SparrowDesk vs Zoho Desk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Zoho Desk: it is first in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.4 against 2.8.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho Desk grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SparrowDesk
Help desk with shared inbox, live chat and a per-resolution AI agent
Zoho Desk
Low-cost ticketing help desk with a free plan for three users
Which one is for you
Pick SparrowDesk if
- Fits if you want a free help desk for a team of 3 or fewer
- Works for a small team that wants phone apps
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you use the AI, as Zoona is $0.49 a resolution and Copilot $8 an agent a month
- Tight if you stay free, since it stops at 500 conversations a month and has no portal, CSAT or teams
- Skip it if you need workflows or SLAs on the cheap plan, because they start at Professional, $49
- Watch out: Salesforce needs Enterprise, and Lite seats are capped from 5 on Starter
Pick Zoho Desk if
- Fits if you're a team of up to 3 doing email support and want to pay nothing
- Works for teams already on Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, since it's 3 users, one support address and email only, with no knowledge base or automation
- Skip it if you want built-in AI replies on a low plan, as they need your own OpenAI key and Zia starts on Professional
- Pricey if lots of people just need to look in, as light agents are $6 a month each on Professional
- Watch out: Express stops at 5 users, and chat, WhatsApp and a public knowledge base start on Standard at $14
- Watch out: phone support starts on Professional at $23 billed yearly, $35 monthly, and IVR needs Enterprise at $40
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASparrowDeskGood | 3.4GPAZoho DeskVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$16 an agent a month billed annually, inside the category's cheaper quarter of $19. Professional is $49. | 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 | BFree for up to 3 users and 500 conversations a month, plus a 14-day trial with no card. | 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 | BInbox, live chat, AI, workflows, SLAs and a help center. The listing shows no gap in the core support job, though workflows and SLAs start at Professional. | 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. Channels, workflows and the AI need setting up. | A4.7 from 1,636 App Store ratings for the agent app, the top band. Email tickets on the free plan need little setup, and the bigger features can wait until you need them. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android, with Slack, Linear, HubSpot, Salesforce and WhatsApp. | 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 | a help desk with a free plan for 3 users | ticketing for small teams, free for 3 users |
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: SparrowDesk and Zoho Desk. How we grade
Price against what you get
SparrowDesk starts at $16 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 $9 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than SparrowDesk 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
- SparrowDesk also covers shared inbox, workflow automation and whatsApp messaging.
- Zoho Desk also covers reports.
At a glance
| SparrowDesk | Zoho Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $16 per agent / month, billed annually | $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free plan for up to 3 users: live chat, email ticketing, shared inbox, prebuilt reports, public help center, 500 conversations a month. | Free edition: email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address. No knowledge base, automation, SLAs or AI features. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 15-day free trial of any paid plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | SurveySparrow Inc. | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | sparrowdesk.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SparrowDesk
- Zoona costs $0.49 per resolution, Copilot $8 per agent a month for 1,000 credits, and Account Intelligence $8 a month for 1,000 credits.
- The free plan is limited to 500 conversations a month and no customer portal, CSAT or teams.
- Slack, Linear and HubSpot integrations start at Starter; Salesforce needs Enterprise.
- Lite seats are capped per plan, from 5 on Starter to 50 on Enterprise.
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
SparrowDesk
- Shared inbox
- Email, chat and channels such as Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook, Discord and Instagram arrive in one inbox with macros and merging.
- Zoona AI agent
- Answers customers in 40+ languages, hands off to a person with context, and trains on your site, PDFs and help center.
- AI Copilot
- An in-inbox assistant that summarizes conversations, drafts replies for agents to review and translates as you read.
- Workflows and SLAs
- Advanced workflows, round robin assignment, SLA policies and business hours are available from the Professional plan.
- Help center and portal
- A public help center on every plan; a customer portal where customers submit and track tickets starts at Starter.
- Account Intelligence
- Groups conversations into topics, flags problem ones early and drafts help center articles from resolved conversations.
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
SparrowDesk
Free$0
Up to 3 users with live chat, email ticketing, prebuilt reports and a public help center.
Starter$16
per agent / month, billed annually
Unlimited conversations, teams, ticket forms, customer portal and CSAT surveys, with 5 Lite seats.
Professional$49
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds workflows, round robin assignment, SLAs, business hours and 20 Lite seats.
Enterprise$89
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds SSO, custom roles, password policy and multiple brands, with 50 Lite seats; sold through sales.
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
SparrowDesk
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
The pricing page shows yearly billing as saving 20% against monthly billing; the prices listed here are the yearly ones.
- Startups
Startup program for 90% off
SparrowDesk's pricing page advertises a startup program that takes 90% off; eligibility terms are not shown on the page.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SparrowDesk or Zoho Desk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Zoho Desk is cheaper to start with: $7 a month for each person, against $16 a month for each person for SparrowDesk. SparrowDesk starts at $16 per agent / month, billed annually, and Zoho Desk starts at $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, SparrowDesk or Zoho Desk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both SparrowDesk and Zoho Desk have a free plan.
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.