Skip to main content
Tools
20 Best Email Help Desk Software In 2023

Best Email Help Desk Software Shortlist

Here are the top 10 email help desk software I’d like to highlight out of the 20 I cover in this article:

  1. 1. LiveAgent — Best for improving agent motivation and performance through gamification
  2. 2. NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM) — Best for help desk asset management
  3. 3. Issuetrak — Best for issue tracking and management
  4. 4. Rescue — Best for remote support and access capabilities
  5. 5. Gorgias — Best for integrating with other ecommerce platforms
  6. 6. Jira Service Desk — Best for connecting customer support, IT operations, and business teams
  7. 7. TOPdesk — Best for real-time data visualization
  8. 8. Zoho Desk — Best for collaborating and sharing information in real time
  9. 9. Front — Best for improving team collaboration and communication
  10. 10. HelpSpot — Best for teams that need a wide range of customization options

The CX Lead is reader-supported. We may earn a commission when you click through links on our site — learn more about how we aim to stay transparent.

Email is a vital channel for communicating with customers. Research found that 62% of customers prefer email for customer service communication. However, while email is a popular channel for communication among customers, there are better solutions for handling customer support. With a shared inbox, it can be difficult to establish who is responsible for a support query, leading to confusion and delays.

Instead, you need email help desk software or an email ticketing system. It converts incoming support emails from customers into tickets. These tickets are easy to organize, assign, manage, and track.

With email help desk software, you can assign tickets to the right team member, prioritize tickets based on urgency, and measure key performance indicators. Also, it will ensure that support requests don't get lost in an inbox.

In this article, I review the best email helpdesk software to help you deliver a stellar customer support experience. Each review consists of a brief description, product screenshots, pros and cons, and pricing details to help you choose the best tool for your needs.

How I Selected The Best Email Help Desk Software

Perhaps you're wondering how I selected the best email help desk software for this list. To build this top 10 list, I evaluated and compared a wide range of email help desk software with positive user ratings.

After determining my long list of top choices, I further honed my list by using the selection criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next one. I also drew on my years of CX Lead experience to pinpoint the features that add a lot of value.

If you have general questions about email help desk software or how to pick the best email help desk software for your organization, take a look at our frequently asked questions section below. Or, you can skip directly to my detailed software summaries if that's what you need the most.

Selection Criteria

Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best email help desk software for this article.

Usability

Usability is critical when selecting email help desk software because it directly affects the efficiency of managing customer support requests. A user-friendly email help desk software enables support agents to quickly and easily manage, categorize, and respond to customer inquiries.

Standout Features

While usability is essential, the best email help desk software will also offer unique and powerful features that set it apart from competitors. These features include automation capabilities, integrations with other tools, and advanced reporting and analytics capabilities.

Software Integrations: 

Integrations with other software tools are essential for email help desk software because they allow support agents to access customer data easily. Integration with CRM systems, in particular, is critical for ensuring that support agents have access to a complete customer profile, including previous interactions, purchase history, and other relevant information. 

Integration with other communication channels, such as social media and chat platforms, is essential for providing a seamless omnichannel customer experience.

Pricing:

Pricing is another important factor when selecting email help desk software. While evaluating the pricing models, one should look at the total cost, including any implementation fees or ongoing maintenance costs. However, remember that cost shouldn't be the only factor when deciding.

Overviews of the 20 Best Email Help Desk Software

You can use the simple overviews of each tool below to understand how each tool stands out from other email help desk software.

1

LiveAgent

Best for improving agent motivation and performance through gamification

LiveAgent is customer support software that will consolidate all your customer support channels into a ‘universal’ inbox.

Why I picked LiveAgent: The platform provides gamification features, which are designed to motivate and engage support agents by turning their daily tasks into a game. This feature uses a points-based system to track performance metrics, such as response time and customer satisfaction. It rewards agents with badges and rankings based on their performance.

It connects with your social media, phone, email, and knowledge base and organizes incoming messages into a unified, easy-to-use interface. It also offers a native live chat feature that you can customize to your brand’s look and feel. One unique aspect of the live chat is its proactive chat feature, which allows agents to reach out to customers and offer assistance before they initiate a chat themselves.

LiveAgent Standout Features and Integrations

Features include ticketing system, live chat features, call center features, social media help desk features, customer service reporting, gamification in customer service, customer portal features, mobile desk apps, help desk security, web contact cards, and integrations. 

Integrations include Monema, Adiptel, Feederloop, Everhour, Sangoma, Zoiper, Linphone, OneTone, Equada, Telnyx, and other software options.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 1392

30-day free trial

From $15/agent/month

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Good customer support
  • Customizable and intuitive interface

Cons

  • Occasional glitches and bugs
  • Limited analytics and reporting capabilities
2

NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM)

Best for help desk asset management

NinjaOne is a cloud-based help desk software with a centralized platform for managing IT organizations' customer support requests and inquiries.

