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The Best Help Desk Software Companies of 2020
How We Chose the Best Help Desk Software
Your company’s unique needs will ultimately determine which help desk software is right for you. However, in creating our list of the best help desk software, we looked at the criteria that is typically most important to companies.
Automation & Collaboration Tools, Plus Reporting
Providing tools that allow for the automation of processes and responses is one of the most valuable functions of help desk software. We looked for products that offer robust features, including ticket routing, workflow automation, shared inboxes, critical event flagging, and more. Reporting functions are also key, to help you track and improve performance.
Supports Integrations, Including Social Media
You likely already have systems and tools in place on your website, and want help desk software that can integrate into this existing infrastructure. That’s where application programming interfaces (APIs) come in. APIs will enable greater flexibility with system bug fixes, analytics, customer relationship management (CRM), social media, and more.
Self-service Options
Another essential help desk software feature is self-service options that empower your customers to help themselves without needing to contact customer service. These features include knowledge bases and help centers, where customers can find static information and answers to frequently asked questions. We prioritized help desk software that offers self-service options.
Demo or Free Trial
Help desk software is a significant financial investment, so it’s important to know that you are getting the product you need for the money you’ll spend. A good company understands that. Being able to test-drive software is key in establishing whether a company delivers on its promises. That’s why we prioritized help desk software companies that offer free trials or demonstrations prior to purchase. Giving customers a trial run is typically a sign that a company stands behind its products.
The 20 Best Help Desk Software of 2020
| Company | Price | Demo/Free Trial | More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhisi | $0-$49 per month | Free Trial | Visit Abhisi |
| Agiloft Service Desk | $0-$75 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Agiloft Service Desk |
| Boomtown | Custom quote | Demo | Visit Boomtown |
| BOSS Solutions | $19-$69 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit BOSS Solutions |
| Cayzu | $4-$39 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Cayzu |
| Freshdesk | $0-$109 per month | Free Trial | Visit FreshDesk |
| HappyFox | $29-$89 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Happyfox |
| HelpDesk | $4-$19 per month | Free Trial | Visit HelpDesk |
| iSupport Software | N/A | Demo | Visit iSupport Software |
| Jira Service Desk | $0-$40 per month | Free Trial | Visit Jira Service Desk |
| LiveAgent | $0-$39 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit LiveAgent |
| ManageEngine ServiceDesk | $0-$50 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit ManageEngine ServiceDesk |
| ProProfs Help Desk | $0-$15 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit ProProfs Help Desk |
| SolarWinds Service Desk | $15-69 per month | Free Trial | Visit SolarWinds Service Desk |
| TeamSupport | $50-$65 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit TeamSupport |
| TOPdesk | Custom quote | Demo | Visit TOPdesk |
| Trakdesk | $9.99-44.99 per month | Free Trial | Visit Trakdesk |
| Vision Helpdesk | $12-$48 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Vision Helpdesk |
| Zendesk | $5-$199 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Zendesk |
| Zoho Desk | $0-$35 per month | Demo, Free Trial | Visit Zoho Desk |
Abhisi
Abhisi’s All-in-One Help Desk software provides an affordable choice for integrated, multi-channel sales and tech support services. Its features include:
- Multi-channel customer communication via e-mail, phone, SMS, and social media
- Smart workflow automation for team assignments and message tagging
- Flexible predefined reply system that speeds up response time
Abhisi makes use of Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure to provide consistent speed, security and reliability. It generates real-time reporting data that tracks multiple variables, among them average response time and replies per customer.
Abhisi provides a free service with enough features to support a small, single-person tech support and sales office. Higher tiers are available on a 15-day free trial basis, after which they range from $9 to $49 per user per month.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$49 per month | Free Trial | >Workflow automation >Supports integrations, including social media >Offers self-service option >More feature at Abhisi |
Pros & Cons of Abhisi Help Desk Software
Abhisi’s pricing is highly competitive, and it offers a genuinely free (albeit extremely bare-bones) option as well. Its tools for team collaboration are limited — essentially confined to sharing notes — and it’s not entirely clear how much ground the real-time reporting truly covers.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Multi-channel customer communication support >Smart workflow automation & predefined "quick reply" responses >Free option available | >Limited capacity for team collaboration >It's unclear how complete the real-time reporting feature is >Free option is very much no-frills |
What Customers Are Saying
Customers appreciate the time-saving offered by Abhisi’s reply system, saying, “The feature I like the most is the Quick reply feature, where my team can make use of the most common replies.” They also appreciate Abhisi’s affordable delivery of tools that can cost far more with other companies, saying, “Why do intercom and other livechat softwares charge that amount of money when you can get the same technologies with Abhisi, but at a far more affordable price?”
Agiloft Service Desk
Agiloft’s Flexible Service Desk Suite aims to create a single, integrated system of IT service. Its features include:
- Customizable Agile IT Ticketing system and workflow management that incorporates decision trees and provides escalation rules that keep management informed
- Multi-channel customer service, intelligent case management, and automated case monitoring
- An ITIL Service Desk option that allows full browser-based customization that doesn’t require (much) coding knowledge
Agiloft’s focus is on making its solutions easy to customize, manage and adapt to a company’s brand. Its “no code” ITIL Service Desk is a key selling point. The software also provides detailed, predefined reports in a variety of formats.
