Short answer: Zoho Desk fits a team of three that works from email, with a free edition for three users and paid editions from $7 per user a month billed annually. Help Scout fits five people on one shared inbox, with 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site on the free plan, and Standard at $25 per user a month. Crisp fits a website that needs live chat for two agents. Jira Service Management and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus fit IT teams. UVdesk fits a team that can host open-source software on its own server.
Eight help desks that each list a free plan or free edition, compared on seats, conversation limits and the first paid price.
Free help desk software means a different unit at every vendor. One counts users, one counts inboxes, one counts billable conversations, and one caps technicians. A plan that fits a team of two can run out of room in the first busy week, so compare the limits before you compare the prices.
Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 31 help desk tools. This guide compares eight of them on what the free plan includes and what the first paid step costs, so each row can be matched against your own team size. For the full category, start at the help desk hub, and for a wider list of tools see the helpdesk software guide.
Methodology: eight tools compared. Every price links to the vendor's own pricing page in the footnote of the comparison table, as of October 25, 2026. The order reflects fit for a small team, weighing the seats and conversation limits on the free plan against the first paid price.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
Email ticketing for a team of three, with a free edition and paid editions above it.
Starting price
$7 /user/mo billed annually
4.4 (10,148 reviews)
Best for
Small teams that work from email and want a free edition with a fixed three-user cap.
One shared inbox for five people on the free plan, with paid seats from Standard up.
Starting price
$25 /user/mo billed annually
4.4 (431 reviews)
Best for
Teams of up to five people who share one email inbox and want a Docs site on the same account.
Website chat and a shared inbox for two agents, with unlimited conversations on the free plan and no AI credits.
Starting price
$45 /mo per workspace, 4 agents
4.5 (350 reviews)
Best for
A small site that needs live chat and a shared inbox now, and does not need AI replies yet.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Desk | $7/user/mo billed annually | 4.4 10,148 reviews | Small teams that work from email and want a free edition with a fixed three-user cap. |
| Help Scout | $25/user/mo billed annually | 4.4 431 reviews | Teams of up to five people who share one email inbox and want a Docs site on the same account. |
| Crisp | $45/mo per workspace, 4 agents | 4.5 350 reviews | A small site that needs live chat and a shared inbox now, and does not need AI replies yet. |
| Tidio | $24.17/mo billed annually, Starter | 4.6 2,552 reviews | Small online stores that need chat and tickets in one tool and expect fewer than 50 billable conversations. |
| UVdesk | $8/agent/mo billed annually | 4.4 31 reviews | Developers and IT teams that want to host the help desk themselves. |
| Jira Service Management | $21.50/agent/mo Standard | 3.9 1,956 reviews | IT and internal service teams of up to three agents that already use Jira. |
| ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | $1,545/yr cloud, 10 technicians | 4.4 2,994 reviews | IT teams of up to five technicians that run a single service desk instance. |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Free for up to 2 users | 4.4 8,500 reviews | Teams of two that already keep customer records in HubSpot. |
- Starting price
- $7/user/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.4 (10,148 reviews)
Best for: Small teams that work from email and want a free edition with a fixed three-user cap.
- Pro: The free edition gives three user licenses and email ticketing, and Zoho labels it Free Forever.
- Pro: Express adds contact management with accounts on the first paid step.
- Pro: Business Messaging, the live chat widget, starts on Standard at $14 per user a month billed annually.
- Con: The free edition has no light users, and automation, SLAs and AI features sit on the paid editions.
- Con: Telephony starts on Professional at $23 per user a month billed annually, so a phone line costs more than the entry plan.
The Free plan is generous for very small teams.
Help Scout
One shared inbox for five people on the free plan, with paid seats from Standard up.
- 4.4 on G2 (431 reviews)
- Starting price
- $25/user/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.4 (431 reviews)
Best for: Teams of up to five people who share one email inbox and want a Docs site on the same account.
- Pro: The free plan includes 5 users, 1 Inbox, and 1 Docs site.
- Pro: Free accounts get 100 contacts a month and 10 saved replies, and a new account gets three months of AI Answers resolutions.
