17 Best Freshdesk Alternatives

Freshdesk is a well-known customer service software. It’s also ranked among the top 100 software products in 2023.

But is Freshdesk really for you?

It might be great software with lots of accolades in its basket—and still not be the best software solution for your business.

Luckily, there are many Freshdesk alternatives that could work out for you instead.

Below, you’ll discover 17 of them.

But let’s get something out of the way first…

Why do you need a Freshdesk Alternative?

Freshdesk is great, but that does not mean it does not have its flaws. Here is why you may need a Freshdesk alternative:

Complicated for a Small Business

Freshdesk has many features which are great for big companies with complex support needs. But for small teams just starting out, it can be overwhelming. Learning and setting up all the features takes time and training, which small businesses might not afford. 

Even if you learn it, Freshdesk might have more than you need. If your support is simple, a simpler helpdesk might work better. Customizing Freshdesk to fit your workflow also takes time and effort, which small teams might struggle with.

Your small team needs software that can be set up within minutes and is easy to navigate. Keeping is one such software. It works on top of Gmail and is simple to set up. You can install the Keeping chrome extension, and you’re good to go!

Lack of Adequate Customer Service

“It seems like they are not prioritizing small teams. I had a bad experience with their customer support where it would often take up to 5 days for them to respond. They also promised us a certain price over the phone, only to backtrack and give me a much higher price in the follow-up email the next day.”

This is just one of the customers complaining about the support. Freshdesk is infamous for its own customer support delays and inefficiencies. Over time, multiple users have complained that freshdesk customer support does not meet the mark. 

When you’re investing your time and money into a product, you surely do not want a lack of customer support. This is why you should look for a Freshdesk alternative.

Cluttered User Interface

A clean user interface makes working efficient. In the customer support world, efficiency is prime because it leads to faster and better responses—-the most demanded aspect. Freshdesk’s interface is a bit cluttered. This hasn’t been done on purpose but is merely due to the fact that it has a lot of features. 

The layout is overloaded with features and options, making navigating confusing and difficult. Of course, you don’t need that many features—and you don’t need the crowded interface either. 

Agents spend extra time searching for the features they need, slowing down their workflow. A confusing interface can also lead to mistakes, impacting the quality of customer service. A cluttered UI can be frustrating for both agents and potentially even customers who might interact with the system.

Confusing Pricing Structure

“The system and their plans are optimized for mid- to large size businesses, with a lot of features for managing large teams of customer support agents. For smaller teams this means it can quickly get expensive and you’ll be paying for a lot of things you don’t use.”

There are several pricing tiers (Free, Growth, Pro, Enterprise) with significant feature leaps between them. This can make it challenging to understand which plan offers the features you need without overpaying.

Enterprise brands would enjoy the multifold pricing but as a small business it will be too confusing for you. You need a customer service software that has simple pricing without any hidden costs. 

What should you look for in a Freshdesk Alternative?

Here is everything you should look for in a freshdesk alternative:

Suitable for a Small Business

When looking at a Freshdesk alternative for small businesses, it’s crucial to consider scalable, cost-effective, and user-friendly solutions. 

A small business like yours requires features that streamline customer support operations without requiring extensive training. Flexibility in pricing plans and integrations is essential to accommodate growth and adapt to changing needs. Responsive customer support is also vital to address any issues promptly. 

Overall, the chosen alternative should balance functionality with simplicity and meet the unique requirements of small businesses within their budget constraints.

Efficient Collaboration Features

Efficient collaboration features are crucial for small businesses seeking a Freshdesk alternative as they facilitate smooth communication and teamwork among team members. 

These project management features allow team members to communicate seamlessly, share information, and work together to resolve customer inquiries promptly and efficiently. 

Whether it’s through shared inboxes, internal notes, or task assignments, these collaboration features ensure that everyone is on the same page and can contribute to delivering excellent customer experience.

