Top 7 Alternatives to Zendesk for Sales Teams (Internal)

Freshdesk, a product of Freshworks, is a cloud‑based customer support platform that has evolved into a comprehensive service hub. While it is often praised for its intuitive interface and robust ticketing system, Freshdesk also offers powerful knowledge‑base features, automation rules, and AI‑assisted ticket routing that make it a solid choice for internal sales teams. Freshdesk’s “Freshcaller” add‑on provides a VoIP phone system, and the “Freshchat” module adds real‑time chat capabilities. Freshdesk’s knowledge‑base is highly customizable, allowing teams to create article categories, tags, and usage analytics. Its AI engine, Freshchat AI, can auto‑classify tickets, suggest relevant articles, and even draft responses, which can dramatically reduce response times for sales reps. The platform supports multiple channels—including email, web, phone, and social media—so sales teams can manage all customer interactions in one place. Automation rules let you set triggers for ticket assignment, status changes, and escalations, ensuring that high‑priority deals receive timely attention. Freshdesk’s pricing starts with a free tier that includes 10 agents and basic ticketing, but the Pro plan—ideal for sales teams—begins at $15 per agent per month. The Enterprise tier, which offers advanced analytics, multi‑domain support, and SSO, starts at $35 per agent per month. Freshdesk’s strengths lie in its simplicity, strong integration ecosystem (including Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics), and the ability to scale from small teams to large enterprises.

Help Scout is a customer support platform built around a shared inbox concept, where team members can collaborate on tickets just like regular email. The platform offers a clean, email‑first interface that many sales teams appreciate for its low learning curve. Help Scout’s knowledge base is tightly integrated with the inbox, allowing agents to attach articles directly to conversations. The platform’s real‑time chat feature, called Help Scout Chat, enables sales reps to add a live chat widget to their website. While the widget itself is not as heavily customizable as some competitors, the platform provides a simple way to embed a chat window that automatically forwards messages to the shared inbox. Help Scout also offers a robust set of automation tools, including triggers, sequences, and custom fields, to keep the sales workflow efficient. Integration with major CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier ensures that data flows seamlessly between systems. Pricing for Help Scout starts with a Basic plan at $20 per user per month, which includes shared inboxes, help center, and email support. The Team plan adds live chat, custom fields, and sequences at $40 per user per month. The Enterprise plan offers advanced automation, reporting, and SSO, with pricing on request. Help Scout’s main advantage is its simplicity and email‑centric design, making it an excellent fit for sales teams that rely heavily on email communication and need a lightweight ticketing system.

Front is a collaborative inbox and customer communication platform that aggregates messages from email, chat, WhatsApp, Slack, and more into a single workspace. Designed for teams that handle high volumes of inbound communication, Front allows sales representatives to respond quickly and maintain context across multiple channels. The platform offers a built‑in knowledge base that can be accessed by agents via the front desk or shared with customers through a help center. Front’s AI features include the ability to auto‑tag messages, suggest replies, and route conversations to the appropriate team member. Automation rules and workflows help teams keep track of deadlines and escalations. Front’s pricing starts at $15 per user per month for the Starter plan, which includes email, chat, and basic automation. The Advanced plan, which adds more integrations and AI features, costs $25 per user per month. Enterprise pricing is available on request and includes dedicated support and advanced reporting. Front’s strengths are its multi‑channel aggregation and collaboration features, making it a powerful tool for sales teams that need to juggle multiple touchpoints.

Groove is a help desk solution that prides itself on simplicity and speed of deployment. The platform offers a lightweight ticketing system, a knowledge base, and a basic live chat widget that can be embedded on websites. Groove’s “Help Center” can be used by sales teams to provide self‑service resources for prospects and customers. One of Groove’s key features is its “Groove AI” module, which can automatically suggest articles and generate draft responses, helping agents answer queries more efficiently. The platform also supports basic automation rules, such as auto‑assigning tickets to the appropriate team or setting SLA timers. Groove’s pricing is straightforward: the Starter plan starts at $12 per agent per month and includes email support, a knowledge base, and the live chat widget. The Plus plan at $20 per agent per month adds workflow automation, custom fields, and priority support. Groove is best suited for small teams that need a quick, no‑frills help desk with AI assistance.

HubSpot Service Hub is part of the HubSpot CRM ecosystem and provides a comprehensive ticketing, knowledge base, and customer communication suite. The platform is tightly integrated with HubSpot’s marketing, sales, and CRM tools, allowing sales teams to view customer context directly within the ticket interface. Service Hub offers a knowledge base that can be customized with branding and content categories. Its chat widget, called HubSpot Chat, can be embedded on websites and automatically logs conversations as tickets. AI features such as automated ticket routing, sentiment analysis, and suggested articles are powered by HubSpot’s AI engine. Pricing for Service Hub starts with a free tier that includes basic ticketing and a knowledge base. The Starter plan is $45 per month (adds chat and additional automation), the Professional plan is $115 per month (adds advanced automation, reporting, and AI), and the Enterprise plan is $360 per month (adds custom reporting, SSO, and advanced AI features). Service Hub’s biggest advantage is its seamless integration with HubSpot CRM, making it ideal for sales teams already using HubSpot.

Intercom is a customer messaging platform that combines live chat, help desk, and marketing automation. The platform provides a real‑time chat widget that can be embedded on any website and automatically creates tickets in the back‑end. Intercom’s knowledge base, called Help Center, can be customized with branding and offers content suggestions based on user behavior. Intercom’s AI capabilities, including the Message Designer and the AI-powered chatbot, help sales teams automate responses and route conversations to the right team member. The platform also offers robust automation features such as triggers, sequences, and product tours. Pricing for Intercom starts at $39 per month for the Starter plan, which includes the chat widget and basic help center. The Standard plan at $69 per month adds advanced automation and AI, and the Premium plan at $99 per month includes advanced reporting and additional AI features. Intercom’s strengths are its rich set of messaging tools and deep automation, making it suitable for sales teams that need a versatile communication hub.