Agiloft Service Desk provides a free edition with limited features for evaluation purposes. Its three tiers of further service levels range from $45 up to $75 per month per user (upper tier being the Enterprise version), along with floating licenses that don’t need a specific name to be assigned to a user.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$75 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Workflow and process automation >Ticketing routing and escalation rules >Supports integrations, including social media >Offers self-service option >More feature at Agiloft Service Desk |
Pros & Cons of Agiloft’s Service Desk Help Desk Software
Agiloft offers impressive features including sophisticated workflow management and predefined reports, and ease of customization facilitates integration into corporate structures while staying compliant with ITIL best practices, all without coding knowledge beyond a little basic HTML. Its full features, however, are only available to Enterprise-tier users, and customization comes with the trade-off that it requires extensive set up to use.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Easy to customize and integrate into corporate structures >Sophisticated workflow management >Predefined reports >ITIL-compliant | >Lots of set-up work needed >Full features only available to highest-tier subscribers |
What Customers Are Saying
Agiloft is popular with customers, especially with busy staff who need solutions tailored to their needs: “[Myself and the other project managers are] also hands on. We have many projects to jump from and to… [it’s how we handle projects] without dropping the ball.”
Boomtown
Boomtown is a real estate CRM solution focused on delivering time-efficient customer tracking and lead generation and satisfying customer experiences. Its features include:
- Access to an on-demand network of online experts
- Pattern-matching software to deliver predictive recommendations to agents and customers
- An AI-powered “digital assistant” toolset for workflow automation
- Unified multiple customer service channels in a single queue
Boomtown also boasts a considerable suite of other benefits including skill-based task routing, an integrated ecosystem for team collaboration, proactive real-time reporting, and smart inbox prioritization. Those features are tied to four tiers of service — Reactive, Assisted, Automated, and Proactive — each of which incorporates all the features of the tier below it.
There’s no free trial or demo on offer for Boomtown. Pricing is available by custom quotes only.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Custom quote | Demo | >AI-powered workflow automation >Team inboxes and chat room for collaboration >Offers self-service option >Advanced customer insights, including proactive reporting >More features at Boomtown |
Pros & Cons of Boomtown Help Desk Software
Boomtown’s possible features are so numerous as to be almost overwhelming, but it has a reputation for being easy to use and for considerably increasing the efficiency of tasks like lead tracking and customer followup. Its lead generation tools attract some complaints about the lack of ability to flush out false or useless profiles, though, and overall, it has a reputation for being one of the more expensive CRM solutions.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Extensive possible features >Easy to use >Significantly reduces time for tasks like lead tracking and customer follow-up | >Hard to weed out false positives from lead generation >Tends to be expensive |
What Customers Are Saying
BoomTown’s users are generally positive about both the software and the company’s support staff, with one saying, “This system is so easy to use. They have tutorials that explain use quickly and easily and the support staff is awesome, always available, and very interested in your ideas as a [customer].”
BOSS Solutions
The BOSSDesk Solutions Suite is cloud-based, ITIL-compliant service desk software for IT service management. Its features include:
- Incident Management that combines help desk, asset management, and service catalog functionality in one environment
- Online self-service portal with a customizable dashboard interface
- Mobile iOS and Android apps provide remote access to all capabilities
The suite includes performance and timesheet reports and charts, and its service catalog supports custom forms for managing and processing service requests. Its online self-service portal is designed to make incident management easy to access and interact with remotely.
A two-week free trial of the suite is available. Pricing ranges from $19 monthly per user at the introductory tier of service all the way up to $69 per month per user at top tier.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $19-$69 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticketing routing >Shared Inbox >Offers self-service option >Performance and timesheet reporting >More features at BOSS Solutions |
Pros & Cons of BOSSDesk Solutions Help Desk Software
BOSSDesk draws particular praise for its flexible, reliable ticketing system, useful online self-service feature (which eliminates barriers for remote support) and customizable dashboard that lets users focus on the information relevant to them. Some users note that it can be complex to route rules or define approvals and that the reporting system is a bit of a weak point, but overall BOSSDesk draws few complaints.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Flexible and reliable ticketing system >Online self-service portal excellent for remote support >User-friendly customizable dashboard | >Reporting not as detailed or user-relevant as it could be without specific help from support team >Some of the rules and approvals features can be over-complicated |
What Customers Are Saying
BOSSDesk has earned largely positive customer reviews. One user says, “The software is easy to use and allows you to create customizable service requests, which has proven to be VERY helpful. There are a lot of features associated with BossDesk that allow you to feed into the application with email or Google, and this has proven to be a game-changer for us.”