- Pro: Standard adds basic workflows, unlimited tags and saved replies on top of the shared inbox.
- Con: Extra inboxes cost $10 a month when paid annually or $12 a month, so a second mailbox adds cost quickly.
- Con: Grouping conversations by company starts on Plus, the tier above Standard.
It's best for small to medium-sized businesses prioritizing ease of use and essential customer support tools.
- Starting price
- $45/mo per workspace, 4 agents
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (350 reviews)
Best for: A small site that needs live chat and a shared inbox now, and does not need AI replies yet.
- Pro: The free plan includes two agents, unlimited conversations, the website chat widget and a shared inbox.
- Pro: Mobile apps, push notifications and contact forms are on the free plan.
- Pro: Mini at $45 a month adds two agents and raises customer profiles to 5,000.
- Con: The free plan has no AI credits, and Mini includes credits for around 90 automated conversations.
- Con: Sub-inboxes are not on the free plan.
Crisp prices per workspace, not per agent.
Watch out
Pricing is per workspace, so separate brands or sites need separate subscriptions
- Starting price
- $24.17/mo billed annually, Starter
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (2,552 reviews)
Best for: Small online stores that need chat and tickets in one tool and expect fewer than 50 billable conversations.
- Pro: The free plan includes 50 billable conversations, 50 one-time Lyro AI conversations and 100 Flows visitors.
- Pro: Visitor messages that get no agent reply do not count as billable conversations, according to Tidio's FAQ.
- Pro: Starter at $24.17 a month includes 100 billable conversations, live chat, ticketing and basic analytics.
- Con: The free plan's 50 billable conversations can run out fast on a live chat site with steady traffic.
- Con: Self-serve plans cap the team at 10 agents, and larger teams move to the Plus package at $300 a month.
It's best for small to medium businesses prioritizing live chat and chatbot automation, with the Plus plan targeting enterprise-level needs.
Watch out
Conversation limits can lead to overage if not monitored.
- Starting price
- $8/agent/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.4 (31 reviews)
Best for: Developers and IT teams that want to host the help desk themselves.
- Pro: The free edition is UVdesk Open Source on your own server, and the vendor's page describes it as free forever.
- Pro: Cloud plans are $8 per agent a month billed annually, or $11 a month billed month to month.
- Pro: The next tier is $15 per agent a month billed annually, or $18 a month billed month to month.
- Con: Cloud plans need a minimum of two agents, so a solo buyer pays for two seats.
- Con: Self-hosting means you run the server, the updates and the backups yourself.
UVdesk offers a very generous free open-source option, which is a significant differentiator.
Watch out
Minimum 2 agents required for paid plans
Jira Service Management
Free forever for three agents on Atlassian's service desk, with paid Standard above it.
- 4.4 on G2 (1,061 reviews)
- 4.5 on Capterra (776 reviews)
- 2.3 on SourceForge (119 reviews)
- Starting price
- $21.50/agent/mo Standard
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 3.9 (1,956 reviews)
Best for: IT and internal service teams of up to three agents that already use Jira.
- Pro: The free plan is labelled Free forever for 3 agents, with one site included.
- Pro: Standard is $21.50 per agent a month, and Premium is $55.28 per agent a month.
- Pro: Atlassian's page offers annual billing with a saving of up to 17%.
- Con: Going past three agents means a paid plan, starting at the Standard rate.
- Con: Enterprise is billed annually, and the page shows its price after you switch to annual billing.
Jira Service Management offers a fair pricing structure, especially with its generous Free tier for up to 3 agents.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
The Standard edition is free for up to five technicians, with the paid cloud Standard plan starting at $1,545 per year for 10 technicians.
- Starting price
- $1,545/yr cloud, 10 technicians
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.4 (2,994 reviews)
Best for: IT teams of up to five technicians that run a single service desk instance.
- Pro: The Standard edition is free for up to five technicians on one service desk instance.
- Pro: Paid Standard starts at $1,545 per year for 10 technicians, and the vendor bills monthly or yearly.
- Pro: The vendor offers a 30-day free trial for every service desk instance.
- Con: One service desk instance can use the free allotment, and every other instance is billed by technician count.
