Teams look past HubSpot Service Hub when the jump from Starter to Professional seats and the required onboarding fee outweigh the value of a shared CRM record, or when support runs on a different CRM. Most move to Freshdesk or Zendesk for a dedicated desk, Help Scout for a free small-team plan, and Zammad when ticket data must stay under their control.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Freshdesk
Ticketing and automation at a moderate price, chat in Omni · United States
A ticket-first desk with published per-agent tiers of $19, $55 and $89 billed annually, and no CRM underneath. Multiple SLA policies start on Pro, skill-based assignment and audit logs on Enterprise. 500 AI sessions are included once, then $49 per 100. A 14-day trial opens on Enterprise.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you want a dedicated ticket desk with published per-agent prices and no CRM attached.
Pricing: Per agent per month on published tiers, from $19 billed annually for email-centered Freshdesk or $29 for Freshdesk Omni with chat and social channels; 500 AI agent sessions are included once, then sold in packs of 100. (free trial)
Full review: #2 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Freshdesk →
2. Zendesk
The most complete help desk suite, priced for scale · United States
A support suite sold per agent, listed on its Dutch pricing page at €19, €55 and €115 on annual billing for the three self-serve tiers. Five to ten automated resolutions per agent a month are included, extra ones cost €1.50. Copilot, workforce and contact center are paid add-ons.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you want one suite for tickets, voice and messaging that works beside any CRM.
Pricing: Per agent per month on published Suite tiers, with AI agent resolutions billed beyond a small monthly allowance per agent, and Copilot, workforce management and quality tools sold as add-ons. (free trial)
Full review: #5 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Zendesk →
3. Help Scout
Email-first help desk that hides the ticket machinery · United States
Email-centered, with a free plan for five users, one Inbox and one Docs site, where HubSpot's free tools stop at two users. Paid tiers are $25, $45 and $75 per user. AI Answers is billed at $0.75 per resolution, with three months of unlimited resolutions free.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you run a small team and want a free plan larger than two users.
Pricing: Free plan for five users and 100 contacts a month, then per-user tiers from about $25 a month, with AI Answers billed at $0.75 per resolution. (free plan)
Full review: #3 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Help Scout →
4. Zoho Desk
Low-cost ticketing tied into the Zoho suite · India
A per-agent desk with a free edition for three agents and four paid plans: Express, Standard, Professional and Enterprise. Telephony, Blueprints and Zia sit on Professional. The page we could read showed rupee prices only, so compare in your own currency with Zoho directly.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you want a low-cost desk and a free edition for up to three agents.
Pricing: Free plan for a few agents, then low per-agent tiers billed annually, well under Zendesk at every level. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Zoho Desk →
5. Zammad
Open-source help desk, self-hosted or hosted in Germany · Germany
Open source under AGPL-3.0, and hosted plans run in German data centers at €7 to €27 per agent a month depending on tier and billing. Self-hosted packages start at €2,999 a year. AI is optional at €0.03 per call. It has no CRM, so deal data stays elsewhere.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you want to host tickets yourself or in Germany and can run the software.
Pricing: Free to self-host under an open-source license; hosted plans per agent per month from under €10, published. (open source)
Full review: #1 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Zammad →
6. Front
Collaborative inbox for customer-facing teams · United States
A shared inbox for teams that handle customers by email, SMS and chat, at $25, $65 and $105 per seat on annual billing. Starter caps at ten seats and one channel type. Autopilot starts at $0.05 per conversation and Copilot costs $20 per seat, except on Enterprise.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if your team works from a shared inbox and wants comments and assignment on every thread.
Pricing: Per seat per month on published tiers from $25 billed annually, with seat caps on the lower tiers, one channel type on Starter, and AI tools sold as add-ons except on Enterprise. (free trial)
Full review: #8 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Front →
7. Intercom
AI-first support desk built around the Messenger · United States
Messenger-led, with seats on three tiers and an AI agent, Fin, charged at $0.99 per outcome with a monthly minimum. A 14-day trial needs no card. Copilot adds $29 per agent annually. The page lists no free plan, which makes it a poorer fit for cost-led teams.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you want AI resolution in a messenger and accept a per-outcome charge.
