Support ticket system

If you’re not sure what the best possible support ticket system for you is, or you haven’t even heard of support ticket systems and want to know more, you’ve come to the right place to get started.

Not only is a support ticket system almost a necessity for any business, but this neat little system can make life much easier, saving you precious hours and winning you points with your customers.

However, the difference between an excellent support ticket system and an average one can be pretty drastic, so it’s in your best interest to ensure you have the best possible system while still getting your money’s worth.

These can be email ticketing, call center ticketing, self-service portal ticketing, etc. However, regardless of the source, support ticket systems centralize these incoming tickets and store customer requests. Hence, it’s easier for ticket management staff to address complaints and inquiries. If you receive customer complaints over multiple channels like email, phone, and your website, then a ticket system software is an ideal solution for you.

Why use a support ticket system in your business?

Consider a scenario where there is a small issue with your product, and you don’t have a dedicated customer service platform. Customer inquiries will have to be addressed when they come in, and it’s inevitable that you may unintentionally forget some customer requests.

This can be a frustrating experience for both you and your customer. As any business knows, customer satisfaction has an impact on your sales and loyalty. It’s therefore in your best interest as a business owner to ensure that all customer interactions are kept short, sweet, and efficient. Something that’s not always possible with improperly trained customer service reps.

That’s where a good support ticket system comes into play. Every request should be recorded, as well as the date, time, and other relevant details, and a ticket will be generated. By doing so, your customer support team will be much more efficient in the way they handle incoming requests.

There’s also the added benefit of being able to schedule reminders and prioritize depending on the customer’s requirements. It’ll save you valuable time and make you look more efficient and in control. It also makes life much easier and helps streamline the entire customer service process.

How to choose the best support ticketing system

It can be challenging to choose the best support ticketing system for your business. There are several factors to consider, and while most help desk software will provide enough features to keep customers happy, the most common question comes down to what the most cost-effective solution is. Let’s look at some factors.

Multichannel support

You should ask yourself whether you receive customer support tickets from all the communication channels from which you get complaints from or does all your ticket traffic come from a single source. You may also want to optimize for one or two channels and look for a customer service software that provides only those features. It’s worth taking the time to see if you interact with your customer base primarily via email, customer calls, and social media, which may warrant looking for a particular feature for help desk software.

On the other hand, if you have most of your tickets coming from the customer portal, you may want to invest in a system with built-in live chat software for instant assistance.

Ticket management

If you’re sure you will receive multichannel ticketing, you should look into a hybrid ticket system. This allows customer service agents to follow the ticket resolution or customers’ questions across multiple channels.
Alternatively, you can opt for a universal inbox where you can view and reply to multiple desk tickets from a single place.

Customer relationship management is an integral part of why you’re opting for ticketing software. If you notice repetitive issues, features like macros or templated responses along with predefined answers will help you save time. Automated ticket distribution and escalation make the system easier to manage. Mass ticket actions will allow you to perform actions on multiple tickets simultaneously, saving you time and allowing you to send, transfer, resolve, or delete multiple tickets at once.

You also want in-depth reporting and analytics to make sure your decisions are informed. Software that provides alerts and notifications is also great because they ensure you don’t miss out on anything and nothing slips by unnoticed.

Live chat

Live chat software is a great way for you to resolve customer queries in real-time communication via instant chat messages. You can opt for a chat distribution system that passes customer requests to all online customer support agents. In general, having live chat software embedded into the website adds value to customer support.

Pro-tip: Make sure you do your research on good hosting services so that your website speed and capacity is optimized. The last thing you want is for your live chat software to crash on the site due to structural issues.

Furthermore, chat overview allows you to see on-line visitors, location, and URLs. You also have the option of interaction monitoring with incident tracking software and conversation history, which will enable you to see previous chat sessions. It’s a valuable tool that provides your service desk team with comprehensive information about your customers.

Call Center

A call center can either receive inbound calls from clients or make outbound calls. This is usually done to notify the customers about a product. An interactive voice response (IVR) is an invaluable part of a call center software. IVR technology automates your phone system with pre-recorded voice messages and then routes the inbound call to the appropriate agent or department.

