Top 11 Free Help Desk Software for Small Businesses in 2024

Every growing business encounters a daily onslaught of support requests from potential and existing customers. Even the most elite customer support teams can be defeated by the endless inquiries. The results: missed emails, ignored phone calls, a million open tickets on the support spreadsheet, and a sharp decline in customer satisfaction.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. Balancing customer support with business growth is no easy feat. But imagine transforming these support challenges into opportunities that win over your customers.

Free help desk software has joined the ranks. Designed to manage customer interactions, free help desk software gives you the means to deliver efficient, friendly, effective support with ease. It improves response times, shows you how to uphold service level agreements (SLA), and ultimately strengthens customer satisfaction. 

To help revamp your support staff, we’ve compiled a list of the best free help desk software solutions from our help desk software category. We’ll dig into their features, pros and cons, and reviews from G2 users who have tried and tested these products.  

To help revamp your help desk, we compiled a list of the best free help desk software solutions, all according to data from our verified user reviews. Plus, everything on this list is a truly free software offering.

How did we select and evaluate the best free help desk software?

At G2, we rank software solutions using a proprietary algorithm that considers customer satisfaction and market presence based on authentic user reviews. Our market research analysts and writers spend weeks testing solutions against multiple criteria set for a software category. We give you unbiased software evaluations; that's the G2 difference! We don’t accept payment or exchange links for product placements in this list. Please read our G2 Research Scoring Methodology for more details.

Top 11 free help desk software solutions of 2024

The free help desk software list below contains real user reviews from the best free help desk software category page. Please note that in the context of this list, software that requires payment after a free trial is considered free. 

To be included in this category, a solution must:

• Convert external customer inquiries into support tickets
• Collect inquiries from emails and the customer portal
• Allocate tickets to support agents for immediate attention

This data was pulled from G2 in 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity. 

1. Zoho Desk

Small businesses looking for a free, reliable help desk solution can turn to Zoho Desk. It offers robust ticket management, customer portals, a knowledge base, email integration, and detailed reporting. A mobile app is also included for on-the-go support. Zoho Desk stands out as an excellent option for small businesses that need a solution with a wide range of features.

Zoho Desk’s free starter plan supports 3 agents. You can also try it out with all features for 15 days.

What users like best:

"Zoho Desk gave our small company the ability to have all our communications – email, chat, messenger – come into one hub and be answered by our associates. Being able to answer quickly and comprehensively makes our company look much larger and more professional. We are building the knowledge base to give customers access to quick answers that we would otherwise have to create individual emails and phone calls for. Very helpful on many different levels."

- Zoho Desk Review, Gary S.

What users dislike:

"While the basic interface is user-friendly, some advanced features and customization options can be complex and have a steep learning curve. Users might need additional training or support to fully leverage these capabilities."

- Zoho Desk Review, Muskan S.

2. Zendesk Support Suite

Zendesk Support Suite comes in as another solid customer service platform. It consolidates customer interactions across multiple channels into a single interface. It’s highly valued for its extensive customization options and robust integration capabilities with both Zendesk products and third-party applications.

Zendesk offers a 14-day free trial, after which you can choose to upgrade to the plan that works for you. 

What users like best:

"I really like how Zendesk Support Suite has everything you need to handle customer service smoothly. It lets you manage customer questions from email. This makes sure every customer gets a response and keeps the service consistent. Also, its easy-to-use interface and detailed analytics make it simple to keep track of how well the support team is doing and find ways to get better." 

- Zendesk Support Suite Review, Naveen T.

What users dislike:

"We 've purchased their top-tier plan, and their services teams could care less. It takes days/weeks to get a reply, and the answer is typically not helpful. We've had the phone system randomly go down and had to pull teeth to get in touch with anyone who could assist. Recently, we entered a trial on an add-on and chose not to use it. Bad idea. We emailed their team to stop it and it still charges monthly. They keep sending a guide on self-cancellation even though our account isn't allowing us to do so. It looks like they are trying to go full automation (poorly), and I, unfortunately, think it will only get worse."

- Zendesk Support Suite Review, Truman M.

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk holds its own in the help desk software market thanks to its intuitive interface, integrated ticketing across email and social media, and 24*7 support. It includes all the basic features, such as ticket management, self-service options, automation, and a knowledge base to improve agent performance. 

Freshdesk’s free plan supports up to 10 users and includes essentials like integrated ticketing across email and social media, ticket assignments and routing, analytics and reporting, 24/7 support, and a knowledge base. 

What users like best:

"It is very easy to navigate. A user can effortlessly use it without any prior training. The design is simple and subtle. I have been using it for more than a year now without any prior experience. I have never found it to be difficult. Great tool for the support team." 

- Freshdesk Review, Shika D.

What users dislike:

"The time taken to send and receive new tickets takes a lot more than normal emails. Also, the overall performance of the application needs to be enhanced to be able to work faster."

- Freshdesk Review, Navneeth M.

4. Intercom

Intercom’s AI agent instantly replies to customer service queries by combining live chat, in-app messaging, and automated workflows. It creates tickets only for the most complex customer requests to save support agents time.

Intercom offers a 14-day free trial of its service.

What users like best:

"I think the way all our inboxes are organized makes it very easy to know where to look for cases. Easy to use as well and very intuitive. I used to use ZenDesk in my previous company and I prefer Intercom now as I think it is more user-friendly. Great for customer support agents to work together in different cases."

- Intercom Review, Frederico R.

What users dislike:

"Intercom should have the option to send messages using the enter button. It should have a feature to set your status to ‘away’ while replying to the current chat. That way, we can stay active on the current chat and not get assigned new chats before going on a break."

- Intercom Review, Pranav P.

5. Salesforce Service Cloud 

Salesforce Service Cloud sits at the forefront of cloud-based customer service platforms, offering ample features and flexible scalability. Created to provide a complete look at customers, it helps businesses deliver exceptional support experiences. 

Users like the case management and automation features that help streamline workflow. 

Salesforce offers a 14-day free trial to all of its Service Cloud plans. After that, you can choose to upgrade to a plan that best suits your needs. 

What users like best:

"The level of depth that you can get with Salesforce Service Cloud is second to none. The ability to create, track, and measure seemingly countless metrics and custom fields/objects is a feature that our team has fallen in love with, and we feel like we simply can't do our business without being able to measure our customer service metrics like we are now."

- Salesforce Service Cloud Review, Matt O.

What users dislike:

"Service Cloud has lots of useful features, but for smaller teams or companies with simpler customer service needs, it might be too complicated to use. Managing all the advanced options could be more trouble than it's worth."

- Salesforce Service Cloud Review, Santosh K.

6. Hubspot Service Hub

Hubspot Service Hub excels at providing a unified customer view and streamlining support processes. Its free starter plan gives small businesses essential tools like ticketing, shared email inbox, email tracking and notifications, reporting dashboards, and canned snippets. In particular, it shows off when it comes to integration with other HubSpot tools. 

While the free version has limitations compared to paid tiers, it's a solid starting point for anyone new to customer support software.

What users like best:

"I use HubSpot daily at work for our ticketing system. It is super user-friendly and easy to learn, coming from a completely different ticketing system. I also really like the reporting abilities. There is so much data that can be reported. It makes my job easier and more efficient!"

- Hubspot Service Hub Review, Tory T.

What users dislike:

"What I dislike about the Service Hub is the lack of premium features like the tf/then branches and customer portals, which should be made available for those with starter packages."

 - Hubspot Service Hub Review, Avery O.

7. LiveAgent

Over 30,000 companies worldwide trust LiveAgent for its comprehensive help desk and ticketing solutions. It integrates multiple communication channels, including email, chat, and phone, to make it easier for businesses to manage customer service.

It offers a free forever plan for one email address with limitations to the number of emails that you can send. 

What users like best:

"The ticketing system is set out well and easy to use once you understand where to find things. Notes functions are great and it is useful that each email has a ticket reference you can share with colleagues so they can quickly search and view the email. Dashboard insights are also great as you can see stats from your colleagues on what has been done in LiveAgent."

- LiveAgent Review, Michael R. 

What users dislike:

"The mobile app's performance is underwhelming, which is a major inconvenience, especially when managing tasks on the go. This limitation can impact the responsiveness and flexibility of our customer service.

Additionally, the lack of direct integrations with CRM systems and other apps is a substantial drawback. This creates a gap in our workflow, as we have to find workarounds or use additional tools to bridge this integration gap, affecting our efficiency and potentially leading to data silos."

- LiveAgent Review, Frank S.

8. TeamSupport

Designed to streamline customer support operations, TeamSupport owes its popularity with businesses of all sizes to flexibility, customization options, and integration capabilities.  

Try TeamSupport for free before you commit.

What users like best:

"TeamSupport has a user-friendly layout. Captures everything we need all in an easy layout. Easy to customize what your company needs. Allows you to transition from one ticket type to another with ease."

- TeamSupport Review, Nikole K.

What users dislike:

"I don't like that the dashboard doesn't auto-refresh. It causes me to miss things sometimes."

- TeamSupport Review, Rich T.

9. Front

Front reimagines how teams handle customer support with its collaborative inbox platform. It’s not a traditional help desk software, but it excels at managing customer interactions over email, social media, and live chat. 

While it might not be the best fit for organizations with highly complex support needs, Front improves team collaboration and response times and is well-suited for small businesses. 

You can test the full capabilities of Front with a risk-free 7-day free trial.

What users like best:

"I love the collaboration opportunities. From being able to write drafts and have my co-workers take them over to being able to tag multiple co-workers in an email they need to keep their eyes on to getting everyone's opinions on how to handle a certain inquiry, it is incredibly easy to use and implement for our team and makes customer support more efficient. I use it multiple times every hour. It was easy to learn as well and easy to integrate other tasks into it."

- Front Review, Rosemarie S.

What users dislike:

"I’ve encountered a few challenges with Front that revolve around finding old messages, archiving, and importing contacts. Locating old messages can be somewhat cumbersome, and archiving messages is not as intuitive as I would prefer. Additionally, the contact import feature seems to pose some difficulties."

- Front Review, Jose P.

10. SysAid

SysAid’s comprehensive IT service management (ITSM) tool integrates all the essentials into one platform. It brings with it AI chatbot assistance, asset management, a self-service portal, a knowledge base, remote control capabilities, and advanced reporting and analytics. 

SysAid provides a free trial to check out the features before purchasing. 

What users like best:

"SysAid has been a fantastic addition to our IT support toolkit. The platform is incredibly user-friendly, making it easy to set up knowledge base articles, incident templates, and request forms. The self-service portal allows our users to submit and track support requests effortlessly, enhancing their experience. The addition of a real-time chat feature has also been a game-changer, allowing us to provide immediate support when needed. And the customer service from SysAid has been top-notch, always responsive and helpful whenever we have questions or need assistance.""

- SysAid Review, Luigi C.

What users dislike:

"At times, there can be performance issues. We have had users experience performance slowdowns when dealing with requests and trying to process workflows."

- SysAid Review, Jesse J.

11. Hiver

Hiver transforms your Gmail or Outlook inbox into a powerful collaboration and customer support tool tailored to simplify customer service management. This integration enables users to handle emails, live chats, voice channels, and even WhatsApp messages without switching platforms from their inboxes.

Hiver provides a 7-day free trial.

What users like best:

I love the ability to tag emails and route them accordingly. I also like that multiple team members can access different inboxes so that we can work together rather than just having one person manage each inbox. I also love the email templates, and this actually took away my need to pay for a superhuman subscription. It's also helpful that I didn't have to teach any team members how to use it because it's so easy and intuitive." 

- Hiver Review, Emily H.

What users dislike:

"If I get mentions or am tagged in the Hiver comments, I get a notification, but sometimes I get many notifications, and a relevant one gets buried with new notifications. Currently, there are two tabs: Priority and All. I believe it would be good to have a search bar that allows me to filter keywords that help me find a specific notification without having to scroll down searching."

- Hiver Review, Arantxa L. 

Comparison of the best free help desk software

If you feel overwhelmed by the wealth of information about free helpdesk software, this comparison table will help you with the most important aspects.

All plans are billed annually.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) on free help desk software

Q. What are some popular free help desk software options?

A.Freshdesk, Zoho Desk, and HubSpot Service Hub. These tools offer essential features to manage customer support efficiently.

Q. Can I use free help desk software for my small business?

A. Yes, free help desk software provides basic ticketing, customer support, and reporting features. However, as your business grows, you might need to upgrade to a paid plan for more advanced functionalities.

Q. Which features should I look for in free help desk software?

A. When choosing free help desk software, look for features like ticket management, basic automation, customer database, and reporting. Make sure it meets your immediate needs and allows room for growth.

Q. Can I integrate free help desk software with other tools?

A. Yes, most free help desk tools offer basic integrations with popular tools like email, CRM, and chat platforms. 

Q. Can I handle a large volume of tickets with free help desk software?

A. Free help desk software can manage a moderate volume of tickets. If you anticipate a high volume of support requests, a paid plan offers better performance, scalability, and advanced ticket management features.

Q. Can free help desk software still be useful as my business grows?

A. Free help desk software is ideal for starting out, but as your business expands and your support needs become more complex, transitioning to a paid plan will provide the necessary tools and features to support your growth.

Delight your customers for free

Help desk software swoops in like a trusted sidekick to elevate your customer service superheroes. It empowers your agents, sharpens workflows, and delivers customer satisfaction. No one’s playing catch-up with emails and not even the tiniest support requests fall through the cracks. So carefully select the right tool for your team to give them the power to build the ultimate legion of happy customers. 

Learn how to ace customer interactions under any circumstances with this free G2 guide.