Simplified Set Up and Onboarding

As a small business you have limited resources, including time, budget, and technical expertise. You need software solutions that can be quickly implemented without extensive setup processes or the need for specialized IT support. 

A simplified setup and onboarding process ensure that small business owners, like you, can get the software up and running efficiently, without significant time or resource investment.

Easy-to-Understand Pricing

Complex pricing structures or hidden fees can be challenging for small businesses to navigate and budget for effectively. Therefore, it’s essential to look for alternatives that offer straightforward pricing plans with no surprises. 

Scalable pricing options that allow businesses to adjust their subscription as their needs change can provide added flexibility and cost-effectiveness. 

By choosing a solution with clear and predictable pricing, small businesses can effectively manage their costs while ensuring access to the features and support they need to deliver exceptional customer service.

A Quick Look at All the Alternatives

Software	Key features	Most suitable for
Keeping	Gmail collaboration: Assign, share notes, update tickets.Shopify integration for customer management.Multiple shared inboxes.Shareable response templates.	Small to midsize businesses that use Gmail for support
Zendesk	Order history, loyalty status, web activity.Pre-built, customizable dashboards for reporting.Share, schedule dashboards with relevant team members.AI tools based on 18B real interactions.	Enterprise businesses with a big budget
ProProfs	Dedicated onboarding managerAutomatic ticket assignmentSelf service abilitiesCustomizable knowledge base	Businesses dealing with high volume of service requests
Intercom	Fin AI: Summarizes, customizes responses, fills ticket details.Manage multiple customers with a single ticket, resolve issues.Maintain branding, control multiple help centers in one workspace.Automate tasks, assign work, meet SLAs, use bots.	Medium to enterprise businesses
ZohoDesk	Multi-department helpdesk mirroring company structure.Zia AI auto-tags tickets, performs sentiment analysis, aids in replies.Build customer communities via forums.	Growing companies with huge support volume.
HelpScout	@mentions, private notes, collision detection.AI summarize, AI assist, AI drafts.Show history, provide context.Create, manage, organize with Docs.	Mid to large size businesses looking for a easy to use solution
Front	Accurately route messages with content-based rules.Tag messages for organization and reporting.Leave internal comments for collaboration.Track SLA violations, response time, CSAT scores.	Midsize businesses needing omnichannel support
HappyFox	Outsource workflows with smart rules.Customize fields, workflows for personalized support.Manage complex issues with ticket actions.Monitor ticket inflow, observe trends, optimize strategy.	Businesses that need a multilingual help desk solution
Kayako	Visualize customer interactions in one view.Integrate with Zapier, Slack, or Salesforce for consolidated activities.Manage message status, merge conversations.	Startups that don’t need complexity.
Live Agent	Audit logs for query escalationDrag and drop files to be attachedView live chat history and overview	Businesses that need live chat as their primary support
Kustomer	Gain insights into customer behavior with AI.Customize workflows for streamlined processes.Practice proactive support using customer service data.Use email templates for quick responses.	Large enterprise brands that need AI in their customer support.
Groove	Instant customer support history.Label conversations: Open, Snoozed, Closed.Private team comments.Collision detection.Track support metrics with analytics.	Startups and growing organizations.
Hiver	Snooze emails for later review.Create and share response snippets.Tag emails for organization and easy retrieval.Integrate with third-party apps like HiverAPI, Aircall, Asana, Jira.	Businesses that use email for customer communications.
ClickUp	Form view for better customer experienceQA score viewerCloud-based appSet up automatic emails and notifications	Creative and marketing agencies
DragApp	5000+ integrationsEmail templatesCustom fields for short text, due dates etc.	Teams that require visualization
Salesforce Service Cloud	Powerful analytics and insightsAI to route cases, personalize etcSelf-service knowledge base	Companies with higher support volumes and complex needs
HelpCrunch	Live chat, email support and help centerSchedule emails and chatsVisual editor to craft and edit help articles	Companies that require an all in one solution

17 Best Freshdesk Alternatives

#1. Keeping

Keeping is a help desk tool designed to enhance your Gmail inbox by converting it into a shared inbox. Our software offers collaboration, automation, analytical tracking, and integration features, all accessible within Gmail.