When the support team is busy handling other calls or customers do not have time to speak with an agent, there is also an option to request a callback in the IVR menu. Call logging or call recording is also a feature in many call centers due to industry standards related to legal, training, or security purposes.

Social Media

Tracking different channels to see where your brand is mentioned is also known as brand monitoring. Monitoring how consumers view your brand or brand reputation management and making sure to take strategic decisions wherever necessary can drastically affect customer happiness ratings. Social media notifications which can come from social media management tools, can be an effective way to maintain a desired social image.

Customer portal

Think of an entire library with a list of articles or information about products or services, articles, guides, screenshots, videos, etc. This is a one-stop shop for all information about a product, commonly known as knowledge base software. It’s crucial to have a ready database of customer information as well.

FAQ pages also function as a primary source for resolving customer issues or discrepancies. Forums also function as discussion areas for specific topics. Some customer portals also have feedback and suggestions pages.

Platforms specifics

You will inevitably have to resolve issues over multiple communication channels, so any platform you go with should offer you a multi-channel communication path to resolution. Ticket management should involve ready-to-use templates for templated responses and should also allow remote access control.

Custom service level agreements or SLA management ensures that all agreed-upon service levels are being met, and that attention is paid to the metrics by which the agreed-upon services are measured. Combined with reporting and analytics, which gives you enough data to make informed decisions, and time tracking software to keep track of hours and expenses across teams, the customer experience is enhanced considerably.

Integrations

Any software worth it’s salt should be able to integrate across several platforms seamlessly. This includes, but is not limited to social media, eCommerce platforms, and VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). For ease of use, integration is essential, and failure to integrate may cause the software to be overlooked even if it is potentially useful.

The most efficient way to collect customer satisfaction data is by integrating with customer feedback software to collect customer satisfaction surveys. Having access to satisfaction surveys means you can be proactive in how you manage your systems, leading to faster resolution times when an issue arises.

How much does support ticket system cost?

Good customer software can vary in price depending on the plan you opt for, the number of features it gives you, and how many agents you’re using. Ensure you check what pricing plans are available and opt for a custom pricing model where you pay per user per month.

Most software should also come with a free trial period in case you need to see if you like them or not.

Top 25 support ticket system providers

1. LiveAgent

If you’re looking for support ticket software, why not start with the best? LiveAgent is undoubtedly one of the best out there. With all support channels under one roof, this feature-rich software has over 130+ features and 200+ integrations with the tools you already use, which means it can integrate with various customer feedback software.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, LiveAgent brings to the table, along with its universal inbox, a hybrid ticket stream so you can follow resolutions across different channels. No more lopsided workloads. LiveAgent automatically creates and distributes workloads optimally between agents. Time tracking allows you to track your agent’s work time per ticket. It also takes care of SLA compliance by keeping track of business hours.

Additional information can be stored in the ticket fields, and you can carry out mass actions of different kinds. To top it all off, there’s a SPAM filter, so you don’t have to see unnecessary content, and you can merge tickets about the same issue.

Key features

• A flexible live chat software
• Call center software
• Customer CRM insights
• Social media ticketing
• SEO optimized knowledge base or integrated knowledge management
• Indexed self-service portal
• Canned responses
• Predefined answers
• Internal tickets
• Ability to merge tickets
• Option to add private notes to a tickets
• Split ticket
• Automatic notifications
• Agent collision detection
• Audit log
• Ticket exports

Price

LiveAgent offers several plans with transparent pricing for their omnichannel help desk software advanced automation, live chat, social integrations, and call center capabilities. You even get a free 14-day trial to see if you like it. Then pay as you go and upgrade whenever you want. There are no contracts, no setup fees, and you’re free to cancel anytime.