Cayzu
Cayzu Help Desk is cloud-based software adaptable for large businesses, but it also keeps small businesses, start-ups, and charities in mind. Features include:
- A self-service portal with Google Analytics integration
- Discrete instancing of the app for each brand being managed
- Multi-channel ticketing allows requests through email, web forms, and social media DMs
- Customizable forms, quick responses and ticket fields
Cayzu offers standard general-purpose and agent-specific reporting and a range of standardized workflow automation that can be enabled or disabled with a click. It supports multiple self-service user portals that can each be configured for their own product or brand, and each integrates with Google Analytics to track the value of knowledge base articles. Cayzu’s API allows code-capable staff to build interfaces with other business analytics tools.
Cayzu offers a free “Basic” version with minimal features that’s nevertheless functional for very small teams. Its basic service tier starts at $4 monthly per user, and its highest tier costs $39 per user per month.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $4-$39 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Workflow automation, including ticket routing >Internal messaging service >Supports integration, including social media >General, agent, and company reporting >More features at Cayzu |
Pros & Cons of Cayzu Help Desk Software
Cayzu’s affordability, analytics-integrated self-service feature and creative approach to brand management are its strongest selling points. On the other hand, it doesn’t offer more advanced features like change management or customizable reporting, and its automation is fairly basic, making it best suited for small businesses.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Affordable pricing >Useful for managing multiple brands and products >Google Analytics-integrated, API-supported self-service | >Lacks sophisticated automation >Reporting is fairly basic and not customizable >Doesn't offer change management features |
What Customers Are Saying
Customers overall have positive opinions of Cayzu Help Desk. One user notes, “The SLA features are a real life saver, and our report metrics are spot on now. Automation means the agent and I always know when something important happens.”
Freshdesk
A product of Freshworks, Freshdesk is an omnichannel customer service software that offers AI-powered solutions including bots, workflow automation, self-service, team collaboration, custom reporting and analytics, and more. Major features include:
- Rich omnichannel support across email, phone, web, live-chat, messaging channels, social and mobile
- A unified customer profile with all conversation across channels
- Identity and access management, IP and network restrictions and custom SSL certificates for added security
- Full suite of workflow automation tools
- Workforce management and productivity tools like task tracking, mobile access, and time tracking
- Agent and customer-facing AI bots for faster resolutions and higher productivity
- Customization capability for portals, agent roles, customer segments, apps and ticket forms
Freshdesk boasts sophisticated and detailed analytics, with a wide range of built-in reports and in-depth customized reporting. It also offers a team communications hub through Freshconnect.
Product tiers begin with a free trial plan called Sprout. The paid tiers run from $15 per user per month up to $139 monthly per user, with key features such as email and social media ticketing, automations, self-service and reporting capabilities available from even the basic plan. Their higher-tier plans include features such as advanced bot capabilities, sandbox, and audit logs, making them suitable for larger enterprises.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$139 per month | Free Trial | >Ticket routing and event triggered automation >Freshconnect collaboration tool >Supports integrations and offers reporting >More features at Freshdesk |
Pros & Cons of Freshdesk Help Desk Software
Freshdesk is user-friendly and easy to set up, offers a features list too robust to fully cover in this space and detailed reporting and real-time analytics in the form of dashboards making a highly-rated solution. Also, at $139 per user per month to access its full features, it’s notably expensive.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >User-friendly >Robust selection of features >Detailed customizable analytics | >Full-featured version is highly expensive |
What Customers Are Saying
Freshdesk is popular with its customer base. One user says, “Ease of setting up, the ability to connect with various platforms such as social media, slack and the SSO feature is robust and better than some other market leaders.”
HappyFox
HappyFox is a well-known solution in the help desk category, providing a broad feature set focused on its ticket management system. Its features include:
- A branded customer self-service channel
- Ticket management with canned actions, round robin assignment and automated SLA management
- Detailed real-time reporting system with customizable dashboard
HappyFox’s customer self-service channel supports searchable knowledge bases that can be specifically tasked for internal or external use, along with category-driven forums in public, customer-only and agent-only variants. Upper tiers of service offer advanced features like asset management, agent collision and task management that supports detailed task lists within a ticket.
HappyFox services run from $29-$89 per user per month when on an annual payment plan, with an extra $10 on the per-user price at each tier if paying monthly. There is presently no free tier or free trial option.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $29-$89 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticket routing >Internal collaboration >Offers self-service options >Reporting, including agent activity, satisfaction survey, distribution, and more. >More features at Happyfox |
Pros & Cons of HappyFox Help Desk Software
HappyFox offers robust functionality for companies of any size. It provides real-time reporting, its ticket management system is efficient and effective even at the most basic service tier, and its more advanced asset and task management features are equally impressive. Its offerings for third-party integrations are more limited than leading competitors like Freshdesk, however, and its pricing structure isn’t particularly competitive.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Real-time reporting >Excellent ticket management capabilities >Sophisticated asset and task management at higher tiers | >Third-party integrations and pricing lag somewhat behind leading competitors |
What Customers Are Saying
HappyFox’s flexibility, ease of use, and real-time reports are all popular with customers. As one says, “We’ve been extremely happy using this product. The reporting features of this product are an extremely valuable tool and well worth the cost of the software.” Another remarks, “We use this as an internal tool to track service and maintenance requests within our organization. It’s been very useful at providing tracking and transparency.”
