10 best helpdesk software for small business

Help desk software streamlines and improves the quality of your customer support, improving your customer satisfaction scores. According to the report, 79% of customers say personalized customer service is more important than personalized marketing. With those numbers, smart businesses need to do everything they can to meet their customer demands.

Luckily, many solutions are available for businesses of all sizes today to prioritize customer feedback. However, mid-sized and small businesses have unique needs. Instead of multiple departments with various support staff and bureaucracy, SBMs tend to be lean and light. They need real-time help desk software to suit their needs.

Here is an overview of ten top help desk solutions for small businesses to help you get started delivering what your customers want.

What is small business help desk software?

Small business help desk software is a solution that acts as a centralized hub, effectively consolidating all customer inquiries into a single,trackable system. Each inquiry is transformed into a "ticket," a detailed record of the issue that facilitates efficient management and response. This empowers your support team to collaborate seamlessly, ensuring faster resolution times and a more satisfying customer experience. In essence, help desk software eliminates the need to juggle multiple communication channels and inboxes, fostering organization, boosting team collaboration, and generating valuable insights to continuously improve your support operations.For a powerful and user-friendly example of help desk software, check out Freshdesk Help Desk.

For small businesses, providing exceptional customer service is paramount to building trust and fostering long-term relationships. However, managing a multitude of customer inquiries across various channels like email, phone, chat, and social media can quickly become overwhelming. This is where small business help desk software steps in, offering a sophisticated yet user-friendly solution to streamline your support processes.

10 best small business help desk softwares in 2024

Choosing the right help desk software for your small business can be overwhelming. To assist you in your decision-making process, we've compiled a list of the top 10 help desk solutions available in 2024. Each software is evaluated based on its key features, pros, cons, and pricing to help you select the best fit for your business needs.

1. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is Freshworks’ cloud-based help desk software for small businesses. It’s ideal for SBMs because it offers a wide variety at prices as low as $0, which puts it very much within reach.

Their help desk software integrates seamlessly with everything on their platform, from their CRM to their project management software and everything in between. This gives you and your team a 360° view of every client. With that knowledge, you can easily provide personalized support and improve customer experience.

Their ticketing system includes a lot of features small businesses need, including a shared inbox, collision detection, canned responses, field customization, and thank you detection. In addition, the system allows for collaboration between agents and between departments.

Self-service options are becoming more and more popular among customers, so Freshdesk offers a variety of tools to help you provide ways for your customers to help themselves. Knowledge bases and FAQs put answers at your users' fingertips. AI-powered chatbots can answer specific customer questions quickly by reducing response times even when your team members are off the clock.

Small businesses really benefit from Freshdesk’s automations. You and your team members can save so much time by automating tasks and workflows. For example, you can automate key tasks like ticket assignments. Freshdesk allows you to customize rules so the tickets go to agents with both expertise and availability. You can also automate repetitive and menial tasks to increase the efficiency of your small team.

You can measure and improve key metrics with out-of-the-box and custom reports and dashboards. Keep your eyes on ticket queues, time to resolution, and more so you can increase productivity.

Features

• Robust ticketing system  

• Customizable automations

• Self-service options

• Omnichannel capabilities

• Powerful integrations

• 27/4 customer support

• Out-of-the-box and customizable reports and analytics

Why do people like Freshdesk?

As you can see, Freshdesk offers many useful help desk features that streamline workflows, increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and have the power to raise your ROI.

Their high-quality customer service management is exactly what you want to provide for your customers: personalized, omnichannel, and available 24/7.

For small business needs, Freshdesk gives you the power of a big legacy system at small business prices without sacrificing quality. Get started for free, and if you do outgrow that system, we offer other affordable plans starting at $15 per month per user.

Pricing

• Free: $0

• Growth: Starting at $15 per user per month

• Pro: Starting at $49 per user per month

• Enterprise: Starting at $79 per user per month

Free Trial

2. Help Scout

Features 

• All messages and context are in one intuitive, familiar view.

• Automations that reduce busy work and menial tasks.

• Saved replies from customer conversations so your agents can provide accurate answers faster.

Pros & Cons

Help Scout put everything in one place for small business owners. Your universal inbox, live chat and knowledge base all come standard. In addition, Help Scout’s intuitive interface is as familiar as an email inbox. This means a shorter onboarding process for your agents and ease of use over time.

