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With so many different help desk software solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to improve customer service while also helping your team become more efficient but need to figure out which tool is best. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different help desk tools with multiple teams, with my picks of the best help desk software.

What Is Help Desk Software?

Help desk software is a tool used by businesses to manage customer service and support. It acts as a central point where customer queries, issues, and requests are received, tracked, and resolved. This software typically includes features like ticket management, where customer inquiries are converted into tickets, and automated responses, to provide quick answers to common questions.

Help desk tools streamline the customer support process, making it more efficient and organized. They help businesses keep track of customer interactions, ensuring that no query goes unanswered. This leads to improved customer satisfaction as issues are resolved promptly.

The Best Help Desk Software Comparison Chart

This is an easy-to-use comparison tool of the best help desk software on the market.

Tool Best For Trial Info Price
1
Issuetrak

Issuetrak added two new views to the dashboard, providing users with different perspectives and ways to monitor and manage issues.

Best for omnichannel help desks

14-day free trial

From $26/agent/month Website
2
Freshdesk

With this omnichannel helpdesk, your agents can reply to emails, answer customer calls and chat with customers right within Freshdesk.

Best enterprise helpdesk software

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $15/user/month (billed annually) Website
3
Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk offers multiple views for effectively prioritizing and closing customer support tickets.

Best context-aware help desk software with multi-channel capabilities

15-day free trial

From $7/user/month (billed annually) Website
4
SAAS First

SAAS First's help desk dashboard provides key functionalities such as ticket management and centralized customer interactions.

Best for AI-driven customer support

Free trial available

From $9/member/month Website
5
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

The ServiceDesk Plus dashboard includes data and analytics on SLA violations and change requests.

Best helpdesk software for incident management processes

Free demo available

From $12/user/month (billed annually) Website
6
HaloITSM

HaloITSM has an intuitive dashboard with reports and insights on new tickets, change requests, problems, and more.

Best help desk software for enterprises

30-day free trial

From $49/user/month Website
7
Zoho Assist

Access devices remotely, either on-demand or unattended.

Best for providing remote access support

15-day free trial available

From $12/month Website
8
LiveAgent

LiveAgent - Inside of Tickets

Best help desk software for analytics and reporting

30-day free trial

From $15/agent/month (billed annually) Website
9
Salesforce Service Cloud

Empower service teams with a help desk that supports mobility for agents, delivering omnichannel customer experience within the service console.

Best help desk software for cloud-based flexibility

14-day free trial

From $25/user/month (billed annually) Website
10
monday Service

monday Service offers several features for tracking customer support tickets.

Best for customizable helpdesk boards

Free trial available

From $26/seat/month (3 seat minimum) Website

The 10 Best Help Desk Software Overviews

These are overviews of the best pieces of help desk software from my experience:

Best for omnichannel help desks

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $26/agent/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.1/5

Issuetrak is a ticketing software that caters to help desks by providing a platform for issue tracking and management. Its capability to accept tickets from multiple channels such as email, web forms, and direct application input positions it as a suitable solution for omnichannel help desks, aiming to offer accessible and efficient customer support.

I chose Issuetrak for helpdesk software after evaluating its comprehensive feature set and positive customer feedback. Its ability to handle omnichannel help desks effectively, with integrations across various platforms, makes it a distinct choice. I believe Issuetrak stands out due to its customizable options and robust task flows, which cater to the diverse needs of omnichannel help desks.

Features include quick notes, which enables users to add pre-written notes to issues quickly, functionalities for managing customer complaints. Issuetrak also offers comprehensive customer support, including a dedicated support department that provides 24/7 technical assistance and in-house services such as site configuration and training for support agents.

Integrations include Okta, Onelogin, Gmail, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Google Analytics, and PowerBI.

Pricing starts at $26/agent/month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

Best enterprise helpdesk software

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $15/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.4/5

Used by over 150,000 businesses, including Panasonic, HP, and Pearson, Freshdesk lets you streamline your support channels (email, phone, chat and more) so that you can then notice trends and assign tickets accordingly. Some features include: automation of repetitive tasks, dissemination of tutorials to customers, and form and community management.

