# Freshdesk vs Zendesk: helpdesk for your team

For a small team moving off a shared inbox, Freshdesk is the easier start: tickets from email, chat and social land in one queue, automations route them and a self-service portal answers the repeat questions. Zendesk suits a support team that is already growing, with phone in the same queue, AI agents for common questions and detailed reporting for managers. Both start at $19 a month per our data. Zendesk asks for more setup time, so pick it when you will use the depth.

- **[Freshdesk](https://suiteintent.com/t/freshdesk?m=GB)**: Helpdesk with ticketing and a knowledge base. · Best for: Support teams outgrowing a shared inbox · From $19/mo

- **[Zendesk](https://suiteintent.com/t/zendesk?m=GB)**: Customer service ticketing for larger support teams. · Best for: Support teams that have outgrown a shared inbox · From $19/mo · 180 days

## Freshdesk

You have two to ten people answering customers by email and chat, want SLAs and routing without a long project, and need a help portal live within a week.

## Zendesk

Your team takes calls as well as emails, a manager needs detailed SLA reports, and you want AI agents plus Slack and Jira links for escalations to the product team.

## Questions

### Do Freshdesk or Zendesk have a free plan?

Neither has a free plan in our data. Each lists $19 a month as its cheapest paid price. Check what each tier includes before you sign, because features such as AI agents or advanced reporting often sit on higher plans. Run a trial with your real inbox for a week before deciding.

### Which is easier to set up?

Freshdesk takes less setup for a small team: connect your support address, set a few routing rules and publish the portal. Zendesk has more options for routing, triggers and views, which takes longer to configure well. That extra depth pays off once you have several queues or shifts. For three people sharing support@, Freshdesk gets you working sooner.

### Can either answer customers with AI?

Zendesk includes AI agents that answer common questions before a ticket reaches a person. Freshdesk's self-service portal lets customers find articles before they write in, and its automations sort tickets for you. Both cut repeat tickets in different ways. Write good help articles first, because AI answers draw on them.

### Do they handle phone support?

Zendesk brings phone into the same queue as email, chat and social. Freshdesk covers email, chat and social messages in its helpdesk. If calls are a large share of your support, Zendesk keeps them next to the other channels. Teams that work mostly by email will not miss phone.

### Can I move from Freshdesk to Zendesk later?

Yes, both export tickets, contacts and help articles, and migration services exist for the move. Plan it for a quiet week and freeze changes to macros and rules during the switch. Point your support address to the new tool only once the import is checked. Keep read access to the old account for a while for reference.