Although the basics are available for every plan, some key features require a larger investment. You’ll need to upgrade your plan for Salesforce and Hubspot integrations as well as for more than 25 seats, which might not give you enough room to grow without a higher price tag.

Pricing

• 15-day free trial of Standard and Plus plans

• Standard: Starting at $20 per user per month

• Plus: Starting at $40 per user per month

• Pro: Starting at $65 per user per month

3. HelpDesk

Features

• Automation is needed for a variety of tasks, such as canned responses and workflows.

• Collaboration tools like collision detection and ticket assignment to keep your team running smoothly.

• 24/7 chat support is available in case you or your team run into any issues or questions at any time of day.

Pros & Cons

HelpDesk is a solid choice for help desk software for small business providers or startups. Their collaboration tools are very useful for teams of all sizes, and customers love their support.

However, HelpDesk is limited to ticket management. You’ll need separate CRM and sales and marketing solutions. If you’re on a budget, all of that tech can get pricey. In addition, they only offer one standard plan with a higher starting point than competitors.

Pricing

• 14-day free trial

• Team: Starting at $29 per agent per month

• Enterprise: Custom pricing

4. HappyFox

Features

• Integrations with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more to leverage the power of those tools with your help desk software.

• Automated help desk ticket assignment allows you to designate rules and ensure that every customer issue gets to the right agent as quickly as possible.

• Knowledge-based software puts the power in your customer’s hands with intuitive self-service options.

Pros & Cons

HappyFox is a one-stop ticketing system to support your customer service team. You’ll get live chat, a knowledge base, ticket management, automations and integrations in a single platform.

However, the starting price point is higher than average, which can put it out of reach for small businesses. In addition, their email tools are not as robust as those of other systems.

Pricing

Agent-Based

• Mighty: Starting at $26 per agent per month

• Fantastic: Starting at $39 per agent per month

• Enterprise: Starting at $52 per agent per month

• Enterprise Plus: Starting at $64 per agent per month

Unlimited Agents

• Starter: Starting at $1149 per month

• Growth: Starting at $1599 per month

• Scale: Starting at $2399 per month

• Scale Plus: Starting at $3999 per month

5. Hiver

Features

• It works hand-in-hand with Google Workspaces, making it an easy addition to those existing tools.

• Multi-channel capabilities, including chat, email, phone, and WhatsApp messaging, provide support where your customers are.

• Customizable automations help your agents focus on what’s important instead of menial tasks.

Pros & Cons

Hiver allows your team to manage multiple channels right from their Gmail inbox for a reasonable entry price. It’s ideal for small businesses already using Gmail and Google Workspace. That means easy setup and onboarding for you and your team.

However, if you’re not already using Google Workspace, adopting Hiver will require significant change management, which can be disruptive. In addition, their free trial is only 7 days, shorter than most other options.

Pricing

• 7-day free trial

• Lite: Starting at $15 per user per month

• Pro: Starting at $39 per user per month

• Elite: Starting at $59 per user per month

6. Hubspot

Features

• Feature-rich Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) keeps all of your customer data in one place.

• Omnichannel functionality gives you the power to provide support to your customers on various channels, including live chat, email, phone, Facebook and more.

• Customer self-service portal expands support to allow customers to check the status of their request and access self-service options, including your knowledge base.

Pros & Cons

Hubspot’s free version has well-rounded support capabilities, making it a great option for small businesses on a budget. You can get a lot of functionality without an investment. Their Service Hub connects seamlessly to their marketing and sales tools for a full view of your customers at all times.

However, the free Service Hub option only covers 2 users. Add-on, it lacks key support features such as live chat, conversation routing, and ticket management. If you need those, you’ll see your price tag increase quickly.

Pricing

• Free: $0

• Starter: Starting at $18 per user per month

• Professional: Starting at $800 per month

7. Zendesk

Features

• Over 12,000 integrations so you can use existing tools and add new ones as your business and your needs grow.

• Live chat and AI capabilities make the most of your team’s availability, and bots provide support even when you are off the clock.

• The omnichannel tickets system centralizes and manages all requests so you provide the support your customers expect and your SLA promises.

Pros & Cons

Zendesk Service Suite provides pretty much everything you need to provide your customers with top-quality support.

