Zoho Desk review

Zoho Desk packs more automation into its lower tiers than most rivals. The free edition gives three users email ticketing with no end date, which is enough for a small team to test the habit of working from tickets. The Express edition adds email, social media and web form channels, direct assignment, workflows, multi-level escalations, a custom domain and contact management. Standard brings live chat through business messaging, WhatsApp and other instant messaging, a knowledge base, a community forum, happiness ratings and custom reports. Professional is where round robin assignment, telephony, Blueprints process automation and multiple departments appear. The interface carries a lot of options, so setup takes longer than with Help Scout or Hiver. Zoho's pricing page showed local currency from our location, so the USD price is marked pending; check the page from your own region before buying.

Who it is for

Budget-minded teams, especially those already on Zoho apps, that want many features per dollar.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Free edition with three user licenses for email ticketing
• Email, social media and web form tickets on Express
• Workflows, direct assignment and multi-level escalations on Express
• Knowledge base, community forum and live chat messaging on Standard
• Round robin assignment, telephony and Blueprints on Professional

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: The free edition gives three agents email ticketing with no expiry
• Strength: Express already includes workflows and escalations
• Strength: Works with Zoho CRM and other Zoho apps
• Weakness: We could not confirm US dollar prices from this location
• Weakness: The knowledge base starts on Standard, not Express
• Weakness: Five paid editions take time to compare

Key facts

• Free edition: 3 user licenses, email ticketing
• Paid editions: Express, Standard, Professional, Enterprise
• Billing: Monthly or yearly, yearly saves up to 34%
• Price check: USD check pending

Where it ranks

Zoho Desk is No. 4 in our Best Help Desk Software for Small Business verdict and No. 4 in Best Help Desk Software.