How we compared. We read each vendor’s pricing page, and its help or security pages where the pricing page left something out, on the dates under sources. We did not buy paid accounts of the other tools, so we do not rate how they feel to use or how good their AI is. LiveAgent is first because it is ours; the others follow in alphabetical order, which is not a ranking. Prices are the regular list prices; LiveAgent’s running special offer is shown next to its regular price, with the day it ends.
The best customer service software for small businesses: a 2026 buyer's guide
- Written by
- Andrej Harsani, Co-founder, Quality Unit
- Updated
- Prices checked
- October 30, 2026
Customer service software, also called customer support software, collects every way customers reach you (email, website chat, phone, social media and messaging apps) in one shared inbox, adds a help center for self-service, and uses rules and AI to route or answer routine questions.
We make LiveAgent. It is listed first because it is ours, not because it won a test. Every tool, ours included, gets the same facts from its vendor’s own pages and its real drawbacks. How we compared
- $0 AI fees at LiveAgent
Help Scout, Intercom and Zendesk charge $0.75–$1.50 for each AI answer. At LiveAgent you pay only your own AI provider.
- $7–$29 per agent / month
Entry plans of the seven tools priced per agent, billed annually. Phone and social media usually need a higher plan.
- 2–5 users
Free plans for very small teams: Help Scout for 5 users, Zoho Desk for 3, HubSpot for 2, each with fewer channels.
Eight customer service tools compared
What each tool is best for, which channels its entry plan covers, its starting price, free plan or trial, and how it charges for AI.
In the entry plan Add-onOn a higher plan or for an extra fee Not offered
| Tool | Best for | Chat | Phone | Social | Help center | Starts at | Free plan / trial | How AI is charged | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LiveAgent We make this | Small teams that want email, chat, phone and social media in one inbox, with no AI fees | Email In the entry plan | Chat In the entry plan | Phone Team | Social Team | Help center In the entry plan | Starts at $15 Starter; every channel on Team $29 · Special offer $11 / $22 until November 22, 2026 | Free plan / trialNo free plan · 30-day trial, no card | How AI is charged No AI feesYou pay your own AI provider |
| Freshdesk | Email-first teams that want a built-in AI agent | Email In the entry plan | Chat Omni | Phone Add-on | Social Omni | Help center In the entry plan | Starts at $19 Growth, email; Omni from $29 | Free plan / trialNo free plan · 14-day trial | How AI is charged500 free AI sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 |
| Gorgias | Shopify stores | Email In the entry plan | Chat In the entry plan | Phone Add-on | Social In the entry plan | Help center In the entry plan | Starts at $10 Starter: a month for 50 tickets, any number of agents, monthly billing only | Free plan / trialNo free plan · 7-day trial | How AI is chargedAI agent from $27 a month for 30 interactions, then $1.50 each |
| Help Scout | Email-first teams that want a simple shared inbox | Email In the entry plan | Chat In the entry plan | Phone Partner | Social In the entry plan | Help center In the entry plan | Starts at $25 Standard | Free plan / trialFree for 5 users · 15-day trial | How AI is charged$0.75 per AI resolution |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Businesses already on HubSpot CRM | Email In the entry plan | Chat In the entry plan | Phone In the entry plan | Social FB only | Help center Pro | Starts at $20 Starter, per seat; new customers from $7 | Free plan / trialFree for 2 users · no Starter trial | How AI is chargedHubSpot Credits, an allowance per plan |
| Intercom | Software and app companies that want AI to answer first | Email In the entry plan | Chat In the entry plan | Phone Per use | Social Ask | Help center In the entry plan | Starts at $29 Essential, per seat | Free plan / trialNo free plan · 14-day trial | How AI is chargedFrom $0.99 per Fin outcome |
| Zendesk | Growing teams that want many integrations and plan to customize | Email In the entry plan | Chat Suite | Phone Suite | Social Suite | Help center Suite | Starts at $19 Support Team, email only; every channel on Suite Team $55 | Free plan / trialNo free plan · 14-day trial | How AI is charged5 resolutions per agent included, then $1.50 each |
| Zoho Desk | Tight budgets and teams already on Zoho | Email In the entry plan | Chat Standard | Phone Pro | Social In the entry plan | Help center Standard | Starts at $7 Express; Professional $23 | Free plan / trialFree for 3 users · 15-day trial | How AI is chargedFree monthly AI tokens, or your own OpenAI key |
Starting prices in US dollars per agent (or seat) per month on annual billing, as each vendor’s page showed them on the day in sources. «Ask»: the vendor’s pricing page does not say. Prices change; check the vendor’s page before you buy.