Although their platform is feature-rich, this functionality comes with a high price tag, starting at $55 per user per month. Other companies provide robust tools for a smaller investment. In addition, as a small business, you might not need all the bells and whistles.

Pricing

• 14-day free trial

• Suite Team: Starting at $55 per user per month

• Suite Growth: Starting at $89 per user per month

• Suite Professional: Starting at $115 per user per month

• Suite Enterprise: Custom pricing

8. ZohoDesk

Features

• Customizable live chat gives your clients branded access to your team with just a few clicks.

• Self-service options such as their knowledge base and customer forums make it easy for your customers to answer their own questions on their own time.

• Automations take care of your repetitive tasks, such as ticket assignments, notifications, and escalations.

Pros & Cons

The fully integrated platform allows you to provide contextual, personalized support because your agents can see your customer’s full history and proceed accordingly.

Some customers report issues with search and filtering capabilities, which impede their ability to find tickets in a timely manner or at all. Additionally, live chat is only available at the Enterprise level. This key feature might be out of reach for your small business.

Pricing

• 15-day free trial

• Standard: Starting at $14 per user per month

• Professional: Starting at $23 per user per month

• Enterprise: Starting at $40 per user per month

9. Kayako

Features

• Live chat software is included with their cloud-based solution, so you don’t have to pay extra to help customers on this fast-growing channel.

• Collaboration tools and pricing models allow you to bring in other teams and subject matter experts to help out.

• Single-view gives you and your team a complete view of the customer and the customer journey.

Pros & Cons

Kayako is designed especially for SMBs, so their focus is on businesses like yours. Their out-of-the-box functionality is highly prized for companies that need to get started fast. And with the ability to add collaborators, you can enable everyone on your team to enhance customer service.

The company has recently moved to an all-inclusive pricing model with two tiers: one is cloud-based, and the other is their classic on-premises model. However, you must contact Kayako directly to get a price quote.

Pricing

• 14-day free trial

• Kayako Cloud: Contact for pricing

• Classic On-Prem: Contact for pricing

10. LiveAgent

Features

• Live chat software, which they call “The fastest on the market,” allows quick and easy conversations between your team and your customers.

• Vast omnichannel capability means you can connect with customers on almost any channel, including chat, email, phone, social media, and even video.

• Ticketing system and universal inbox organize all queries so you can manage them effectively.

Pros & Cons

LiveAgent provides a lot of features small businesses need, such as ticketing software, a knowledge base, and analytics, at a price they can afford. The company also gets high marks for customer service and customization.

However, many users complain about the UX. Although a high level of customization is possible, it requires a lot of up-front work for you. You can use out-of-the-box options, but those are limited.

Pricing

• 7 and 30-day free trials

• Small Business: Starting at $9 per month

• Medium Business: Starting at $29 per month

• Large Business: Starting at $49 per month

• Enterprise: Starting at $69 per month

Benefits of small business help desk software

Small business help desk software offers a multitude of advantages that can significantly enhance your customer support operations and overall business efficiency.

Enhanced organization

A help desk software centralizes all customer inquiries into a single, organized platform. This eliminates the chaos of scattered emails, phone calls, and social media messages. By transforming every interaction into a ticket, you gain complete visibility and control over your support workload, ensuring no request slips through the cracks. This streamlined approach promotes efficiency and reduces response times.

Improve collaboration

Effective teamwork is essential for delivering exceptional customer service. Help desk software fosters collaboration by enabling multiple team members to work together on a ticket. Agents can easily share information, assign tasks, and escalate issues as needed. This ensures consistent communication and a unified approach to resolving customer problems.

Automate routine workflows

Help desk software empowers you to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up your team to focus on more complex issues. Automated workflows can be created to assign tickets, send notifications, and even resolve common problems without human intervention. This automation not only saves time but also reduces errors and improves overall efficiency.

Assistance in reporting & analytics

Gain valuable insights into your support performance with built-in reporting and analytics features. Help desk software provides detailed data on ticket volume, resolution times, customer satisfaction, and agent performance. By analyzing this information, you can identify trends, measure key performance indicators (KPIs), and make data-driven decisions to optimize your support operations.

Optimize accessibility

Modern customers expect multiple channels of support. Help desk software often integrates with various communication platforms, such as email, live chat, and social media. This ensures you can engage with customers where they prefer,improving accessibility and satisfaction. Additionally, many help desk solutions offer self-service options like knowledge bases and FAQs, empowering customers to find answers independently and reducing support ticket volume.

