporting, can be difficult to navigate and require additional training to fully utilize.
- While the AI support agent is helpful, it struggles with more complex or unique queries, which can lead to incomplete resolutions.
ServiceDesk Plus stands out from its competitors due to its deep integration with ManageEngine’s suite of IT management solutions, offering a comprehensive 360° view of IT operations. Unlike some other tools, it provides highly customizable workflows that allow organizations to tailor the platform to their specific needs, improving ticket management efficiency.
The platform's AI support agent is another differentiator, reducing the workload on IT teams by automating responses to common requests. I prefer ServiceDesk Plus because of its combination of ease of use, powerful customization options, and seamless integration, which make it a versatile and efficient solution for managing IT and business services.
When selecting a service desk tool like ServiceDesk Plus, consider the customization options, as flexibility in workflows and ticket management can significantly improve efficiency. Scalability is another critical factor, especially if you plan to expand its use beyond IT to other departments through Enterprise Service Management (ESM).
Evaluate the level of AI automation available to help reduce manual workloads and improve response times. Additionally, assess the platform’s user interface and ensure your team has the resources to handle the setup and configuration process effectively.
ServiceDesk Plus has evolved by introducing new features and enhancements to cater to the growing needs of modern organizations. A key development is the integration of AI-driven support agents, which automate routine tasks and reduce the workload on IT teams, allowing them to focus on more complex issues.
These updates reflect the platform's commitment to improving user experience, streamlining workflows, and adapting to the evolving demands of businesses.
ServiceDesk Plus is ideal for medium to large organizations that require a robust and scalable IT service management solution. It is particularly well-suited for companies with complex IT infrastructures that need customizable workflows, integration with other IT management tools, and the ability to handle high volumes of support requests.
ServiceDesk Plus may not be a good fit for small organizations with limited IT infrastructure or simple service desk needs, as the platform’s full range of features may be more complex than necessary for smaller teams.
It might also not be ideal for organizations that do not require extensive customization or integration with other IT management tools, as the setup process can be time-consuming and requires dedicated resources.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a simple customer support solution. Their native live chat is easily accessible via a widget that integrates smoothly with your websites and apps, allowing you to connect with customers instantaneously.
PROS
- LiveAgent’s modern user interface looks aesthetically pleasing while being easy to navigate.
- LiveAgent is super easy to implement and use. Even if your team isn’t tech-savvy, the time to productivity is quick.
- LiveAgent empowers small support teams to easily handle large volumes of queries. Critical features like a universal inbox, a live chat widget, and a knowledge base enable you to address all tickets with greater efficiency.
- For LiveAgent, every user is a valuable client. Expect 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat, or email. The support agents are also in-house and not outsourced, which further ensures you’re given accurate answers to all your queries.
- LiveAgent takes feedback seriously and is constantly trying to improve the software, so you’re assured of a reliable tool.
CONS
- LiveAgent needs to work on its mobile app interface. While convenient to work with, it isn’t as at par with the competitors.
- LiveAgent offers limited integrations, which may be a hindrance for companies wanting to significantly boost support effectiveness and visibility.
- LiveAgent’s Free plan doesn’t allow for integrations with social networks like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Viber — you’ll have to upgrade to the paid plans to get access. Therefore, you can’t offer customers omnichannel support and have to stay limited to email, live chat, and call center support.
LiveAgent is a customer service solution with a clean and user-friendly interface. It features a unified inbox where all customer support tickets are collected from different channels then assigned and prioritized according to your predefined workflows. Its native live chat is easily accessible via a widget that integrates smoothly with your websites and apps, allowing you to connect with customers instantaneously. LiveAgent also offers a knowledge base that empowers customers to self-serve, a built-in call center with IVR and unlimited call recording storage, and over 40 third-party integrations with popular solutions.
Huawei, BMW, Yamaha, O2, Slido, Forbes, AirBus.
LiveAgent offers a free plan with some limitations on the features that can be accessed and three paid plans with feature increases, competitively priced as follows:
- Ticket: $15 per agent per month for LiveAgent’s ticketing solution.
- Ticket+Chat: $29 per agent per month for access to LiveAgent’s ticketing solution and live chat.
- All-inclusive: $39 per agent per month for all of LiveAgent’s features without any limits.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for an affordable and easy to use customer support solution.
We use the solution to offer live chat on our website and to respond to customer questions through emails and social media.
I like the user interface, which is smooth and easy for anyone to use. The tool also provides good notifications so you never miss client chats.
We bought the software to communicate with our website users and clients through live chat and support emails. We have used the solution for two years and it has helped us build strong customer relationships because of how fast we now respond to their questions and requests.
Pricing of the software does not favor smaller businesses.
They have more integrations like emails, social media, and knowledge base than other tools.
Consider the modules that come with the solution and whether they cover your needs or not.
They have developed more modules like Knowledgebase where the user can go and read more documentation which cuts down on the number of tickets clients open.
Support agents and sales teams
Marketing teams
Monday.com
Monday Service is the recently launched ticket management system from Monday.com, one of the key names in modern business and productivity software. Their product integrates service management features with advanced automation, AI-driven ticket classification, and customizable workflows.
PROS
- AI-driven ticket classification is one of their stand-out features. This essentially leverages artificial intelligence to pre-classify tickets as they come in, and you can even set automatic outcomes based on this, such as setting a priority and assigning to an agent without any human involvement.
- We also love how it integrates with existing email systems, letting users create tickets simply by emailing a designated address, for example.
- Like all Monday products, the workflows are remarkably customizable. For example, you can set whichever stages you need in a ticket's processing and decide which information gets inputted and visualized for each type of incoming piece.
- Free plan available, and affordable, scalable plans for small to midsize businesses
- Easy to learn and use
- Customizable dashboard
- Collaborative document creation with the ability to turn content in docs into tasks in projects with a few clicks
- Gamified progress tracking with visual celebrations for users
- Workflow automation for repetitive tasks
- Built-in communication tools reduce reliance on email
- Customized forms for in-house or client use that can be easily turned into projects
CONS
- Naturally, Monday Service is limited to Monday.com’s ecosystem. Also, even if you are already a Monday.com user, there are no price discounts if you also use the Service product.
- There is no free version of the product yet, only a fortnight-long free trial. The free-forever 2-person plan that lots of teams use for Monday Work Management is not available for this product.
- Monday Service is still in the beta stage, so it’s probable that some features might change in the future, potentially altering the workflows you set up if you start using it now.
