Top 10 HelpDesk Alternatives & Competitors for 2024

HelpDesk is an easy-to-use customer support tool that does not cost a fortune. But does a low price point mean high quality? Not always! 

My experience with the tool shed light on several limitations — an unreliable spam filter, limited integrations, and the absence of important features such as customer surveys, chatbots, ticket bookmarks, etc. 

If you, too, have been through this struggle, allow me to introduce the 10 best HelpDesk alternatives available in the market. 

10 HelpDesk Alternatives You Can Consider This Year

Having spent the past 7-8 years as a customer service professional, I’ve had the privilege of working with various help desk ticketing systems. 

Upon realizing that numerous entrepreneurs and support representatives are actively seeking alternatives to HelpDesk, I decided to leverage my experience.

Let me now offer insights into some noteworthy tools that I’ve personally used and evaluated during my career. Some of these platforms come highly recommended by my colleagues, while others I came across through software review websites.

1. ProProfs Help Desk – Best for Multi-Channel Communication

We’ve been using ProProfs Help Desk, and it’s hands down one of the best HelpDesk alternatives out there. We use this tool to efficiently manage multiple shared inboxes like support@, info@, and contact@, all in one convenient place. 

What’s even more impressive is that we can capture customer requests and issues through various channels, including email, live chat, web forms, and our help center.

ProProfs allows us to provide support even when our team is unavailable. We’ve set up our own chatbots to handle basic customer queries, which not only helps our customers but also generates valuable leads for our business. Plus, an intuitive mobile app helps us offer support on the go, ensuring our customers are taken care of even when we’re not at our desks.

The user interface is another big win for me. It’s simple and intuitive, which means new agents don’t have to spend hours figuring out how to use it. 

What you’ll like:

• Online knowledge base to encourage self-service and reduce your ticket volume
• Pre-defined templates for email responses and notifications
• You can export support ticket conversations in PDF and ticket details in Microsoft Excel
• Smart reports to monitor first response time, customer satisfaction, and other key help desk metrics

What you won’t like:

• More integration options should be added
• Frequent feature and UI updates can be overwhelming for some users 

Pricing: 

 Starts at $20/user/month (Single plan inclusive of all premium features).

2. Freshdesk – Best for Customer Service Automation 

If your business still relies on manual and repetitive processes, it will be almost impossible to give your agents the bandwidth they need to delight customers. 

For this reason, Freshdesk has prioritized help desk automation. For instance, I got the chance to use its AI-powered bots, which are really smart. The bots understood what the customer was after and dished out instant answers and solutions. 

What’s even more remarkable is that Freshdesk automatically prevents the re-opening of tickets that have a simple “thank you” message. The system automatically detects these responses, saving us time and hassle. It made a world of difference for us!

That being said, I feel some users might find Freshdesk’s main dashboard quite overwhelming. It is loaded with features and icons that make it difficult to focus on one thing at a time. 

What you’ll like:

• Canned responses to share quick and consistent replies to common questions
• Similar tickets can be merged together for faster issue resolution
• You can manage your Twitter and Facebook communications from within the help desk
• Report scheduling to receive insightful data directly in your inbox 

What you won’t like:

• The Growth Plan misses out on some important features, such as report sharing, CSAT surveys, community forums, etc. 
• Too many features can be overwhelming for some users 

Pricing: 

Starts at $15/user/month 

I was looking to automate my customer service process, and came across this short video. Watch it for automation tips and tricks- How to Automate Your Customer Service

3. Spiceworks – Best for Remote Assistance

I’ve used Spiceworks’ cloud-based help desk for around three to four months and consider it a valuable HelpDesk alternative. The best part? Cloud accessibility meant no more setup or maintenance worries.

When my team was working remotely, they could kick off a remote support session right from the help desk ticket. Plus, with the Spiceworks mobile app, they could receive ticket updates and push notifications on their smartphones, even when not at the desk. It proved to be a real asset for providing support on the go!

Spiceworks also boasts one of the most reliable IT communities out there. I’ve raised questions, got answers, and connected with fellow support pros and enthusiasts – it’s a fantastic resource.

Even though Spiceworks is free for all users, it comes with its own set of challenges. For instance, my main dashboard was loaded with irrelevant advertisements. So, in short, you will have to deal with many distractions and limitations to enjoy free features. 

What you’ll like:

• Ticket rules can help you automatically assign tickets to relevant agents
• Online self-service portal to allow customers to submit and track tickets 
• Roles and permissions can be assigned to different team members so they only see what they need to
• Ticket sharing for collaborative issue resolution

What you won’t like:

• You will have to worry data backup and security
• Frequent advertisements can hamper agent productivity 

Pricing: 

Spiceworks is free of cost for all users

4. Zendesk – Best for Self-Service 

Zendesk empowers customers with an array of self-service features that make getting help a breeze. So, even when your support reps sleep, customer service goes on! 