- Con: Support on the free edition is optional: subscribing costs an annual maintenance fee of $35 per technician.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk offers a generous free tier for small teams, allowing up to 5 technicians with core incident management.
Watch out
Potential for annual-only discounts
HubSpot Service Hub
Free for up to two users, with service tools that sit next to HubSpot's CRM.
- 4.4 on G2 (8,500 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free for up to 2 users
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.4 (8,500 reviews)
Best for: Teams of two that already keep customer records in HubSpot.
- Pro: The free plan covers up to 2 users, and HubSpot says no credit card is required to start.
- Pro: Paid plans raise the limits on the free tools and remove HubSpot branding.
- Pro: Paid seats are priced per seat, with monthly and annual payment options on the page.
- Con: The free plan stops at two users, so a third person moves the team to a paid seat.
- Con: The Professional tier adds a one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 on top of the seat price.
HubSpot Service offers a generous Free Tools tier, making it highly accessible for small businesses.
Watch out
Onboarding fees for higher tiers
What a free help desk plan limits
A free help desk plan limits four things: how many people can work the queue, how many conversations or contacts it handles, which channels it opens, and whether automation and history stay on. Some vendors count seats, some count billable conversations, and ManageEngine counts technicians.
The free plan is also a sales step. Zoho Desk moves automation, multi-department support and SLAs to its paid editions, and Help Scout starts workflows on Standard. Read the plan table before you put a team on the free tier, because the feature you need is often the one that is paid.
Where free plans break first
Seat caps break first for teams that grow past three people. Conversation caps break first for a live chat site, where one busy week can use up the month. Crisp shows the trade-off clearly: its free plan includes two agents and unlimited conversations, but it has no AI credits, so AI replies start on a paid plan.
Reviews add a second check. When checked on October 25, 2026, Crisp's Trustpilot page showed 1.9 out of 5 from 56 reviews, and its newest review is dated October 13, 2026. One reviewer (May 20, 2026) wrote that Crisp "systematically block your account 24h after you create it", while another (May 14, 2026) wrote that Crisp "made it possible for the free plan to cover everything".
For price history, the Wayback Machine capture of Help Scout's pricing page from January 2, 2026 lists Standard, Plus and Pro at $25, $45 and $75 per user a month, billed annually. Help Scout's current pricing page prints the same three figures.
Key Features to Look For
Seats on the free plan (Essential)
Zoho Desk allows three users, Help Scout allows five, and HubSpot Service Hub allows two. Jira Service Management allows three agents, and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus allows five technicians on its Standard edition. Count the people who will reply to tickets, not the people who read the reports.
Conversation and contact caps (Essential)
Tidio's free plan includes 50 billable conversations, and a conversation becomes billable once an agent replies or starts it. Help Scout caps contacts at 100 a month on its free plan. Crisp's free plan has unlimited conversations, but it caps customer profiles at 100.
Channels (Important)
Crisp's free plan includes the website chat widget, a shared inbox, mobile apps, chat SDKs, contact forms and push notifications. Zoho Desk's free edition is email ticketing, and telephony starts on its Professional edition at $23 per user a month billed annually.
Automation and AI (Important)
Help Scout starts basic workflows on Standard, and Zoho Desk keeps automation on its paid editions. Crisp's free plan has no AI credits. Help Scout gives a new account three months of AI Answers resolutions, and then charges $0.75 per resolution.
Knowledge base (Nice to have)
Help Scout includes one Docs site on the free plan, and extra sites cost $20 a month when paid annually or $24 a month when paid monthly. A Docs site on the free plan is the first thing to test, because it decides whether customers can self-serve before anyone pays.
Evaluation Checklist
Count the agents who will reply to tickets in a normal month, then match that number to the free seat count.
Add up the conversations or contacts you expect in a busy week, not an average week.
Check whether the channel you need, whether chat, email or phone, sits on the free plan.
Price the first paid step that lifts your tightest limit, rather than the entry plan alone.
Check the price on the vendor's site on the day you buy, since prices change.