- 3+ users are required to get on any of the paid plans
- Limited storage on the Basic plan
- Could be too complex for simple project management needs
- No phone customer support
- Tracking different conversations can be difficult because of all the clutter
We have reviewed Monday’s products for Human Resources and Project Management in the past, so we weren’t all that surprised when they released an ITSM. Although, as of this writing, it’s still in Beta mode, we’ve had a demo of the product and did the 14-day free trial. While tinkering with the tool, we couldn’t help but think, why didn’t they release something like this years ago? It seems very logical because the Monday ecosystem adapts beautifully to the ticketing system landscape.
Any users of Monday.com’s work management and HRIS products will know that the tools are remarkable for their customization options and intuitive interface. Monday Service brings all that into the ticketing sphere. Although it primarily targets IT service teams, it’s made to adapt to all kinds of service operations.
In our view, what really sets Monday Service apart from modern ticketing systems are their AI capabilities. As previously mentioned, the system has the ability to automatically classify incoming tickets. We were able to set a priority level to each incoming task, which would assign the ticket to a specific person in the team without requiring any manual intervention.
We also like that you get a high-level view of the whole operation with reports and dashboards that you can customize to your liking. Its analytics dashboard stands out for providing insights into operational performance, identifying trends, and spotting opportunities for service improvements.
While Monday Service is still in Beta, it’s a fully functional product in terms of stability and one that’s likely to improve over time. While this is a potential drawback in terms of possibly changing workflows and having to get used to new features as you use the tool, we were told by their team that the full product rollout is happening by the end of the year or early next.
Service teams have already adopted Monday Service at places like Vimeo, Fiverr, KPMG, Sodastream, and Superhuman.
Monday Service is currently offered on a per seat / per month basis through the following plans:
- Standard: $29 per seat per month when billed monthly, though you can save 18% if paying yearly. This includes an unlimited amount of tickets, 2-way email integration, 1 email server, and 100 AI actions per month.
- Pro: At $44 per seat per month, this raises the automated actions to 5,000 per month and offers premium features like dynamic auto-responses, more ticket boards, service analytics, and more.
- Enterprise: Monday offers a custom-priced plan for larger operations with even more capabilities and features like advanced analytics, unlimited ticket boards, and enterprise support.
Best For
Monday Service is ideal for mid to large-sized companies looking for a versatile, AI-driven ITSM solution. It suits organizations that require robust ticket management, extensive customization, and seamless integration within the Monday.com ecosystem.
We used Monday.com every day. All tasks were entered into the system along with deadlines and status updates. Once a task was completed, its status was updated, and if it wasn’t, it was highlighted for review.
Every day, I could check tasks and their approaching deadlines in a comprehensive manner. Additionally, I used the dashboard to monitor mandates from the client, such as ensuring a certain percentage of items were either completed or in progress at any given time.
As a freelancer, I was able to use it for free since I collaborated with just one other person. It is very user-friendly. The tool sends notifications, such as when a task is completed, which informs the task owner promptly. The dashboards helped me track my billings. I also liked the intuitive interface.
I was working as a freelancer and needed to collaborate with someone in a different time zone. Most of our meetings revolved around task lists and their statuses. While we could have used an Excel sheet for this, Monday.com provided dashboards that gave us an overall view beyond just task statuses.
It also made it easier to manage controls and permissions. The tool streamlined our workflow and enhanced collaboration.
The tool can be expensive if you have to pay for it. For me, it was free because only two members were working on it at a time. The customer service could be improved. It does not provide an offline availability option, which can be inconvenient.
This tool is better than sharing files and tracking tasks on Google Drive, as it offers more automation. I find Monday.com appealing because of its interface, ease of use, and the fact that it was free for my use case.
Be aware that the customer service may not meet expectations. Additionally, consider the pricing to ensure it aligns with your budget and requirements.
I have not used it long enough to comment on its evolution.
This tool is ideal for organizations with multiple people collaborating on various projects or for those working across different time zones. It is also beneficial for companies that need real-time updates and integration with other tools like email.
This tool may not be suitable for companies with limited budgets. Additionally, users need to be somewhat tech-savvy, as the customization options in Monday.com can be overwhelming. It’s essential to evaluate needs carefully before committing to it.
Hubspot
Hubspot is not an overly advanced ticketing system, but it covers all the basics very well and makes doing those things easy. The helpdesk platform also excels in usability and is very wallet-friendly for SMBs. In fact, you can take advantage of this system without spending a penny by using its timeless free plan.
PROS
- Fast and easy setup with no credit card.
- User-friendly interface that requires little to no training.
- Kanban-style board for clear ticket tracking and workload visibility.
- Effective automation for tagging, task assignment, and escalation.
- Shared inbox consolidates email, chat, and social media tickets
- CRM integration provides full context on customer history.
- Predefined replies/snippets save time on repetitive responses.
- Built-in reporting tracks key support metrics (e.g. resolution time, volume).
- Fast and easy setup with no credit card.
- User-friendly interface that requires little to no training.
- Kanban-style board for clear ticket tracking and workload visibility.
- Effective automation for tagging, task assignment, and escalation.
- Shared inbox consolidates email, chat, and social media tickets
- CRM integration provides full context on customer history.
- Predefined replies/snippets save time on repetitive responses.
- Built-in reporting tracks key support metrics (e.g. resolution time, volume).
CONS
- Limited email customization for branding or advanced triggers.
- Free edition is up to 2 users and is too lightweight for complex or SLA-heavy environments.
- Client portal setup can be tricky for teams with multiple domains.
- Minimal setup support for free-tier users.
- Limited email customization for branding or advanced triggers.
- Free edition is up to 2 users and is too lightweight for complex or SLA-heavy environments.
- Client portal setup can be tricky for teams with multiple domains.
- Minimal setup support for free-tier users.
It’s no surprise Hubspot’s ticketing system is among the most popular brands in the market. Throughout our tech tests, the platform stood out as a thoughtfully designed, user-friendly platform that strikes a balance between accessibility and functionality. While it may not be ideal for highly complex or technical support environments, it’s a strong option for small to mid-sized teams or any organization already working within the HubSpot ecosystem.
One of the first things that stood out was how quick and intuitive it was to get started. We could configure our support inbox, create ticket pipelines, and begin responding to customer inquiries almost immediately. No credit card is required, and no formal training is needed either. The UI is clean, approachable, and doesn’t overwhelm you with options. For most teams, especially those not very tech-savvy, that’s a big win.
During testing, the ticket tracking features proved to be well structured. Tickets can be categorized by stage, owner, or priority, and the Kanban-style board gives a clear visual of workload distribution. Automation such as tagging, task assignment, and escalation rules helped route tickets efficiently. You can also reply directly from within a ticket and trigger workflows like email updates or survey requests.
The shared inbox is another useful feature. Being able to field customer requests from email, chat, and even social media (via integrations) in one place kept our agents more focused. One of our favorite features was the ability to create reusable snippets and predefined replies for common questions.