The plans are as follows:

• Small Plan @ $9/agent/month
• Medium Plan @ $29/agent/month (contains everything in Small plus more)
• Large Plan @ $39/agent/month (contains everything in the previous plans + more)
• Free Account with limited features

2. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is another powerful help desk software with some unique features that allow you to prioritize, categorize and assign tickets, so you never lose track of them. It can track incoming tickets over multiple platforms but what makes it unique is that it has an agent collision detection feature to ensure that multiple agents don’t wind up working on the same ticket by accident.

Along with the option of pre-formatted replies, FreshDesk also allows you to prioritize, categorize and automatically suggest incoming ticket fields.

It also uses AI-powered bots that incorporate a powerful automation engine to deliver quick replies to your customer and achieve faster resolution times.

Key features

• Shared ownership (share tickets with other teams while maintaining visibility on issues)
• Linked tickets
• Support across multiple channels
• Intelligent ticket assignment
• Custom reports

Price

Freshdesk offers multiple plans over a varying price range in both help desk and omnichannel. Make sure to go through the features to see which one is the best for you. There’s also a free plan that can be helpful as it has unlimited agents, but it has minimal features.

3. Zendesk

Zendesk has taken customizing for specifics to an extreme, so their products include Zendesk for services, sales, platforms, and APIs, as well as marketplaces. It also allows your customers to reach you over a channel that they’re most comfortable with as it provides support over live chat, social media, email, or call.

The help center and community forum allows customers to resolve issues at their own pace while reducing the load on the agents who can now focus on more urgent issues. The entire experience is also personalized for the customer with the use of AI-powered bots.

Key features

• Centralized hub for storing and tickets
• Help desk automation
• Multilingual support and content
• Prescriptive dashboards to analyse customer experience and team management
• Issue tagging across a wide range of tickets

Price

Zendesk offers multiple plans that are different for people and enterprises.

• Suite Team @ $49/agent/month
• Suite Growth @ $79/agent/month
• Suite professional @ $99/agent/month

For enterprises it costs

• Suite Enterprise @ $150/agent/month
• There’s also a $250/agent/month for those who require the most powerful version.

4. Kayako

If you’re looking for a personal touch to your customer service while retaining advanced features such as detailed reports, etc., it might be wise to consider Kayako. This help desk software is perfect for smaller businesses as it allows for customer service to be made personal and simple. The live chat software is included, and available 24/7, so you can help customers in real-time across every channel.

It also integrates seamlessly with your website, iOS, and Android device apps. The customer service is context-driven, so you always have a complete picture of the resolution journey and know what’s happening.

The customer self-help knowledge base is also available 24/7 with knowledge base articles so your clients can help themselves.

Key features

• Support ticketing with email integration
• Kayako Query Language allows users to create custom reports
• Emphasis on support for ecommerce platforms
• Variety of API or ecommerce integrations
• The ability to generate comprehensive customer and organization profiles for CRM
• Better appointment management to help your business stay organized

Price

Kayako has three plans depending on your needs.

• An Omnichannel inbox for small teams @ $15/agent/month
• A customer service software for growing teams @ $30/agent/month
• And a customer service solution for larger teams and businesses @ $60/agent/month

5. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a powerful software and definitely one you should consider. Zoho Desk’s omnichannel approach allows you to receive and deal with tickets across multiple platforms without breaking a sweat. Zoho Desk enables workflow automation to automate manual repetitive actions and track accountability, and spot bottlenecks.

Zoho Desk allows you to connect with other tools you use and even build your own help desk-based internal apps through SDKs. You also have the option to embed a knowledge base and AI capabilities into your website, iOS, or Android device.

Zoho Desk also has advanced features for you to receive custom reports on insightful information.

Key features

• Batch communications
• Real-time analytics with Radar
• Easy tracking of Bottlenecks with Blueprint
• Zia, an AI-powered assistant
• Advanced response editor
• Various Work modes for Ticket management
• A live dashboard for displaying critical data and metrics

Price

Pricing details for Zoho Desk vary depending on whether Zoho Desk bills you annually or monthly.