Why I picked NinjaOne: The software acts as a single source of truth for all IT requirements. It combines ticket management and IT asset management tools in a single platform. It also includes remote monitoring and management features (RMM).

With it's intuitive UI and large selection of integrations, NinjaOne can streamline help desk processes for both IT teams and clients. And the software can be deployed quickly and easily without the need for complex installation and configuration processes.

NinjaOne Standout Features and Integrations

Features include device management, ITIL policy compliance, asset management, remote monitoring, asset tracking, application deployment, patch management, ticketing, remote access, service management, constant monitoring, and timely alerts.

Integrations include TeamViewer, Splashtop, Connectwise, SentinelOne, Bitdefender, Webroot, Malwarebytes, Okta, OneLogin, and other software options.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 249

30-day free trial

Customized price upon request

Pros

  • Provides various collaboration tools
  • Scalable solution
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Some users experienced false alerts
  • Reporting function could be improved
3

Issuetrak

Best for issue tracking and management

IssueTrak is an issue-tracking and project management tool that helps software development teams, IT departments, and customer support teams efficiently manage and resolve issues. It provides a centralized platform for collaboration, tracking, and prioritization.

Why I picked IssueTrak: The software automates issue workflows based on customizable rules and criteria. This feature eliminates repetitive tasks and frees up time so your team members can focus on more strategic tasks. 

Additionally, IssueTrak offers advanced reporting and analytics capabilities that enable teams to track progress, measure performance, and gain valuable insights. For example, you can track which issues take the longest to resolve, which team members are the most productive, and which projects are falling behind schedule. Armed with this information, you can take corrective actions to improve the performance of agents.

These features make IssueTrack an all-in-one solution for project management, software development, and customer support teams.

IssueTrak Standout Features and Integrations

Features include issue management, branding and appearance, reporting, task management, knowledge management, issue forms, surveys, billing and invoices, identity management, asset management, web forms, and chat.

Integrations include Zapier, Webforms, Google Analytics, Gmail, LDAP, Active Directory Federation Services, Azure AD, OAuth 2.0 / OIDC, Microsoft 365, SendGrid, Salesforce, and Power Bi.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 61

Free demo available

Plans start at $59/user/month

Pros

  • Easy to use and flexible
  • Provides ticket templates
  • Offers several customizations

Cons

  • Interface isn't modern
  • Issue search feature is slow
4

Rescue

Best for remote support and access capabilities

Rescue helps businesses resolve end users' technical issues. Technicians can remotely connect to the end-user's device and solve any problems at the source.

Why I picked Rescue: One of the best features of Rescue is that it helps agents connect to inactive devices. Agents can access a computer system's information, such as operating system version and hardware configuration. And the scripting feature allows technicians to create and execute custom scripts to automate common support tasks.

Other notable features of the software include email ticketing, customizable email templates, and email notifications. Additionally, Rescue integrates with Microsoft Outlook and Gmail, allowing support technicians to manage customer requests directly from their email inboxes.

Rescue Standout Features and Integrations

Features include real-time monitoring and reporting, screen sharing, remote control, diagnostics, file transfer, unattended machine access, customization and branding, APIs and mobile SDK, scripting, agent collaboration, predefined support channels, agent and administrator management, mobile device configuration, and SDK for in-app support.

Integrations include ServiceNow, Salesforce + Lightning, Microsoft Dynamics, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Autotask, HappyFox, Agiloft, and other software options.

14-day free trial available

Plans start at $108.25/month (billed annually)

Pros

  • Enables technicians to gain unattended access
  • Provides end-to-end file sharing
  • Technician console has a simple interface

Cons

  • Doesn’t offer multiple screen access
  • Complex navigation buttons
5

Gorgias

Best for integrating with other ecommerce platforms

Gorgias is customer support software that helps ecommerce brands serve their customers efficiently and with more information.

Why I picked Gorgias: It integrates with various ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, and automatically pulls order information and customer data. This enables support agents to get a complete view of the customer's purchase history. Also, agents can directly refund or edit orders from Gorgias so they won't have to go to the ecommerce platform.

Additionally, it provides ticket management tools that help users organize, prioritize, and solve support requests. Best of all, it integrates with social media channels and lets users respond to social media comments without leaving the Gorgias dashboard.

Gorgias Standout Features and Integrations

Features include ticket creation, ticket response, automated response, attachments/screencasts, ticket collaboration, customer/contact database, knowledge base, automation, notifications, tickets, and macros.

Integrations include Recharge, Postscript, Instagram, Facebook, Stonly, WhatsApp and other software options.