We also appreciated the built-in reporting and analytics, which helped us track metrics like ticket volume, resolution times, and agent performance. What’s more, if you’re already using Hubspot’s CRM, the system can make it even easier to see the bigger picture of each support case. Every ticket, conversation, and customer detail is neatly tied into the CRM, meaning you don’t have to scramble through separate platforms to understand a customer’s history. We can imagine this will be especially helpful when switching between team members: everyone has access to the same full-picture view, including prior conversations, notes, tags, and related deals or contact activity.
That said, if your brand has strict email design guidelines or wants more advanced triggers for notifications, you might find email customization within tickets limited. Similarly, while it works well with email-based channels, those managing more complex multi-channel or SLA-driven support environments may find the system too lightweight.
Other minutes include the fact that setting up the client portal can be quite tricky for teams managing multiple domains or legacy setups and that there’s not much support provided around this step for free users. Still, once configured, it opens the door to better self-service: Clients can track their tickets, which reduces inbound update requests.
228,000+ companies, including Reddit, WWF, Eventbrite, and Doordash.
HubSpot offers a free help desk ticketing system for up to two users. Additionally, there are multiple paid plans starting at $15 per user per month, catering to small to mid-sized businesses and enterprises, and include a 14-day free trial.
Best For
HubSpot's help desk ticketing system is ideal for support teams already using HubSpot CRM, SaaS businesses handling a moderate ticket volume, and teams prioritizing automation and metrics without extensive training. It also caters to organizations requiring easy JIRA integration.
Vision Helpdesk
Vision Helpdesk’s support solutions are offered over several pricing tiers and different deployment option, covering the diverse needs of companies large and small.
PROS
CONS
Vision Helpdesk is an affordable ticketing solution that companies of all sizes can derive value from. It collects customer queries and incident reports from multiple sources and pools them - in the form of tickets - into a shared inbox that your support agents can respond to and solve. Among Vision Helpdesk’s features are task management, gamification, workflow automation, SLA and escalation rules, knowledge base creation, community forums, and surveys. It also features a collaboration tool called Blabby, for agents to communicate, share knowledge, files, presentations, and collaborate on ticket issues.
Vision Helpdesk has been used by over 20,000 companies, including Thomas Cook, Invest India, Baroda Mutual Fund, Quick Heal, AxisRooms, and more.
Vision Helpdesk has four products: Help Desk Software (a multi-channel help desk), Satellite Help Desk (a multi-brand help desk), Service Desk (an IT service management solution), and Live Chat Software (an online chat solution). The pricing of those products depends on how you choose to deploy them. For the cloud-based version, the 4 products are priced as follows:
1- Help Desk Software:
- Starter: $12 per agent per month billed annually / $15 per agent billed month to month
- Pro: $ 20 per agent per month billed annually / $25 per agent billed month to month
2- Satellite Help Desk Software:
- $24 per agent per month billed annually / $30 per agent billed month to month
3- Service Desk Software:
- Pro: $32 per agent per month billed annually / $40 per agent billed month to month
- Ent: $48 per agent per month billed annually / $60 per agent billed month to month
4- Live Chat Software:
Visit Vision Helpdesk’s pricing page to learn how much the above products cost if you opt for the self-hosted (on-premise) version, available on a per-agent per month bases or single license per agent (one-time purchase).
Best For
Vision Helpdesk can be used by companies of all sizes.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a budget-friendly option that has one of the most extensive feature sets of any help desk and ticketing system in the market. Plus, this solution comes with a scalable pricing structure plus a free version with pretty decent offerings.
PROS
- Among the most extensive feature-rich tools in the space.
- Flexible pricing that can accommodate various business sizes and requirements.
- Supports 22 different languages.
- Lets users provide support across multiple channels.
- With Zoho Desk, you get one of the most extensive feature lists of any help desk and ticketing system in the market.
- Zoho Desk is very flexible when it comes to pricing, as you can switch plans as you go if your team member count or necessities grow.
- It’s available in 22 languages.
- Lets you provide support across multiple channels.
CONS
- Some customizations aren’t very user-friendly.
- Some users find the UX/UI dated.
- Integrating the tool with several apps can be cumbersome.
- Some of the product customizations can be hard to figure out, according to some users.
- The UX/UI can seem dated at times.
- Several users have reported that integrating the tool with several apps can be problematic.
Zoho Desk offers multi-channel support. At an affordable price, the solution can offer customer care via email, live chat, phone, and several social media platforms. Having all client inquiries in one location has made tracking and cooperation easier, some users noted.
Another great feature of Zoho Desk is the knowledge base. There are many articles and FAQs there, which are often used by agents for faster customer service. Based on the keywords in the tickets that customers submit, Zoho Desk's auto-suggest can suggest agents relevant articles from the knowledge base in a matter of seconds.
We also like the scalable pricing model of the tool. Besides providing transparent pricing, Zoho Desk offers a free version with some decent features, like email ticketing, a private knowledge base, a multi-language help desk, mobile apps, and 24x5 email support. Plus, the Enterprise plan's features are comparable to top-tier plans from other competing providers but relatively more affordable.
When we tested Zoho Desk, we uncovered a few possible downsides. While the software has a number of adjustable capabilities, they are not always user-friendly. A few customers stated that tailoring the program to their needs was challenging. The abundance of built-in functions also means it could take a while for users to get familiar with all the tools. Lastly, integrating Zoho Desk with some well-known sales and marketing platforms can be challenging.
McAfee, Daimler, LycaMobile, Rogers, Siemens Energy.
Zoho Desk offers four pricing plans:
- The Free version is available for three agents and includes features like email ticketing, customer management, a help center, a private knowledge base, predefined SLAs, macros, a multi-language help desk, mobile apps, and 24x5 email support.
- The Standard bundle costs $14 per user per month and includes everything on the Free bundle, plus social and community channels, product-based ticket management, and 24x5 phone support.
- The Professional bundle costs $23 per user per month and has everything on the Standard bundle and features like multi-department ticketing, team management, telephony, and automatic time tracking.
- The Enterprise bundle costs $40 per user per month and includes everything on the Professional bundle, plus a live chat, an AI-powered assistant, and multi-brand help center, and more.
Best For
Zoho Desk is a great fit for businesses that need an all-inclusive yet inexpensive customer support solution. It is also a good addition for teams that are already using other Zoho products.
