The Zoho Desk Insider’s Guide

Everything we know about Zoho Desk in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.

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ToolGPAOctober 2026

Zoho Desk

The Insider’s Guide

Low-cost ticketing help desk with a free plan for three users

Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among help desk and live chat tools, read from Zoho Desk’s own pages.

Made by Zoho Corporation · checked Oct 17, 2026 · toolgpa.com

3.4GPA

01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from Zoho Desk’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Zoho Desk’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.

Part 01 · Overview

Welcome

What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first

3.4

GPA, above 19 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade

Zoho Desk is a ticketing help desk from Zoho that turns email, social posts, web forms and, on higher plans, chat and phone calls into tickets for a support team. It is priced per user, with a free edition for up to three users, and links to Zoho CRM and the rest of Zoho's apps.

To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Zoho Desk, taken from its own pages and our grades.

Email tickets on the free plan are easy to start with, and the bigger features can wait until you need them.

From our grade for ease of use

1
Best for a cheap ticketing help desk for small teams
The catch is how much sits behind Standard and Professional, and its smart AI replies need your own OpenAI key.
2
Paid plans start at $7 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly).
3
There is a free plan
Free edition: email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address. No knowledge base, automation, SLAs or AI features.
4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, iOS and Android.
5
Multichannel ticketing
Email, social posts, web forms and, from Standard, chat and messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and LINE all become tickets.
6
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.
7
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.
8
A 3.4 GPA, above 19 of 19
That is against the other help desk and live chat tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
9
Keep it
To replace Zoho Desk you would be making an AI model answering your customers from your own help articles. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.

Zoho Desk at a glance

Pricing: Free plan, from $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
Free plan: Yes
Free trial: 15-day free trial of any paid plan, no credit card required
Runs on: Web, iOS, Android
Made by: Zoho Corporation
Category: Help Desks & Live Chat
Our grade: 3.4 GPA, very good
Store rating: 4.7 on the App Store, 1,636 ratings

The report card

Best for a cheap ticketing help desk for small teams

Zoho Desk is the cheapest proper help desk in this category: free for up to 3 people doing email support, then $7 a user. The higher plans add chat, a knowledge base, phone and a help center in 40+ languages. The catch is how much sits behind Standard and Professional, and its smart AI replies need your own OpenAI key.

ToolGPA report cardZoho DeskGraded Oct 17, 2026

Subject	Grade	Comment
Value for money	A	Express 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	B	Free 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	B	Tickets 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	A	4.7 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	B	Web, 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.

Grade point averageVery good, out of 4.03.4

An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.

Who Zoho Desk is for

Great if you're a small team that wants a free or very cheap ticketing system
Handy when you already use Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps
Good for teams that want phone, chat and email support on one plan, from Professional

Who it is not for

Tight if you stay free, since it's 3 users and email only
Skip it if you want built-in AI replies on a cheap plan, as they need your own OpenAI key
Pricey if lots of people just need to look in, as light agents are $6 a month each on Professional

Good to know

Good for

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

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.

Part 02 · Pricing

What it costs

Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved

A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too

Zoho Desk has a free plan. Paid plans start at $7 per user / month, billed annually ($9 billed monthly).

A tiny team could live on that, but there's no knowledge base, automation or AI.

From our grade for free plan and trial

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.

The free plan

Free edition: email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address. No knowledge base, automation, SLAs or AI features.

Trying it first

15-day free trial of any paid plan, no credit card required

Read from zoho.com on Oct 17, 2026.

Ways to pay less

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.
Stated on zoho.com
Nonprofit
Special pricing for nonprofits
The pricing FAQ says Zoho offers special pricing to nonprofit organizations. The discount is not stated on the page.
Stated on zoho.com
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.
Stated on zoho.com

Part 03 · Features

What it does

Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it

Places it runs: Web, iOS and Android

Low-cost ticketing help desk with a free plan for three users. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, reports, help desk, live chat, help center, AI support agent.

Across the plans, it covers the whole job.

From our grade for features

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.

Where it runs

Web
iOS
Android

What it works with

Zoho CRM
Zoho SalesIQ
Zoho Analytics
Salesforce
Slack
Jira
Zapier
Google Chat

Zoho Desk is made by Zoho Corporation.

Part 04 · Standing

Where it stands

Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own

19/19

Other help desk and live chat tools it is graded above

Zoho Desk's GPA of 3.4 is higher than 19 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade.

It stands best on ease of use (A, above 18 of 19) and worst on platforms and integrations (B, above 0).

Its paid plans start at $7 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 0 of the 18 others that charge start lower.

On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.3 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more.

Each grade against the category

Every bar is all 20 help desk and live chat tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Zoho Desk’s own letter is outlined.

