HelpDesk review (2026): is it worth $19 a month per user, billed yearly?
Ticketing with an AI agent for email, chat, Messenger and SMS
Black Friday: is there a HelpDesk sale?
HelpDesk report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for a ticket inbox with AI replies built in
HelpDesk collects email, website chat, Messenger and SMS into one ticket inbox, with an AI Agent and a Copilot on every plan. The AI allowance is small on the cheap plan, at 10 resolutions a month, and the features most teams grow into sit on Growth at $79 a user.
Who HelpDesk is for
- 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
Who HelpDesk is not for
- 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
Why HelpDesk gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for money$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.
- CFree plan and trialA 14-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan.
- CFeaturesEmail, 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.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record, and rules, teams and the AI Agent need setting up before they help.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with 8 listed integrations. The chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app, but there are no phone or desktop apps.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from HelpDesk's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/helpdesk#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/helpdesk.svg" alt="HelpDesk: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where HelpDesk stands among help desk and live chat tools
HelpDesk's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 36 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 12.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 44 of 66) and worst on features (C, above 3).
Its paid plans start at $19 a month for each person, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 14 of the 57 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 67 help desk and live chat tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. HelpDesk’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 44 of 66, level with 15
- CFree plan and trialAbove 18 of 66, level with 34
- CFeaturesAbove 3 of 66, level with 42
- CEase of useAbove 5 of 66, level with 56
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 6 of 66, level with 54
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 59 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep HelpDesk, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace HelpDesk you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $228 a year.
What you could make
- Help desk: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- One mailbox that several people work at once.
- An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles.
- Texts to thousands of numbers, registered with the carriers.
- A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types.
- A chatbot builder hooked into the messaging apps.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Shopify, Webflow and HubSpot among them.
What this rests on. HelpDesk’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is HelpDesk?
HelpDesk is a ticketing system from Text, Inc. that collects email, website chat, Messenger and SMS into one inbox. Every plan includes an AI Agent that answers customers and an AI Copilot that helps agents write replies. Pricing is per user, with a monthly allowance of AI resolutions.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
HelpDesk pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, HelpDesk is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly).
- Starts at
- $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $19per 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 | $79per 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. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom AI Agents, multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and audit logs, HIPAA compliance and a dedicated account manager. Sold through sales. |
Read from helpdesk.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with HelpDesk before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 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%.
Stated on helpdesk.com
Works with
HelpDesk alternatives
- HelpDesk vs Zendesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
- HelpDesk vs Freshdesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
- HelpDesk vs Text by LiveChat
Free trial · from $19/mo
- HelpDesk vs Tidio
Free plan · from $24.17/mo
- HelpDesk vs Gorgias
Free trial · from $10/mo
Common questions
Does HelpDesk have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. HelpDesk is listed for Web.
Does HelpDesk have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. HelpDesk is listed for Web.
Is HelpDesk open source?
HelpDesk is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.