Pricing: Per helpdesk seat per month on published tiers, plus $0.99 per Fin AI outcome. (free trial)
Full review: #4 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Intercom →
8. Hiver
Help desk that runs inside Gmail · United States
Started in Gmail and now sells Hiver Omni at $25 and $55 per user on annual billing, $35 and $65 monthly. AI Agents, Copilot and a knowledge builder are in the entry tier. SLAs, a customer portal and CSAT surveys wait for Pro. Voice is a paid add-on.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if your team lives in Gmail and wants AI features inside the seat price.
Pricing: Per user per month on published tiers, from about $25 billed annually. (free trial)
Full review: #11 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Hiver →
9. HappyFox
Traditional ticketing with unlimited-agent plans · United States
Per-agent plans from $24, with Basic capped at five agents, or flat unlimited-agent plans with a yearly ticket allowance that the vendor says suit teams above roughly 20 to 25 agents. Billing is monthly, annual or two-year. A 14-day trial is booked through the demo form.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if your support team is growing and you would rather pay a flat fee than per seat.
Pricing: Per agent per month from about $24, or flat unlimited-agent plans priced on volume, both published. (free trial)
Full review: #10 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit HappyFox →
10. LiveAgent
Low-cost multichannel ticketing with a built-in call center · Slovakia
A multichannel desk at $15, $29 and $49 per agent monthly on annual billing for Starter, Team and Business. Call center and social channels begin on Team. Every plan starts with a 30-day trial and no card. Reporting is missing from Starter, which suits only tiny teams.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you need phone, social and email in one desk at a low per-agent price.
Pricing: Published per-agent tiers from about $15 a month billed annually for Small up to Enterprise, with social channels and call center depth reserved for upper tiers. (free trial)
Full review: #13 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit LiveAgent →
11. Gorgias
Ecommerce help desk built around Shopify orders · United States
Built for online stores and priced by billable tickets: $10 for 50 tickets up to $750 for 5,000 on annual billing. AI interactions cost $0.90 each on annual plans. It makes little sense for a software company, where HubSpot's CRM record matters more than order data.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you sell online and want the bill to follow ticket volume rather than seats.
Pricing: Monthly plans sized by billable tickets, from a low entry plan, with per-ticket overage and AI agent interactions billed separately. (free trial)
Full review: #9 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Gorgias →
12. Deskpro
Help desk offered as cloud, private cloud or on-premises · United Kingdom
Cloud plans at $39, $59 and $99 per agent with minimums of 5, 10 and 25 seats, a choice of US, UK or EU data center, and 22 AWS regions on Enterprise. A separate Private edition can run on your own servers. The minimums rule out very small teams.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you must choose the hosting region or run the desk on your own infrastructure.
Pricing: Published per-agent cloud tiers from $39 a month for Team through Enterprise, each with a minimum seat count, plus a separately quoted Private edition for on-premises or dedicated hosting and discounts for nonprofits and education. (none)
Full review: #14 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Deskpro →
13. Salesforce Service Cloud
Enterprise service platform on the Salesforce CRM · United States
A CRM-based service platform in five editions, from Starter Suite at $25 to Max at $550 per user a month. Core, Advanced and Max are billed annually only, and Flex Credits for AI appear on Max. Enhanced Messaging adds $75 per user. Costs far exceed Service Hub Starter.
Switch from HubSpot Service Hub if you are standardized on Salesforce and need cases tied to its accounts and opportunities.
Pricing: Per user per month, from Starter Suite at $25 and Pro Suite at $100 on a contract to the Core, Advanced and Max service editions at $195 to $550 billed annually; AI agent use runs on Flex Credits except in Max. (free trial)
Full review: #12 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Salesforce Service Cloud →