You can assign messages, share internal notes, and update ticket statuses without leaving your Gmail inbox. Our Shopify integration allows you to connect your Shopify customers directly within Keeping.

With Keeping, you can create multiple shared inboxes for efficient ticket management and easily share and insert response templates with just one click. We provide advanced reporting and analytics, giving you valuable insights into your team’s customer response performance.

Here’s a brief about Keeping’s key features:

Ticket assignment

Collaboration among multiple people in the team wouldn’t work smoothly without ticket assignment. The entire team can easily assign emails to the most appropriate agent based on the issue. You can also set up automated workflows in the Keeping shared inbox to handle ticket assignments automatically.

Collision detection

Collision detection is a feature that stops multiple customer service agents from dealing with the same customer inquiry or support ticket at the same time. This prevents overlapping work, improves efficiency, and enhances team collaboration, ensuring customers get quick responses.

Shared templates

The shared email templates feature is a feature that allows teams to create, save, and share predefined templates for various types of responses, messages, or actions for effective collaboration.

Automatic confirmation receipts: With Keeping, you can send an automatic confirmation receipt every time customer emails flow in. These confirmation receipts can be customized based on your team’s preferences as well.

Pros

• Works on top of Gmail
• Simple to use and set up
• Analytical reporting for valuable insights
• Integrations with Shopify

Cons

• Lacks some advanced features like ticket merging and live chatbot

Keeping is ideal for teams seeking to enhance their Gmail experience without sacrificing functionality. It’s particularly well-suited for small businesses, offering an affordable solution packed with essential ticket management features.

#2. Zendesk

Zendesk is a popular name in the customer service software market. Zendesk is a complete service solution built to create strong relationships alongside strong customer interactions.

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Zendesk’s forte is its AI tools which are built over 18 billion real customer service interactions. Not just that, there are over 1500 plug-and-play integrations including Slack and Microsoft Teams. 

Your support team members can share and schedule dashboards with the relevant people in the company. The software also comes with pre-built and customizable dashboards which ensure proper reporting. 

Customer context information like order history, loyalty status, and web activity etc are also available on display. Zendesk also has its very own marketplace where you can discover and access a wide range of third-party apps, integrations, and customizations designed to enhance and extend the functionality of Zendesk’s customer service and support software. 

Pros

• Feature-rich ticketing system
• Enhanced AI capabilities
• Quick customer support
• Wide variety of third-party apps at the marketplace

Cons

• Costly for small businesses
• Complex to use and difficult to set up

Zendesk is the most suited for businesses that have reached a saturation level with Freshdesk’s features and want an upgrade.

#3. ProProfs

ProProfs is a customer service software that aims to provide multi-channel support while improving agent productivity. Along with the help desk, this software also comes with a survey maker, live chat, and several third party integrations.

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ProProfs help desk combines both internal and external conversations with the help of internal notes and chat. You get a dedicated onboarding manager that helps you get started with ProProfs desk.

You can use automation to assign tickets fairly using a round-robin system or advanced ticket rules. Agents can avoid confusion and cross messaging with the agent collision detection.

To help your customers with self-service, this software also comes with the ability to create a knowledge base. Additionally, metrics like CSAT, first response time and more can be tracked.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Strong reporting dashboards
• Customer satisfaction survey forms

Cons

• Does not connect with social media

ProProfs desk would be a great pick for businesses dealing with high volume of service requests and need a robust ticketing system—because ProProfs surely comes with it.

#4. Intercom

Intercom is an alternative to Freshdesk that combines AI and proactive support to help support teams deliver exceptional customer support. Intercom’s strength lies in its AI capabilities that speed and efficiency in customer support operations. 

