Free Help Desk Software
Which help desk and ticketing tools a startup can run customer support on for free today, how many agents the free plan covers, which channels it handles, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each tool's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Help desks change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the tool's page before you move your support inbox there.
Help desks a startup can use for free today include Zoho Desk (3 users, free forever), UVdesk (Free forever, self-hosted), Jira Service Management (Free forever for 3 agents), FreeScout (Free open source, self-hosted), and Front (Free 14-day trial of Professional). Each of the 11 free plans below links to the help desk's page that states it, with its main limit, the channels it covers, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Once customers write in faster than one inbox can handle, a help desk turns their emails and chats into tickets the team can assign, track and answer. Several help desks have a free plan for a small team, and open-source ones are free to run yourself.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. A free plan can stop at two or three agents, cover email only, or keep automations and reports for paid plans, and many well-known help desks offer a trial rather than a free plan. Each tool below shows what is free, its main limit, the channels it covers, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the tool's own page with the date we read it.
Which tools we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the tools'. Some of these tools pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which tools are listed or where.
Hosted help desks with a free plan or trial
Ticketing and shared inboxes in the cloud, with a free plan or a free trial.
- 1
Zoho Desk
A small team that wants email tickets at no cost
Zoho Desk's free plan offers three user licenses for email ticketing, with limited capabilities. The first paid plan, Express, is US$7 per user a month billed annually.
- What's free
- 3 users, free forever (source: zoho.com)
- Channels
- Email tickets (source: zoho.com)
- 2
Jira Service Management
A small support team of up to 3 agents
Jira Service Management's Free plan is free forever for 3 agents, with unlimited customers and requests by email, customer portal and chat. Standard is $21.50 per agent a month.
- First paid plan
- Standard: $21.50 an agent a month (source: atlassian.com)
Start free at AtlassianTerms read on atlassian.com on Jira Service Management: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Front
Shared inboxes for a team to try every feature
Front's free 14-day trial offers every Professional feature and needs no credit card. Starter then costs $25 a seat a month, up to 10 seats, billed annually.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: front.com)
- First paid plan
- Starter: $25 a seat a month (annual) (source: front.com)
- 4
Zendesk
Teams that want the full Suite before they buy
Zendesk's free trial gives access to all features on its Suite Professional plan for 14 days. Support Team, the first paid plan, starts at $19 an agent a month, paid yearly.
Start free at ZendeskTerms read on zendesk.com on Zendesk: the free allowance and how to start Zendesk for Startups: what startups get - 5
HappyFox
Help desk teams that want to try it first
HappyFox offers a 14-day free trial of its Help Desk, requested through the demo form. Help Desk starts at $24 per agent a month.
- First paid plan
- Help Desk: from $24 an agent a month (source: happyfox.com)
- 6
Hiver
Shared inbox support, tried on the top plan
Hiver's 7-day trial gives access to the Elite plan, and you add a card only when you upgrade. Growth is $25 a user a month on annual billing.
- Payment card
- No card to sign up (source: hiverhq.com)
- First paid plan
- Growth: $25 a user a month (annual) (source: hiverhq.com)
- 7
Gorgias
Ecommerce support priced by ticket, not seat
Gorgias offers a free trial on its plans, and most say no credit card is required. Its helpdesk is priced by tickets, not agents, and Starter is $40 a month billed monthly.
- First paid plan
- Starter: $40 a month, billed monthly (source: gorgias.com)
Open-source help desks you can run free
Help desks free to self-host, some with a free cloud plan.
- 1
UVdesk
Self-hosted helpdesk with no seat limit
UVdesk's Free plan is free forever when you run its open source software on your own server, with unlimited agents. Basic is $8 an agent a month billed annually.
- Main limit
- Unlimited agents (source: uvdesk.com)
- 2
FreeScout
Teams that can host the software themselves
FreeScout is free open source help desk software that can be deployed even on shared hosting, with unlimited agents, tickets and mailboxes. It covers email, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Slack and live chat.
Start free at FreeScoutTerms read on freescout.net on FreeScout: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Zammad
Teams that will run the software on their own servers
Zammad is a web-based, open source ticketing solution that you download and install on your own servers, for free.
- 4
osTicket
Teams that want a simple, free ticketing system
osTicket is a widely used open source support ticketing system that is completely free, with no credit card or commitment required to get started.
- What's free
- Free, open source (source: osticket.com)
- Payment card
- No card or commitment (source: osticket.com)
Help desk startup programs
Programs from help desk companies that give startups a discount or free months on paid plans.
Also useful for customer support
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
Compare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers help desks and ticketing tools a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each help desk's terms. Every term comes from the help desk's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on agents, or channels and automations kept for paid plans, can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the tool states them. Some of these help desks pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a help desk appears, and no help desk pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free help desk software?
It depends on how many people answer support. By the terms each tool states, Zoho Desk is free for 3 users and Jira Service Management is free forever for 3 agents with unlimited customers, while FreeScout, UVdesk, Zammad and osTicket are free to run on your own server.
Is Zendesk free?
Zendesk starts with a 14-day trial of all Suite Professional features rather than a free plan. Support Team costs $19 an agent a month, paid yearly.
Is there a free open-source help desk?
Yes. FreeScout is free open source with unlimited agents, tickets and mailboxes, UVdesk is free forever when self-hosted, and Zammad and osTicket are free to run on your own servers. You host and maintain them yourself.
Which help desks cover email, chat and social channels?
Front's 14-day trial covers email, SMS, social and more, Hiver's 7-day trial covers email, live chat, Slack, voice and WhatsApp, and Jira Service Management's free plan covers email, a customer portal and chat.
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