	FREE	STANDARD	PROFESSIONAL
Billed Annually	Free	$14/agent/month	$23/agent/month
Billed Monthly	Free	$20/agent/month	$35/agent/month
Agent Limit	3 Free Agents	Unlimited	Unlimited

6. Jitbit Helpdesk

Jitbit has two versions of its help desk software systems. It has an “on-premise” version and a cloud-based SaaS version. One of the notable features of Jitbit is the two-way email help desk ticketing system. This immediately turns incoming emails into trouble tickets while sending out automatic notifications to both users and help desk agents.
Jitbit also has incident tracking software and can assign agents or customer service reps to different areas. The SaaS version is also available, so you don’t have to worry about the installation procedures. There’s also great integration, so you can resolve tickets over multiple channels of communication.

The on-premise version is a one-time payment plan and is suitable for up to 10 agents. This is great for anyone trying to avoid a subscription or multiple payments. It has options for all business sizes, from midsize businesses or slightly larger than medium businesses down to the business requirements of small home businesses or large enterprises.

Key features

• Email ticketing system
• Easy ticketing resolution
• Connects with your IT systems
• Incident tracking

Price

There are several pricing options available, with more features available as the prices increase.

Small	Company	Enterprise	SaaS (hosted)
$1699	$3499	$4999	from $24 mo

7. HappyFox

HappyFox has won the PC editor’s choice for the best help desk software for five years in a row. It handles all inbound requests in one ticketing system. Complex and redundant workflow is outsourced to a powerful smart rules engine. It also analyses metrics and can generate solid reports which help make informed decisions.

You also can create custom fields, workflows and tailor and personalize the support experience. HappyFox is excellent not just for HR & Marketing, Customer Support, and IT Operations but also for all teams.

Key features

• Task management
• Templated responses
• Help desk reports
• Asset management tool ( Asset tracking including software assets)

Price

HappyFox has both agent-based pricing for small and medium-sized teams as well as unlimited agents for large teams. Pricing has to be requested depending on the plan you choose.

8. Vivantio Pro

Vivantio helps you run your team like a professional. All incoming service requests are sent to the right teams. Ticket types are customizable; the business process can be managed across various teams, departments, and even the customers. Essential operational data is also viewable.

Intelligent routing and SLA-driven escalations help remove bottlenecks. The software has powerful automation tools as well. You can even offer conditional input choices to help customers resolve issues more quickly.
You also receive a free B2B Customer service transformative guide to help you make your entire company more customer-centric, which can help with customer sentiment by increasing average customer satisfaction.

Key features

• Self-service
• Automation
• Knowledge management
• Asset management

Price

The price varies depending on the plan you choose and the features you need. The plans are:

• Value $42/user /month paid annually
• Vital $52/user /month paid annually
• Velocity $82/user /month paid annually
• Visionary $142/user /month paid annually

9. HaloITSM

HaloITSM is everything you need for IT in one place. It allows you to have central control over your communications and automate your workflow. Their ITIL-aligned processes make it easy to manage incidents and meet SLAs. Your users will also find the self-service portal extremely easy to navigate.

It also allows you to centralize the asset management process and take advantage of the powerful AI software available. The best part is you can try it out for a month for free to see if you like it without needing a credit card.

Key features

• Incident management
• Configuration management
• ITIL service catalogue
• Knowledge management

Price

The pricing goes from 3 agents paid per agent per month to 150+ agents, so you’re sure to find the pricing suitable for your company and the number of agents. The more agents you have, the more affordable the pricing is.

10. Hiver

Hiver is the world’s first Gmail-based help desk app, which means you can deliver fast and empathetic customer service right from Gmail without having to learn and adapt to another tool. A huge bonus if you don’t want to waste time and money re-training staff.

It creates accountability with email ownership and status to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. You can seamlessly collaborate while keeping internal and external conversations clearly separate yet in context. This way, you can collaborate on support emails without requiring CCs.

You also receive analytics and insights into workload distribution, view SLA violations and team performance, and improve based upon the metrics.