I use Zoho Desk to solve and respond to tickets from clients when they contact us using the emails, the emails can be customized and can be set to our default support email which we use to receive the chats on the tool. Secondly, the software has a knowledgebase system that we use to develop support articles for the users to read and get self-aid which helps us reduce the number of tickets we receive from a given case
I like the use of custom email which does not require technical settings, you can easily set the DKIM and SPF record from the domain system and have all ongoing emails to clients customized from our brand, as well as the user interface of the software is clean enough to provide quicker navigation and finding other modules like solved tickets, pending tickets much easier.
We bought the software to solve internal tickets from our clients and team. I've been using the solution for one year, and it has helped me to be productive. It has also helped me to stay organized at work while handling issues that affect the clients. The company bought the software to make sure that support operators get more detailed context about clients and can solve their problems on time in an organized way.
The software pricing is expensive and works better for bigger teams.
They have a very good period for trial to make sure you make good decisions before purchase and the product team walks you through every step to ensure that you get to know about the software and how to use it well, there is enough documentation about how to use the software
They should think of scalability and the pricing of the tool so that it meets their needs
They have introduced AI composing of responses hence making responses easier. Secondly, they introduced 2FA security which is vital to us that while logging into the software, you receive authentication codes as this increases security to prevent unauthorized logging into the software
Support operators, product team
Software developers
JitBit
JitBit is a provider of both self-hosted and cloud-based help desk ticketing solutions that are feature-rich, easy to use and very friendly to third-party integrations.
PROS
CONS
JitBit is a customer service software with a clean user-interface that’s very easy to navigate; it has an inbox for all incoming tickets, a knowledge base for customers and agents to self-serve, and a reporting section with detailed dashboards, providing insights into all of your activities. Amongst JitBit’s features are automation rules and categories that allow you to stay organized and optimize a good number of tedious processes.
Microsoft, VMware, Adobe, Xerox, General Electric, HP, ESPN, Dell, Vodafone.
When billed annually, JitBit’s cloud-based software plans cost as follows:
- Freelancer: costs $24.92 and is capped at 1 agent only.
- Startup: costs $58.25 for up to 4 agents.
- Company: costs $108.25 for up to 7 agents.
- Enterprise: costs $208.25 for up to 9 agents, with $29 per extra agent.
JitBit’s self-hosted version is a single-time purchase starting at $1699 for small companies, $3499 for medium-sized businesses (up to 20 agents), and $4999 for enterprises with an unlimited number of agent accounts. This on-premise solution can be trialed with a 30-day moneyback guarantee.
Best For
Medium to large sized companies looking for a self-hosted customer service solution.
JitBit was used whenever an issue arose, which could occur daily or weekly. For non-emergent tech support issues, a ticket would be placed via JitBit. A manager could submit a support ticket to request assistance for the location. The same process was followed for maintenance issues when service professionals needed to be dispatched.
Managers and support agents could communicate directly within the support ticket, which ensured both parties were clear on the issue. The chat tool was particularly helpful for clarifying concerns. JitBit also tracks each support ticket’s progress, enabling managers to stay informed about the resolution timeline.
JitBit is very user-friendly and requires minimal training. The progress of each support ticket is visible, making it easy for managers to track updates. The communication feature under each ticket, including the chat tool, is extremely helpful for ensuring clarity.
My organization used JitBit Helpdesk for technology and maintenance support. JitBit streamlined support tickets into one centralized area. Operations managers and field managers can communicate with helpdesk agents to resolve issues effectively. As an operations manager,
I used JitBit for a year. Without the services JitBit provides, productivity could be jeopardized, costing the location money and payroll. JitBit offers a seamless communication line that enables problems to be solved quickly, minimizing disruptions.
Closed tickets cannot be reopened by managers, which is an issue if the problem remains unresolved, forcing managers to create duplicate tickets. Unanswered support tickets can be frustrating and cause delays. Searching for support tickets based on tags can be time-consuming and inefficient.
JitBit offers a more streamlined process compared to its competitors. The options are clear and easy to navigate. The ability to communicate directly under each support ticket is a significant advantage over other tools.
When considering purchasing this software, an organization should assess its employee size. It is also essential to consider how accessible computers or mobile devices are for managers to communicate with service agents effectively.
JitBit has helped users efficiently resolve tech and maintenance issues.
JitBit is ideal for organizations that provide managers with access to computers or mobile devices. It is also well-suited for companies with multiple locations.
JitBit may not be a good fit for organizations where all operations are housed in a single location.
Hiver
Hiver seamlessly integrates multiple support channels into Gmail for efficient query management, team collaboration, and data-driven insights to deliver exceptional customer service.
PROS
- Hiver works right within Gmail, an interface almost everyone is familiar with.
- You can easily assign emails, share drafts, leave notes, and tag team members, ensuring efficiency and driving collaboration.
- Automation features like auto-tagging and auto-assignment save a considerable amount of time and decrease manual labor.
- Users praise Hiver’s customer support for being highly responsive. The platform is also well-documented, with tutorials and help articles that provide clear guidance on how to use features.
- Hiver works right within Gmail, an interface almost everyone is familiar with.
- You can easily assign emails, share drafts, leave notes, and tag team members, ensuring efficiency and driving collaboration.
- Automation features like auto-tagging and auto-assignment save a considerable amount of time and decrease manual labor.
- Users praise Hiver’s customer support for being highly responsive. The platform is also well-documented, with tutorials and help articles that provide clear guidance on how to use features.
CONS
- There are occasional glitches and loading speed issues.
- Users reported that it is difficult to find closed tickets, especially ones closed long ago.
- Hiver exclusively works on Gmail. If your company uses a different provider, Hiver won’t work for you.
- The mobile app is lacking in functionality and can be buggy at times.
- There are occasional glitches and slowness, and tickets at times get assigned to the incorrect team.
- Users reported that at times, new emails come in closed status, which can cause confusion and delays in support delivery.
- Hiver exclusively works on Gmail. If your company uses a different provider, Hiver won’t work for you.
Hiver makes customer support seamless by bringing all communication channels together directly inside Gmail. Agents can manage email, live chat, and voice support without switching between platforms, allowing them to handle queries faster. The familiar Gmail interface means no complex training is required to get started.
One of Hiver's standout features is its ability to drive collaboration. Agents can loop in colleagues on customer emails just by @mentioning them, enabling smooth handovers and continuity of context. Hiver also helps teams work smarter through automation. Repetitive tasks like assigning certain query types to the appropriate agents can be automated based on keywords and rules. This saves agents time they would otherwise spend on routing tickets. For instance, all tickets related to technical bugs could automatically be assigned to the engineering team.
The platform provides extensive analytics on performance indicators like first response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction. Bottlenecks can be identified and processes optimized using built-in reports. Managers get insight into individual agent productivity to inform coaching and training needs. Custom reports can also be created to track KPIs specific to the business.