HelpDesk
HelpDesk is an online IT support management suite calibrated for the entry-level user or company. Its features include:
- Multi-channel communication with email and LiveChat integration
- Third-party integrations including Slack and Jira
- Ticket management with report capabilities like performance and response time tracking
HelpDesk allows the automation of repetitive tasks and task routing. It provides multiple mailboxes and a private notes service for team collaboration.
HelpDesk provides a free trial version. Billed annually, paid service starts at $4 per user per month, with its main, full-featured Team tier at $19 monthly per user. Extra administrative support is available by custom quote at Enterprise tier.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $4-$19 per month | Free Trial | >Workflow automation, including ticket routing >Multiple mailboxes collaboration tools >Supports integrations >Offers reporting, including performance, ticket, and response time >More features at HelpDesk |
Pros & Cons of HelpDesk Help Desk Software
HelpDesk’s main selling points are its affordability and ease of use. Its features list is very limited compared to more expensive alternatives, although the functionality of the features it does provide aren’t in doubt. Reporting functions are limited by the lack of an option to export data.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Affordable pricing >Easy to use >Solid performance within its feature set | >Limited features compared to some other options >Reports do not export |
What Customers Are Saying
Customers tend to appreciate HelpDesk for its affordability, ease of use, and the solid performance of its otherwise limited feature set. One customer sums it up this way, “Overall Helpdesk has been great for me to begin using a ticket system . . . Helpdesk is very easy to get started with and is extremely affordable compared to other options . . . The software is very easy for my agents to understand and it is great that they can access it online anywhere.”
iSupport Software
iSupport Software integrates a range of functionalities into a single entry point for each “incident” or ticket and places an emphasis on customization. Features include:
- Automated load balancing and round-robin task routing
- Hierarchical templates for multiple tasks
- Rules-based automatic notifications and escalation
- Built-in chat feature with customizable responses, history monitoring, and automatic incident creation
iSupport’s permissions, portals, and interfaces can be customized to the needs of the user environment and optimized for mobile and tablet use. It comes with extensive real-time and scheduled reporting options and integrates with Google, Microsoft Calendar, Citrix GoToAssist Remote Support, and Bomgar Software for remote desktop connection.
iSupport is available in two Editions: Incident Management and the more advanced ServiceDesk, which supports additional features like change and service catalog management. Free trials and pricing information are available through iSupport’s sales department. Pricing starts at a one-time payment of $699 per user.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | Demo | >Workflow automation and ticket routing >Built-in chat >Offers self-service options >Real-time and scheduled reporting, plus a drag and drop report builder >More features at iSupport Software |
Pros & Cons of iSupport Software Help Desk Software
iSupport boasts an extensive, flexible feature set that should be adaptable for use by a wide range of businesses, along with powerful customization, and real-time reporting options. However, its interface and configuration options are less than intuitive and can be difficult to use, and some users report difficulty with scaling the solution to meet the demands of higher volumes.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Extensive functionality >Powerful customization >Granular real-time reporting | >Interface and customization tools can be difficult to use |
What Customers Are Saying
iSupport’s functionality, stability, and customer support earn high marks from users. One says, “Every issue I have had was able to be fixed. Not only that but they remotely connected into my box and fixed it for me. There are a lot of features in their product and they continually are looking inward to their customers for ideas for new features. The product is VERY VERY STABLE.”
Jira Service Desk
Jira Service Desk is a flexible, collarboartive approach to ITSM software that provides functionality for managing requests, incidents, problems, changes, and assets. Features include:
- Custom automation rules for manual tasks
- Customer satisfaction, knowledge base, and problem management reporting
- Asset tracking ties assets to specific service requests
- SLA policies with automated escalation rules and routing
Customer self-service is available via an online portal or through email. The software has numerous third-party integrations and interacts with Atlassian’s Confluence software to create integrated knowledge bases.
There is a fully functional free version of Jira Service Desk that supports up to the three agents. Its Standard and full-featured Premium tiers of service are available for $20 and $40 per month per user, respectively.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$40 per month | Free Version | >Workflow and incident automation >Collaboratively edit knowledge base, plus integrates with other collaboration tools >Customer satisfaction and incident reporting >More features at Jira Service Desk |
Pros & Cons of Jira Service Desk Help Desk Software
Jira Service Desk provides solid and feature-rich functionality, a wealth of third-party integrations, customizable dashboards, and a useful selection of predefined reports. It lacks its own integrated knowledge base, requiring integration with Confluence to provide this function and does not presently allow customer access through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Some users report a high learning curve in getting familiar with the UI.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Numerous third-party integrations >Feature-rich functionality >Customizable dashboards >Useful predefined reports | >UI can be challenging to learn even for expert users >Lacks its own integrated knowledge base >No social media integration for customer access |
What Customers Are Saying
Jira Service Desk’s selection of features and integrations earn high marks from customers, with one saying, “Jira offers a huge amount of features, from simple support tickets to project workflow planning . . . The ability to link Jira with other 3rd party applications is excellent.”
LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a cloud-based customer relations management system that provides multi-channel communication and automated ticket management. Its features include:
- Customer contacts through email, social media, voice calls, text messaging and ticket generation, tied together with live chat
- Automated ticket assignment and workflow rules
- Customizable SLAs with SLA compliance reports
- Canned response macros and predefined answers for support queries
LiveAgent supports custom email templates for communication with both customers and agents and offers gamification incentives for higher levels of agent performance and productivity. It streamlines collaboration through a universal inbox that automatically creates tickets for received emails and routes them to the appropriate department and agent.
A free service tier is on offer with a limited feature list. A ticketing solution tier costs $15 monthly per agent, and ticketing with Live Chat incorporated costs $29 monthly per agent. The all-inclusive highest tier costs $39 monthly per agent.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$39 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticketing routing and workflow automation >Company Inbox >Supports integrations, including social media >Analytics overview and agent rankings >More features at LiveAgent |
Pros & Cons of LiveAgent Help Desk Software
LiveAgent’s central selling point is its high-speed chat widget, but its well-constructed general suite of features and amenability to customization also score in its favor. Some of its more advanced features require coding and development knowledge to be deployed to best advantage, and some users see it as best-used to mid-sized or large businesses; companies with lower volumes of customer interactions may find it more cumbersome than their needs justify.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Robust multi-channel customer communication including a signature high-speed chat widget >Features are generally well-constructed and deliver efficient functionality >Useful customization and automation tools | >Higher level of IT expertise needed to get the most out of advanced features >Best-suited to mid-sized businesses and up, may be too cumbersome for smaller companies |
What Customers Are Saying
LiveAgent’s robust features and strong customer support are commonly praised by users. One remarks, “The organization of tasks and communication channels provided by LiveAgent’s ticketing system is something that I have never experienced in other companies in the industry.” Another notes, “Whenever we have a need, we contact their support team, which always responds in their live chat or at the latest, the next day.”
ManageEngine ServiceDesk
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus combines core IT help desk functionality with ITIL-compliant product and contract management tools. Features include:
- Automatic ticket dispatch based on technician caseload and availability
- “Business rules” for more granular ticket routing
- API that facilitates automation and integration with other apps
The software boasts full-featured subsystems for incident and problem management, change and project management, asset management, reporting and service catalog maintenance. It facilitates collaboration through an in-product live chat and sports an app for mobile access.
ServiceDesk Plus is available in a free trial version. There are three tiers of paid service ranging from Standard at $10 monthly per user up to the full-featured Enterprise tier at $50 monthly per user.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$50 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Workflow automation, including ticket routing >In-product live chat >Supports integrations >Offers self-service options >More features at ManageEngine ServiceDesk |
Pros & Cons of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Help Desk Software
ServiceDesk Plus has a reputation for ease of use and setup, low resource consumption, and built-in reporting. The advantages of simplicity are somewhat offset by relatively limited features and functionality compared with some other options on the market, and some users report customer service snags owing to the company’s being based in India.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Simple to set up and use >Light on resource consumption >Built-in reporting | >Somewhat limited features and functionality >Uneven customer support |
What Customers Are Saying
ServiceDesk Plus draws customer praise for its ease of use. One customer says, “This is a great helpdesk application for most small-to-medium companies who don’t need all the extra features that come with [other applications]. Worked directly out of the box with minimal configurations needed.”
ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs Help Desk is an online customer support tool built with the aim of maximizing the collaborative efficiency of customer support teams. Its features include:
- A shared inbox for workforce collaboration
- An internal knowledge base and 24/7 customer self-service help center
Integrated live chat software with pre-made templates, canned responses, and saved customer chat histories - ProProfs Training Maker for building branded customer and agent training courses online
ProProfs also provides ticket prioritization and issue tracking, workflow configuration, and an integrated Survey Maker. Smart Reports deliver real-time customer surveys, SLA reports and performance tracking.
A free version of ProProfs Help Desk with minimal features is available. Two tiers of paid service include the Essentials tier at $10 monthly per agent, and the full-featured Premium tier at $15 monthly per agent.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$15 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Workflow automation, including ticket routing >Shared inboxes >Offers self-service options >SLA and performance reporting >More features at ProProfs Help Desk |
Pros & Cons of ProProfs Help Desk Help Desk Software
ProProfs Help Desk is an affordable, user-friendly option that has a shared inbox feature that draws user praise for facilitating efficient collaboration. Its only conspicuously missing feature is that it presently lacks social media integration.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Affordable pricing >User-friendly UI >Shared inbox facilitates efficient team collaboration | >No social media integration |
What Customers Are Saying
Affordability and ease of use are big positives with customers. One says, “We have previously used a few help desk systems. They were nice. But this one feels even lighter on the pocket . . . And the best part is, the interface is fast, so it helps my agents answer customer support emails faster.”
