Desk365 vs HelpDesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Desk365 grades higher than HelpDesk: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Desk365 grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Desk365
Help desk built around Microsoft Teams, with a lifetime free plan
HelpDesk
Ticketing with an AI agent for email, chat, Messenger and SMS
Which one is for you
Pick Desk365 if
- Fits if your IT or support team already works in Microsoft Teams and 365
- Works for small teams that want asset tracking beside the help desk
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 50 tickets a month
- Watch out: the AI agent is $50 per 1,000 credits, and Plus and Premium include only a few
- Skip it if you want round-robin assignment or CSAT surveys, which start on Plus at $22
- Watch out: asset management, audit logs and PII encryption need Premium at $32
Pick HelpDesk if
- Fits if you answer customers by email, chat, Messenger and SMS from one inbox
- Works for a small team that wants tickets and an AI agent from $19 a user
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you lean on the AI: 10 resolutions a month on Essential, 200 on Growth, and extra 50-packs cost $49.50
- Pricey if you outgrow Essential, as Growth is $79 a user billed yearly ($99 monthly)
- Skip it if you want a free plan or phone apps, since it has neither
- Watch out: multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and HIPAA are on the custom-priced Enterprise plan
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADesk365Good | 2.4GPAHelpDeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$12 an agent a month billed yearly ($16 monthly), under the category's $19 cheaper quarter. | B$19 per user a month billed yearly is at the edge of the cheapest quarter ($19). Growth is $79 a user, and that is where the 20 custom fields and 10 teams are. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan up to 50 tickets a month for one person, after a 21-day trial. A busy inbox will pass 50 quickly. | CA 14-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. |
| Features | BTickets, automation, SLAs, a knowledge base, reports, an AI copilot, and asset management on Premium. Nothing in the listing is missing. | CEmail, chat, Messenger and SMS in one inbox, with an AI Agent and Copilot. Essential has 3 ticketing rules and 10 AI resolutions a month, which is the gap. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Automations, SLAs and Microsoft connections to set up. | CNo store rating on record, and rules, teams and the AI Agent need setting up before they help. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Microsoft Teams, 365, Entra ID, Intune, Power BI, Jira, Asana and Azure DevOps. No phone apps are listed. | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations. The chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app, but there are no phone or desktop apps. |
| Best for | a ticketing help desk for Microsoft Teams shops | a ticket inbox with AI replies built in |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Desk365 and HelpDesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Desk365 starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. HelpDesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Desk365 scores higher and starts $7 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Desk365 for less, and 7 score higher than HelpDesk for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Desk365 also covers workflow automation and help center.
- HelpDesk also covers live chat, sMS marketing and chatbots.
At a glance
| Desk365 | HelpDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $12 per agent / month, billed annually ($16 billed monthly) | $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Up to 50 tickets a month, for solo use or personal projects. It starts automatically at the end of the trial and has no end date. | None |
| Free trial | 21-day free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Desk365 | Text, Inc. |
| Price read from | desk365.io | helpdesk.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Desk365
- The free plan stops at 50 tickets a month.
- The AI agent is an add-on at $50 per 1,000 credits; Plus and Premium include only limited free credits.
- Asset management, audit logs and the encrypted PII and PHI fields need Premium; the vendor says a BAA is offered on qualifying annual contracts.
- The page shows other currencies as well; the dollar prices are quoted here.
HelpDesk
- AI resolutions are capped: 10 a month on Essential and 200 on Growth. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50.
- There is no free plan; the 14-day trial is the only free access.
- Per-user pricing means Growth costs $79 per user / month when billed yearly, $99 billed monthly.
- The pages describe a browser-based product and list no desktop or phone apps; the chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app.
Key features
Desk365
- Tickets from Teams, email and web
- Handle requests from Microsoft Teams, an email inbox, a support portal and web forms or widgets in one helpdesk.
- Automation and SLAs
- Workflow rules, SLA reminders and escalations, and canned responses on every paid plan; time-based triggers start at Plus.
- AI copilot and AI agent
- Plus drafts replies, summarizes tickets and turns a ticket into a help article. An AI agent is a separate add-on.
- Asset and change management
- Premium tracks assets and software licenses from purchase to retirement; Plus has change approval workflows.
- Knowledge base and portal
- A visual editor for articles and a self-service portal, which can run on your own domain.
- Reports and dashboards
- Productivity, ticket trend and agent performance reports, with multiple dashboards and scheduled exports from Plus.
HelpDesk
- One inbox for four channels
- Email, website chat, Messenger and SMS land in the same inbox as tickets, with statuses, priorities and automated assignment.
- AI Agent
- An AI Agent runs conversations using the knowledge, tone and skills you give it. One resolution is counted when it directly solves a customer question.
- AI Copilot for agents
- Reply suggestions and AI text edits for human agents, plus ticket summaries, tag suggestions and similar-ticket suggestions on higher plans.
- Selling through Shopify
- Every plan lists selling through Shopify, and the pricing page describes an AI sales skill with a live Shopify catalog and cart recovery campaigns.
- Rules and routing
- Ticketing rules and automated assignment sort incoming tickets, with 3 rules on Essential and 10 on Growth.
- Teams and reports
- Growth adds up to 10 teams, chat supervision and takeover, agent activity and performance reports.
Plans
Desk365
Free$0
Up to 50 tickets a month; starts automatically when the trial ends.
Standard$12
per agent / month, billed annually ($16 billed monthly)
Email, Teams, portal and web-form tickets, workflow automation, SLA reminders, canned responses, custom fields and roles, a knowledge base and custom reports.
Plus$22
per agent / month, billed annually ($28 billed monthly)
Adds approval workflows, round-robin and load-based assignment, time tracking, CSAT surveys, Entra ID sync, multiple dashboards and AI drafting, summaries and article generation.
Premium$32
per agent / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
Adds asset and software management, Intune sync, audit logs, scheduled tickets, encrypted PII and PHI fields, data redaction and group management.
HelpDesk
Essential$19
per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)
Inbox and tickets, 3 ticketing rules, 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month, and AI Copilot with 5 reply suggestions per user a month.
Growth$79
per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
20 custom fields, 10 ticketing rules, up to 10 teams, 10 AI Agents with 200 AI resolutions a month, ticket summaries, chat supervision and 30 proactive campaigns.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom AI Agents, multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and audit logs, HIPAA compliance and a dedicated account manager. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Desk365
- Annual discount
Save up to 25% with yearly plans
The pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 25%; Standard is $12 per agent a month yearly against $16 monthly.
HelpDesk
- Annual discount
Save up to 24% by billing yearly
The pricing page shows yearly billing at $19 and $79 per user against $25 and $99 billed monthly, and says paying yearly saves up to 24%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Desk365 or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Desk365 is cheaper to start with: $12 a month for each person, against $19 a month for each person for HelpDesk. Desk365 starts at $12 per agent / month, billed annually ($16 billed monthly), and HelpDesk starts at $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Desk365 or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Desk365 has a free plan. HelpDesk does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.