By centralizing multiple channels into Gmail and providing collaboration tools, automation, and actionable analytics, Hiver empowers agents to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Its thoughtful integration and intuitive interface make it easy for teams of all sizes to streamline support operations.
Clutter, Epic Games, Oxford Business Group, NYU, Funding Circle
Hiver has three plans. When billed annually, they cost:
- Lite: $15 per user per month.
- Pro: $39 per user per month.
- Elite: $59 per user per month.
Best For
Hiver is best suited for SMBs looking to efficiently run customer support ops without the learning curve.
My company uses Hiver daily to manage shared inboxes, streamline workflows, and enhance collaboration while responding to customer emails.
Previously, managing shared inboxes caused delays and missed responses, negatively impacting customer satisfaction. Hiver removed the need for third-party ticketing systems by providing a smooth way to allocate, monitor, and manage emails directly within Gmail. Its automation and reporting capabilities allowed us to streamline workflows and better understand team performance.
I have been using Hiver for two years, and it has significantly improved both team coordination and the efficiency of our email management.
- Hiver’s easy integration with Gmail eliminates the need for an additional ticketing system.
- Features such as internal notes and email assignment make collaboration more seamless.
- Automation tools simplify the process of prioritizing and categorizing emails, saving significant time.
My organization adopted Hiver to streamline collaboration for emails and enhance customer support efficiency. We have been using it for two years.
My company sought a solution to decrease response times and improve teamwork while responding to customer emails. Customer satisfaction had suffered due to the disarray caused by managing shared inboxes, leading to missed emails and delayed responses.
Hiver eliminated the need for third-party ticketing systems by providing a seamless way to allocate, monitor, and manage emails directly within Gmail. Workflows became more streamlined, and team performance was better understood thanks to its automation and reporting capabilities.
I have personally been using Hiver for two years, and it has significantly improved our team coordination and email management efficiency.
- Hiver’s reporting capabilities are limited and suited only to basic analytical requirements.
- Some features available on the desktop version are missing from the mobile app, which requires improvement.
- The pricing is relatively high, which may not be ideal for smaller organizations with tighter budgets.
Unlike standalone helpdesk systems, Hiver offers a familiar and user-friendly interface by integrating directly with Gmail.
When considering a tool like Hiver, it’s important to assess how easily it integrates with your existing email platform to avoid workflow disruptions. Look for features such as automation, analytics, and email assignment to improve productivity and teamwork. Scalability is crucial to ensure the tool can grow with your organization’s needs.
Additionally, compare the pricing to your team size and budget while evaluating the vendor’s customer service quality.
Hiver has introduced robust automation features, enhanced its analytics capabilities, and improved collaboration tools such as email assignment and internal notes. Updates have improved speed and provided deeper Gmail integration.
The platform has expanded its functionality to support larger teams while remaining simple and effective for small and mid-sized companies.
Hiver is an excellent choice for customer service departments and businesses that rely heavily on Gmail for managing group emails.
Hiver might not be suitable for organizations with complex customer care processes that extend beyond email management and require a comprehensive ticketing system.
Jira Service Management
Created by Atlassian, Jira Service Management is a fantastic customer service solution with thousands of integrations, ensuring it can fit well in any tech stack.
PROS
- Effortless issue tracking and great collaboration are what Jira is known for. It helps teams provide faster, more efficient customer service.
- Jira has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. You can also customize elements of the UI to reflect your company’s brand.
- Features like sprint planning, backlogs, and scrum/kanban boards are purpose-built to support agile frameworks.
- Users appreciate the ability to customize workflows, particularly around ticket assignment and escalation to suit their team’s needs.
- Jira can integrate seamlessly with third-party apps and services like GitHub, Slack, and more.
- A free plan as well as free trials of paid plans are available.
- Easy issue tracking and great collaboration are the core features of Jira Service Management to provide customers faster, more efficient customer service.
- Jira Service Management allows customers to rate the quality of a knowledge base article, helping you identify improvement areas and update accordingly.
- Jira Service Management has a customizable user interface. You can also change the feel and look of the help desk center and portal to reflect your company’s branding.
- Incident and problem management is prompt and easy, thanks to Jira Service Management‘s alerts and email notifications.
- Jira Service Management’s mobile app support ensures you’re notified instantly about breached SLAs and all assigned, reported, watched, and mentioned requests.
- In addition to Jira Service Management's internal features, you can use its diverse range of integrations to further maximize functionality.
CONS
- While Jira’s UI is intuitive, there is still a learning curve just because of the sheer number of features it offers.
- Jira’s email notifications cannot be customized; your email can easily get flooded. Modifying notifications per user or having them sent in batches isn’t an option either.
- With its current pricing model, the platform can get expensive for larger teams and multiple projects.
- Users felt that reports aren’t as customizable as they should be.
- Jira Service Management’s Free plan doesn’t offer customizable charts and dashboards.
- Jira Service Management has a rigid email notification system, so you cannot customize it, and your notification system may get easily cluttered. Modifying notifications per user or sending by batch isn’t an option either.
Created by Atlassian, Jira Service Management is a collaborative IT service management (ITSM) solution that enables your support team to create multiple projects to track and handle customer support requests and incidents.
Dominos, Square, Puppet, Twitter, Airbnb, Square, Sotheby’s, The Telegraph.
Jira Service Management offers a three-tiered pricing structure with its Free, Standard, and Premium plans. The Free plan offers access to a good number of the platform’s features and is capped at three agent accounts. The Standard and Premium plans start at $10 and $40 per agent per month and can be trialed for up to 7 days for free. Visiting Jira Service Management’s pricing page for more information.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for a robust customer service and project management system.
I used Jira Service Management to review, approve, or deny project proposals. I am notified once I am assigned to a ticket. This allows me to thoroughly review proposals, make notes within the system, and then notify the proposer if their project is approved or denied. I am also able to print a report of all tickets assigned to me. This is very helpful when conducting end of year analysis of how much money was approved for DEI projects.
I like the issue tracking. I like the agile development. I love the roadmap abilities.
This software was purchased way before I joined the organization. I have used it for almost 2 years. My understanding is that my company wanted a way to track product and project management work. Some of the key benefits of this software are dashboards and reporting, agile framework, and roadmap planning.
Jira can be non-user friendly for a new user. The help documents are complicated for a new user. I wish there were simpler training videos to support new user learning.
I have not used any competitor tools.
Some criteria people should think about when buying this type of tool are: Is it user friendly? Can this system 's tools be integrated with other systems? Will this system meet the needs of reporting capabilities needed for the work the organization has?
I have only used this tool for less than 2 years, therefore, I am not aware of previous versions and capabilities.
This tool is great for small to medium companies with few projects.
Not a good fit for businesses with large teams and multiple projects.
HappyFox
Geared mostly towards medium and large companies, HappyFox is a customer support solution that's highly customizable, easy to use and quick to set.
PROS
CONS
HappyFox is a web-based help desk that’s most notable for its easy and quick set-up. It integrates with several points of contact to collect tickets and organize them neatly on its Ticket List page. Tickets can be automatically assigned to available agents or specific groups and escalated to experts as needed.
HappyFox offers users customizability options to create workflows, views, canned actions, tasks, reports, and more. It also offers a self-service portal that’s connected to your knowledge base and an AI-powered Chatbot that helps customers with common questions, taking a considerable weight off your support agents’ workload.
Lowe’s, Whirlpool, LeapFrog, Harbour Air Seaplanes, Planned Parenthood.
HappyFox offers four pricing plans, Mighty, Fantastic, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus. Mighty and Fantastic target small and medium-sized businesses and start at $29 and $49 per agent per month, while Enterprise and Enterprise plus are more geared toward larger operations.
Best For
Medium to large sized companies looking for an easy to use customer service solution.
We use HappyFox every day during business hours. Some of our favorite features include canned responses, bulk actions, work scheduling, ticket templates, smart rules, and real-time reporting. HappyFox is used across various teams, including IT, Customer Service, Operations, Facilities, HR, Marketing, and Finance, making it suitable for teams of all sizes.
Our teams leverage its efficient ticket management features to handle customer support tickets and automate repetitive tasks, enhancing overall efficiency. We appreciate the reliable ticketing system and the ability to create smart, specific rules based on message content and ticket age.
- HappyFox is a comprehensive solution that enhances customer support processes for businesses.
- We efficiently manage and resolve client requests through HappyFox, benefiting from its excellent user interface and strong customer support during installation and troubleshooting.
- Key advantages of HappyFox include ease of use, solid integrations, and reliable support.
We decided to purchase HappyFox to improve our support capabilities and streamline operations. We have been using it for 1.5 years. HappyFox is a cloud-based help desk software that offers features like ticketing, asset management, task management, and knowledge management. Its automation capabilities, such as recurring tickets, have significantly improved response times. The setup was straightforward, and the intuitive interface makes it user-friendly for our team.
- It can be challenging to track which team member received what, and navigating the software can sometimes be confusing.
- We have experienced downtimes for maintenance that prevented us from performing essential work responsibilities.
- The inability to export full tickets, only the original first message, is frustrating and inconvenient.
HappyFox differs from its competitors by working effectively across all teams within an organization. Often, support platforms are not suitable for every team, but HappyFox works well in this regard.
Consider the level of support your organization needs and evaluate which integrations with HappyFox would benefit your primary work functions.
Over time, HappyFox's support team has improved the support they offer, allowing for a more comfortable and streamlined experience.
HappyFox works well for businesses of any size and any industry.
HappyFox would not be suitable for teams and organizations unable to dedicate time to learn and understand it.
Kayako
With standout features such as customer journeys and collaboration, Kayako is a great choice for companies of all sizes to gain better context about customers.
PROS
CONS
Kayako is a user-friendly customer support solution with cloud-based and on-premise deployment options. It packs many of the common features of ticketing systems such as omnichannel support for incident logging, live chat, a help center for self-service, an analytics dashboard, integrations with social media channels, and popular third-party tools, customizable business logic rules for workflow creation, process automations and more.
Kayako also offers some standout features such as customer journeys, a detailed record of everything the customer has been up to before logging a support ticket, which allows you to provide context-driven customer service. Another notable feature is the ability to add collaborators, i.e. other employees besides your customer support agents and managers that can access customer data.
GeneralElectric, Warner Bros, Toshiba, FedEx, Sega, Peugeut, MTV.
Kayako offers three plans: Inbox, Growth, and Scale. The Inbox plan starts at $15 per agent per month, while the Growth and Scale plans cost $30 and $60 respectively per agent per month.
Kayako also offers free 14-day trials for all of its plans as well as demos upon request. Check out Kayako’s pricing page for more information on their available plans and features.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for an easy to use customer support solution.
We used Kayako every day, as it made our typical 9-to-5, Monday through Friday tasks easier to manage. We worked on tickets in the queue, and Kayako’s AI functionality ensured that clients received accurate answers based on research findings. Most importantly, it helped us meet response time requirements, avoiding negative impacts on our SLAs and KPIs.
Kayako was cost-effective compared to its competitors. It offered detailed behind-the-scenes metrics that helped us improve the client experience.
Their support team provided strong assistance throughout our entire partnership.
My company bought Kayako because it was the best platform that fit our requirements for communicating with clients. Our focus was to provide a one-stop shop for clients' legal questions. In addition to the multiple functions the platform offers, it was competitively priced compared to its competitors. My company had approximately 100 people working directly with clients, and Kayako made this easy to manage. The platform had a great reputation for enabling seamless, intuitive, and quick client support.
I don't have anything negative to say. I would give it a solid 9 out of 10, as there are always things that could improve over time.
Kayako differs from its competitors because the platform gives you ownership over various aspects, such as tickets, metrics, and help articles. Other companies often require you to contact them to manage things you should have access to or charge high fees for basic add-ons.
With a tool like this, people should be clear about the service they want to offer. It's important to schedule recurring meetings to discuss platform limitations so they don’t hinder the user experience.
Kayako has remained largely the same since I last used it at my previous company.
Kayako is ideal for learning environments and mid-sized legal institutions.
Kayako would not be a good fit for organizations that don’t provide daily customer service to clients.
SolarWinds Service Desk
SolarWinds Service Desk has one of the widest feature sets in IT service management, complete with a 30 day free trial to ensure you like it before you buy.
PROS
CONS
SolarWinds Service Desk is an IT service management (ITSM) solution that goes beyond just ticketing and incident management. Besides allowing you to assign, prioritize and escalate tickets collected from different sources, it offers features for self-service, live chat, scheduled reporting, asset management, change management, network discovery, API access, and more.
Adler Planetarium, The Bloc, DPR Construction, Betfred.
SolarWinds Service Desk offers a tiered pricing model of four plans that can be tested for free for up to 30 days. When billed annually, SolarWinds Service Desk’s plans cost as follows:
- Team: $19 per agent per month with an additional $0.10 per device per month
- Business: $39 per agent per month with an additional $0.30 per device per month
- Professional: $69 per agent per month with an additional $0.50 per device per month
- Enterprise: $89 per agent per month with an additional $0.70 per device per month
Best For
Medium to large companies looking for an ITSM solution with asset management capabilities.
We primarily use SolarWinds across all our programs with clients to ensure there are no threats to our network, as privacy is crucial. We rely on SolarWinds daily to keep our network secure, to monitor potential threats, and to ensure that workflows run smoothly and stay under control.
I appreciate SolarWinds for its simplicity. I value the ability to monitor our network and quickly address any emerging or existing issues. I also like the customizable alerts, which make it easy to pinpoint potential problems.
Our team decided to invest in SolarWinds because we needed a reliable solution to improve data security. Many programs and clients require high levels of privacy when exchanging data, so we chose SolarWinds to strengthen our network security by identifying and monitoring potential threats. One of the key advantages of using SolarWinds is having a system that enables us to effectively monitor and track security threats. I've been using SolarWinds for about five years, and I'm very satisfied with the partnership and the growth we've achieved.
I dislike the pricing structure, as I believe long-term users should receive discounts or rewards. Sometimes, finding support can be challenging, and a simpler search process for troubleshooting information would help. Additionally, the initial setup can be time-consuming, which can disrupt the workday.
I appreciate SolarWinds’ flexibility and customization options, which make it easy to spot and understand issues as they arise. The tool offers a level of adaptability that stands out from other similar solutions.
It's essential to define the specific needs and intended uses for the tool, as this will impact both setup and training. The user-friendly interface is an advantage, as it simplifies onboarding and reduces the need for extensive training.
SolarWinds has adapted to meet market demands by improving the interface and enhancing cloud integration, which has become a significant feature.
SolarWinds is ideal for IT departments and organizations focused on network monitoring.
SolarWinds may not be suitable for non-IT users or basic businesses without complex monitoring needs.
Spiceworks
Spiceworks is perhaps the only vendor in this space to offer both cloud-based and on-premise versions of their help desk ticketing system, completely free of charge.
PROS
- With Spiceworks, you can offer your customers omnichannel query collection to submit queries and share concerns across channels. You don't have to worry about how much it costs, thanks to the free service.
- Spiceworks offers both cloud-based and on-premise versions of its free helpdesk ticketing system, which is quite rare in the customer support niche.
- Spiceworks’ help desk isn’t only limited to your desk — it’s also available as an app for Android and iOS users. Thanks to this, you can manage support tickets on the go.
- Spiceworks provides an unlimited number of service tickets for each user. You can create as many decades as a situation needs, eliminating the need to delete tickets and allowing you to retain chat history. This also gives your team a reference point that they can go back to whenever similar issues or topics resurface.
- Spiceworks‘ large community is backed by dedicated IT professionals, specialized tech vendors, and other kinds of individuals willing to share their expertise when it comes to IT-related issues and help each other out. This ensures every member receives accurate and prompt responses to all their queries.
CONS
- Due to Spiceworks’ limited feature set, it isn’t very flexible. It lacks some of the more desirable features, such as knowledge base management, interaction tracking, and prioritization.
- Spiceworks doesn’t offer advanced reporting options, which restrict your view into agent productivity and the kind of support your customers are receiving. Additionally, you have to streamline reports to remove redundancy.
- To enjoy Spiceworks’ free help desk, be ready to view forceful ads and receive promotional emails — lots of them.
- Spiceworks' direct customer support is limited to email. So you don't get chat, phone, and social media assistance options.
Spiceworks is a free of charge ticketing system with cloud-based and on-premise deployment options and mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Spiceworks packs all the features you’d expect from a help desk ticketing system, like omnichannel support, automatic ticket assignment and management, a self-service portal, and more - all without any limitations on the number of agent accounts, customers tickets, data storage, etc.
As far as pricing goes, Spiceworks stands out from competitors by offering all of its products for free. The company makes its profit from ads that appear in the backend and are sponsored by numerous IT vendors.
Best For
Small and medium sized companies looking for a FREE customer support solution with cloud-based and on-premise versions.
Benefits of Using a Help Desk Ticketing System
Investing in a good ticketing system allows you to:
- Improve your team’s productivity: Help desk ticketing systems offer a host of features to save you time and enhance your team’s performance. They integrate with all of your customer contact channels to collect tickets then route them to a centralized location for your agents to pick up and resolve right away without needing to constantly monitor several channels and devices. Help desk solutions also allow you to customize workflows and automate many of your team’s manual tasks such as assigning, escalating, prioritizing, and categorizing tickets.
- Increase customer satisfaction, retention, and ROI: It’s a well-known fact in business that great customer service retains customers, and bad customer service drives them away. You might have a fantastic range of products, but it won’t mean much to your bottom line when your customers are unhappy because you’ve been taking too long to respond to their queries and incident reports or worse, missing their messages completely due to your overwhelming ticket influx from several contact points.
Using a help desk allows you to stay on top of all your customer interactions and deliver speedy support, which not only enhances customer experience and retention rate, but also turns your customers into your promoters, spreading the word about your reliability as a provider and eventually earning you more leads and successful signups. - Continuously fine-tune your support operations through accurate data: Manually monitoring your customer support KPIs is an impossible job and luckily, you don't have to do it. The majority of ticketing systems available today offer powerful analytics dashboards that provide you with detailed insights into what your team is doing well and what needs to be improved for you to continue observing your service level agreements (SLAs), drive customer satisfaction and deliver world-class service.
Common Mistakes Made When Buying a Help Desk Ticketing System
It’s very easy to make mistakes when choosing a help desk solution if you don’t thoroughly research what's available on the market and carefully consider the needs and budget of your business. Here are some of the most common mistakes businesses make:
- Spending money on features you don’t need: ‘Premium’ doesn’t always mean ‘better’. Many small and medium-sized businesses select a premium, enterprise-grade plan because of all the feature additions they usually come with, but in reality, only half of the features end up being used. We advise that you always invest selectively and wisely.
- Not accounting for future circumstances: Your business may see exponential growth within just a matter of months. It may also experience financial hardships, requiring you to downsize your operation. No matter what the future holds for your business, you’ll definitely need your help desk plan to grow or shrink accordingly. Buying a help-desk solution that isn’t very scalable can be a costly mistake in the long run.
- Buying an all-in-one suite when all you need is just one or two specific solutions: This one is quite self-explanatory; if you only need a ticketing solution, opt for a provider that offers just that or selectively purchase a ticketing solution from an all-in-one suite vendor; never buy the whole suite.
- Making long-term commitments before thoroughly testing a solution: Some help desk vendors offer perpetual licenses that are purchased once only. While this cuts down on recurring costs and can save you a significant amount of money over time, you should only do this after thoroughly testing the help desk solution and verifying that it’s the one for you. Otherwise, you will end up going back and forth with the vendor on their cancellation and refund policy.