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Talking about AI, Intercom’s Fin AI summarizes conversations, customizes responses and automatically fills in the missing ticket details. Team members can also manage multiple customers using a single ticket and effortlessly share updates to resolve issues affecting multiple customers in one ticket. 

The help centers can also be branded with simple customization tools within one workspace. You can use the visual builder to automate your team’s tasks with rules for assigning work, meeting SLAs, using time-saving bots and other features.

Pros

• Special pricing for startups
• Setup is easy and quick 
• Excellent support and training materials

Cons

• Difficult to navigate

For teams that require advanced AI functionalities to improve their support operations can consider Intercom as an alternative for Freshdesk. 

#5. ZohoDesk

ZohoDesk is also a great customer service solution, competing closely with Freshdesk. Its standout feature is the AI bot “Zia”. ZohoDesk is part of Zoho’s cloud software suite, making it easy to connect with other Zoho products.

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You can offer support through email, phone, chat, and social media. You can set up a helpdesk that mirrors your company’s departments because ZohoDesk lets you create department wise inboxes. This software also comes with Zia, the AI helper, will tag tickets, analyze sentiments, and help with responses.

You can also offer self service support via a community forum to engage customers, prospects, and visitors. Use the reply editor to send tailored responses using customer information, FAQs, and templates.

ZohoDesk also offers advanced features like Headquarters, a live dashboard showing trends and details for managers.

Pros

• Simple to easy
• Plenty powerful features
• Send branded emails
• Good user interface and experience

Cons

• Inability to drag and drop items
• Lack of complex workflows

Zoho Desk is a good pick for growing companies that want to please their customers.

#6. HelpScout

HelpScout is a customer communication tool that lets you take things from chaotic to coordinated. HelpScout is a top-notch help desk software made for teams. It does everything email does and even more.

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HelpScout comes with collaboration features like @ mentions, private notes and collision detection. HelpScout specializes in its AI features like AI assist, AI drafts, and AI summarize.

This helpdesk also creates customer profiles that show customer history and provide context. Docs—a self-service tool—lets you create, manage and organize self-service content. 

There are pre-built dashboards to track metrics like response time, handle time, number of conversations etc. HelpScout also has a live chat feature called the Beacon. Beacon turns your customer service into 24/7. 

Pros

• Beacon—-a chat widget
• Mobile app that works well
• Easy to implement knowledge base
• Intuitive and easy to use platform

Cons

• Inability to snooze or schedule emails
• Cannot connect social media accounts

This software is best suited for businesses that are at a growth stage and need an easy to set up desk software.

#7. Front

Front is a tool for customer support that helps teams improve communication and deliver excellent service to many customers. 

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Front lets you route messages accurately by creating rules based on message content or date from other systems. You can also tag messages to organize them to generate reports, provide quick visual indicators, create rules and filter searches. 

Team members can leave internal comments on customer conversations to collaborate privately. Front also connects with other platforms—with the help of which you can bring in:

• Customer history
• Previous conversations
• Account details

This enables personalization in the customer support operations. 

Pros

• Share, assign, comment or resurface issues
• Simple and easy to use
• Friendly and quick to answer support staff
• Collaborative chat tools

Cons

• Complex pricing and hidden charges
• Lack of calendar to schedule meetings

Front is the perfect software solution for teams that want to deliver omnichannel support and are small to midsize.

#8. HappyFox

Another alternative to Freshdesk is HappyFox. HappyFox is an efficient help desk software designed to minimize confusion and enhance support workflows through its robust ticketing system, comprehensive knowledge base, and interactive community forums.

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With HappyFox you can convert incoming requests from different channels into tickets and keep them organized. With its automation capabilities, HappyFox also lets you simplify complex tasks to powerful smart engine rules. 

A unique feature is that you can clone, relate, merge or split tickets to ensure faster resolution times. The analytics and reporting dashboards provided by HappyFox let you monitor ticket inflow, observe trends and optimize support strategy. You can identify peak hours and adjust agent availability for customer issues. 