SolarWinds Service Desk
SolarWinds Service Desk is a cloud-based ITSM suite focused on optimizing functionalities to improve customer experience. Features include:
- Automated incident management with consolidated and prioritized tickets
- Standardized service request and fulfillment processes through its service catalog
- Ticket and request submission through a single service portal
The software’s asset management tools consolidate tracking of assets such as hardware, software licensing, and warranties. The REST API allows the alignment of incident reports to affected assets and makes it possible to connect asset items with user tickets.
SolarWinds provides free trial versions of this software at all tiers of functionality. Paid service tiers range in cost from $15 monthly per user up to $69 monthly per user.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $15-69 per month | Free Trial | >Advanced routing and automated workflows >Service desk chat >Supports integrations, including social media >Performance reporting >More features at SolarWinds Service Desk |
Pros & Cons of SolarWinds Service Desk Help Desk Software
SolarWinds Service Desk is notable for ease of use, reliability and high-quality asset management and reporting. The updating process can be unpredictable without a test environment to check configurations, and the software doesn’t presently support Linux.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Easy to use >Reliable functionality >Good asset management and reporting tools | >Lacks a test environment for updating process >Does not presently feature Linux support |
What Customers Are Saying
The software’s ease of use has drawn substantial praise from clients. One remarks, “The system allows the natural flow of tickets into problems, problems into changes and the audit trail is perfect for our validation/QA [colleagues]. We love that the API is easy to integrate and have pulled in our sharepoint system with the API to automate tasks like account creation/separation.”
TeamSupport
TeamSupport is designed to be a scalable, all-in-one help desk solution for B2B customer relations management. Its key features include:
- Consolidated customer and contact database provides access to the full history of any single customer or contact’s interactions and tickets
- Customer Distress Index (CDI) tracks overall “customer health” and satisfaction
- Customizable “activities” to track non-ticket-related events and interactions
- System-wide customer alerts notify the team when a specific customer’s information or tickets are opened
TeamSupport features a built-in social network, similar to Slack, called WaterCooler to facilitate team collaboration. The team can manage tickets — adding, removing, assigning and prioritizing tickets — using the ticket queue tool.
Free trial and demo versions of TeamSupport are available. Paid services are two-tiered: $50 monthly per agent for the Support Desk tier and $65 monthly per agent for the Enterprise tier, with added functionality specifically targeted at software companies.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $50-$65 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticket routing >Internal social network called Water Cooler >Supports integrations >Offers self-service options >Advanced help desk reporting >More features at TeamSupport |
Pros & Cons of TeamSupport Help Desk Software
TeamSupport is painless to set up, tweak, and configure. It makes it easy to find customer information quickly through its activity and consolidated database features and makes it easy to track customer issues with the CDI feature. While the “out of the box” reporting tools are adequate, some users seek more robust reporting — and reports that aren’t in read-only format — and find that customizing reports is difficult.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Painless to implement and configure >Activities and consolidated database make finding customer information easy >CDI feature makes it easy to track and anticipate customer issues | >Reporting could be more robust >Customizing reports is presently difficult |
What Customers Are Saying
Customers are generally positive about TeamSupport’s features and implementation. One remarks, “We use it as our one-stop shop for all IT service issues . . . most things we are able to self serve from our internal IT team. Our users know that we are responding and feel like their IT needs are being serviced much quicker and more accurately the first time.”
TOPdesk
TOPdesk is a popular cloud-based help desk suite that aims to facilitate efficient and satisfying customer service for companies of all sizes. Features include:
- Centralized collaboration boards that allow teams to share, prioritize and assign tickets and track availability and workloads
- Customizable self-service portal that manages customer requests and conveys information on services
- Incident management with keyword-based standard solutions and logged conversation histories
In addition to its self-service portal, TOPdesk sports multi-channel customer communication through SMS, WhatsApp, Chatbots, and mail imports. It provides numerous built-in third-party integrations along with an API that allows companies to build integrations of their own and offers performance tracking and KPI reporting.
TOPdesk provides demos to prospective customers. Paid service is available through custom quotes.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Custom quote | Demo | >Workflow routing and ticket routing >Centralized tracking >Supports integration, including social media >Offers self-service options >Performance and KPI reports >More features at TOPdesk |
Pros & Cons of TOPdesk Help Desk Software
TOPdesk is notable for a modular component design that makes it easy to add and scale up solutions, for robust ongoing support and its speed and ease of use. The downside of its modular design is that instances may need to be purpose-built to duplicate functionality that many other ticket management system provide “out of the box.”
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Engaging and effective modular design >Robust ongoing support by the company >Fast and easy-to-use interface | >Modular design means that features some users expect "out of the box" might need to be specifically added |
What Customers Are Saying
Users are effusive about TOPdesk’s overall design philosophy and user-friendliness, saying, “The software is easy to use and is modular, which means that you can build your Service Management processes as and when you require them . . . The software has evolved from a business who live and breathe service and understand customer requirements.”