AValue for money
Above 16 of 19
BFree plan and trial
Above 18 of 19
BFeatures
Above 9 of 19
AEase of use
Above 18 of 19
BPlatforms and integrations
Above 0 of 19

Price against what you get

Each dot is one of 19 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Desk is the marked dot.

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

Keep it, or make your own?

Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.

Keep it

To replace Zoho Desk you would be making an AI model answering your customers from your own help articles. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.

It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.4 is higher than 19 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade. It costs $84 a year.

What you could make

Help desk, help center and reports: an app builder makes these well.

What you could not

An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles.
A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types.
A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
It plugs into other products, Zoho CRM, Zoho SalesIQ and Zoho Analytics among them.
AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

What this rests on. Zoho Desk’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.

Part 05 · Alternatives

The alternatives

The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side

Freshdesk, Zendesk, Help Scout, LiveAgent and Deskpro

The 5 tools Zoho Desk is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.

2.4GPA
Freshdesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
Email ticketing help desk with a knowledge base and AI agents.
- Zoho Desk has a free plan. Freshdesk does not, though it has a free trial.
- Zoho Desk also covers live chat.
- Freshdesk also covers shared inbox.
Zoho Desk and Freshdesk compared in full
2.4GPA
Zendesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams.
- Zoho Desk has a free plan. Zendesk does not, though it has a free trial.
Zoho Desk and Zendesk compared in full
2.2GPA
Help Scout
Free plan · from $25/mo
Shared inbox and help desk with a knowledge base and AI answers.
- Zoho Desk also covers help desk, live chat, help center and AI support agent.
- Help Scout also covers shared inbox, workflow automation and AI agents.
Zoho Desk and Help Scout compared in full
2.6GPA
LiveAgent
Free trial · from $15/mo
Help desk with email tickets, live chat, call center and AI agents.
- Zoho Desk has a free plan. LiveAgent does not, though it has a free trial.
Zoho Desk and LiveAgent compared in full
1.8GPA
Deskpro
From $39/mo
Help desk for cloud or self-hosted use, with seat minimums.
- Zoho Desk has a free plan. Deskpro does not.
- Deskpro is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Zoho Desk also covers reports.
Zoho Desk and Deskpro compared in full

Part 06 · Questions

Quick answers

The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two

Questions, each answered in a line or two

The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.

Is Zoho Desk free?

Zoho Desk has a free plan. Free edition: email ticketing for up to 3 users with one support email address.

How much does Zoho Desk cost?

Zoho Desk lists 5 plans. Free: $0.

What platforms does Zoho Desk work on?

Zoho Desk is available on Web, iOS and Android.

Does Zoho Desk offer any discounts?

Zoho Desk publicly lists the following: Save up to 34% with yearly billing; Special pricing for nonprofits; Special pricing for educational institutions.

How is Zoho Desk rated?

Zoho Desk's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1,636 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 17, 2026.

Does Zoho Desk have a Windows app?

No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Zoho Desk is listed for Web, iOS and Android.

Does Zoho Desk have a macOS app?

No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Zoho Desk is listed for Web, iOS and Android.

Is Zoho Desk open source?

Zoho Desk is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.

What does Zoho Desk integrate with?

Zoho Desk's listing names Zoho CRM, Zoho SalesIQ, Zoho Analytics, Salesforce, Slack, Jira, Zapier and Google Chat.

Does Zoho Desk have a student discount?

Special pricing for educational institutions. The pricing FAQ says Zoho offers special pricing to educational institutions.

Does Zoho Desk have a free trial?

Yes. 15-day free trial of any paid plan, no credit card required.

Who makes Zoho Desk?

Zoho Desk is made by Zoho Corporation.

What are the alternatives to Zoho Desk?

The closest alternatives to Zoho Desk in our directory are Freshdesk, Zendesk, Help Scout, LiveAgent and Deskpro.

How does Zoho Desk compare with other help desk and live chat tools?

Zoho Desk's GPA of 3.4 is higher than 19 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade.

Is Zoho Desk good value for money?

ToolGPA grades Zoho Desk A for value for money. Its paid plans start at $7 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 0 of the 18 others that charge start lower.

Could I make my own version of Zoho Desk?

To replace Zoho Desk you would be making an AI model answering your customers from your own help articles.

Where this guide comes from

The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Zoho Desk’s own pages on Oct 17, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 17, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Zoho's own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Zoho Corporation. Prices change, so check zoho.com before you buy.

Part 07 · About

About ToolGPA

Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

1,880

Tools graded, in 47 categories

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

1,880
tools graded
47
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries

What else is on toolgpa.com

Scan for the live page

Prices and grades as they are today

Quoting this guide?

Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:

ToolGPA, "Zoho Desk: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 17, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/zoho-desk

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See our other guides

The best-graded help desk and live chat tools after Zoho Desk, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.

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Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Zoho Desk’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. Zoho Desk is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Zoho Corporation. Prices and plans change: check zoho.com before you buy.