Within a few days, I could build a user-friendly knowledge base and FAQ sections to allow our customers to find answers instantly. Plus, an online community forum helped our audience interact with each other, raise questions, and stay on top of every product update. 

Additionally, Zendesk’s AI-powered bots and automation rules gave us an edge, providing my agents with the context they need to offer highly personalized customer service. 

Even though it’s a very powerful and highly scalable platform, I wasn’t impressed with its expensive pricing plans. If you are a small business on a tight budget, Zendesk may not be the best option for you. 

What you’ll like:

• AI-powered answer bots to assist customers round-the-clock
• You can encourage a knowledge-sharing culture by allowing reps to contribute to help articles
• Unified view of each customer to gain context and deliver personalized experiences
• Customizable reports to monitor ticket response time, customer satisfaction ratings, and other metrics

What you won’t like:

• Even the basic plan is quite expensive and may not be the best option for small businesses
• Sometimes, the tool shows an error message when you are trying to reopen a closed ticket  

Pricing: 

Starts at $55/user/month 

5. SysAid – Best for IT Asset Management 

SysAid Help Desk allows our team to easily handle support tickets, resolve issues, manage IT assets, and much more. 

With the help of ticket automation features, my agents can sort, prioritize, and close tickets to reduce efforts and focus more time on urgent issues. 

As one of the leading HelpDesk competitors, SysAid allows us to make the most of self-service automation. Our customers as well as employees can skip the long queue and resolve common issues on their own. 

Also, with the help of remote-control capabilities, agents can connect directly to users’ machines and resolve their issues no matter if they are working from the office or from their home. 

What you’ll like:

• Online knowledge base to allow customers to resolve issues on their own with a dedicated s
• Hotkey function enables end-users to record their screen and upload it to their support ticket 
• Roles & permissions to customize the level of access agents have to your help desk
• Live chat for faster communication and real-time assistance 

What you won’t like:

• The tool comes with a steep learning curve
• Remote support sessions are slow to load at times even with a good internet connection

Pricing: 

Custom pricing

6. SolarWinds Service Desk – Best for Report Generation

SolarWinds Service Desk is another software like HelpDesk that helped my team with incident management, IT asset management, service catalog, and more. 

Having used the tool for a couple of years, I was particularly amazed by its powerful reporting capabilities. I, along with our lead technicians, could generate reports to gauge agent performance and monitor customer satisfaction metrics. 

The report scheduling feature helped me share insights with peers, executives, and other relevant stakeholders in a periodic manner. 

I suggest you turn on email and SMS alerts to never miss out on important messages and keep your team members on the same page. On the downside, many users feel that SolarWinds’s interface and dashboards lack a modern appeal. 

What you’ll like:

• Employee service portal to allow employees to connect with each other and find relevant information 
• Customer-focused knowledge base to reduce ticket volume
• Service catalog that lists all support services offered by your business
• Agents can automatically update IT assets and track their usage

What you won’t like:

• More templates for ticket forms should be added
• Limited number of integrations to third-party tools

Pricing: 

Starts at $39/user/month 

7. ConnectWise – Best for Ticket Organization  

Are unattended or lost tickets driving you nuts? You need a tool that comes with powerful ticket organization capabilities. 

This reminds me of ConnectWise — a tool that excels at capturing customer requests, regardless of whether they reach out via email, phone, or live chat.

ConnectWise’s intelligent ticket dispatching feature is also worth mentioning. It provides complete visibility into your service team’s availability and ensures that the right tasks are assigned to the right people. No more lost tickets! 

Now, we all know that a single high-priority issue can disrupt support operations. With ConnectWise, such issues are automatically escalated to senior reps or managers, ensuring they receive immediate attention. 

What you’ll like:

• Time entry management to understand how agents are utilizing their time 
• Live chat to instantly connect with your clients 
• Dedicated mobile apps will help you manage support workflows on the move 
• Custom reports to track ticket details, issue resolution times, and overall team performance

What you won’t like:

• There is no feature to build custom chatbots for your website
• The platform’s UI hasn’t changed much in the last few years

Pricing: 

Custom pricing

8. Zoho Desk – Best for Issue Escalation (Free Trial)

Every support team that I have been a part of is built around multiple tiers. For instance, while Tier-1 and Tier-2 agents are responsible for interacting with customers and resolving basic issues, higher-level reps or managers focus more on top-priority issues. 

This is precisely what Zoho Desk is designed for – well-structured teams. While using the trial version, I was impressed by its ticket escalation capabilities. 

