HelpSpot vs osTicket (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, HelpSpot grades higher than osTicket: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
HelpSpot grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. osTicket grades higher on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
HelpSpot
Help desk with one flat annual price, hosted or self-hosted
osTicket
Open-source support ticketing, self-hosted or as a cloud edition
Which one is for you
Pick HelpSpot if
- Fits if you want a help desk at a flat yearly price for a small team
- Works for teams that need to host the data themselves
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to pay monthly, because billing is annual only
- Tight if you have 4 agents, as tiers jump from 3 to 5 agents
- Watch out: every staff member who logs in counts as an agent
- Watch out: the listing names no ready-made integrations
Pick osTicket if
- Fits if you have a server and someone to run it and want no per-agent fee
- Works for an internal team that is happy with email, forms and an API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to host, patch and back up your own server
- Not for you if you want chat or social channels, as the site lists email, forms and API
- Tight if you want vendor support, since the free edition has community support only
- Watch out: the cloud edition runs on a separate product, SupportSystem, and its $12 price shows no billing period
- Watch out: the virtual appliance has no published price
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHelpSpotFair | 2.2GPAosTicketFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$899 a year for 3 agents is about $25 an agent a month, and $1,299 for 5 is about $22. Between the cheaper quarter and the middle. | BThe cloud edition is $12 per agent a month, inside the cheapest quarter ($19), but the page gives no billing period. The free edition needs your own server. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 21-day trial with no card. No free plan. | BThe full software is free to download and a 30-day cloud trial needs no card, though the free edition has community support only. |
| Features | BTicketing, a knowledge base, portals, reporting, surveys, AI drafting and an API. The listing shows no gap in the core help desk job. | CEmail, web-form and API tickets routed to departments and agents. The listing's gap: chat and social channels aren't listed. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Cloud or self-hosted setup, mailboxes and portals take configuring. | DNo store rating on record, and the free edition means a server, an installation, upgrades and backups of your own. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with an API and webhooks, and the listing names no ready-made integrations. | CWeb only, and the listing names no integrations or apps. |
| Best for | a flat-price help desk, hosted or self-hosted | a free ticket system you host yourself |
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: HelpSpot and osTicket. How we grade
Price against what you get
HelpSpot starts at $74.92 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. osTicket starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 1.7.
HelpSpot scores higher, and starts $62.92 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 5 score higher than HelpSpot for less, and 8 score higher than osTicket 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
- osTicket is open source, according to its own site.
- HelpSpot also covers surveys, reports and help center.
- osTicket also covers shared inbox and workflow automation.
At a glance
| HelpSpot | osTicket | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $899 per year for 3 agents | $12 per agent / month, for the cloud-hosted edition (billing basis not stated) |
| Free plan | None | Open Source edition: free to download and host yourself, with community support. |
| Free trial | 21-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial of the cloud-hosted edition |
| Web | ||
| Made by | UserScape, Inc. | Enhancesoft |
| Price read from | helpspot.com | osticket.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
HelpSpot
- Billing is annual only; there is no monthly plan.
- Price is set by agent count in tiers (3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and so on), so adding a fourth agent means moving to the 5-agent tier.
- Customers never need licenses, but every staff member who logs in counts as an agent.
- Qualified non-profits and academic institutions can get 15% off by contacting sales.
osTicket
- The free edition is self-hosted: you provide the server, installation, upgrades and backups, and support is community-only.
- The cloud-hosted edition runs on a separate product, SupportSystem, and its $12 per agent price is shown without a billing period.
- The site lists email, web forms and API as channels; chat and social channels are not listed.
- The virtual appliance has no published price.
Key features
HelpSpot
- Single-owner ticketing
- Each request is assigned to one person at a time, which the vendor contrasts with a shared inbox where anyone may reply.
- Cloud or self-hosted
- Choose the US cloud, the EU cloud in Frankfurt, or run it on your own servers, including air-gapped networks, at the same price.
- AI drafting and summaries
- Auto-categorization, translation and writing assistance are included with no separate AI charge.
- Knowledge base and portals
- Self-service help centers with unlimited portals, plus branding and customization of the customer-facing pages.
- Reporting and surveys
- Performance reports and satisfaction surveys that measure CSAT, available on every license.
- API and webhooks
- Developer tools for connecting HelpSpot to other systems and building headless support setups.
osTicket
- Tickets from email, web forms and API
- Requests arrive by email, a customer support portal or an API and are turned into tickets.
- Ticket filters
- Rules route incoming tickets to a department or agent, and can reject a ticket or send an automatic canned response.
- Help topics and custom forms
- Web tickets are routed by help topic, and each topic can carry its own form. Custom fields and lists add more data to a ticket.
- Custom queues and columns
- Agents build their own ticket views by criteria and choose which columns show.
- Service level agreements
- Business hours and SLA plans are set up in the admin settings.
- Dashboard reports
- A dashboard shows help desk statistics. Agent collision avoidance is among the listed features.
Plans
HelpSpot
3 agents$899
per year for up to 3 agents, billed annually
Annual license for 3 agents, every feature included. Cloud or self-hosted at the same price.
5 agents$1,299
per year for up to 5 agents, billed annually
Annual license for 5 agents. Unlimited tickets and mailboxes.
10 agents$2,199
per year for up to 10 agents, billed annually
Annual license for 10 agents; the pricing calculator opens on this size.
25 agents$4,999
per year for up to 25 agents, billed annually
Annual license for 25 agents. Larger tiers run to 2,000 agents.
50 agents$9,999
per year for up to 50 agents, billed annually
Annual license for 50 agents, the largest tier shown here at under $200 a year per agent.
osTicket
Open Source$0
The full software, which you host yourself. Community support only; the vendor says it has no feature tiers.
Cloud-hosted$12
per agent / month, billing basis not stated
Hosted by the vendor on its SupportSystem platform, with email and phone support, managed upgrades, daily backups and a free walk-through session.
Virtual ApplianceCustom
Customized to fit a business's needs, with the cloud edition's support and maintenance. Contact the vendor for pricing.
Ways to pay less
HelpSpot
- Nonprofit
15% off for non-profits and schools
HelpSpot says it gives 15% off to qualified non-profit organizations and academic institutions; the discount is arranged through its sales team.
osTicket
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HelpSpot or osTicket?
As of Nov 13, 2026, HelpSpot starts at $899 per year for 3 agents, and osTicket starts at $12 per agent / month, for the cloud-hosted edition (billing basis not stated). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, HelpSpot or osTicket?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only osTicket has a free plan. HelpSpot 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.