Customer Support software
Help desks, live chat and knowledge bases
Shared inboxes, ticketing systems, live chat widgets and help centres. The best choice depends on volume, channels (email, chat, WhatsApp, social) and whether you need automation and AI replies.
8 tools
HubSpot
Sales & CRM
CRM platform with a free core and paid Sales, Marketing and Service hubs that share one contact database.
Zendesk
Customer Support
Enterprise-grade help desk with ticketing, messaging, voice and a help center on per-agent pricing.
Intercom
Customer Support
Chat-first customer service platform with a shared inbox, help center and the Fin AI agent.
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Sales & CRM
The most widely deployed enterprise CRM, with deep customization, a large app ecosystem and premium pricing.
Brevo
Marketing
Email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing platform with automation and a built-in CRM, priced by sending volume.
Help Scout
Customer Support
Email-style shared inbox, knowledge base and chat widget for support teams, priced by contacts helped.
Freshdesk
Customer Support
Ticket-based help desk from Freshworks with per-agent plans, a knowledge base on every tier and a 14-day trial.
Crisp
Customer Support
All-in-one customer messaging platform with live chat, shared inbox and chatbots, priced per workspace.
How to choose customer support software
Customer support software covers three jobs that often arrive as one purchase: a help desk to answer customers, live chat on your site or app, and a help center where customers find answers themselves. Zendesk and Freshdesk lead with the help desk, Intercom and Crisp with chat, and Help Scout with an email-like shared inbox.
Pricing follows different units — per agent, per seat, per contact helped or per workspace — so model your own team size and customer volume before comparing headline prices.
AI is now priced separately across much of this category: agents that resolve questions and copilots that draft replies are commonly add-ons billed on top of seats, per agent or per outcome.
Common questions about customer support software
- Which customer support tools have a free plan?
- HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud and Brevo have a free plan, with limits on usage, users or features. Zendesk (14 days), Intercom (14 days) and Freshdesk (14 days) offer a free trial instead. Pricing for Help Scout and Crisp has not been checked against the vendor in the last 90 days, so they are not included.
- How much does customer support software cost?
- The entry paid plans as each vendor lists them, checked against its pricing page: Brevo Starter at $9 a month, Freshdesk Growth at $19 per user a month, Zendesk Support Team at $19 per user a month, HubSpot Sales Hub Starter at $20 per user a month, Salesforce Sales Cloud Starter Suite at $25 per user a month and Intercom Essential at $29 per user a month. Some vendors quote the annual-billing rate, and seat minimums, higher tiers and add-ons all change the real cost, so price the plan you actually need. Pricing for Help Scout and Crisp has not been checked against the vendor in the last 90 days, so they are not included.
- Do I need live chat as well as a help desk?
- Only if customers expect answers while they are on your site or in your app. Email-first businesses can run on a help desk alone. Intercom and Crisp are built around chat, and Zendesk adds it in its Suite.
- What is a help center, and do I need one?
- A help center is a public knowledge base customers search for answers themselves. It pays off once the same questions keep arriving, and it is also what AI agents answer from. Freshdesk includes a knowledge base on its entry plan, and Zendesk includes a help center in its Suite.
Popular customer support comparisons
Alternatives to popular customer support tools
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