What it costs once AI is switched on
Seat prices are only half the bill. Most tools charge for every question their AI answers, so the cost grows with your customers, not your team.
What 300 AI answers a month cost on top of seats
Each tool’s own AI price, for 300 answered questions a month. Zendesk counts its 50 included resolutions for a 10-agent team; Freshdesk’s 500 free sessions come once per account, not every month.
- LiveAgent We make this under $1 to your AI provider
Our estimate with a low-cost model; about $14 with a strong one. No fee from LiveAgent.
- Freshdesk $147
$49 per 100 sessions, once the 500 free sessions per account are used up.
- Help Scout $225
$0.75 per AI resolution.
- Intercom from $297
From $0.99 per Fin outcome.
- Zendesk $375
$1.50 per resolution above 5 per agent a month.
- Gorgias about $432
$27 for the first 30 AI interactions on Basic, then $1.50 each; each one also counts as a ticket.
HubSpot bills AI in credits ($0.01 each, 500 a month in Starter); its pricing page does not say how many credits one answer uses. Zoho Desk gives free monthly AI tokens or takes your own OpenAI key.
Best customer service software for small businesses, by team size
Start with the channels your customers used last month, then your team size. Each pick links to its card below.
1–5 agents
Email, chat and social on a tight budget
- Help Scout · free for up to 5 users; Instagram and Messenger from Standard
- LiveAgent · every channel in one inbox, with AI that costs you no fee per answer
- Zoho Desk · the lowest paid entry; chat and messaging apps from Standard
Price the plan that has your channels, then add what 300 AI answers cost.
6–15 agents
Several channels, phone included
- LiveAgent · email, chat, phone and social media on Team, no AI fees
- Zoho Desk · Professional, if you already run Zoho CRM
- HubSpot Service Hub · if sales already works in HubSpot; Starter has no phone menu or SLAs
Compare the plan with all your channels, not the entry plan.
16–25 agents
SLAs, reports and data location
- LiveAgent · Business for any team size, with SLA rules, reports, an audit log and department roles; data in the EU (Frankfurt), the US or Singapore
- Zendesk · Suite Professional for deep customization and a chosen data location
- Freshdesk · a data region chosen at sign-up and a built-in AI agent, billed in packs of sessions
Ask each vendor for a written quote, its DPA and migration help.
Each tool in short
One card per tool: who it suits, what the cheapest plan leaves out, how AI is billed, where your data is stored, help with moving, and the catch.
LiveAgent
We make thisBest for small teams that want email, chat, phone and social media in one inbox
- Starts at
- $15 per agent on Starter (up to 5 agents: email, chat, help center, AI). Every channel, with phone, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, reports and SLA rules, on Team at $29 per agent (up to 15 agents); Business at $49 for any team size adds an audit log and department roles; on the Special offer until November 22, 2026: $11 and $22.
- AI
-
No AI fees
You connect OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or FlowHunt and pay that provider: about $2–3 per 1,000 replies with a low-cost model (our estimate, October 2026). Our team sets up the AI chatbot for free.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data in the EU (Frankfurt), the US or Singapore, you choose at sign-up. Data processing agreement on request. The AWS data centers it runs in are ISO 27001 certified and SOC 2 audited; Quality Unit, which makes LiveAgent, is in a SOC 2 Type II audit that covers LiveAgent. Security and GDPR
- SLA rules and reports
- From Team: SLA rules and reports; Starter has neither.
