Zendesk alternatives: 6 cheaper options with live chat for small teams

Zendesk alternatives: the short list

Six Zendesk alternatives start lower with live chat: LiveChat, LiveAgent, Help Scout, HubSpot, Tidio and tawk.to. As read on 7 October 2026, Zendesk's live chat starts on Suite Team at $55 per agent a month billed annually, or $69 billed monthly. Cheaper here means a lower entry price with live chat than Suite Team; the billing units differ, and the table names each one. LiveChat vs Zendesk sets the two plan by plan.

The LiveChat prices here are Text plans: LiveChat's pricing page says new trials now start on them and calls Text "the next product from the team behind LiveChat".

Where Zendesk's live chat starts and what it costs

Zendesk's Support Team plan is email and ticketing, at $19 a month per agent billed annually or $25 billed monthly. Messaging and live chat start on Suite Team at $55 or $69, and Suite Professional is $115 billed annually or $149 billed monthly.

Per-agent alternatives: LiveChat, LiveAgent, Help Scout and HubSpot

LiveChat Essential is $19 per user a month billed annually ($228 a year), or $25 billed monthly. LiveChat's Essential plan has one team and no routing rules, so a team that routes chats by department needs Growth.

LiveAgent Small is $15 per agent a month billed annually, or $19 billed monthly, and its plan list includes live chat. Proactive chat invitations are listed from Medium, at $29 per agent billed annually.

Help Scout Standard is $25 per user a month billed annually or $30 billed monthly and lists live chat; its Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site.

HubSpot lists Starter at $20 per seat a month, a list price with no billing basis printed beside it, puts live chat on the card, and says its live chat and chatbot builder start free; its catalog says the free live chat carries HubSpot branding. See best help desk software for small business for the wider field.

Per-conversation and free alternatives: Tidio and tawk.to

Tidio Starter is $29 a month billed monthly or $24.17 a month billed annually for 100 billable conversations, which Tidio defines as any conversation that includes a message from a human agent.

Tidio allows up to 10 seats, so the Starter limit to watch is 100 billable conversations, and the Free plan covers 50. The trial runs 7 days with no card, then the account drops to the Free plan. Lyro, Tidio's AI, counts separately, with its first 50 conversations free for life.

tawk.to's page describes its core chat as free forever, with no cap on agents per property. It charges for four add-ons: AI Assist from $29 a month, Whitelabel at $29 (it removes the tawk.to badge), Voice Agents from $49 plus usage and Data Enrichment from $59.

AI resolutions compared with Zendesk's

Zendesk includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month on Suite Team, and extra ones cost $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go. LiveChat includes 10 AI resolutions a month on Essential and 200 on Growth; a pack of 50 more costs $49.50. Help Scout sells AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution, and tawk.to's AI Assist starts at $29 a month with a forever-free tier for limited volume. Intercom alternatives covers a rival that bills its AI per outcome.

Which Zendesk alternative fits which team

• LiveAgent for the lowest paid per-agent price on this table.
• Help Scout for a free plan covering 5 users; live chat is listed from Standard.
• tawk.to for chat at no cost.
• LiveChat for chat with an AI Agent in every plan. LiveChat, one of the six, can be tested for 14 days with no card.