Key features

• Email tags
• Shared drafts
• Activity timeline
• Collision alerts
• Access control
• Round-Robin assignment
• Notes and @mentions
• Customer surveys

Price

Depending on what plan you’re comfortable with, you can choose from the following but make sure to check what features are available.

• Lite @ $12/user/month
• Growth @ $24/user/month
• Pro @ $37/user/month
• Elite @ $57/user/month

11. Gorgias

Gorgias allows you to completely centralize your support tickets in one place. This will enable you to make sure all your customer’s data is displayed while you’re talking to them, which is exceptionally useful. You can edit orders, modify subscriptions, and refund payments without leaving your help desk. You also can track all sales generated by support agents over text messages, social media answers, and live chat conversations on your website.

The software is also designed with eCommerce specifically in mind but can fit your entire stack with over 30+ integrations.

Key features

• Multi-store connection
• Stylish menu
• Templates automation
• Automated responses
• Rules and Macros
• Auto responder

Price

The pricing is cheaper when paid annually, but you can also opt for a monthly subscription.
Prices start at $50/month for 350 monthly tickets +$25 for each extra 100 tickets and go all the way to $625/month for 6,000 monthly tickets +$14 for each additional 100 tickets. You can also request a custom pricing plan for your own needs.

12. ProProfs Help Desk

ProProfs Help Desk is simple, straightforward, and easy to use. It allows team members to collaborate with a shared inbox. Automation allows for increased workflow productivity, and detailed performance reports and insights based on analytics are also available.

While it also provides multi-channel support and includes a knowledge base, it is best used by those who want to resolve all customer support queries via email.

Key features

• Collaborate with shared inboxes
• Increase agent productivity with automation
• Improve performance with reports
• Provide multi-channel support
• Includes Chat, Knowledge Base & Survey

Price

The pricing starts at $0 for the free version, but you can use the essential version for just $10/user/month, and if you need even more features, you can access the premium version for $15/user/month.

13. OneDesk

If you’re looking for a way to merge project management software with help desk ticketing, then OneDesk is the solution for you. From the help desk side, you have the features that allow you to capture tickets by email, an integrated chat and collaboration, service request management, customer portal, and knowledge base. You also have the option of automated and customizable workflows, and you can keep track of service level agreements.

Add on top of this the benefit of a versatile project management software that allows you to have discussions & notifications on tasks & issues, views for traditional & agile project management, Gantt charts, scheduling, and assignments, time-tracking with timesheets & task timers, reporting and exporting and integrations for other applications you already use.

Key features

• Help desk Software
• Collaborate with your customers
• Tasks, projects, and portfolios
• Connect to OneDesk

Price

The pricing is quite affordable at $9/user/month

14. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

ManageEngine Service Desk is built especially for the purpose of being an IT help desk software. It incorporates best practice ITSM workflows, powerful integrations with IT management apps, smart automation, extensive reporting capabilities, codeless customizations, and much more.

You also have the option of deploying on premise or using cloud-based software. The standard plan is just IT help desk software, the professional plan includes a help desk + asset management, and the enterprise plan consists of a help desk + change + asset + project.

Key features

• Incident management
• Problem management
• Change management
• Asset management

Price

Prices are subject to individual needs, but a quote can be requested.

15. EngageBay

EngageBay has some exciting features when it comes to help desk software. Their CRM software allows you to store unlimited contacts and build stronger relationships by keeping track of all your customer details in one place.

It also allows you to automate your marketing process by sending personalized messages to the target audience. They also support live chat software, so you can offer your customers support whenever they request it.

Key features

• Landing pages
• Lead generation tools
• Marketing automation
• Macros

Price

There are several plans and options on how you want to be billed. A few of these entry-level plans are:

• All-in-One starts at $8.99
• Marketing starts at $7.79
• CRM & Sales Bay starts at $7.79
• Service Bay feature offers a forever Free Help Desk

16. Jira Service Desk

Jira Service Desk is the only service desk built on Jira. It’s a part of Jira service management which includes all the functionality of the Jira Service Desk with better ITSM capabilities.

It gives you the option of configuring queues to track, triage, and assign incoming requests.