- Moving from another tool
- Free on paid plans: tickets, contacts, knowledge base, agents, tags and custom fields from Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout and others, usually in one to two days. Migration
Watch out for: No free plan; AI needs your own account with an AI provider, a second small bill; and calls are billed by your own VoIP provider: with Twilio Elastic SIP Trunking, for example, a US number costs $1.15 a month and incoming calls $0.0034 a minute (Twilio’s list prices, October 2026).
Freshdesk
Best for email-first teams that want a built-in AI agent
- Starts at
- $19 per agent (Growth, email and Facebook). Chat, Instagram and WhatsApp need Freshdesk Omni ($29); phone is a $15 voice add-on plus call charges.
- AI
- 500 free AI agent sessions, once per account; then $49 per 100 sessions, valid for your billing period.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data centers in the US, EEA, UAE, India and Australia, chosen at sign-up. DPA published. SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001.
- SLA rules and reports
- One SLA policy from Growth, several from Pro ($55); custom reports from Pro.
- Moving from another tool
- Not stated on its pricing page.
Watch out for: price Omni plus voice, not the Growth line, if you need chat or phone.
Freshdesk pricing October 30, 2026 Back to the comparison
Gorgias
Best for Shopify stores
- Starts at
- $10 a month for 50 tickets with any number of agents (Starter, monthly billing only). Phone and SMS are add-ons priced by volume.
- AI
- AI agent from $27 a month for 30 AI interactions, then $1.50 each; each one also counts as a ticket.
More facts
- Data and security
- Hosting region not stated on its site (runs on Google Cloud). DPA part of its subscription agreement. SOC 2 Type II.
- SLA rules and reports
- SLA policies and reports on every plan.
- Moving from another tool
- Self-service import of Zendesk tickets; onboarding help, price not stated.
Watch out for: the bill follows your ticket volume, so it rises in your busy season.
Gorgias pricing October 30, 2026 Back to the comparison
Help Scout
Best for email-first teams that want a simple shared inbox
- Starts at
- Free for 5 users (1 inbox, 1 help center); Standard $25 adds live chat, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. No built-in phone at any price, only through a partner integration.
- AI
- $0.75 per AI resolution.
More facts
- Data and security
- Hosted on AWS; no region choice stated, and its DPA says data may be processed in the United States. SOC 2 Type 2.
- SLA rules and reports
- One basic SLA policy on Standard, more on Plus ($45) and Pro ($75); pre-built reports on every plan.
- Moving from another tool
- Self-service import tool; price not stated.
Watch out for: no phone, and AI cost grows with every question it resolves.
Help Scout pricing October 30, 2026 Back to the comparison
HubSpot Service Hub
Best for businesses whose sales team already works in HubSpot CRM
- Starts at
- $20 per seat (Starter, with calling minutes and Facebook Messenger). Starter has no phone menu (IVR), no SLA rules and no call transcription; Instagram DMs are not in Service Hub.
- AI
- HubSpot Credits at $0.01 each, 500 a month in Starter; the pricing page does not say how many credits one AI answer uses.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data centers in the US, EU, Canada and Australia, assigned by your sign-up location; paid customers can move. DPA in its customer terms. SOC 2 Type II.
- SLA rules and reports
- SLA rules and the custom report builder from Professional ($90).
- Moving from another tool
- Not stated on its pricing page.
Watch out for: the step to Professional ($90 per seat plus $1,500 onboarding).
HubSpot pricing October 31, 2026 Back to the comparison
Intercom
Best for software and app companies that want AI to answer first
- Starts at
- $29 per seat (Essential, chat and email). Phone, WhatsApp and SMS are billed by use; the pricing page does not say which plan includes Facebook and Instagram.