7-day free trial

From $10/month

Pros

  • 24/7 customer support
  • Simple onboarding
  • Allows users to filter social media comments

Cons

  • Plans have ticket limits
  • Limited integrations
6

Jira Service Desk

Best for connecting customer support, IT operations, and business teams

Jira Service Desk is IT service management software that gives customers and employees a self-service portal they can use to get help quickly.

Why I picked Jira Service Desk: A cool feature of Jira is that it uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand the intent of customer requests. Then, it automatically routes the request to the appropriate team or agent. This feature will help you deliver a personalized and efficient customer support experience.

Other notable features include customizable email notifications that organizations can use for customers and support agents, as well as email-based workflows that allow you to assign tickets to specific support agents, set due dates, and track ticket status.

Jira Service Desk Standout Features and Integrations

Features include request management, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), incident management, problem management, change management, asset management, knowledge management, self-service, reports and metrics, and REST API.

Integrations include Slack, Google Sheets, Salesforce, Trello, Typeform, Google Chat, Survicate, EvaluAgent, Simplesat, Ybug, and other software options.

Freemium version + 7-day free trial available

Plans start at $47/agent/month

Pros

  • Provides detailed reporting and analytics tools
  • Natively integrates with other Atlassian products
  • Powerful automation

Cons

  • Limited email formatting options
  • Steep learning curve
7

TOPdesk

Best for real-time data visualization

TOPdesk is an IT Service Management (ITSM) and Facilities Management (FM) solution for medium and large-sized organizations.

Why I picked TOPdesk: The software offers change management features that help organizations to plan, implement, and track changes to their IT and facilities infrastructure in a controlled and structured manner. The platform provides a centralized location for all change requests and ensures that all changes are properly planned, documented, approved, and implemented.

It also offers a knowledge management system that enables users to search for and access information about common issues and solutions, reducing the need for support staff. Additionally, TOPdesk automatically categorizes service requests based on the content of the email, making it easier to route tickets to the appropriate support teams.

TOPdesk Standout Features and Integrations

Features include incident management, asset management, self-service portal, dashboard and reporting, knowledge base, and a sandbox environment.

Integrations include Tenjin, Dstny, Novadoc AI, Echo, Testersuite, QR Connect, Evidos, iFinder, Embrace Social, NIVO Identity Management Software, and other software options.

Personalized demo available

Customized price upon request

Pros

  • Easy to import data
  • Customizable reporting features
  • Provides a wide range of integrations

Cons

  • Limited mobile app functionality
  • Complex implementation
8

Zoho Desk

Best for collaborating and sharing information in real time

Zoho Desk is AI-enabled help desk software that helps users manage customer conversations over email, phone, chat, and social media.

Why I picked Zoho Desk: It has an intelligent virtual assistant called Zia, which automates several tasks. For example, it can categorize tickets, suggest solutions to queries, and predict customer satisfaction levels.

Zoho Desk also provides features for your support agents, managers, and customers. For example, self-service features such as Knowledge Base and Community help customers find answers themselves, while the reporting and analytics features help managers analyze the performance of the support agents.

Another great aspect of the software is that it natively integrates with other Zoho applications such as Zoho CRM, Zoho SalesIQ, Zoho Analytics, and more. This allows businesses to create a centralized hub for customer data and support and facilitates collaboration between different teams.

Zoho Desk Standout Features and Integrations

Features include ticket management, auto-tag tickets, sentiment analysis, Zia notifications, Zia dashboard, reply assistant, self-service tools, CRM integration, custom functions, SDKs, marketplace and platform, APIs, reports and dashboards, time tracking, multi-brand help center, domain mapping, and user and access management.

Integrations include Twilio, RingCentral, Amazon Connect, Ozonetel, Exotel, Knowlarity, Jive, sipgate, JustCall, ringover, and other software options.

Freemium version + 15-day free trial of paid plans available

Plans start at $7/month

Pros

  • Tagging feature ensures relevant members see messages
  • Allows restoring of deleted tickets
  • Allows managers to monitor team communication

Cons

  • Challenging UI
  • Page loading is slow
9

Front

Best for improving team collaboration and communication

Front is a popular email collaboration tool designed to centralize customer communication for teams that manage high volumes of email inquiries.

Why I picked Front: If you want to communicate with customers through a personal email address rather than a group email address, then Front is for you. It lets you connect email, SMS, and social media in a single inbox. Features like inboxes, message templates, canned responses, rules, and automation help support agents become more productive.

Front also lets users see the conversation history and customer context in one place. This feature gives agents a complete picture of previous interactions, which can help them provide more personalized and effective support. Front also offers collaboration features, such as comments and assignments, that allow teams to work together and ensure that customers receive timely and accurate responses.

