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Indie alternatives to Zendesk

10 products made by independent developers and small teams that do what Zendesk does, 6 of them with a free plan. Free and open-source options come first.

At a glance

The alternatives

1. Chatwoot

Open-source customer engagement and live chat

An open-source omnichannel support platform with website live chat, email, social and messaging channels, cloud-hosted or self-hosted.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android · Website ↗

2. Crisp

Live chat, shared inbox and help center for small businesses

Crisp is a customer messaging platform with website live chat, a shared team inbox, chatbots and a knowledge base for small and medium businesses.

Free plan · Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android · Website ↗

3. FreeScout

Free open-source, self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox

FreeScout is an open-source help desk and shared inbox that you host yourself, with optional paid modules for extra features.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

4. osTicket

Open-source support ticket system

osTicket is a widely used open-source ticketing system that turns emails and web forms into support tickets.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

6. Zammad

Open-source help desk and ticketing system

Zammad is a web-based help desk that handles tickets from email, chat, phone and social channels, available hosted or self-hosted.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

7. Enchant

Help desk with shared inbox, knowledge base and messenger

Enchant is customer service software that combines a shared inbox for email, social and chat with a knowledge base, aimed at growing support teams.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

8. Help Scout

Shared inbox, help center and live chat for support teams

Help Scout offers a shared email inbox, knowledge base and chat widget for customer support teams.

Paid · Web, iOS, Android, API · Website ↗

9. HelpKit

Turn Notion pages into a help center or knowledge base

HelpKit turns your Notion pages into a hosted, searchable help center and documentation site with a support widget.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

10. Plain

API-first customer support platform for B2B teams

Plain is a support platform for B2B companies that unifies Slack, email and chat support with an API-first design.

Paid · Web, API · Website ↗

Questions

Is there a free alternative to Zendesk?

Yes. 6 of the 10 indie alternatives listed here have a free plan or are free: Chatwoot, Crisp, FreeScout, osTicket and 2 more.

Is there an open-source alternative to Zendesk?

Chatwoot, FreeScout, osTicket, UVdesk and 1 more are open source.

Can I self-host an alternative to Zendesk?

Yes: Chatwoot, FreeScout, osTicket, UVdesk and 1 more can run on your own server.

Which Zendesk alternatives work on Mac, Windows, iPhone or Android?

On Mac: Crisp. On Windows: Crisp. On iPhone and iPad: Chatwoot, Crisp and Help Scout. On Android: Chatwoot, Crisp and Help Scout.

What makes these alternatives to Zendesk “indie”?

They are built by independent developers or small teams rather than large companies. Each one is listed because it does the same core job as Zendesk.

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