Top 7 Alternatives to Zendesk for Restaurants

Freshdesk is a cloud‑based customer support platform that has grown into a comprehensive help desk solution suitable for restaurants that need to manage a high volume of inquiries across multiple channels. The platform offers a unified inbox that consolidates emails, live chat, phone calls, and social media messages, making it easier for staff to respond promptly and consistently. Freshdesk also provides a knowledge base that restaurants can populate with menu details, reservation policies, and FAQs, enabling customers to find answers on their own. Freshdesk’s automation engine, powered by the Freshworkflow tool, allows restaurants to set up rule‑based triggers such as auto‑assigning reservation requests to the front‑desk team or sending follow‑up emails after a dine‑in experience. Integration with popular POS systems and reservation platforms—like OpenTable—helps streamline booking confirmations and cancellations. The platform’s reporting dashboard offers insights into ticket volume, response times, and customer satisfaction, which is essential for tracking service quality. Pricing for Freshdesk starts with a free tier that includes basic ticketing and knowledge base features. The paid tiers—Plus ($15/mo), Professional ($49/mo), and Enterprise ($79/mo)—add advanced automation, reporting, and multi‑channel support, all billed per agent.

Intercom is a customer messaging platform that blends live chat, email, and in‑app messaging into a single interface. For restaurants, Intercom offers a conversational AI bot that can answer menu questions, take reservations, or direct customers to the front‑desk team. The platform’s visual builder lets restaurants design chat flows without coding, while the automated messaging feature can send follow‑up emails after a dining experience. Intercom’s integration ecosystem includes popular restaurant tools such as Square, Shopify, and OpenTable, enabling the bot to pull real‑time inventory data or confirm reservations. The platform also offers an advanced segmentation engine that allows restaurants to target messages to specific customer groups—such as loyal diners or first‑time visitors—based on their interaction history. Pricing for Intercom starts at the Essential plan ($39/mo) and scales up through Pro ($99/mo) and Premium ($149/mo) tiers, each adding more advanced automation, reporting, and user‑segment capabilities. All plans are billed per active user.

Gorgias is a customer support platform built specifically for e‑commerce businesses, making it an attractive option for restaurants that rely heavily on online ordering and POS integration. The platform consolidates emails, live chat, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram Direct into a single inbox, allowing support staff to manage all customer inquiries efficiently. The standout feature of Gorgias is its extensive automation framework. Restaurants can create rules that automatically assign tickets, send pre‑written responses, and trigger email follow‑ups. Gorgias also offers a built‑in knowledge base that can be populated with menu items, allergy information, and ordering policies, helping customers find answers quickly. Gorgias integrates seamlessly with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, allowing the bot to pull real‑time product data and order status. The platform’s pricing tiers—Basic ($50/mo), Standard ($99/mo), and Premium ($199/mo)—each include more advanced automation, reporting, and multi‑channel support.

Help Scout is a customer support platform that focuses on delivering a personal, email‑centric experience while still providing live chat and knowledge base capabilities. For restaurants, Help Scout can be used to manage reservation inquiries, order support, and customer feedback through a single, easy‑to‑use inbox. Help Scout’s unique selling point is its “Help Scout Console,” which aggregates all customer interactions—emails, live chat, and phone calls—into one view. The platform also offers a knowledge base that restaurants can use to publish menu details, FAQ, and policy information. Additionally, Help Scout’s integration with Shopify and Square allows the support team to pull order data directly into the conversation. Pricing for Help Scout starts with the Email plan ($20/mo), followed by the Plus plan ($30/mo), and the Standard plan ($45/mo) per user. All plans include unlimited email tickets, live chat, and knowledge base features.

Zoho Desk is a cloud‑based help desk solution that offers a flexible ticketing system, knowledge base, and automation features. For restaurants, Zoho Desk can manage reservation requests, order complaints, and general inquiries across email, chat, and phone. Zoho Desk’s strengths lie in its deep integration with the Zoho ecosystem—CRM, Analytics, and AI. Restaurants can use Zoho’s AI assistant, Zia, to auto‑classify tickets, suggest responses, and predict customer sentiment. The platform also supports multi‑agent collaboration and custom workflows, allowing teams to assign tickets based on priority or staff availability. Pricing tiers for Zoho Desk are: Free (basic ticketing), Standard ($18/mo), Professional ($35/mo), and Enterprise ($55/mo) per agent.

LiveChat is a popular live‑chat solution that focuses on real‑time customer support across websites and mobile apps. For restaurants, LiveChat can be used to answer menu questions, take reservations, or provide quick order updates. The platform offers a customizable chat widget that can be styled to match the restaurant’s branding. LiveChat also includes a knowledge base integration, allowing customers to search for answers independently. The platform’s automation engine can trigger follow‑up emails or assign tickets to staff based on keywords or conversation context. LiveChat’s pricing plans are Basic ($15/mo), Standard ($25/mo), and Plus ($35/mo) per agent, with optional add‑ons for advanced features.