The ability to set service-level agreements (SLAs) and check on them via advanced reporting features stands out as a highlight-worthy features in our features and functions evaluation criteria section. File this under knowledge management, reporting, collaboration—it’s an extraordinarily helpful tool.

Integrations listed include Google Apps, JIRA, various live chat apps, Zoho CRM, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, DropBox, Box, OneDrive, MailChimp, iContact, SurveyMonkey, and many more, including a whole host of selection through a paid Zapier plan.

The app would not accommodate the uploading of larger documents or files, which may not be ideal in many circumstances. Additionally, having the ability to set reminders on tickets would be an asset for anyone whose workload is particularly demanding.

Freshdesk starts at $18/user/month

21 days Free Trial, No Credit card required

Also has a freemium version

Best context-aware help desk software with multi-channel capabilities

  • 15-day free trial
  • From $7/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.4/5

Zoho Desk is a cloud-based customer service application with contextual AI that helps your company build stronger relationships with customers.

Zoho Desk has great features for prioritizing, managing, and closing customer support tickets. Users have control over tickets submitted to the support team via email, phone, chat, social media, a self-service portal, forums, and web forms. All tickets are presented in one place, and team members can set priorities and close tickets in the preferred order.

The tool allows teams to create a Knowledge Base of customer support articles, so your team can quickly find appropriate solutions for customer tickets. Zoho Desk’s Help Center features also allow customers to create a ticket and track it online themselves.

Zoho Desk’s AI and automation features take into account an appropriate resolution time based on your business hours when a customer ticket is created. If those parameters are missed, the ticket will be escalated automatically. Tasks such as ticket assignment, service escalations, notification rules, live chat widget and time-based actions can be automated by setting workflow rules.

The tool provides detailed reports and analytics about your support center performance, such as the average resolution time, the number of tickets closed per agent per day, the number of tickets opened per product and more.

The platform integrates with Zoho customer relationship management (CRM), as well as other Zoho Apps. The tool also offers an API for further integrations.

Pricing starts at $20/agent/month billed annually.

Best for AI-driven customer support

  • Free trial available
  • From $9/member/month
Visit Website
Rating: 5/5

SAAS First is an AI-first customer support platform designed to enhance your interactions with customers. By consolidating various communication channels into a single interface, it simplifies the management of customer inquiries.

One standout feature of SAAS First is its omnichannel inbox, which allows you to manage all customer conversations—be it email, live chat, or social media—in one place. This centralization ensures that no interaction slips through the cracks and enables your team to respond promptly.

Additionally, the platform offers an AI-powered chatbot named Milly, capable of handling customer queries around the clock. Milly learns from your knowledge base and external resources, providing accurate and immediate responses, which frees up your team to focus on more complex issues.

SAAS First also has an integrated knowledge base that empowers your customers to find answers independently, reducing the volume of direct inquiries your team needs to handle. 

Integrations include WhatsApp, Facebook, and SMS by Twilio.

Best helpdesk software for incident management processes

  • Free demo available
  • From $12/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.4/5

ServiceDesk Plus is a complete IT Service Management (ITSM) suite with built-in IT Asset Management (ITAM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) capabilities. With advanced ITSM functions, powerful automations, smart customizations, and easy-to-use capabilities, ServiceDesk Plus helps IT support teams easily deliver world-class service to end users at lower costs.

Features include strong incident management processes that help resolve incidents swiftly and improve agent productivity; comprehensive problem management features that enable IT teams to classify, analyze, and close issues as well as identify repetitive issues to close tickets faster; and a change management system that allows IT teams to implement IT changes with minimal risk through streamlined planning, approval, and implementation.

The tool also provides integrated knowledge management, virtual assistant, and AI capabilities, as well as effective SLA management with proactive and reactive escalations and escalation actions.

It offers various integration options, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Jira, and more through REST APIs.

Pricing for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus starts at $12/per user/month for the standard plan. See further pricing plans on their pricing page.

Best help desk software for enterprises

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $49/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

HaloITSM is a help desk solution that helps businesses streamline the incident lifecycle, from ticket creation to issue resolution. It enables professionals to update the status of incidents and view details including ticket ID, priority level, issue summary, and date created.