- AI
- From $0.99 per Fin outcome.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data in the US by default, or in the EU or Australia. DPA part of its agreement. SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
- SLA rules and reports
- SLA rules only on Expert ($132); custom reports from Advanced ($85).
- Moving from another tool
- Self-service Zendesk import; price not stated.
Watch out for: three meters (seats, Fin outcomes, usage channels) make the monthly bill hard to predict.
Intercom pricing October 31, 2026 Back to the comparison
Zendesk
Best for growing teams that want many integrations and plan to customize
- Starts at
- $19 per agent (Support Team, email; no chat, phone, Messenger or Instagram). Every channel starts with Suite Team at $55; call minutes and numbers are billed on top. More in Zendesk pricing explained.
- AI
- 5 automated resolutions per agent a month included, then $1.50 each.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data location in the US, EEA, UK, Japan or Australia from Suite Professional, on request. DPA available. SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
- SLA rules and reports
- SLA policies and custom reports from Suite Professional ($115); Team plans have prebuilt dashboards only.
- Moving from another tool
- Data migration only as a paid professional service.
Watch out for: a chosen data location needs Suite Professional ($115).
Zendesk pricing November 2, 2026 Back to the comparison
Zoho Desk
Best for tight budgets and teams already on Zoho
- Starts at
- Free for 3 users; Express $7 covers email and social posts. Live chat, help center and Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp messages start with Standard ($14); phone integration with Professional ($23).
- AI
- Free monthly AI tokens, or your own OpenAI key.
More facts
- Data and security
- Data centers in the US, EU, India, Australia, Japan, Canada, Singapore and more. DPA by email request. SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001.
- SLA rules and reports
- SLA targets and custom reports from Standard ($14); customer-based SLAs from Professional ($23).
- Moving from another tool
- Free switch from other help desks, as its pricing page says.
Watch out for: phone needs Professional, and the pricing page shows your local currency.
Zoho Desk pricing October 30, 2026 Back to the comparison
What is customer service software?
Customer service software is one shared place for every way customers reach a business, with rules and AI that route or answer routine questions and a help center where customers help themselves. It does five jobs:
- One shared inbox. Emails, chats, calls and messages become tickets in one list, with the customer’s earlier conversations, owner and status, so nobody misses a message or answers twice. Help desk software
- Website chat. A chat button answers visitors while they shop or compare; an AI chatbot can answer first and hand over to a person. Live chat software
- Phone. Calls ring in the same tool, a phone menu (IVR) routes callers and missed calls become tickets. Call center software
- Social media and messaging apps. Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp messages reach the shared inbox, not one person’s phone. Social media customer service
- Help center and AI. Customers find answers at any hour, and AI drafts or sends replies from the same articles. Knowledge base software
Example: LiveAgent's shared inbox, with tickets from email, chat, phone and social media in one list.
Which channels do you need?
Before you pick a customer service system, list where customers contacted you last month. Channels decide the plan more than any feature, because that is where prices split. If you only need email tickets, our roundup of help desk software for small business compares ten ticketing tools.
- Email and a contact form only. Every tool covers this; a free plan (Help Scout for 5 users, Zoho Desk for 3, HubSpot for 2) may be enough.
- Website chat too. Not in Zendesk Support Team, plain Freshdesk (it is in Freshdesk Omni) or Zoho Desk Express.
- Phone. The biggest price step. Built in at LiveAgent from Team (with your own VoIP provider), at Zendesk from Suite Team and at HubSpot from Starter; an integration at Zoho Desk Professional and Help Scout; an add-on at Freshdesk Omni and Gorgias; billed by use at Intercom.
- Instagram and Facebook messages. For a shop this is often the main channel, so check direct messages, not only comments (table below).
- An online store. You want each customer’s orders next to the conversation. Gorgias is built for Shopify; LiveAgent, Zendesk and others connect to Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento.