Pros

• Great automation capabilities 
• Clone or merge tickets
• Multilingual help desk
• Robust ticketing system

Cons

• Complaints about server error

HappyFox is a great software that can be used by small-midsize businesses. HappyFox hits the nail for you if your team is global and you need to deliver support in multiple languages.

#9. Kayako

Kayako is a helpful support software that allows easy teamwork. It’s made to understand your customers well and keep your team on the same page.

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Kayako comes with a single view feature that lets you bring every customer interaction into a visual list. Kayako can also be integrated with Zapier, Slack or Salesforce—this helps you consolidate customer activities. 

Support teams can merge conversations from a single customer into one conversation. This software also comes with the ability to track team performance by looking at the customer satisfaction ratings, insights and custom reporting. 

Pros

• Easy to use interface
• Merge conversations from a single conversation 
• Custom reporting
• Efficient SLA management 

Cons

• Mediocre chat and knowledge base tools

Looking at Kayako’s desk software features, it is most suitable for startups. It provides powerful features that go beyond basic options, but avoids unnecessary complexity.

#10. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is a customer support tool that prides itself on being quick and easy to set up. It’s a great alternative to Freshdesk and is well-known for its live chat support. 

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You can also provide customer service over the phone using its call center solution, and support via WhatsApp, Messenger, as well as on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Its ticketing system collects all customer conversations in one spot, making it easy to solve problems without jumping between different platforms. Live Agent also has an audit log which can be used as a reference point when queries escalate. Other capabilities like automation and reporting are also available.

Pros

• Powerful ticketing system
• Sort and assign incoming emails
• Easy to use and set up

Cons

• Has a learning curve to learn all the features

LiveAgent is best suited for businesses that need live chat as their primary support but want the other channels as well.

#11. Kustomer

Kustomer is a software for customer service desks that uses AI and customer information to help businesses provide impactful customer support.

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Kustomer is able to handle customer interactions from different channels all in one spot. Just like the other popular software, you can also gain useful information about customer habits and patterns using AI.

The software also lets you make customized workflows to make tasks more efficient. By using the customer data, team members can also be proactive in supporting customers. 

Team members can also use pre-made email templates to improve resolution times. Similar to HappyFox, Kustomer also provides support in multiple languages. This help desk software can translate into over 70 languages.

Pros

• 70 languages 
• Customer data can be generated by AI
• Easy to use pre-made templates
• Customized workflows

Cons

• Fluctuations in price
• Takes time to login

Kayako is best suited for startups that do not need complexity in their customer support software. 

#12. Groove

Groove is a support tool that helps you manage customer service online smoothly. It lets you handle all support requests effortlessly, freeing you up to focus on growing your business.

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Team members can view the complete support history of each customer without the need for searching it. You can also keep track of the status of every conversation as there are labels like open, snoozed or closed.

Your support agents can collaborate behind the scenes with comments that only you and your team can see. Another one of collaboration features is collision detection that allows you to quickly check if a teammate is already responding to a conversation. 

Pros

• Great support team
• Integrations with popular tools like Salesforce
• Customizable workflows
• Easy to use and intuitive

Cons

• Complaints about lags sometimes

Groove’s ease of use and flexibility make it suitable for startups and growing organizations as they expand their customer service operations. 

#13. Hiver

Hiver help desk converts your business queries into actionable tasks inside Gmail. While Gmail support is their primary service other channels of support that can be availed are chat, whatsapp and voice support.  

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It transforms emails into actionable tickets, allowing you to assign them to team members, track their status (open, pending, closed), and ensure no inquiries slip through the cracks.

Hiver facilitates teamwork within your support team. You can add internal notes to emails for discussions without forwarding or replying-all. Team members can see who’s working on what, promoting transparency.

Hiver goes beyond email, allowing you to integrate live chat, chatbots, knowledge base articles, and even phone support (if used with other tools) into your Gmail workspace.

