LiveAgent vs Zoho Desk
We give LiveAgent a 2.6 GPA and Zoho Desk a 3.4, out of 4.0. Zoho Desk grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LiveAgent
Help desk with email tickets, live chat, call center and AI agents
Zoho Desk
Low-cost ticketing help desk with a free plan for three users
How we grade them
| 2.6GPALiveAgentGood | 3.4GPAZoho DeskVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BSmall business is $15 an agent a month billed yearly ($19 monthly), inside the cheaper quarter of help desks, and it already has email tickets, live chat, a knowledge base, a customer portal and AI agents. The call center is on Medium at $29. | AExpress is $7 a user a month billed yearly ($9 monthly), the lowest start among help desks here and under 60% of the cheaper quarter. Standard, which adds chat and a knowledge base, is $14, still in the cheaper quarter. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 30-day free trial with no card needed, which is one of the longer ones here. There's no free plan, so after the month you pay or leave. | BFree for up to 3 users doing email ticketing from one support address, with no cap on tickets in the listing. A tiny team could live on that, but there's no knowledge base, automation or AI. Paid plans have a 15-day trial with no card. |
| Features | BEmail tickets, live chat, a call center with IVR, AI agents, a knowledge base, customer portal and forum, and Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp in the same queue. That covers the whole job. | BTickets from email, social, web forms, chat and WhatsApp, a knowledge base and community forum, AI agents, workflows, Blueprints, phone with IVR and multi-brand help centers. Across the plans, it covers the whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. There's a lot in one product, email accounts, chat buttons, phone queues and automation rules, so expect a learning curve before it all runs. | A4.7 from 1,636 App Store ratings for the agent app, the top band. Email tickets on the free plan are easy to start with, and the bigger features can wait until you need them. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Zapier, WordPress, Stripe, BigCommerce and Asana, plus WhatsApp and Telegram as channels and an API. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, tied into Zoho CRM, Analytics, SalesIQ and Cliq, plus Salesforce, Slack, Jira, Zapier and Google Chat. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. |
| Best for | email, chat and phone support on a budget | a cheap ticketing help desk for small teams |
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: LiveAgent and Zoho Desk. How we grade
Price against what you get
LiveAgent starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Desk starts at $7 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Zoho Desk scores higher and starts $8 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than LiveAgent for less, and none scores higher than Zoho 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
- LiveAgent starts at $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly). Zoho Desk starts at $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly).
- Zoho Desk has a free plan. LiveAgent does not, though it has a free trial.
At a glance
| LiveAgent | Zoho Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Free edition: email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address. No knowledge base, automation, SLAs or AI features. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 15-day free trial of any paid plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Quality Unit, LLC | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | liveagent.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
LiveAgent
- Teams that answer email, chat and phone from one help desk
- Small support teams wanting a low per-agent price
- Businesses that want a long trial before paying
Zoho Desk
- Small teams wanting a free or low-cost ticketing system
- Businesses already using Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps
- Teams that need phone, chat and email support on one plan
Worth knowing
LiveAgent
- On Small and Medium, Facebook, X, Viber and WhatsApp cost $39 a month each, and Instagram adds $19 on top of Facebook; they are included from Large.
- The call center, reports and SLAs need Medium or above.
- Small is limited to 3 email accounts, 2 chat buttons and 20 canned messages.
- Time tracking is a $19 a month add-on below Large, and each extra knowledge base costs $19 a month.
Zoho Desk
- The Free edition stops at 3 users and email only, and Express stops at 5 users.
- A public knowledge base, the chat widget and WhatsApp start on Standard; telephony starts on Professional.
- Generative AI features such as smart replies need your own OpenAI API key; Zia's built-in AI starts on Professional.
- Light agents who only view and comment cost $6 a month each on Professional; Enterprise includes 50.
Key features
LiveAgent
- Email ticketing
- Support emails become tickets with collision detection, merging, splitting, tags, custom fields and canned replies.
- Live chat
- A chat button for websites with a real-time visitor monitor and satisfaction surveys. Proactive chat invitations start on Medium.
- Call center
- From Medium up: call queues, IVR, call routing and transfers, and call recording inside the help desk.
- AI agents
- An AI chatbot that hands chats to a person, an answer assistant for agents, and AI that replies to, sorts and summarizes tickets.
- Self-service
- A knowledge base, customer portals and a customer forum on every plan. Extra knowledge bases cost $19 a month each.
- Social and messaging channels
- Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp messages land in the ticket queue. WhatsApp works through Twilio or 360dialog.
Zoho Desk
- Multichannel ticketing
- Email, social posts, web forms and, from Standard, chat and messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and LINE all become tickets.
- Knowledge base and help center
- A public knowledge base and community forum from Standard, a help center in 40+ languages on Professional and one per brand on Enterprise.
- AI agents and Zia
- AI agents run on Zoho's model or your own key with up to 30M free tokens a month. Zia's built-in AI starts on Professional.
- Automation
- Workflows and escalation rules from Express, with Blueprints for step-by-step processes and round-robin assignment on Professional.
- Phone and IVR
- Professional connects telephony providers for inbound and outbound calls; Enterprise adds a multi-level IVR.
- Zoho app links
- Ties into Zoho CRM, Analytics, Projects, SalesIQ and Cliq, plus Salesforce, Slack, Jira and Zapier.
Plans
LiveAgent
Small business$15
per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Email ticketing, live chat, a knowledge base, customer portal, contact forms, automation rules and AI agents. 3 email accounts and 2 chat buttons.
Medium business$29
per agent / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Adds a call center with IVR, AI agent setup, reports, proactive chat invitations, SLAs, SSO and custom roles. 10 email accounts.
Large business$49
per agent / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Adds time tracking and an audit log, and includes Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp without add-on fees.
Enterprise$69
per agent / month, billed annually ($85 billed monthly)
Near-unlimited limits, a dedicated account manager, priority support, no LiveAgent branding and custom billing. Sold after a demo call.
Zoho Desk
Free$0
Email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address.
Express$7
per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
Up to 5 users. Email, Instagram, Facebook and X tickets, web forms, AI agents, workflows, escalations and contact management.
Standard$14
per user / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Unlimited users. Adds a live chat widget, WhatsApp and other messaging apps, an answer bot, a public knowledge base, a community forum and custom reports.
Professional$23
per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Adds phone support through telephony providers, Zia AI, Blueprints, departments, round-robin assignment, a help center in 40+ languages and webhooks.
Enterprise$40
per user / month, billed annually ($50 billed monthly)
Adds Zoho SalesIQ live chat, guided conversations, skill-based assignment, IVR, multi-brand help centers, custom modules, a sandbox and 50 free light agents.
Ways to pay less
LiveAgent
- Annual discount
About 21% off with annual billing
LiveAgent lists Small at $15 per agent a month billed annually against $19 billed monthly, with lower annual rates on every plan.
Zoho Desk
- Annual discount
Save up to 34% with yearly billing
Zoho Desk's pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 34%: Professional is $23 per user a month billed annually against $35 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for nonprofits
The pricing FAQ says Zoho offers special pricing to nonprofit organizations. The discount is not stated on the page.
- Education
Special pricing for educational institutions
The pricing FAQ says Zoho offers special pricing to educational institutions. The discount is not stated on the page.