Key features

• High-velocity service request management
• A unified view of work
• Request queues
• Requests from Slack and Microsoft Teams

Price

The price plans available are:

• Free for three agents (For small teams starting with a service desk)
• Standard @ $20/agent (For teams standardizing their service management)
• Premium @ $40/agent (For organizations scaling high-velocity ITSM)

17. Jivochat

Jivochat allows your customers to reach out to you over the channel they feel most comfortable with, so you don’t miss a chance to connect. It integrates seamlessly with everything from Apple Business Chat to WhatsApp, Instagram, and even a chatbot.

Efficient client/agent communication as all information and required tools appear in a single window.

Key features

• Email chat transcripts
• Blacklist
• File Transfer
• Service Quality ratings
• Translator

Price

Jivochat is free for the first five agents and after that costs $13/agent/month if billed annually.

18. Cometchat

CometChat has two versions of its software available, namely CometChat Go and CometChat Pro. CometChat Go is a drag and drop chat plugin for popular no-code platforms like WordPress and other web software.

CometChat Pro offers chat API, SDKs, and UI components for popular programming languages like React, Swift, Cotlin, Java, etc.

Key features

• Ready to use plugins
• Attractive white-label UI
• No development is required for CometChat Go
• Open-source UI components
• Minimal development required for CometChat Pro

Price

The cheapest plan starts at $149/month

19. Freshchat

Freshchat is unique in the way it delivers customer service across multiple channels. It does so using a blend of AI and human assistance. Through the use of AI-powered chatbots, it guides customers through resolving their queries regardless of what channel they use.

The software even anticipates when a customer might have an issue with something and proactively reaches out to them first. It also integrates across most social media where most consumers feel the most comfortable.

Key features

• Blend of AI and human support
• Proactive
• Context-driven bots

Price

Since prices vary depending on the plan you choose, it could be very affordable or quite expensive; however, this varies depending upon your individual needs.

20. Freshservice

Fresh service is an intelligent service management solution for the modern enterprise. The software boasts a massive return on investment for its customers. With its powerful automation tools, it can respond faster to customers and resolve issues. It gives a significant return on investment as almost half of revenue comes from returning customers, according to this benchmark report.

Due to its integrated service management on a single platform, it has improved service management.

Key features

• Built for enterprise and designed for employees
• SLA management
• Knowledge management
• Self-service portal

Price

The price range varies depending on the plan you opt for. It is important to go through the plans and features offered in detail.

21. Hubspot Service hub

Hubspot Service Hub brings all your customer service data and channels together on one CRM platform so you can be more efficient with onboarding, retraining, supporting, and growing your customer base.

Hubspot prioritizes critical issues first and adds routing to tickets. It also has a knowledge base to help customers help themselves first. This reduces the load on the agents as well. The live chat feature also allows you to help customers on your website in real-time.

Key features

• Help desk and ticketing
• Knowledge base
• Live chat
• Automated customer service

Price

The price plans are as follows:

• Starter Starting at $45/month
• Professional Starting at $800/month
• Enterprise Starting at $3,200/month

22. Vision Helpdesk

Vision Helpdesk allows you to bring together requests from your business email, phone, social chat media, and websites so that you can manage them centrally in one place. You can set SLAs, escalations, automate workflow and even automate your ticketing software flow.

Vision Helpdesk allows you to define the landing department and staff assigned when a new ticket comes in. You can modify ticket properties based on certain criteria and conditions. You can also set up auto close when you don’t receive a reply back in a set time.

Key features

• Private collaboration tool
• Gamification increases productivity
• Task management

Price

There are several price plans starting from $12 to $800 depending on what features you want and how you want to download it.

23. Web Help Desk

Web Help Desk offers two IT Service Management options to fit your needs depending on what you prefer. The web help desk is an on-premises solution, and the Service Desk is a cloud-based solution.

Time and billing management is another great feature, along with hardware management. You can also streamline your trouble ticket results with trouble ticket management. Finally, you also have SLA management which helps ensure you do not breach your SLA.