Pros

• Track open and closed client requests
• Efficient metrics and reporting
• Excellent email management
• Smooth integration with G Suite

Cons

• Automation capabilities could be better

Hiver is particularly suitable for businesses that heavily rely on email for customer communication.

#14. ClickUp

ClickUp is a comprehensive tool for managing work and teams that can also be used as a versatile customer service platform.

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ClickUp is great for both handling projects and offering top-notch customer service. This ticket management system has everything you need to manage support tickets well and provide great customer assistance.

Use ClickUp’s Form view and Helpdesk Ticket Template to let customers report problems, ask questions, and share feedback easily. Its project management tools help you assign and prioritize tasks, send automatic emails and notifications, and keep track of progress until completion.

You can check your customer service team’s performance and find areas that need improvement using the QA Score view. Team members can also use the cloud-based ClickApp dashboard to stay updated on everything from anywhere.

Pros

• Can work in microsoft teams 
• Automations are easy to set up
• Free version comes with plenty features
• Great for capturing client feedback

Cons

• Delays in adding new tickets/cards to boards
• Interface could be better

ClickUp’s flexible organization structure with lists, tasks, and subtasks is perfect for managing creative projects, campaigns, and client deliverables.

#15. DragApp

Drag is customer service software that makes Gmail work better for teams. What sets this customer support platform is that you can use kanban boards to organize tasks visually and use email templates for quick replies with just a few clicks.

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Team members can save time by using email templates and automating follow-up emails. In fact, they can also easily find ways to improve by looking at reports on how your team is doing.

With Drag, you can connect your customer support software to over 5,000 other apps, like Google, Slack, and Asana, using Zapier. It also lets you include custom fields tailored to your customer facing and marketing teams too. 

These custom fields offer various types, such as short text, numbers due dates, IDs, and more, to help you categorize your tasks effectively.

Pros

• Interface is good for the Gmail inbox
• Easy to set up
• Toggle on and off 
• Amazing customer support

Cons

• Doesn’t work well with huge inboxes

Teams who like to keep things visual will be effectively able to use the Dragapp 

#16. Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer service powerhouse built on the Salesforce Customer Success Platform. It goes beyond simple ticketing systems by providing a unified view of your customers.

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Service Cloud offers a variety of features to streamline your operations. Manage cases efficiently, create a self-service knowledge base, and automate repetitive tasks to free up your agents’ time. 

Powerful analytics and reporting tools give you valuable insights into customer satisfaction and agent performance, allowing you to continuously improve your service. Plus, Service Cloud leverages artificial intelligence to suggest knowledge articles, route cases intelligently, and personalize interactions.

You can also create a self-service knowledge base with articles, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides to empower customers to find solutions independently.

Pros

• Customizable reporting features
• Accessible via mobile too
• Active community support

Cons

• Expensive for small business owners

The robust features and scalability of Service Cloud make it ideal for companies with high customer support volumes and complex needs.

#17. HelpCrunch

HelpCrunch is a Freshdesk alternative that’s designed to support and enhance your customer journey, marketing, and sales efforts all in one place. You can easily keep the customer conversations flowing through popular channels like chat, email, and a help center.

HelpCrunch offers a range of valuable features, including the ability to schedule emails and chats to the right audience at the most opportune moments. You can create visually appealing pop-ups to capture user attention and prompt them to take desired actions.

The platform also incorporates chatbots for 24/7 customer assistance and lead qualification. HelpCrunch also provides a visual editor for crafting and editing informative help articles.

Pros

• Complete suite for email and chat
• Simple but also customizable
• Quick to respond customer support team

Cons

• Widget customization can be improved

HelpCrunch is the most suitable for brands that need an all in one solution which has live chat, email support and self service.

Wrapping Up

In the end, we can say that Freshdesk may not be the best for small businesses. Keeping, on the other hand, is simple to use, affordable, and power packed with features for great customer experience. 

As a growing business, Keeping would be the right software solution. It will not be overwhelming and will provide your customer support team with the right amount of features to get started.