What should you look for in helpdesk software for SMBs?

• Integrated view of channels: Choose a help desk system that gives you multichannel support all in one place. Omnichannel capability depends on seamless communication across channels.

• Intuitive ticket management: Your help desk system will be dealing with a lot of moving parts. Make sure the ticketing system is easy to use and manage so you can ensure fast, reliable support processes and resolutions.

• Workflow automations: Automations reduce repetitive and menial tasks and support seamless workflows. This is vital for small and mid-sized businesses that really need to optimize what each employee can accomplish.

• Self-service capabilities: Customers today want to be able to access the information they need easily in order to solve their own problems. Features like an integrated knowledge base and AI-powered support like Freshchat’s Freddy AI can get ahead of problems and questions before they become tickets.

• Flexible, transparent pricing: Flexible, transparent pricing ensures you stay on budget and don’t get yourself into any trouble. The best help desk software won’t do you any good if it puts you over budget.

Room to grow: You may be small now, so a solution just for small businesses makes a lot of sense. However, choose service desk software that gives you room to grow. Make sure you can add users, increase ticket volumes, and manage the many customers you’ll serve in the future.

Why do small businesses need a ticketing system to manage customer support queries?

When you’re just getting started, your small team can probably manage customer service queries as they come in without a system and maintain the service level agreement. You only have a few clients, and your team knows them personally. The clients feel comfortable calling, emailing, and sending SMS, and your team solves the problem. And that works well until it doesn’t.

Reduce lost & duplicated tickets

Eventually, you’ll lose a support ticket request across the various channels. Or you’ll find that your team is duplicating work when clients reach out to everyone. You need a solution that brings all queries together in one place so everything is addressed and nothing is lost.

Access to advanced features

Another factor to consider is that customers want instant support! And in 2023,  you need self-service options and live chat support. It’s very difficult to provide those features without specific customer service software and tools. Some help desk platforms like Freshdesk offer live chat software, chatbots, knowledge base integrations, and predictive support.

Increased productivity

Help desk software automations can reduce and even eliminate repetitive tasks, so you and your teams can focus on helping customers. They can also streamline processes such as ticket assignment to make sure that customer requests are getting to the right agent with adequate bandwidth. The result? Decreased ticket times and increased level of customer satisfaction.

How do you choose the right helpdesk software for your small business?

Selecting the appropriate helpdesk software for your small business can significantly impact your customer support operations. To make an informed decision, it's essential to consider several key factors.

Set goals/needs

Clearly define your business's customer support goals and needs. Identify the primary functions you require from a helpdesk solution, such as ticket management, email support, live chat, or self-service options. Consider the complexity of your support inquiries and the volume of tickets you anticipate handling. By understanding your specific requirements,you can narrow down your options and select a helpdesk that aligns with your business objectives.

Assess budget & likely ROI

Evaluate your budget allocation for customer support software and determine the potential return on investment (ROI).Consider the cost of the software, including licensing fees, implementation costs, and ongoing maintenance. Assess how the helpdesk will contribute to increased efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and potentially higher revenue. By carefully analyzing the costs and benefits, you can make a financially sound decision.

Determine target channels

Identify the communication channels through which your customers prefer to interact with your business. Consider whether you need to support email, phone, live chat, social media, or other channels. Ensure the chosen helpdesk software can effectively manage these channels and provide a unified customer view.

Make sure it fits with your current infrastructure

Assess how the helpdesk software integrates with your existing business systems and tools. Consider compatibility with your email system, CRM, and other software applications. Evaluate the ease of data migration and the potential impact on your current workflows. By ensuring a smooth integration, you can minimize disruptions and optimize productivity.

Ensure it is scalable to future needs

As your business grows, so will your customer support needs. Choose a helpdesk solution that can accommodate increased ticket volume, additional support agents, and expanded features. Consider the software's scalability options,such as user licenses, storage capacity, and customization capabilities. By selecting a scalable helpdesk, you can future-proof your customer support operations and avoid the need for costly software migrations.

Get started with help desk software

Adding help desk software to your small business tech stack can make all the difference. A feature-rich platform like Freshdesk enables you to provide big company levels of support in a way that matches your company and budget.

Why wait until you lose a support request or lose a client? Get started with Freshdesk today for free.