Front Standout Features and Integrations

Features include multi-channel messaging, live chat, team collaboration, calendar and one-click meeting scheduling, basic automation, CRM integration, analytics, advanced workflows, smart rules, user and team management, onboarding and solution design, change management, security, and compliance.

Integrations include Zapier, Drift, Aircall, Zoom, Salesforce, Clearbit, JIRA, Shopify, Slack, Pagato, Dropbox, Guru, and other software options.

Free trial available

From $19/user/month

Pros

  • Extensive collaboration features
  • Integrated analytics and reporting tools
  • Customizable email templates

Cons

  • Limited integrations
  • Higher priced compared to other tools
10

HelpSpot

Best for teams that need a wide range of customization options

HelpSpot is ticketing software that best serves businesses with complex support needs.

Why I picked HelpSpot: It helps businesses create their own custom fields, workflows, and rules, enabling them to tailor the platform to their specific requirements. For example, it provides email templates that can be tailored to a business's branding and style preferences. It also provides tools for managing customer data, such as custom tags and user fields, which you can use for customer segmentation.

In addition, HelpSpot offers time-tracking tools, which enable users to track time spent on email support. The reporting and analytics features help users track email volume, response times, and other key performance indicators to monitor support team performance and identify areas for improvement.

HelpSpot Standout Features and Integrations

Features include a shared inbox, knowledge base, reporting, a self-service portal, email management, contact forms, advanced search, batch operations, ticket interface, time tracking, merge tickets, volume reports, speed reports, comparison matrix, email reports, SLAs and automation rules, automatic assignment, recurring tickets, portal templates, and hosting.

Integrations include Chatra, Updown.io, AppFollow, SMS by Zapier, Code by Zapier, Jira Software Server, HubSpot, Email Parser by Zapier, Mailparser, Facebook Groups, and other software options.

21-day free trial available

Plans start at $19/agent/month

Pros

  • Self-hosting option available
  • Easy reporting
  • Easily changes ownership of tickets

Cons

  • Interface is not visually appealing
  • Workload reporting needs improvement

The Best Email Help Desk Software Summary

Tool Free Option Price
1
LiveAgent

Best for improving agent motivation and performance through gamification

30-day free trial

From $15/agent/month Visit Website
2
NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM)

Best for help desk asset management

30-day free trial

Customized price upon request Visit Website
3
Issuetrak

Best for issue tracking and management

Free demo available

Plans start at $59/user/month Visit Website
4
Rescue

Best for remote support and access capabilities

14-day free trial available

Plans start at $108.25/month (billed annually) Visit Website
5
Gorgias

Best for integrating with other ecommerce platforms

7-day free trial

From $10/month Visit Website
6
Jira Service Desk

Best for connecting customer support, IT operations, and business teams

Freemium version + 7-day free trial available

Plans start at $47/agent/month Visit Website
7
TOPdesk

Best for real-time data visualization

Personalized demo available

Customized price upon request Visit Website
8
Zoho Desk

Best for collaborating and sharing information in real time

Freemium version + 15-day free trial of paid plans available

Plans start at $7/month Visit Website
9
Front

Best for improving team collaboration and communication

Free trial available

From $19/user/month Visit Website
10
HelpSpot

Best for teams that need a wide range of customization options

21-day free trial available

Plans start at $19/agent/month Visit Website

Other Options

Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best email helpdesk software list:

  1. Zendesk

    Best for creating an omnichannel customer experience

  2. Freshdesk

    Best for a robust ticket management system

  3. HaloITSM

    Best for asset management, change management, and problem management

  4. SysAid

    Best for automating IT operations and service desk tasks

  5. Vision Helpdesk

    Best for centralizing customer conversations via email, web portal, Twitter, Facebook, phone, and chat

  6. EngageBay

    Best for an all-in-one marketing platform

  7. GreenRope

    Best for cloud-based access with marketing automation

  8. Froged

    Best for knowledge base management or self service features

  9. Hubspot Service Hub

    Best for integrating with the full HubSpot CRM platform

  10. HappyFox Help Desk

    Best for tracking customer feedback and sentiment

People Also Ask

Conclusion

Today’s customer expects more than a good product or service. They also want an excellent support experience, which can be an important factor in deciding whether they will purchase from you or not. Although there are several elements to a good customer support experience, online help desk software can be a handy tool.

I hope my review of the best email help desk software helped you in your search. If you’d like to read more about how to improve your customer experience, sign up for our newsletter.

By Hannah Clark

Hannah Clark is the Editor of The CX Lead. After serving over 12 years working in front-line customer experience for major brands, Hannah pivoted to a career in digital publishing and media production. Having gained a holistic view of the challenges and intricacies of delivering exceptional experiences, Hannah aims to help CX practitioners 'level up' their skills by amplifying the voices of today's thought leaders in the space.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.