HelpDesk vs Spiceworks Help Desk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Spiceworks Help Desk grades higher than HelpDesk: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Spiceworks Help Desk grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
HelpDesk
Ticketing with an AI agent for email, chat, Messenger and SMS
Spiceworks Help Desk
Free cloud ticketing for IT teams, with a low-cost ad-free tier
Which one is for you
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
Pick Spiceworks Help Desk if
- Fits if you run IT for an organization and want a ticket desk without a bill
- Works for an IT team of up to 5 techs
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need to serve outside customers by chat or social
- Tight if you have more than 5 techs, since Core stops there and Premium is $6 a seat
- Not for you if ads in the tool bother you, as ad-free is Premium
- Watch out: you need a Spiceworks account to sign up, and tasklists, bulk actions and custom statuses are Premium
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHelpDeskFair | 2.8GPASpiceworks Help DeskGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | ACore is free, and Premium is $6 per seat a month billed annually, under the $11.40 mark (60% of the cheapest quarter in this category). |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. | BCore gives 1 to 5 tech and admin seats with ticketing, reporting and a portal, which a small IT team could live on. It is supported by ads. |
| Features | 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. | CIT tickets by portal or email, assignment, alerts and reporting. The listing's gaps: no live chat or social channels, and tasklists, bulk actions and custom statuses are Premium. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and rules, teams and the AI Agent need setting up before they help. | CNo store rating on record, and you'd set up the portal, categories and alerts yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb plus iPhone and Android apps, with 4 listed integrations. No desktop app on record. |
| Best for | a ticket inbox with AI replies built in | a free ticket desk for an IT team |
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: HelpDesk and Spiceworks Help Desk. How we grade
Price against what you get
HelpDesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Spiceworks Help Desk starts at $6 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Spiceworks Help Desk starts $13 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 7 score higher than HelpDesk for less, and none scores higher than Spiceworks Help Desk 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
- HelpDesk also covers shared inbox, live chat, AI support agent, sMS marketing and chatbots.
- Spiceworks Help Desk also covers workflow automation, reports and help center.
At a glance
| HelpDesk | Spiceworks Help Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly) | $6 per seat / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Core plan: 1 to 5 tech and admin seats, ticketing, incident tracking, alerts, reporting, unlimited end users and an end-user portal. Supported by ads. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Text, Inc. | Spiceworks Inc. |
| Price read from | helpdesk.com | spiceworks.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Spiceworks Help Desk
- Core is limited to 5 tech and admin seats and is ad-supported; going ad-free or adding seats means Premium.
- Tasklists, bulk actions and custom ticket statuses are Premium only.
- Built for IT requests inside an organization; it has no live chat or social channels for outside customers.
- A Spiceworks account is needed to sign up.
Key features
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.
Spiceworks Help Desk
- End-user portal and email intake
- Staff can submit tickets through a customizable web portal or by email to the help desk address, with unlimited end users on both plans.
- Ticket rules and routing
- Rules assign tickets, set categories, due dates and priorities when a condition is met, and tickets can be sorted into custom queues and views.
- Reporting and Power BI connector
- Filterable reports cover open or pending tickets over a chosen period, and a Power BI Desktop connector pulls the data into a report template.
- Knowledge base
- Teams can write articles private to themselves or adapt shared how-tos to their own environment.
- Mobile app
- A native app for iOS and Android lets technicians manage tickets away from a desk.
- Links to other Spiceworks tools
- It connects to Spiceworks' Inventory Online, Connectivity Dashboard, IP Scanner and vendor contracts tools.
Plans
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.
Spiceworks Help Desk
Core$0
1 to 5 tech and admin seats with ticketing, incident tracking, alerts, reporting, an end-user portal, custom attributes and multi-factor authentication.
Premium$6
per seat / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
Unlimited tech and admin seats, with no ads, tasklists, bulk actions and custom ticket statuses on top of Core.
Ways to pay less
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%.
Spiceworks Help Desk
- Annual discount
Save 14.29% with annual billing
Premium is $6 per seat a month billed annually, against $7 billed monthly, a saving the page puts at 14.29%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HelpDesk or Spiceworks Help Desk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Spiceworks Help Desk is cheaper to start with: $6 a month for each person, against $19 a month for each person for HelpDesk. HelpDesk starts at $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly), and Spiceworks Help Desk starts at $6 per seat / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, HelpDesk or Spiceworks Help Desk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Spiceworks Help Desk has a free plan. HelpDesk does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do HelpDesk and Spiceworks Help Desk run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Spiceworks Help Desk lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.