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | First paid price |
|---|---|---|---|
Email ticketing for a team of three | 3 users, Free Forever | $7 per user a month, billed annually | |
One shared inbox for five people | 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site | $25 per user a month, billed annually | |
Crisp | Live chat for two agents | 2 agents, unlimited conversations | $45 a month per workspace (Mini, 4 agents included) |
Tidio | Chat and tickets on a small site | $0 a month, 50 billable conversations | $24.17 a month billed annually (Starter) |
Teams that host their own desk | Free forever, open source on your server | $8 per agent a month, billed annually | |
IT and service teams of up to 3 agents | Free forever for 3 agents | $21.50 per agent a month (Standard); the page offers annual billing with up to 17% off | |
IT teams with up to 5 technicians | Free for up to 5 technicians (one service desk instance) | $1,545 a year for 10 technicians (cloud; on-premises $1,195) | |
Teams already on HubSpot | Free for up to 2 users | Starter card prints $7 and $20 per seat a month under its billing selector |
Prices and plan limits as of October 25, 2026, from each vendor's own pricing page: Zoho Desk, Help Scout, Crisp, Tidio, UVdesk, Jira Service Management, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus and HubSpot Service Hub. Atlassian's page offers annual billing with a saving of up to 17%. ManageEngine's page states its prices are current as of September 2026. Tidio's page offers an annual option it labels 2 months free.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Counting seats but not channels. Zoho Desk's free edition is email ticketing, so a team that expects live chat or phone calls needs a paid edition from the start.
- ×
Testing paid features on a trial and then expecting them on the free plan. Zoho's free edition gives three users with limited capabilities, so test the plan you will buy.
- ×
Pricing the entry plan and not the step that lifts the tightest limit. In Jira Service Management, the fourth agent is the step that moves the team to a paid plan.
Expert Tips
- →
For a team of three that answers email, start with Zoho Desk and move up when the fourth person joins.
- →
For a team of five that shares one inbox, start with Help Scout and add a second inbox when you need one, because extra inboxes cost $10 a month when paid annually.
- →
Check the category list on the help desk hub before you commit, and use the help desk price guide if the first paid price is the main test.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
Crisp's free plan has no AI credits, so an AI reply on day one means a paid plan.
-
Tidio's free plan counts billable conversations, so a busy chat site can reach the 50 limit quickly.
-
Help Scout's free plan caps contacts at 100 a month, so a queue with more contacts than that needs a paid plan.
The Bottom Line
Pick Zoho Desk for a team of three that works from email, and move to Express when the fourth person joins. Pick Help Scout for five people on one inbox, and move to Standard once you need workflows. Skip Crisp's free plan if you need AI replies on day one, because the free plan has no AI credits, and read its Trustpilot reviews before you commit. Pick UVdesk if you can run the server yourself. Pick Jira Service Management or ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus if the desk serves IT staff rather than customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which free help desk plans cover five people?
Help Scout's free plan includes 5 users, 1 Inbox and 1 Docs site. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus's Standard edition is free for up to five technicians, and one service desk instance can use that free allotment.
Is Zoho Desk's free plan permanent?
Zoho's pricing page labels its free edition Free Forever, with three user licenses. The 15-day free trial applies to paid editions, and the account moves to the free edition when the trial ends.
How does Tidio count conversations?
A conversation counts as billable once an agent replies through Tidio or starts the conversation. Visitor messages that get no reply do not count, and the free plan includes 50 billable conversations.
Does Crisp's free plan include AI replies?
No. The free plan includes no AI credits. Mini includes credits for around 90 automated conversations, and higher plans include more.
Does a free help desk include a phone line?
Zoho Desk's free edition is email ticketing. Telephony starts on its Professional edition at $23 per user a month billed annually.
What do the first paid rates cost per agent?
The first paid rates per agent are $7 a month billed annually on Zoho Desk, $8 billed annually on UVdesk cloud, and $21.50 a month on Jira Service Management Standard. Help Scout prices Standard per user, and Crisp prices by plan rather than by agent.
Can a team use UVdesk without paying?
A team can run UVdesk Open Source on its own server, and the vendor's page describes that edition as free forever. The hosted cloud plans start at a per-agent rate, with a minimum of two agents.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Free Help Desk Software in 2026", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-free-help-desk-software
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