Trakdesk
Trakdesk’s stated mission is to provide cloud-based help desk functionality that covers bases that previously required several applications with friendly UI and an affordable price. Features include:
- Ticket management with bulk actions, the ability to merge, split and link tickets, apply macros and canned responses and track agent collision
- Ticket form customization that allows the addition of multiple forms to any ticket
- Multi-channel communication with a customer support portal, email and SMS support and social media integration
- Detailed reporting that can filter and track SLA compliance, agent and group performance, time entry reports, billing and invoicing, security feature performance, and satisfaction surveys
Its automation tools include event-triggered and auto-executing automations and the ability to schedule and automate recurring tasks and issue commands by email. Its knowledge base tool includes the ability to convert tickets to knowledge base articles, support multiple brands and companies and implement article voting and commenting.
Trakdesk provides a 30-day free trial. Paid service tiers range from $9-$44.99 per agent per month.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $9.99-44.99 per month | Free Trial | >Event automation and ticket routing >Agent collusion >Supports integration, including social media >Offers self-service options >Multiple reporting options >More features at Trakdesk |
Pros & Cons of Trakdesk Help Desk Software
Trakdesk is notable for its robust reporting, speed and ease of operation, close attention to customer support and the quick pace of updates. It already sports a robust feature set for a relatively new app, albeit not one yet directly comparable to some of the more established solutions. Its customization tools may not presently be within the reach of users of all skill levels.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Robust reporting tools >Fast and easy to operate >Excellent customer support >Unusually fast updates and patching | >Feature set not yet directly competitive with more established apps >Customization features are presently not practical for the average user |
What Customers Are Saying
Customers are overwhelmingly positive in reviews of this app. One user sums it up, saying, “I was looking for tickets software and after reviewing many my team found Trakdesk. It does everything we want it to do. Also, the customer support is excellent. When ever we have an issue our contact person always responds very quickly and we get it solved. Great software, great service.”
Vision Helpdesk
Vision Helpdesk is an online web-based app that offers multi-channel and multi-brand ticket management and ITIL-compliant service desk support, depending on the tier of service. Standard features include:
- Workflow automation that supports macros
- Multi-channel communication that integrates email, chat, voice calls, Facebook and Twitter, with an API for further customization
- Knowledge Base that supports surveys, ratings and feedback and SEO-friendly article URLs
- A shared notebook system called Blabby for team collaboration
Its task management system allows the creation and tracking of tasks assigned to multiple agents, with task pages that support staff comments and provide automatic notifications. It sports a robust reporting system that tracks staff performance, ticket reports and service ratings, SLA compliance and billing.
Vision Helpdesk provides a free trial version. Paid service starts at $12 per agent monthly and goes as high as $48 per user per month. The higher service tiers include more advanced Service Desk functionality such as change management, asset management, and release management.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $12-$48 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticket routing and workflow automation >Collaboration tools and self-service options >Supports integrations, including social media >Multiple reporting options >More features at Vision Helpdesk |
Pros & Cons of Vision Helpdesk Help Desk Software
Vision Helpdesk stands out for its extensive feature list, affordable pricing, and high-quality reporting. Instability has been reported with some attempts to use its mobile app.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Extensive features and lots of functionality even at lower service tiers >Affordably priced >High-quality reporting | >Mobile app can be unstable |
What Customers Are Saying
Vision’s functionality and customer support have earned praise from users. One customer says, “What I like about Vision Helpdesk is that it is organized and easy to manage. It is also very user-friendly and we had really good responses from our clients.”
Zendesk
The Zendesk Support Suite brings an array of tools and integrations for seamless customer relationship management. Features include:
- Multi-channel communication with standardized tools and processes across email, chat, voice and a wide range of social media
- No-code customization of support environments and consolidation of data
- Integration of internal tools such as Slack to facilitate team collaboration
- Reporting and tracking of interactions across channels
Zendesk also provides a self-service customer portal, customizable reports, and multiple ways for tickets to be imported from various channels. It supports rule-governed workflow automation and routing and allows agents to make internal notes on tickets.
The Support Suite is available in a free trial format. Paid tiers are available at Professional and Enterprise levels that cost $89 and $159 per month per user, respectively.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $5-$199 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Workflow automation and ticket routing >Collaboration add-on >Supports integration, including social media >Offer self-service options >Custom reporting >More features at Zendesk |
Pros & Cons of Zendesk Help Desk Software
Zendesk’s multi-channel support features, customizable reports with flexible queries and solid ticket management are major selling points. Only the highest tier of service offers the full feature set, and it doesn’t support more advanced enterprise functionality like asset and change management.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Best-in-class multi-channel support and integration >Customizable reporting with powerful, flexible querying >Solid ticket management | >Full features list only available at Enterprise tier >Does not offer change management or asset management |
What Customers Are Saying
Zendesk earns user praise for its efficiency and excellent reporting and tracking tools, with one customer writing, “Loved the ability to set SLAs with my team around ticket response times and getting the data needed to help our customers out to resolve tickets in a timely manner.”
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a cloud-based help desk solution designed for scalability and cross-vertical functionality. Features include:
- Rule-based workflow automation for ticket assignment, time-based actions, service escalations, and notifications
- Custom and scheduled reports and customer satisfaction tracking through a graphical dashboard
- Collation and unified presentation of interactions from multiple channels including email, phone, chat, social media, forms, forums, and a customer self-service portal
To allow agents to be more informed, Zoho Desk can be integrated with Zoho’s CRM software to feed customer information into tickets. User customization options include the ability to customize email templates, define business hours, and add help folders.