HaloITSM allows organizations to link new incidents with existing requests and share potential solutions with team members or end-users through the knowledge base. Managers can specify default values such as categories, priority, service-level agreements, or mailboxes before creating requests. Customer service agents can view upcoming tasks on a calendar and streamline approval processes by requesting validation on ticket creation or modifications.

HaloITSM facilitates integration with various third-party applications such as Microsoft Office 365, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Teams, Lansweeper, and more. Other features of HaloITSM include reporting, compliance management, status tracking, a self service portal, collaboration, and auditing. It also helps businesses generate maintenance requests, store asset details, and set validation rules across configuration fields using IP addresses or numeric passwords.

In addition, HaloITSM can serve as an enterprise service management solution allowing you to extend your workflows beyond IT and experience the benefits throughout the organization. HaloITSM enables teams to join together siloed service areas to create seamless processes and a great experience for users.

Best for providing remote access support

  • 15-day free trial available
  • From $12/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.6/5

Zoho Assist is a remote access support software that allows you to provide support to team members by accessing their devices remotely. It has both on-demand and unattended access capabilities, so you can make updates and solve issues regardless of whether someone is at their computer. The unattended remote access feature can be used for things like pushing bulk updates or rebooting devices.

Live chat, video, and voice calls are all supported to facilitate communication between support reps and customers. You can also exchange files as needed. The software has a high level of security to ensure protection for support reps and customers alike. It's GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, and CJIR compliant and has SSL 256-bit AES encryption. Organizational management is also included so the right people have the right access permissions in the platform.

Sessions can be recorded, which is super helpful for internal training as well as record-keeping and any future auditing needs. The software integrates with other tools, most notably the Zoho product suite. Other integrations include Zendesk, ServiceNow, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Freshdesk, Spiceworks, and the Google Suite, among others.

Pricing starts from $12 per month, and a 15-day free trial is available.

Best help desk software for analytics and reporting

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $15/agent/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.5/5

LiveAgent is for customer support teams of all sizes. The software collects and organizes customer queries from multiple channels, and enables agents to collaborate to resolve them.

The software has tons of useful help desk features. LiveAgent’s multi-channel ticketing system converts all received messages from social media, email, phone and live chat into tickets, and then organizes them according to importance. The software is collaborative, and eliminates account sharing, device and account monitoring, duplicate answers, and confusion. The software has powerful automation rules that can be either time-triggered, SLA triggered, or action triggered.

LiveAgent’s reporting and analytics features enable users to create comprehensive reports on agent availability, resolution times, rebukes, and more. The software also recognizes the need for self-service in customer support and enables users to create internal and external knowledge bases that are fully customizable and equipped with FAQs, feedback, suggestions, and forums.

The software’s UI is very clean and minimalistic, however, it does have quite a learning curve. Not to worry though, LiveAgent provides integrated guides so you can utilize the software in no time. The biggest pro of using LiveAgent is its price to value ratio. LiveAgent offers over 179 advanced help desk features and integrates with over 40 third party applications. The software is fully customizable– from general appearance and sounds to specific feature customization. The cons include a steep learning curve and limited mobile app capabilities.

LiveAgent supports both native and third-party integrations. Native integrations include but are not limited to Braintree, Slack, Instagram, Shopify and more. LiveAgent also provides built-in migration plugins that enable you to migrate data from your old help desk software into LiveAgent.

LiveAgent costs from $15/user/month. They also offer a free trial, a forever free account, and a product demo.

Best help desk software for cloud-based flexibility

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $25/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.4/5

Salesforce Service Cloud is a cloud-based customer service management solution designed for businesses looking to set up a flexible help desk program and initiate their customer service operations from anywhere.

Service Cloud is built on the Salesforce1 platform, and it aims to optimize and centralize customer service agent efforts, giving them the ability to manage cases and handle customer requests with a flexible and mobile approach. It was initially developed to provide proper support mobility for customer service professionals. The solution allows them to not only receive service requests but also provide high-quality support with omnichannel customer experience from anywhere. This means the platform is more than capable of serving as a truly mobile help desk solution for remote and hybrid teams. Using the Service Cloud console, support teams and agents can easily manage all their active cases with relative efficiency.