Key features

• Ticketing management
• Incident tracking
• Asset management
• Knowledge base
• Change management

Price

Prices vary depending on if you choose perpetual or subscription options. However, the more named users you have, the cheaper it becomes per user. You can obtain a quote on the website.

24. Agiloft Service Desk

Agiloft helps you close tickets faster than ever with their configurable ticket assignment and escalation rules which alert you to blockages and proactively escalate issues when necessary. You also have the option of improving consistency by automating the workflow.

Agiloft has a great knowledge base that allows customers to answer their easier questions, saving the agent precious time.

Key features

• End-user portal
• Live Chat
• Customizable home pages

Price

To find out what the prices are, you can request a quote from the website based on the plan you’re interested in. However, there’s also a free trial available.

25. SolarWinds web help desk and service desk

SolarWinds web help desk has incident management that means that the incoming tickets are prioritized. The service catalog also enables standardizing service requests and fulfillment processes. The users have a service portal that functions as the single place to submit tickets and requests.

Change management allows you to plan and quickly implement changes. There’s also a knowledge base built-in which will enable customers to resolve their smaller issues quickly.

Key features

• Fully integrated IT asset management
• Integrates with over 200 cloud applications
• Problem management
• Change management

Price

Prices start at $19 per month per technician but go up to $89 per month per technician.

Top 5 support ticket system providers compared

Let’s look at the top 5 support ticket system and compare some of their key features so you can make the best decision based on facts.

1. LiveAgent

LiveAgent remains at the top of our list with its powerful features like universal inbox, hybrid ticketing stream, automated ticket distribution as well as the ability to automate your workflow through time, action, and SLA rules. It has no setup fee, customer service available 24/7, and no credit card required to sign up for their free 14-day trial. It also allows you to cancel anytime as there are no contracts, and you’re free to upgrade and pay as you go. Not only are all their plans incredibly affordable, but you can also start with a forever free account and see for yourself if it’s a good fit for you.

2. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk has some great features making it one of the nicer help desk software available. It allows you to organize your help desk to reflect your company’s structure. You can create a distinct self-service portal for each brand’s customers too. The software even recommends information from the knowledge base to agents to add it to customer responses. Finally, the live dashboard shows current trends, and there’s even a mobile app.

3. OneDesk

OneDesk combines help desk and project management software to give you the best of both worlds. It’s perfect for teams that need to work on project management as well as handle customer support. To top it off, it also has a great affordable pricing plan, and you pay per user. Every plan includes unlimited customers, unlimited projects, and all the features of OneDesk.

4. Hiver

Hiver is the only help desk built for G-Suite. It’s also a favorite among unicorns for customer support. The shared inbox feature allows you to access shared inboxes right inside Gmail. Analytics also lets you track key metrics and team performance. What’s more, is the fact that you can delegate emails with a single click and write notes to team members to give context or instructions.

5. Kayako

Kayako made our list due to its simplicity and ease of use. It’s the perfect fit for small to medium businesses and offers a personal touch to customer service. Although it does not have as many features as LiveAgent it still has most of the important ones you need for a small business customer support team. Kayako is also affordable and priced appropriately for the value it provides.

Top 5 support ticket systems compared

Email support system	Capterra Rating	Free version	Free trial	Starting price
LiveAgent	4.7/5 (approx. 1K reviews)	YES	YES	$9 per agent/mo
Zoho Desk	4.5/5 (approx. 1.6K reviews)	YES	YES	$14 per agent/mo
OneDesk	4.0/5 (2 reviews)	NO	YES	$9 per agent/mo
Hiver	4.7/5 (74 reviews)	NO	YES	$12 per agent/mo
Kayako	4.0/5 (157 reviews)	YES	YES	$15 per agent/mo

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing the right support ticket system solution, it is quite challenging to decide which one is best for your business. It is important to take a step back and consider the features you require in order to make an informed decision and to give your customer service representatives an advantage. Those factors, together with the great value for money and the excellent rating on reputable review websites, can aid in your search.