Zoho Desk comes in a free trial version. Paid service tiers range in cost from $12 monthly per agent for its entry-level Standard package up to $35 monthly per agent for its Enterprise tier. The majority of its feature set is available at the Professional tier for $20 monthly per agent.
| Price | Demo/Free Trial | Features |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$35 per month | Demo, Free Trial | >Ticket routing >Workflow and SLA & Escalation automation >Offers self-service option >Supports integration, including social media >More features at Zoho Desk |
Pros & Cons of Zoho Desk Help Desk Software
Affordable pricing, an ever-growing features list, and ease of use and management make Zoho Desk a solid choice for the smaller, growing company. Its extremely clean and simple UI has the unintended side effect for some users of making specific information harder to find, and the sheer number of features to choose from can give some users choice paralysis.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| >Affordable pricing >Rich and constantly expanding list of features >Easy to use and manage | >UI sometimes so clean and simple that it can make specific information harder to find >Sheer amount of choice can be a bit paralyzing for some users |
What Customers Are Saying
Zoho Desk’s wealth of features and ease of use are both praised by users. One says, “Zoho Desk is a system that offers all the necessary tools to provide the best customer service experience . . . it is very easy to configure, offers an interface with a very broad design with all the functions organized that allows people to move in it with great agility.”
What is Help Desk Software
Help desk software is a general name for systems and applications that are used, internally and externally, to collect, track, and respond to inquiries and issues. It is essentially a digital version of a real-life help desk — a place where people can go to receive prompt, effective assistance when they have a question or a problem.
Internal help desk software is used specifically within a company, to manage support for employees and any technical or maintenance issues they may face.
Our rankings focus more on external help desk software, which serves your business’ end users by allowing them to ask questions, report problems, find answers, and more, often through a variety of platforms including email, live chat, social media, help centers, and more.
On your end, help desk software gives you a streamlined way to manage questions and issues, through ticket management, shared inboxes, automated workflows, and more. Many small businesses turn to help desk software as an effective way to support customer service efforts, especially if staff is limited.
With the right help desk software, you can feel confident knowing that issues will get resolved and customers will be helped in a timely, satisfactory way, without adding significantly to your or your employees’ workload.
Benefits of Using Help Desk Software
As a small business owner juggling many responsibilities, utilizing help desk software can support and improve your business by helping you:
- Stay organized. Without a streamlined system for collecting, tracking, and responding to customers’ questions and concerns, things can fall through the cracks, eroding customer satisfaction while creating more work for you and your team. Help desk software is designed to make it easier to connect with customers and keep track of communications.
- Improve website functionality. Help desk software gives you more tools with which to assist your customers, including live chat, email, contact forms, knowledge bases, help centers, and more. Diverse functionality is important, as different customers prefer different methods of communication.
- Increase employee productivity. The automated workflows, collaborative tools, and internal database resources provided by help desk software means that employees can efficiently handle customer service requests. It also helps reduce redundancies in operations, so employees aren’t fixing the same problems consistently.
- Maintain customer satisfaction. All of this leads to the most important benefit of help desk software — keeping the customer happy. A positive customer service experience can make the difference between keeping and losing a customer. Since it costs more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones, investing in a good customer support system can be well worth it.
Must-have Features for Help Desk Software
Every small business is different, and as the owner, you know best what you and your customers need. However, to make the most of your investment in help desk software, there are a few features that you will definitely want to have, including:
- Automated workflow features. Since using help desk software is all about efficiency, having good automated features is a must. This means automated workflows that direct inquiries to the proper channels, without human intervention, as well as automated responses that can address common queries.
- Collaborative tools. Features like shared inboxes, internal social networks and messaging services, and centralized tracking systems allow your agents to work together to resolve issues and assist customers. A good help desk software understands that teamwork allows for better service.
- Self-service tools. Customers frequently have the same questions. Save time with help desk software that allows you to create a knowledge base for these FAQs, or direct common questions to resources within your website, or on external sites.
- Integration capabilities. Ideally you will want your help desk to be able to interface with other internal and external applications, like social media platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and analytics. Look for software that offers application programming interfaces to connect your help desk to other programs on your website, to further streamline operations and customer service.
- Reporting and analytics. Understanding how your service desk is performing is important to making it an effective service desk tool. Some popular reports to consider: Agent and ticket response time, ticket volume, and customer satisfaction.
The Cost of Help Desk Software
The cost of help desk software can range anywhere from $15 to over $100 per month, based on the plan you choose, although in most cases, you will need to contact a company directly to get an exact price quote. Prices can vary depending on the services and features you need, the number of users you have, and other factors.
Help desk software is an investment, and you should do your research and explore different options before choosing one. Most companies offer demos or free trials that will give you an idea of whether you are getting your money’s worth. As the owner of your business, you know best what your needs are, and what your budget is to fulfill those needs.