- Not a channel, but ask anyway: where your data is stored, whether the vendor signs a data processing agreement, and who moves your old tickets.
| Tool | Facebook Messenger | Instagram direct messages |
|---|---|---|
| LiveAgent (ours) | From Team | Comments and mentions from Team; direct messages released in September 2026, not yet in a plan |
| Freshdesk | Yes (Freshdesk and Omni) | Omni only |
| Gorgias | Yes | Yes, with comments and mentions |
| Help Scout | From Standard | From Standard |
| HubSpot Service Hub | From Starter | Not in Service Hub |
| Intercom | Available; plan not stated | Available; plan not stated |
| Zendesk | From Suite Team | From Suite Team |
| Zoho Desk | From Standard | From Standard (Express: posts and mentions only) |
Where LiveAgent is strong
Six facts you can check. LiveAgent's prices are in the comparison and on the pricing page.
- No AI fees
You pay your own AI provider, about $2–3 per 1,000 replies. Help Scout, Intercom and Zendesk charge $0.75–$1.50 per AI answer.
- 1 plan
Email, live chat, phone, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and a help center together on Team.
- Free migration
Our team moves tickets, contacts and knowledge base articles from Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout and others on paid plans.
- 30 days
Free trial with no credit card, long enough to run it next to your current tool.
- 3 regions
Your data stays in the EU (Frankfurt), the US or Singapore, whichever you choose at sign-up.
- 4.5 and 4.7
Rated on G2 (1,538 reviews) and Capterra (1,789 reviews) on October 27, 2026; used by more than 7,000 businesses.
Leaving Zendesk?
LiveAgent’s team moves your tickets with their history, contacts, knowledge base articles, agents, tags and custom fields for free on a paid plan. Macros and automation rules move when Zendesk lets them be exported; otherwise we rebuild them with you. Accounts under 10,000 tickets usually move in one to two days, in the background. Keep Zendesk running while you test LiveAgent with real customers, then switch your support email over. How migration works · LiveAgent as a Zendesk alternative
What a 10-agent team pays a month for every channel and 300 AI answers, on regular annual prices, before call minutes:
Seats 300 AI answers
- Zendesk Suite Team $550 + $375 = $925
10 agents, every channel; 250 AI resolutions above the 50 included.
- LiveAgent Team We make this $290 + under $1 = about $291
10 agents, every channel; AI paid to your own provider (about $14 with a strong model). No AI fees from LiveAgent.
Set it up in a week
Test your shortlist with your own customers: a week of real questions tells you more than any table.
- Day 1: connect your support email. Forward it so every message becomes a ticket.
- Day 2: add chat to your website. Paste the chat code or install your shop’s plugin.
- Day 3: connect phone, Facebook and Instagram if your plan includes them.
- Day 4: write your ten most common answers in the help center and let the AI draft from them.
- Day 5: add routing rules and read the first report: who answered what, and how long customers waited.
Run the new tool next to the old one all week, then move your email over. LiveAgent’s 30-day trial needs no credit card, charges no AI fees, and our team moves your old tickets for free.
Sources
Every competitor fact on this page comes from the vendor’s own pages, read on the date shown.
- Freshdesk: pricing, Freshdesk Omni pricing, data centers, trust center, October 30, 2026.
- Gorgias: pricing, security, Instagram, October 30, 2026.
- Help Scout: pricing, security, DPA, October 30, 2026.
- HubSpot Service Hub: pricing, data centers, trust center, October 31, 2026.
- Intercom: pricing, pricing help article, security, October 31, 2026.
- Zendesk: pricing, data center location, social messaging, November 2, 2026.
- Zoho Desk: pricing, compliance, data centers, October 30, 2026.
- LiveAgent: pricing, security and GDPR, migration, ratings from G2 and Capterra as of October 27, 2026.
- LiveAgent AI cost estimate: from the providers’ list prices in October 2026, for a typical reply in which the AI reads about 20,000 tokens (the conversation, the ticket details and one help article) and writes about 600, with a low-cost model such as Claude Haiku or a strong one such as Claude Sonnet. Details on AI Answer Assistant.