Pricing Models
Just as the cost varies from help desk vendor to another, pricing models can vary too. Here are some of the most common help desk pricing models you can expect:
- Per agent: The most common pricing model for help desk ticketing systems is a ‘per agent account per month’ fee, billed either on a monthly basis, or annually for a decent price reduction. Some help desks charge fixed fees in scales, e.g. ‘$$ for up to 5 agents’, “$$$ for 15-20 agents’ and so on. The per agent pricing model is the most cost-effective option for small businesses that are new to using a help desk system.
- Per device: This pricing model is most ideal for businesses that don’t require all employees to have access to their help desk software. Before opting for a help desk with a per-device pricing model, make sure you have an accurate estimate of the number of devices your customer support team uses.
- Per ticket: Though very few, some help desk vendors use a ‘per ticket per month’ pricing model. Before selecting a provider that charges per ticket, ensure you have an accurate estimate of your ticket volume and that you select a scalable help desk vendor that can provide you with more ticket coverage should you need it in the future.
- Per license: Some on-premise help desks offer perpetual licenses that are purchased once only, without limits on agent accounts or customer tickets. While this cuts down on recurring costs, it’s long term commitment that needs to be thought through before making a decision. It’s also important to note that while you only have to pay once for the license, you may have to pay additional fees down the line for product maintenance and upgrades.
Features of a Help Desk Ticketing System
Help desk ticketing solutions on the market today come with different selling features and price points. Though the exact number of features may vary from one solution to another, here are the main ones you can expect:
- Multi-Channel Support: Customers should be able to easily reach you through different channels including email, live chat, phone, social media, and more. A good ticketing system integrates seamlessly with all of your contact points to collect tickets and pool them into a single shared inbox. This way, your agents are able to instantly receive and work on tickets on one platform, without needing to frequently monitor several channels and devices.
- Customizable Workflows and Process Automation Options: The majority of ticketing systems offer features for you to create an efficient workflow and automate processes, eliminating a considerable chunk of your tedious tasks. Often with the help of triggers, you’re able to automatically set a ticket’s status and priority, assign and escalate tickets to specific groups within your organization, send automated responses and follow-ups, and notify customers and agents of certain updates. Some ticketing systems also allow you to create tags for tickets, which comes in handy with search optimization and enables you to instantly retrieve specific data for report creation.
- Knowledge Base: A knowledge base functions as an extensive library of information on your products and/or services that customers can access 24/7. It integrates with your website and ticketing system for customers to find answers to their questions as well as information on particular features and processes.
Studies conducted on the efficacy of help centers have shown that over half of all customers prefer self-service options for convenience and speedy resolution. This is also great because the more customers self-serve, the more you’re able to deflect tickets, which frees your agents to focus on other tasks that are more urgent or of higher importance. Additionally, a knowledge base is also a valuable resource for your in-house staff too to access product documentation, FAQs, internal guides, and playbooks at any time. - 3rd Party Integrations: Not only should a good ticketing system integrate with several contact channels, i.e. email, social media, phone support tools, live chat, etc, but it should also offer integration options with popular customer relationship management (CRM), asset management and team collaboration tools such as Salesforce, Slack and more to further enhance your operations. You can usually find out if a help desk integrates with your favorite products by checking their pre-built integration modules, usually listed on their websites.
- Scalability: Scalability entails whether or not a software product can grow with you as your business does. Your company’s size may double within a short period of time and it's crucial for all of your daily-used tools to still accommodate you. Besides being mindful of a help desk’s cost for bigger teams, it’s important to consider its ability to store large data records, the maximum number of user accounts that can be created on it as well as the maximum number of teams and customers it can handle.
- Reporting: Reporting is a crucial function of a help desk software. Through accurate, real-time data, a good help desk software allows you to monitor how your team is performing against your predefined service level agreements (SLAs) as well as the average time it takes them to respond to customers and resolve their tickets.
Furthermore, a good help desk solution should offer some methodologies for you to collect feedback from customers and measure their satisfaction. The good news is, several solutions offer net promoter score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys that can be automatically sent to customers upon ticket closure.
Demo Questions
Before deciding on a help desk for your business, it’s recommended that you schedule demos with different vendors to make sure their solution has all the needs of your business covered. Here are a few questions you can ask during your demo sessions:
- What communication channels does your solution integrate with?
- What customer support processes can I automate through your software?
- How does your software facilitate self-service?
- How does your solution measure customer satisfaction?
- How can I track my team’s performance through your software?
- Can I charge my customers for support given per ticket through your software?
- How much does the software cost for my team size?
Implementing a Help Desk Ticketing System
The majority of help desk ticketing systems are cloud-based, delivered through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructure. Getting started with a cloud-based solution is very quick and easy as they all allow you to create an account and start configuring your instance right away once you’ve purchased a plan. On the other hand, on-premise help desks take longer to set up, and depending on your chosen vendor, you may need to consult them regarding their solutions’ compatibility with your current hardware and installation process or better yet, have them do the installation on your behalf.
Help Desk Ticketing Systems FAQ
What is a help desk ticketing system?
A help desk ticketing system is a software solution that gathers customer questions, requests, and incident reports from different channels and pools them into a single inbox for customer support agents to respond to in a swift and efficient manner.
Who needs a help desk ticketing system?
Any company that wants to streamline their customer service operations and offer speedy support to their customers needs a help desk ticketing system.
What are the benefits of using a helpdesk ticketing system?
Using a helpdesk ticketing systems allows you to:
- boost your team’s productivity by automating manual tasks such as ticket routing and assignment,
- resolve tickets faster which in turn, increases customer satisfaction and retention, and
- continuously fine-tune your support operations through accurate performance metrics data.
What are the features of a help desk ticketing system?
The most common features of a helpdesk ticketing system are:
- Multi-channel support (email, live chat, phone, social media integration)
- Automatic ticket routing and assignment
- Canned responses
- Knowledge base
- Performance analytics
- SLA management
- CSAT surveys
What is the best help desk ticketing system for small businesses?
Zoho Desk and Freshdesk are two robust ticketing systems with free tiers as well as affordable plans that startups can use without breaking the bank. Both Freshdesk and Zoho desk are also quite scalable, meaning that you can upgrade to more extensive plans as your business grows.
How much does a help desk ticketing system cost?
The majority of help desk ticketing systems use a ‘per agent per month’ pricing model. Depending on which help desk you use and the features you require, the ‘per agent per month’ fee can range anywhere from $5 to $199.
Final Advice
Choosing a help desk ticketing system can be a long process, but we’re confident you’ll make a good selection if you:
- Carefully consider your needs and budget and make purchases accordingly.
- Sign up for a trial period to experience the help desk first-hand and see if it’s the right fit for you.
- Schedule demos with different help desk vendors to get all of your questions answered
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