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Want to get right to the point? My top picks for the best helpdesk software are definitely Freshdesk and HubSpot.
Customer inquires come from every direction at all hours of the day.
And while it’s nice to have so many customers and leads, you know there has to be a better way to manage support requests.
From social media and live chat to email and phone inquires, the best helpdesk software automates and streamlines the entire customer service process.
Which means… you can improve response times, help more customers, and enhance the customer experience, all without hiring more people.
However, choosing the right helpdesk software depends on a wide variety of factors. And making that final decision can feel impossible thanks to the hundreds of options to choose from.
So to help make your decision easier, we narrowed it down to our top six software recommendations—and reviewed them as well.
Freshdesk
Best for Omnichannel Support
Free for basic use. Paid plans start at $15 per agent. Manage omnichannel ticketing at scale. Custom team tools and automations.
The 6 Best Helpdesk Software Options to Consider:
- Freshdesk – Best for omnichannel customer support
- HubSpot – Best full-service CRM software
- Agiloft – Best all-in-one customer service suite
- Vivantio – Best scalable ITSM software
- ManageEngine – Best helpdesk software for IT teams
- Zendesk Support – Best helpdesk tool for small businesses
When Does It Make Sense to Invest In Helpdesk Software?
Most businesses of all sizes can benefit from helpdesk software. But with that said, it’s not for everyone. It only makes sense to buy helpdesk software once you’ve outgrown your existing customer support system.
For example, pretend you get five or ten customer service inquiries a week. That should be easy enough for one person to manage via email or live chat.
But what happens when that number jumps up to 50, 100, or 1,000 requests a week? At scale, managing this many inquires relying on email or chat alone is impossible.
This is why you need helpdesk software as your business grows. But don’t wait until your existing system is completely exhausted. It’s better to invest when things start ramping up, as opposed to waiting until it’s too late.
The last thing you want is a backlog of unresolved customer service tickets piling up over time.
However, for large businesses and SMBs with 50-100+ employees, it makes sense to get helpdesk software for internal use if you’re not already using it.
The associated costs of poor employee productivity due to software or hardware issues in-house are far greater than your investment in helpdesk software.
The bottom line: If your current support system is manageable, you don’t need to change anything. However, it’s critical to invest in the right helpdesk software before your internal and external systems are exhausted.
#1 – Freshdesk Review — The Best for Omnichannel Support
Freshdesk
Best for Omnichannel Support
Free for basic use. Paid plans start at $15 per agent. Manage omnichannel ticketing at scale. Custom team tools and automations.
More than 150,000 businesses trust Freshdesk, making it one of the most popular helpdesk solutions on the market.
It’s perfect for companies that outgrow email for customer support. And if you’ve never used helpdesk software in the past, Freshdesk is incredibly easy to learn.
Furthermore, you can benefit from omnichannel customer support via chat, email, phone, social media, and more. And all of your customer communications are accessible from a single source.
You can also take advantage of top features like:
- Team collaboration tools (i.e. shared ticket ownership)
- Automated support rules
- Website solution articles
- Custom team dashboards
- Data-driven analytics
- Canned responses
- SLA management
- Field service ticketing
Freshdesk is simple, yet diverse enough to meet the needs of businesses across a wide range of industries, regardless of size or use cases.
Here are the plans and starting price points for Freshdesk:
- Sprout — Free
- Blossom — $15 per agent per month
- Garden — $35 per agent per month
- Estate — $49 per agent per month
- Forest — $99 per agent per month
You can try any paid plan free for 21 days. From startups to small businesses and enterprises, there’s a Freshdesk solution for everyone.
But for advanced features, like AI-powered automation and field service management, you’ll have to buy add-ons separately.
#2 – HubSpot Review — The Best Service CRM Software
HubSpot
Best Service CRM Software
Free CRM and free customer service tools. Add live chat, knowledge base, and other customer self-service tools to your support process. Manage tickets with ease.
The HubSpot Service Hub is an all-in-one helpdesk and CRM solution. It has everything you need to provide ticket support at scale while getting the benefits of HubSpot’s free CRM as well.
HubSpot helps businesses create a frictionless customer experience when it comes to service and ticketing.