For instance, some situations, such as initiating a refund for a product, require permission from a senior. Zoho Desk made my agents’ lives easier as they could use the Approvals tab to submit the request and seek approval from me. 

Despite its escalation abilities, one major drawback is that the live chat feature is only available in the Enterprise plan. I know this can be a major hurdle as you will have to pay a heavy price for offering instant assistance to customers. 

What you’ll like:

• Zia Notifications will automatically notify you of any unusual activity in your support process 
• Managers can track the time spent by agents on every task and ticket
• Easily customizable help center that can match your website’s design aesthetics
• Ready-to-use templates for emails and ticket forms 

What you won’t like:

• Live chat feature is only offered in the Enterprise Plan
• The footer menu needs bigger icons as some are unrecognizable on smaller size monitors

Pricing: 

Starts at $14/user/month 

9. LiveAgent – Best for Live Chat 

When it comes to customer interactions, live chat can help you put your foot on the gas pedal. You can hold instant interactions with customers and reduce the wait time significantly. 

Unlike HelpDesk, LiveAgent gives you multiple options to customize your live chat widget. I could easily choose a suitable chat button and even customize the welcome message. 

For a better return on investment (ROI), we invited prospects and customers to chat depending on the time they had spent on our website, landing pages, or help center. 

Another impressive aspect is that you can convert social media messages from Facebook, Instagram, and Slack into trackable tickets. On the downside, there is no feature for custom chatbot development. If you wish to enhance chat functionality with bots, you can instead go for ProProfs Help Desk or Freshdesk. 

What you’ll like:

• Universal Inbox will help you capture issues and requests from multiple channels 
• Automated ticket assignments for greater work accountability 
• Internal notes to discuss complex tickets internally before sharing a response 
• Agent ratings can be received after each customer service interaction 

What you won’t like:

• The Small Business Plan is limited to three inboxes
• The text translation feature isn’t accurate at times 

Pricing: 

Starts at $9/user/month 

10. Intercom – Best for Knowlege Base Articles 

Who said creating knowledge base articles is boring? That’s never the case with Intercom. 

Intercom was recommended to me by our operations head, and the platform lived up to my expectations. It helped us design and publish knowledge base articles for multiple channels — website, mobile app, and in-product messages. 

Also, with this platform, we could divert repetitive questions with a bot that suggested relevant articles to customers, while still providing a great customer experience. 

I’m sure you will find features, such as a multi-brand help center, proactive messaging, and product tours quite useful for your team. At the same time, I feel Intercom can try to make its pricing more affordable for small businesses. 

What you’ll like:

• SLA rules to automatically prioritize important conversations 
• Proactive messages to inform customers about scheduled outages
• Customer segmentation based on their spending, business type, etc. 
• Resolution bot can interact with customers 24/7 and resolve their basic concerns

What you won’t like:

• The platform’s pricing may be confusing for first-time users
• Some messages are automatically added to the spam folder even when they are not spam

Pricing: 

Starts at $74/month 

Which Is the Best HelpDesk Alternative? 

Now, let’s address the burning question: “What’s the best alternative to HelpDesk?”

Truth be told, I don’t believe there’s a one-size-fits-all solution for every business. Every team is distinctive, with its own set of unique requirements. But fear not, I won’t leave you hanging without some guidance.

Here are my top three recommendations for your team this year:

Option A: ProProfs Help Desk

In my opinion, ProProfs Help Desk stands out as the prime HelpDesk competitor in the current market. Its user-friendly interface ensures your team can quickly adapt to it, effortlessly handling multiple shared inboxes like info@ or support@ all-in-one centralized location. Unlike HelpDesk, ProProfs excels in managing customer interactions through various channels, including email, live chat, chatbots, web forms, and the help center. Quite impressive, don’t you think?

Option B: Zendesk 

If affordability isn’t a major factor for your small or medium-sized business, Zendesk is a solid choice. This tool can significantly assist your team in promoting self-service through the use of help centers and online community forums. Utilizing an online forum, your end-users can pose queries, engage in discussions, and find solutions to their issues without the need to directly contact your team. 

Option C: SolarWinds Service Desk 

If you’re a support manager seeking to delve into a wealth of reports and analytics, I believe SolarWinds Service Desk could be the perfect choice for you. By leveraging metrics like user satisfaction scores, active incidents, asset health, etc., you can make well-informed, data-driven decisions for your team and business.

In the end, I would suggest you place your bet on ProProfs Help Desk for its multi-channel approach to customer service. Before you make a final decision and invest any amount of money, I would recommend you opt for a free trial. It will help you explore different features and make a wiser decision for your team. I wish you good luck!