The platform comes with a Communities tool that empowers customers by giving them the ability to help themselves and others through the self-service approach. Service Cloud works as a help desk solution with self-service capabilities. Other Service Cloud features include a knowledge module that enables organizations to build their knowledge base. This knowledge base can then be utilized by customer support teams and customers alike to look for the answers they need at any given moment.

Salesforce Service Cloud also has a social service function that enables the help desk to be seamlessly integrated with various social media channels, further enhancing the customer service experience.

Pricing for the Salesforce Service Cloud starts from $25 per user/month with the Essentials package. This option supports a maximum of 10 users and is billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.


Best for customizable helpdesk boards

  • Free trial available
  • From $26/seat/month (3 seat minimum)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.6/5

monday Service is a comprehensive service management platform designed to streamline and enhance service delivery across various organizational functions. It offers out-of-the-box solutions tailored for diverse service use cases, including ticket management, multi-channel support, AI and automations, a service catalog, and managing the employee lifecycle.

Key features include an intuitive ticketing system that allows for the efficient management and tracking of customer inquiries. The platform's customizable workflows and automation capabilities can also help reduce manual efforts and improve response times. Additionally, monday Service offers a centralized communication hub, enabling seamless collaboration among support team members.

The tool's user-friendly dashboards and reporting tools also provide valuable insights into support metrics, helping teams to continuously optimize their performance. Overall, monday Service's blend of user-centric design and powerful functionalities makes it an effective solution for delivering exceptional customer support.

monday Service integrates well with several tools, including DocuSign, Gmail, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, and Slack.

Other 10 Best Helpdesk Software

Not keen on any of the above resources? You’re in luck. There are always dozens of other IT support software and helpdesk tools clattering for your business. The helpdesk software options below are just a few more worthy of your analysis.

  1. Front

    Front - Best help desk software for efficient customer communication

  2. NinjaOne

    For simplifying IT operations

  3. Hiver

    Help desk software for Gmail-based team collaboration

  4. InvGate

    Enterprise level service desk

  5. Hiver

    Help desk software that works inside Gmail

  6. EngageBay

    For creating personalized ticket views

  7. ServiceDesk Plus

    Support software for building ITSM workflows

  8. Zendesk

    Help desk software for productivity and customer experience

  9. ManageEngine Service Desk Plus

    Customer portal & self-service features

  10. Jitbit Helpdesk

    Email ticketing system for medium and large businesses

How I Picked The Best Help Desk Software

What criteria do we use to determine the best IT help desk solution? First, I carefully researched the top tools on the market, then I compared them against the features that I believe help the most to provide an amazing customer service. Finally, I used the criteria below to analyze my top choices.

  • User Interface (UI): How well-designed is the support desk software? Does it offer clear displays and intuitive navigation? Is it aesthetically pleasing or all-business? Who does the UI cater to and do they succeed in addressing their target user?
  • Usability: Is this easy to learn and master? Are there tutorials and training? What tech and user support is offered by the software company?
  • Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations? How many different integrations are available and how easy (or costly) are they to implement?
  • Value for $: How much does it cost? Are there different tiers? What features do you have access to at each stage?

Other types of software you might need

Not looking specifically for helpdesk software today? Here are a few adjacent topics that I think might interest you:

  • Bug Tracking: If a lot of your help desk traffic is about bug reports, maybe it’s time to start investing in bug-tracking tools like DoneDone, Trackduck or DebugMe.
  • CRMs: Many customer relationship management tools offer modules for customer support—see if you can cut down on the number of tools you’re using by getting a CRM that has helpdesk features included.
  • Collaboration Software: you could also look at using online collaboration tools to manage communication between departments in order to resolve issues and keep a searchable record of communication.

Help Desk Software FAQs

Find answers to common questions about this topic.

help desk software logos list

What's Next?

Regardless of whether you work at a small business or big corporation, I think we can agree that the help desk platform you choose should be one where a customer query gets routed efficiently. Also, it's important for this platform to invite customer interaction and customer engagement through a notification system.

Now that you've covered the tools, I encourage you to read more about how help desk software can help your business.

Ben Aston
By Ben Aston

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. I'm a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut!