10 Top Help Desk Software for 2024 (G2 Reviews Analysis)

We analyzed G2 reviews of top helpdesk software to share the TLDR of pros, cons and final verdicts customers report.

The help desk market is ripe with multiple options, but which is right for “you”?


To make your search easier, we took two weeks to read thousands of G2 customer reviews of major solutions on the market such as: Zendesk, Helpscout, Front, Groove to dig deep into what customers like and dislike in each solution.


Below you’ll find the TLDR of our findings as well as our complete list of the top ten help desk software tools for 2024 based on customer reviews and ratings.


Ready to jump in?


Here is the list and ideal use case for each solution:

G2 Customer Reviews Analysis

We took a few weeks to sit down and read all the reviews about Helpscout, Zendesk, Front and Groove on G2 to dive deeper into why people like and dislike each solution and what is the ultimate problem each one solves for its customers. Below are our findings.


HelpScout G2 Reviews Summary

HelpScout G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars as of Nov 9, 2023


After reviewing 396 most recent reviews of HelpScout on G2 we concluded that:

Businesses Like HelpScout ForBusinesses Dislike HelpScout Because:
  • Simple & user-friendly interface
  • Efficient email management
  • Ticketing software which streamlines customer support processes and enhances team collaboration
  • HelpScout lacks advanced automation features resulting in manual and time-consuming processes for managing customer support interactions.
HelpScout Solves The Following Problem:
  • HelpScout provides customer support teams a collaborative platform for managing email conversations, customer tickets and enhancing productivity.

Zendesk G2 Reviews Summary

Zendesk G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars as of Nov 9, 2023


After reviewing 981 most recent reviews of Zendesk on G2 we concluded that:

Businesses Like Zendesk ForBusinesses Dislike Zendesk Because:
  • Scalability - ability to scale easily to different size customer support teams
  • Automation tools
  • Comprehensive set of support tools
  • Continuous updates and feature improvements
  • Zendesk makes customer interactions efficient and productive
  • Poor customer support
  • Billing problems
  • Software bugs
  • Complex onboarding and setup,
  • Concerns about integration and reporting
  • Challenges with email formatting
  • Poor documentation
  • Pricing transparency
Zendesk Solves The Following Problems:
  • Centralizes customer interactions
  • Streamlines support ticket management
  • Improves collaboration across departments

Front G2 Reviews Summary

Front G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars as of Nov 9, 2023


After reviewing 352 most recent reviews of Front on G2 we concluded that:

Businesses Like Front ForBusinesses Dislike Front Because:
  • Its ability to enhance collaboration by allowing internal comments within email threads
  • Features like tagging and assigning emails to team members
  • Its unified platform that organizes various communication channels, making work more efficient and productive
  • They find its mobile app unreliable
  • The customer support for Android-related issues lacking
  • Issues related to email updates, archiving, and draft editing that have persisted for a significant period
Front Solves The Following Problem:
  • Challenge of managing email overload and scattered communication by consolidating emails and messages into an organized platform

Groove HQ G2 Reviews Summary

Groove HQ G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars as of Nov 9, 2023


After reviewing 172 most recent reviews of Groove HQ on G2 we concluded that:

Businesses Like Groove ForBusinesses Dislike Groove Because:
  • Reliability: customers appreciate that it rarely goes down.
  • Knowledge Base: features for creating and managing knowledge articles
  • Responsive Customer Support - significant factor in users' satisfaction with the platform
  • Customization: The platform allows for flexibility in configuring settings and rules according to teams unique requirements
  • Ease of Use: Many users find Groove user-friendly and easy to navigate. Users value that Groove actively works on enhancing its platform.
  • Efficient Email Management: helps streamline communication and ensures that emails are organized and responded to promptly.
  • Email Deliverability Issues: Some users mentioned that emails sent via Groove have occasionally ended up in their clients' spam folders.
  • Integration with CRM Systems: Users who use HubSpot expressed a desire to automatically create new contacts in the CRM from Groove and have better visibility into customer interactions.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Challenges with generating detailed reports and analytics. Users desire more granular insights, such as CSAT per tag, to understand what makes customers happy or unhappy.
  • Complexity in Rules and Features: Creating rules is a bit complicated, requiring a high level of specificity. Simplifying the rule creation process could make it more user-friendly.
Groove Solves The Following Problem:
  • Budget friendly solution to streamline communication with customers and team members, simplify issue tracking, improve collaboration, and enhancing customer support, ultimately leading to increased productivity and higher customer satisfaction.

How do the Top Helpdesk Software Compare?

Total cost$160$200$590$190$720$140$150$150
Per agent cost$16$20$59$19$72$14$15$15
$ Difference$0+ $40+ $430+ $30+ $560- $-20- $-10- $-10
% Difference0%+ 25%+ 269%+ 19%+ 350%- -13%- -6%- -6%
Omnichannel inboxes
Email inboxes 
Instagram Direct Messages 
Facebook Messenger 
Phone integration 
Whatsapp integration 
SMS integration 
Live Chat 
Call logging 
Web widget with contact form & Knowledge base 
Android & iOS app 
Conversation Statuses 
Handy "All mailboxes" view 
Teammate Assignment 
Collision Detection 
Internal notes with @mentions 
Teams 
Follow conversations 
Agent availability 
Notifications 
Mailbox access permissions 
Teammate Roles 
Customizable Inbox Layout 
Custom Smart Folders 
Conversation Tags 
Conversation Snoozing 
Advanced search 
Open tracking 
Satisfaction Ratings (CSAT) 
Spam & Blacklist handling 
Customer overview  
Conversation history 
Customer notes 
Merge conversations 
Custom Profile 
Custom Fields 
Custom Auto-replies 
Custom signatures 
Slack notifications 
Undo send 
Keyboard shortcuts 
Custom SMTP sending 
Instant replies 
Instant reply actions 
Rule templates 
Interaction Escalation 
SLA's 
Custom Rule builder 
Time based rules 
Round Robin assignment 
Loadbalancing 
Reporting history 
Average conversations & resolutions 
First response times 
Tag reporting 
Total customers helped 
Average resolution time 
Average replies to resolution 
Satisfaction report 
Team leaderboard 
Team reporting insights 
Brandable chat widget for Web and Mobile 
End user identification 
User and visit info 
Transcripts 
Email continuation  
Round robin routing with load balancing 
Maximum conversation handling 
Unattended message handling 
Welcome bot 
No online agent automations 
Hide teammate avatar from participants 
Chat availability settings 
Rich text editor 
Optimized, ready to use themes 
Mobile ready 
Inbox integration 
Knowledge Base widget 
Full branding control 
Use your own domain 
1 Click SSL 
Advanced metrics 
Article rating system 
SEO & Opengraph settings 
White labelling 
Password & IP Restrictions 
Custom scripts  
Google analytics 
Contact & Business fields 
Custom fields 
Hubspot integration 
Salesforce integration 
Two factor authentication 
Mailbox access permissions 
Teammate Roles 
SSL & TLS 
PCI III 
Annual security audits 
Data Privacy 
HIPAA Compliance
SOC2 Compliance
Remove branding 
API 
Data Export 
Webhooks 
Variables 
Auto-bcc 
Timezone configuration 


To simplify your decision-making process, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table featuring the best helpdesk solutions. This table provides an in-depth analysis of each solution's key features, functionalities, pricing, and customer reviews. Whether a small startup or a large enterprise, this comparison table will help you evaluate and choose the ideal helpdesk software that aligns with your specific requirements.

1
Groove HQ

Best overall

Imagine stepping into a virtual command center for customer support, where every tool and resource is at your fingertips, ready to offer exceptional service. That's Groove, a dynamic and intuitive help desk software that removes many customer support complexities.


First launched as a simple (yet powerful) Zendesk alternative, Groove has come a long way with exceptional help desk software offering effortless customer support and team collaboration capabilities. It's easy to use, quick to set up, and packed with many tools to personalize the customer experience.



Groove’s key features:

What makes Groove the top solution?


Intuitive shared inboxes to easily manage and organize customer requests from a single platform, ensuring no query is overlooked or lost.

inbox

Live chat widget that can be plugged into every page of your website or app to offer immediate support—with all the impressive capabilities of the Inbox.

live chat

Accessible knowledge base that empowers customers to tackle issues with helpful resources and self-service options so they can find answers to FAQs and common questions on their own.

knowledge base

Insightful reports keep track of crucial online customer support metrics like response time, resolution time, customer feedback, ticket volume, and more.

reporting

Custom integrations with commonly used CRM systems and communication platforms like Slack, Stripe, Shopify, and Recharge, to name a few, that bind your support ecosystem and sync data and conversations across multiple channels.

integrations

Mobile iOS and Android apps mirror the web app, offering the same functionality in the palm of your hand. You get uninterrupted customer support even when you're on the go.

mobile

Groove’s Pricing

Groove's seven-day free trial gives you full access to all of its products and features.


  • Starter plan: For small teams

    With a $15/month basic plan, you can access the complete knowledge base, live chat, task assignments, @mentions, rules and automation, API, 25+ integrations, CSAT surveys, and more.

  • Plus plan: For growing teams

    For $25/month, you get all the features of the Starter plan plus teams and premium integrations.

  • Pro plan: For larger teams

    A $45/month plan gives you all the Plus plan features, 25 mailboxes, onboarding support, a dedicated account manager, account optimization reviews, and an API rate limit increase.



Groove’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Advanced, intuitive, and user-friendly interface
Fully customizable and scalable
Simple pricing structure
Advanced analytics and reporting
Helpful customer service and faster resolution times
Con’s
No Whatsapp integration as of yet
Reporting is comprehensive, but a bit slow
No HIPPA compliance

Andy Johnson, Founder & CEO @High Side, found a lot of success by switching to Groove for their growing business. Here's what they have to say about Groove’s top features.


“Switching to Groove was a game-changer. Price, simplicity, and excellent design. The Knowledge base and Team Inbox are phenomenal.”


Hear the full success story straight from the customer.

Compare Groove’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
  • $15/mo
  • $75/mo
  • $150/mo
  • $375/mo
With Groove
you’ll pay…
  • $12  per year more
  • $60  per year more
  • $120  per year more
  • $300  per year more

2
SysAid

Best for ITSM teams

product

SysAid is a popular IT help desk software to log, track, and manage internal IT support tickets or service requests. Besides an efficient ticketing system, SysAid offers many tools to streamline and automate IT service management (ITSM) processes for IT teams.


SysAid's key features:

  • Self-service portal

    To submit your own tickets, access a self-help knowledge base, and check the status of requests.

  • SLA management

    To create and adjust service level agreements (SLAs), define, track, and meet your service experience commitments to customers or internal stakeholders using SLA parameters

  • Reports and analytics

    For insights into key ITSM metrics—ticket resolution times, resource utilization, and SLA compliance.

  • Integrations

    With other systems and tools automate routine tasks like ticket routing, notifications, and asset discovery.



SysAid’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Affordable and reliable
Easily customizable
ITSM support
Auto escalation rules
Con’s
Sluggish change management
Configuration and implementation issues
Complex automated process flows
Complex UI
A learning curve

SysAid’s Pricing

SysAid doesn't list its prices on its website. You'll have to contact its sales team (with a work email address) for a quote or access to the free trial.

3
Hiver

Best for small teams and basic help desk functionality

product

Hiver isn't a disparate help desk software; it's more of a Gmail extension. It integrates well with Gmail, so you can collaborate on customer emails right from your inboxes.


Hiver's key features:

  • Shared inbox

    For multiple team members to access and work on the same email thread simultaneously.

  • Email notes and tags

    To add private notes to emails, provide internal context or instructions to team members, and use tags to categorize emails by topic and priority.

  • Predefined templates

    To respond to common customer queries with ready-made responses.

  • Automation and workflows

    To automate email assignments and create workflows based on predefined rules.



Hiver’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Helpful technical support
Gmail extension
Collaborative inboxes
Con’s
Complex and slow automation rules
Glitchy, slow, and laggy UI
Complex inbox filtering

Hiver’s Pricing

Hiver's Pro plan costs $34 monthly, offering shared inboxes, automation, analytics, and more.

Compare Hiver’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $15/mo
  • $75/mo
  • $150/mo
  • $375/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Hiver
you’ll pay…
  • $12  per year less
  • $60  per year less
  • $120  per year less
  • $300  per year less

4
Zoho Desk

Best for sales communication

product

Zoho Desk is cloud-based help desk software offered as part of Zoho's larger CRM ecosystem. Armed with powerful features and an easy-to-use interface, Zoho Desk combines automation, collaboration, and intelligent insights into a seamless support ecosystem.


Zoho Desk's key features:

  • Shared inbox

    For managing customer inquiries and support tickets

  • Knowledge base tool

    For self-service customer support

  • AI-assisted response

    For efficient and accurate replies

  • Advanced automations

    For conversation sorting and tagging

  • Seamless integration

    With other Zoho products, such as CRM



Zoho Desk’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Flexible and customizable
Smooth onboarding
Integrations with other Zoho products
Con’s
Fewer customization options in the lower subscription tiers
Confusing UI
No desktop client
Difficult to integrate with third-party apps

Zoho Desk’s Pricing

Start with a $15/month basic plan, or try a free plan.

Compare Zoho’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $14/mo
  • $70/mo
  • $140/mo
  • $350/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Zoho
you’ll pay…
  • $24  per year less
  • $120  per year less
  • $240  per year less
  • $600  per year less

5
Freshdesk

Best for contact center support

product

Freshdesk is a versatile, feature-rich customer service software combining simplicity and flexibility. It offers a range of customization options, including ticket fields, workflows, and automations to align the software with specific processes and requirements.


Freshdesk's key features:

  • Omnichannel support

    Via email, phone, chat, WhatsApp Business, and other social media channels.

  • Advanced automation

    Rules and triggers to automate ticket management.

  • Customer community

    Enabling customers to interact with each other, share ideas, and get answers to their queries independently.

  • Mobile apps

    To access and manage support tickets on the go.

  • Comprehensive reporting and analytics

    To monitor and analyze customer service performance



Freshdesk’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Multi-channel support
Easy ticket management
Intuitive interface
Con’s
Complex pricing and add-ons
Lacks a work-anywhere (mobile) app
A learning curve
Subpar reporting and analytics
Slow UI

Freshdesk’s Pricing

Offers a free plan and a $15/month basic plan. However, more advanced features are only available with upgraded Omnichannel plans.

Compare Freshdesk’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $15/mo
  • $75/mo
  • $150/mo
  • $375/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Freshdesk
you’ll pay…
  • $12  per year less
  • $60  per year less
  • $120  per year less
  • $300  per year less

6
Zendesk Support Suite

Best for AI-powered support

product

Zendesk is a renowned name in the customer support industry. It covers various communication channels, leaving no gaps in customer interaction and support delivery.


Zendesk’s key features:

  • Multi-channel support

    Via email, live chat, social media, phone, and self-service portals.

  • Workflow automation tools

    Include ticket routing, predefined responses, automated workflows, and macros to handle common support scenarios.

  • AI-powered chatbots

    For self-service, automated ticket suggestions, sentiment analysis, and smart routing to direct tickets to the right agents.

  • Customization and branding features

    To modify ticket forms, email templates, and self-service portals for consistent branding.

  • Internal collaboration features

    Like internal notes, shared ticket views, and team performance metrics.



Zendesk Support Suite’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
User-friendly and easy to manage
Integrations with social media platforms
Easy ticket management
Con’s
Poor customer service
Expensive plans
Complex knowledge base
A learning curve
Limited analytics capabilities

Zendesk Support Suite’s Pricing

Most Zendesk plans are designed for larger teams, but you can start with a $19/month plan with basic support.

Compare Zendesk’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $19/mo
  • $95/mo
  • $190/mo
  • $475/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Zendesk
you’ll pay…
  • $36  per year more
  • $180  per year more
  • $360  per year more
  • $900  per year more

7
Jira Service Desk

Best for bug tracking and reporting

product

Jira Service Desk is a popular technical support help desk developed by Atlassian. Jira makes bug tracking and reporting faster and easy.


Jira’s key features:

  • Incident resolution

    Capturing, prioritizing, and assigning incidents to the appropriate teams.

  • Custom workflows

    Tailored to specific support processes, ticketing, and escalation needs.

  • Seamless integrations

    With Atlassian products like Jira Software, Confluence, Opsgenie, and other third-party tools.

  • Pre-built reports

    And customizable dashboards to track key metrics and gain insights into team performance, customer satisfaction, and issue trends.



Jira Service Desk’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Intuitive UI
Visual scripting and workflow tool
Integrations with other Atlassian products
Con’s
Glitchy workflows
Slow customer service
Complex to navigate and use
Basic automations
Expensive pricing

Jira Service Desk’s Pricing

Offers a free plan, but a standard plan costs $21 per agent per month if you want to upgrade.

Compare Jira Service’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $21/mo
  • $105/mo
  • $210/mo
  • $525/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Jira Service
you’ll pay…
  • $60  per year more
  • $300  per year more
  • $600  per year more
  • $1,500  per year more

8
Front

Best for larger teams and communication needs

product

As an integral component of a comprehensive customer communications suite, Front is a help desk software purpose-built to foster seamless customer support. Front focuses on centralizing customer communications, facilitating personalized interactions, optimizing workflows, and delivering crucial performance analytics.


Front’s key features:

  • Integrate multiple communication channels

    Such as email, SMS, social media, and chat into a universal inbox.

  • Automatically collect

    And route customer conversations from different channels.

  • Assign conversations

    To specific team members, have private internal discussions within the software, and provide personalized responses to customer queries.

  • Use message templates

    Canned responses, and automated routing to save customer support teams time and respond more efficiently.

  • Pick remote team collaboration features

    Like internal comments and mentions to involve the right team members in resolving customer issues.



Front’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Unified customer communication
Decent customer support
Intuitive email client
Con’s
Frequent outages
Overkill for small businesses
A learning curve
High prices

Front’s Pricing

Front is another help desk that’s a drain on your wallet. The basic plan for small teams costs $19/month (billed annually). You'll have to shell out at least $59/month (again billed annually) for anything beyond.

Compare Front’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $59/mo
  • $295/mo
  • $590/mo
  • $1,475/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Front
you’ll pay…
  • $516  per year more
  • $2,580  per year more
  • $5,160  per year more
  • $12,900  per year more

9
Gorgias

Best for e-commerce businesses

product

Gorgias is another purpose-built help desk specifically designed for e-commerce businesses.


Gorgias’ key features:

  • Centralized dashboard

    For support tickets, emails, chat messages, and social media interactions.

  • E-commerce integrations

    With leading platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magneto.

  • Customer profiles

    That consolidate purchase history, customer preferences, and past interactions from different e-commerce channels.

  • Order status and tracking

    Let support agents easily access and share order status and tracking information with customers.

  • Integration with Shopify's refund system

    Enables support reps to initiate, track, and process refund requests from the help desk.



Gorgias’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Focus on e-commerce businesses
Gmail extension
Easy to set up
Con’s
Poor customizability
Fewer integrations
Complex workflow set-up
Difficult to close tickets
Lacks many advanced help desk features

Gorgias’s Pricing

Offers a $10/month Starter and a $60/month Basic plan. The price then dramatically shifts to $360/month for the Pro plan.

Compare Gorgias’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $72/mo
  • $360/mo
  • $720/mo
  • $1,800/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With Gorgias
you’ll pay…
  • $672  per year more
  • $3,360  per year more
  • $6,720  per year more
  • $16,800  per year more

10
HelpScout

Best for email-based customer support

product

Help Scout is known for its email-based customer support platform, knowledge base tool, and embeddable search/contact widget for customer service professionals.


HelpScout’s key features:

  • Integrates with your company's email system

    Converting customer emails into support tickets.

  • Agents can leave internal notes

    Assign tickets to teammates, and engage in threaded discussions within the platform.

  • Teams can monitor response times

    Customer satisfaction ratings, ticket volume, and other performance indicators

  • Service reps can collaborate directly with customers on ticket resolution

    Send replies via email, and have them appear as threaded conversations within the ticket.



HelpScout’s Pro & Cons

Pro’s
Decent tagging system
Easy onboarding
Simple and clean design
Con’s
Occasionally slow
Frequent outages
Lacks advanced analytics
Poor workflow functionality
Focus on email support

HelpScout’s Pricing

HelpScout offers a $25/month Standard, $50/month Plus, and an annual-only Pro plan.

Compare HelpScout’s Pricing to
Pricing last updated on Sept 18, 2023
  • 1 Agent
  • 5 Agents
  • 10 Agents
  • 25 Agents
  • $20/mo
  • $100/mo
  • $200/mo
  • $500/mo
  • $16/mo
  • $80/mo
  • $160/mo
  • $400/mo
With HelpScout
you’ll pay…
  • $48  per year more
  • $240  per year more
  • $480  per year more
  • $1,200  per year more

Free help desk software solutions

While some help desk software in the list above do provide free plans, they don't offer the same features as the paid ones. If you're just starting out or don't need a feature-heavy help desk tool, here are three free options to try.


Google Collaborative Inbox

Google Collaborative Inbox is a feature available in Google Groups. Use it to manage and collaborate on email conversations and add multiple users to access and respond to emails from a shared inbox.


Some key features you get with Google Collaborative Inbox:

  • Email assignments and categorization:

    Assign emails to specific team members and categorize them using labels to easily organize and prioritize incoming messages.

  • Conversation thread view:

    See emails as threaded conversations to follow the entire email exchange.

  • Collaboration and notes:

    Leave internal notes, comments, or messages within email threads.

  • Notifications and reminders:

    Set up notifications and reminders for new emails, assigned emails, or upcoming deadlines.



SolarWinds service desk

SolarWinds Service Desk is a cloud-based ITSM designed for service desk operations. It's easily customizable and integrates with your existing IT infrastructure.


SolarWinds features to look out for:

  • Ticket and incident management:

    Track and manage IT incidents and service requests.

  • Change management:

    Plan, schedule, and implement changes to IT infrastructure.

  • Self-service portal:

    Empower end-users to independently find solutions to common IT issues.


Outlook Shared Mailbox

Outlook Shared Mailbox is a feature in Microsoft Outlook, not software in itself. It lets multiple users access and manage a single mailbox to collaborate and communicate.


What do you get with Outlook Shared Mailbox?

  • Shared folders:

    Create shared folders to organize and categorize emails, files, and other data within the mailbox.

  • Permissions and security:

    Control permissions, access, and actions within the shared mailbox.



Benefits of help desk software

Help desk software offers plenty of benefits to improve your processes.

  • Faster ticket management

    Lets you systematically organize and manage customer issues and make sure no ticket goes unnoticed.

  • With better ticket management and optimized processes

    You resolve issues faster, respond faster, and enhance the customer experience.

  • Reporting is easy with help desk software.

    You get insights into your support operations, track key performance metrics, and back your processes with data.

  • Automation features

    Including ticket assignment, canned answers, and knowledge base suggestions reduce manual work and improve response times.

  • You get access to multiple communication channels

    Including email, chat, phone, and social media to stay connected with customers at every touchpoint.

  • Knowledge base

    Offers customers with self-help resources and reduces the support staff’s workload.

  • Help desk integrations

    With CRM systems, project management platforms, and collaboration tools improve workflows.



What are the essential features of help desk software?

When finding the right help desk software, note your business needs and priorities. It’s best (but hard) to choose software tailored specifically to your business.


A help desk software isn’t just a tool, but a trusted companion that drives your business and opens new horizons for you. So be wise in your choice and pay attention to these essential features.

  • Scalability and flexibility:

    Your helpdesk system should be able to handle a growing customer base. As your business grows, your processes may change. A helpdesk software that easily adapts to these changes and has customizable workflows should be your choice.

  • Integration capabilities:

    Choose software that easily connects and shares data with other systems you use frequently, and offers options to build custom integrations for tailored data sharing. Native integrations allow you to access customer information and history directly from the helpdesk interface without switching between systems.

  • Reporting and analytics:

    A robust help desk easily tracks support performance. It offers a variety of metrics and reports, such as ticket volume, response and resolution times, customer satisfaction ratings, agent productivity, and trends over time. Its analytics system should allow you to identify bottlenecks, measure team performance, and make data-driven decisions.

  • Customization options:

    Your help desk should be tailored to meet your specific needs, including creating custom ticket forms with fields relevant to your industry, supporting multiple ticket types or categories, and configuring workflows and automation rules. Customization aligns the software with your existing support processes and branding, providing a consistent experience for both agents and customers.

  • User interface and ease of use:

    The help desk’s interface should be intuitive, clean, and organized so it’s easy to navigate and perform tasks. Look for features such as a unified inbox, ticket filtering and tagging, search functionality, and a knowledge base for self-service. A well-designed user interface reduces training time for agents and enhances the overall user experience.

  • Pricing:

    Consider your budget and expected usage. Some software offers tiered pricing based on the number of agents, while others have a subscription model. Evaluate the pricing structure, including additional add-ons or advanced features costs.

  • Customer support:

    Reliable customer support is a key feature of any help desk software. Your help desk needs to be responsive and equipped with multiple communication tools for different services.



Challenges with help desk software

Setting up help desk software can be tricky and poses some challenges.

  • Configuration complexities:

    You may initially struggle to set up the software, integrate with other systems, and train your staff to use it.

  • User adoption:

    It takes time for support agents and employees to get used to the software.

  • Cost:

    Small businesses and startups often struggle to find affordable software for their needs.

  • Downtimes and technical issues:

    Unreliable help desk software is prone to excessive downtimes and technical issues, which hurts your support operations.

  • Integration compatibility:

    Although helpdesk software offers multiple integration options, you may find it difficult to integrate with some existing systems. It's always good to check integration compatibility beforehand so that such issues don't arise after purchasing the solution.



How to choose the best help desk software

Features: checked

Pricing: checked

Pros and cons: checked


Congrats, you made it to the end, and now it’s time to choose the best help desk software.


Set your customer service goals and needs

Before you set out to buy a help desk, outline your goals and needs. How big is your team? What kind of support do you offer—technical support, general support, e-commerce support, or something else? What features are you looking for—email support, live chat, AI bots? What's your budget? And would a simple tool suffice, or do you need something more advanced?


Compare the different help desk software features

Look at pricing, features, ease of use, scalability, security, reliability, and device compatibility to start off. Then dive deep into features like ticket management, automation, self-service portals, knowledge bases, reporting and analytics, collaboration tools, and multi-channel support. Determine which features align with your requirements.

  • Consider the learning curve for your team and how quickly they can adapt.
  • Ensure the software can handle increasing users, tickets, and customer interactions.
  • Check for integration options with the tools you use most.
  • Choose software with self-service capabilities to let customers find answers independently.
  • Never compromise on data security. Watch out for features like encryption, access controls, and data backups.

Read user reviews and recommendations

Reviews provide valuable insight into the pros and cons of the software and help you make a more informed decision. However, check the context and credibility of the reviews and recommendations.


Look for reviews from trusted sources, reputable technology publications, industry forums, or verified customer review platforms. Also, seek recommendations from colleagues with similar business needs or work in a similar industry, as their insights may be more directly applicable to your situation.


Focus on the right implementation and adoption

Adding new software to your tech stack can be tricky. Your team needs the right support and training to become familiar with the help desk tool, its features, day-to-day usage, and more complex use cases.


Once you've decided on a solution, prepare not just your customer service team but all your teams for implementation. Customer support teams will need more extensive training to deal with internal and customer issues, while other teams need basic training on raising requests.


Also, constantly share new updates and developments with your support teams so they know how the help desk’s user interface has changed or what new features have been added to make the most of it.


A good practice is to update and maintain a knowledge base of self-help and support resources for your support teams to review new updates, existing support case examples, ways to resolve complex issues, and best practices for new hires.


Choose the help desk software that rings the bell

If you're tempted to jump on the bandwagon and choose the priciest, most advanced tool on the list, hold off. While a high price tag may suggest superiority, it doesn’t guarantee that the tool best suits your needs.


Be prudent in evaluating your options and take a measured approach. Open yourself to a broader range of options. Evaluate your budget, invest wisely, and use your resources efficiently to choose a cost-effective solution that fits your budget.


Choose a tool that strikes the right balance of affordability and functionality, allowing you to meet your immediate needs while providing the potential for future growth and advancement.

people
Alex Turnbull
Founder & CEO, Groove
Alex Turnbull
Founder & CEO, Groove

Alex is the CEO & Founder of Groove. He loves to help other entrepreneurs build startups by sharing his own experiences from the trenches.

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my-cosmicshop.com
tailorandstore
data-dog
cloud-app
stussy
palace
app-sumo
modkat
meta-lab
status-page
keen-io
unsplash
shopify-logo
my-cosmicshop.com
tailorandstore
data-dog
cloud-app
stussy
palace
app-sumo
modkat
meta-lab
status-page
keen-io
unsplash
shopify-logo