Plus, you can use the Service Hub to create a self-service knowledge base and set up live chat for automated support.
In addition to the free HubSpot CRM, you also get basic customer service tools, including power features like:
- Ticketing
- Team email
- Live chat
- Email templates
- Calling
- Email to ticket and chat to ticket
- Bots for ticket creation
- Schedule meetings
- Reporting
While the free plan works great for small businesses just starting out, their premium plan is where the software really shines.
However, it comes with a hefty price tag of $400 per month.
With the premium plan, you get access to more advanced features like powerful automations, extensive knowledgebase features, video creation, and multiple ticket pipelines.
You also get premium, optimized versions of all the free tools and the ability to create videos or set goals, all from one centralized location.
Overall, HubSpot is an excellent choice for businesses of all shapes and sizes. While the free tools are helpful, you should upgrade to a paid plan to get the most out of the helpdesk software.
#3 – Agiloft Review — The Best Custom Service Desk Suite
Agiloft
Best Custom Service Desk Suite
Trusted by 2.5+ million users. Available for cloud-based or in-house deployment. Support suite for client management and internal use cases.
Agiloft is a bit unique compared to other helpdesk software on the market today. The company is branded as an enterprise solution for contract lifecycle management.
They have a wide range of products, including CLM for sales, legal teams, ITSM, workflow, and more. But each solution comes with a robust service desk suite. The product suite contains different features for things like:
- Customer support software
- Internal help desk software
- IT ticketing
- ITIL and ITSM
- RMA management
- Asset management
- Change management
As you can see, the Agiloft product suite is ideal for both internal uses, as well as external support throughout each stage of the contract lifecycle.
The software is trusted by 2.5 million users worldwide. But with that said, it’s really only made for sophisticated products and services. Basic users and smaller teams will find Agilsoft too overwhelming.
Let’s take a closer look at the service desk pricing from Agiloft:
- Professional — $45 per month per license
- Professional Extended — $65 per license per month
- Enterprise — $75 per license per month
All of the rates are based on an annual contract. It’s also worth noting that the plans require a minimum of five users, which adds to the cost.
Whether you want a cloud-based solution or in-house deployment, Agiloft pricing remains the same. Start a free trial or request a custom quote and personal demo to get started.
#4 – Vivantio Review — Best Scalable ITSM Software
Vivantio
Best Scalable ITSM Software
Manage ITSM helpdesk at scale. Two software versions based on business needs. Full API integration.
Vivantio is a helpdesk solution that specializes in ITSM—IT service management. The software is flexible enough to meet the needs of different organizations while prioritizing exceptional customer service.
The software makes it easy to manage incoming emails, track previous communication histories, route tickets to the right person or department, and escalate critical issues. Vivantio integrates with tools and allows you to set up automated actions for streamlining efficiency at scale.
There are actually two different versions of Vivantio—Vivantio Pro and Vivantio ITSM.
As you can see from the descriptions, Vivantio ITSM is built to scale. But Vivantio Pro is still a viable option for small and medium-sized help desk teams.
Some of the top features and benefits of Vivantio include:
- Configurable tickets
- Client management
- Asset management
- Task management
- Customer self-help tools
- Ticket routing and ticket escalation
- Custom dashboards
- Custom reports
- Data import tools
- Full API integration
Vivantio is definitely geared towards businesses with complex IT needs. If you’re looking for the most basic helpdesk software on the market today, this solution is not for you.
Pricing is not available online. Contact the Vivantio sales team for a custom quote and demo.
#5 – ManageEngine Review — Best Helpdesk Software For IT Teams
ManageEngine
Best For IT Teams
Create custom ITSM workflows. Deploy new instances and custom portals for multiple departments. Employee self-service tools.
More than 100,000 businesses use ManageEngine as a helpdesk solution. It’s trusted by global brands like Dell, Disney, ABC, Honda, Xerox, and more.
The software is designed specifically for IT teams. ManageEngine offers both cloud-based and on-premise deployment for its software.
Use ManageEngine to create automated service management workflows. You can even set them up for non-IT related use cases, such as facility requests. ManageEngine offers tools and functions for enterprise service management (ESM), including an employee self-service portal.
