Zendesk Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Zendesk alternatives: FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•4 min read•Customer Support & Help Desk
Verdict:Zendesk's cheapest paid plan, Support Team, is $19 per agent per month on annual billing ($25 monthly), and there is no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial. If you are a team of two to ten agents answering mostly email, you probably do not need to pay for everything Zendesk bundles. The cheapest exit is FreeScout: it is open source under AGPL-3.0, free to self-host, and built as a shared inbox, so the main cost is whoever maintains the server. Chatwoot is the better pick if customers reach you through a website widget, WhatsApp or social channels more than email, and its hosted free plan covers two agents and 500 conversations a month. Zammad is the closest to a traditional ticket system if you want queues, SLAs and an open-source codebase, though you give up Zendesk's large app marketplace. If you would rather not host anything, Zoho Desk gives three free users and Help Scout gives five on a limited plan. The trade-off is plain: none of these replicate Zendesk's breadth of integrations, workforce tools and enterprise permissions. If you run several brands, deep reporting or a large agent team, staying on Zendesk is reasonable. Before moving, export your tickets and check whether your current macros, triggers and integrations have an equivalent, because none of these tools has been tested here for Zendesk imports.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeScout | Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that can run a PHP/MySQL server and want zero seat cost | Docs only |
| Chatwoot | Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Small teams that want chat-first support | Docs only |
| Zammad | Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that want a classic ticket system, in the EU if needed | Docs only |
| Zoho Desk | Free (3 users) | Web browser | Very small teams that already use Zoho apps | Docs only |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) | Web browser | Teams already keeping contacts in HubSpot | Docs only |
| Help Scout | Free (5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site); paid from $25 per user/month (Standard, billed monthly; annual toggle shows a discount) | Web browser | Small teams that prefer an email-style help desk | Docs only |
| Freshdesk | Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Growth) | Web browser | Help Desk | Docs only |
| Intercom | Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) | Web browser | Customer Support | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want no per-agent cost and can run a server (FreeScout is the pick)
- Customers mostly use live chat and messaging apps (Chatwoot is the pick)
- You need a proper ticket system with an open-source codebase (Zammad is the pick)
- You want a free hosted plan for a tiny team (Zoho Desk is the pick)
- Your contacts already live in HubSpot (HubSpot Service Hub is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Zendesk features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Zendesk today: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Support Team) (Zendesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Zendesk alternatives
Zendesk's cheapest plan, Support Team, covers email and ticketing, and its feature table lists no messaging, live chat or telephony. Those arrive with Suite Team at $55 per agent per month billed annually ($69 monthly), nearly three times the $19 entry price. AI is metered as well: automated resolutions cost $1.50 each on a committed volume or $2.00 pay as you go, and the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. There is no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial, so even a small team pays from the first agent.
FreeScout
Compared with Zendesk: Self-hosted shared inbox and help desk under AGPL-3.0. You lose Zendesk's marketplace and built-in AI tooling, and you run the server yourself, but there are no per-agent fees and the core is free.
Price: Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) (FreeScout pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 4.6k GitHub stars · latest release 1.8.248 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Teams that can run a PHP/MySQL server and want zero seat cost.
Chatwoot
Compared with Zendesk: Open-source (MIT) support inbox with live chat, email and social channels. Weaker on deep ticket reporting than Zendesk, but the hosted Hacker plan covers 2 agents free and paid starts at $19 per agent monthly.
Price: Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) (Chatwoot pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. MIT (repo also contains an enterprise folder) (open source).
Project activity: 38.4k GitHub stars · latest release v4.19.1 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Small teams that want chat-first support.
Zammad
Compared with Zendesk: Open-source (AGPL-3.0) ticketing system closer to Zendesk's ticket model than a shared inbox. Hosted from EUR 7 per agent monthly on annual billing, and you can self-host the code, but its app ecosystem is far smaller.
Price: Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) (Zammad pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 6k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Teams that want a classic ticket system, in the EU if needed.
Worth knowing: Zammad's own self-hosted packages start at EUR 2,999 per year (Business), which buy support, not the software.
Zoho Desk
Compared with Zendesk: Free for 3 users, against Zendesk's trial only. You give up some Zendesk integrations and polish, but you can run a small real queue at no cost before paying.
Price: Free (3 users) (Zoho Desk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Very small teams that already use Zoho apps.
HubSpot Service Hub
Compared with Zendesk: Free for up to 2 users with HubSpot-branded live chat and email. Much thinner than Zendesk on ticket automation, but it ties support to a free CRM and the first paid tier is listed at $7 per seat.
Price: Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) (HubSpot Service Hub pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Teams already keeping contacts in HubSpot.
Help Scout
Compared with Zendesk: Free plan allows 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site, where Zendesk has no free plan. It has a simpler, email-like feel and fewer enterprise controls, with paid Standard at $25 per user monthly.
Price: Free (5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site); paid from $25 per user/month (Standard, billed monthly; annual toggle shows a discount) (Help Scout pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small teams that prefer an email-style help desk.
Other popular options (paid)
Freshdesk
Compared with Zendesk: Growth is $19 per agent per month billed annually, the same entry price as Zendesk Support Team, and it lists a knowledge base, customer portal and the first 500 AI Agent sessions. Extra sessions cost $49 per 100.
Price: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Growth) (Freshdesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Intercom
Compared with Zendesk: Messaging-first helpdesk priced per seat: Essential is listed at $29 per month, with $19 shown for new customers. Its Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome, compared with Zendesk's $1.50 or $2.00 per automated resolution.
Price: Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) (Intercom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want no per-agent cost and can run a server: FreeScout
- Customers mostly use live chat and messaging apps: Chatwoot
- You need a proper ticket system with an open-source codebase: Zammad
- You want a free hosted plan for a tiny team: Zoho Desk
- Your contacts already live in HubSpot: HubSpot Service Hub
Limits of this review
Docs-only for FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk, HubSpot Service Hub, Help Scout: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Zendesk. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Zendesk, FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk, HubSpot Service Hub, Help Scout, Freshdesk, Intercom. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.