Creating a new instance within a particular department is easy. Any administrator can deploy a custom portal or service desk workplace in less than 60 seconds.
The top feature and benefits of ManageEngine as a helpdesk solution include:
- Incident management
- IT project management
- Self-service portals
- Multi-site support
- SLA management
- Contract management
- ITSM workflows
- Codeless customizations
- Powerful integrations and reporting
Pricing for ManageEngine is not available online. Contact their team to request a free demo and quote.
#6 – Zendesk Support Review — The Best For Small Business
Zendesk Support
Best For Small Business
Starts at $5 per month. Full helpdesk product suite available. Omnichannel communication and ticket support.
For any business that needs a simple helpdesk solution, Zendesk Support will be perfect for you. It’s an ideal option for small businesses that want to upgrade their existing customer support system.
Starting at just $5 per month per agent, Zendesk Support allows you to track and manage customer support tickets from multiple channels, including email, mobile, social media, and web requests.
While Zendesk Support works great out of the box, you can still customize it to meet the needs of your organization. Create custom workflows or use third-party apps and integrations to add flexibility.
Set up predefined ticket responses, view customer histories, and give your customers support on their preferred communication channels.
Some businesses might find Zendesk support to be a bit limiting, but it’s an affordable choice for smaller organizations.
With that said, Zendesk has tools to accommodate the needs of growing customer service teams. The Zendesk Support Suite comes with other Zendesk products, like Chat (live chat and messaging) Talk (call center software), and Guide (knowledge base and self-service tool).
Starting at $89 per agent per month, this product suite has everything your small business needs to manage service requests at scale, from any channel.
Methodology For Choosing The Best Helpdesk Software
The market is flooded with different helpdesk solutions. Finding the best software for your business can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for.
This is the methodology that we used to pick the best options on our list. I’ll explain which factors you need to evaluate the most when you’re shopping around for helpdesk software.
Ticketing
Ticket support is the first thing you should look for. By adding ticketing to your support process, it will allow your customer service representatives to resolve issues at scale.
Look for a solution that supports ticketing on as many channels as possible, including your website, live chat, email, phone, and social media. The best helpdesk software has features for things like automated ticket creation and automatic ticket routing.
By routing tickets to the right team member or department, it ensures that the matter gets resolved as quickly as possible.
Internal vs. External Support
Why are you looking for helpdesk software? Are you trying to provide better service to your customers? Or are you trying to streamline support for your employees in-house?
Not every solution does both.
In most cases, internal help desk software for IT teams and ITSM is designed for larger organizations. In addition to providing help for internal software or hardware, these solutions offer ticket support for things like facilities requests and even HR self-service tools.
A small business that just wants to help customers resolve issues quickly won’t need any of those features.
Features
In addition to basic ticketing, there are a wide range of features to keep an eye on when you’re browsing for a helpdesk solution. Some common features include:
- Knowledge base support
- Ticket routing and ticket escalation
- Custom team dashboards
- Automated support rules
- API integration
- Omnichannel support
- Custom workflows
- Client management
- Field service ticketing
Some software will have advanced features or very use-case specific tools, such as ITIL and ITSM for enterprise contract lifecycle management.
Price
Helpdesk software is typically billed per agent per month. In some cases, you’ll need to pay upfront for an annual contract.
The starting rates for helpdesk software start as low as $5 per agent per month with a solution like Zendesk Support. Other rates go as high as $100+ per agent. We’ve seen other solutions starting at $400 per month as well.
For most enterprise software and complex help desk solutions, you’ll need to request a custom quote.
Always take advantage of a free trial and demo before you commit to a long term contract. This will be the best way to determine which helpdesk software is right for you.
Freshdesk
Best for Omnichannel Support
Free for basic use. Paid plans start at $15 per agent. Manage omnichannel ticketing at scale. Custom team tools and automations.
Summary
Helpdesk software is the modern way for businesses to resolve issues.
Whether it be for customer service or internal support, the best helpdesk software helps improve the entire support process from start to finish.
Freshdesk and Hubspot are our top recommendations for most teams. However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. So don’t forget to use the criteria we talked about as you go through the process of choosing the right helpdesk software for your business.
This article was written by today’s Daily Eggspert.
Source: https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/best-helpdesk-software/
