If you’re an IT manager at a small or midsize business, free customer service software gives you a practical way to manage tickets, customer requests, and support workflows without committing to a paid plan upfront.
As your customer base grows and your support needs become more complex, many of these platforms also offer paid plans with more advanced automation, reporting, integrations, and customization.
In this guide, we compare nine customer service tools: six with forever-free plans and three that offer free trials. We also highlight the key limits of each free option, whether that is the number of agents, monthly ticket volume, feature restrictions, or limited ticket history, so you know exactly what to expect before adopting a platform.
You will also see what each tool offers, where it works best, and what the upgrade path looks like as your support operations grow.
Let’s take a look at the best free customer service software available today.
TL;DR: Best free customer service software shortlist
Forever free plans
- Desk365 – Free for up to 3 agents with 50 tickets a month, email ticketing, a shared inbox, and Microsoft Teams ticketing built in.
- Zoho Desk – Free forever for up to 3 agents with email ticketing, a help center, and basic reporting.
- LiveAgent – Free forever for unlimited agents with live chat and email ticketing, but ticket messages older than 7 days are hidden.
- HubSpot Service Hub – Free forever for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts with ticketing, live chat, and free CRM access.
- Jira Service Management – Free forever for up to 3 agents with a customer portal, request queues, and an embedded knowledge base.
- Spiceworks – Free forever for up to 5 technicians with unlimited end users, supported by ads instead of a paywall.
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Free trial only
- Freshdesk – Free trial only: 14 days of full Enterprise-level access, then a paid plan starting at $19 per agent per month.
- Front – Free trial only: 14 days of Professional features with no credit card, then $25 per seat per month.
- Gorgias – Free trial only: 7 days built for Shopify stores, then plans from $10 per month for 50 tickets.
Why you can trust our reviews
We read each tool’s current pricing page directly, not a cached version or a sales rep’s pitch, and cross-checked the agent caps and feature cutoffs against independent reviews and real user reports on G2 and Reddit. Where a free plan had changed in the last year, we called it out by name instead of quietly updating the number and moving on.Â
That last part matters more than it sounds. A tool that was free for ten agents two years ago and is free for two agents today is not the same recommendation, even if the name on the page has not changed. Read our review methodology here.
Best free customer service software: Full reviews
These six tools keep a free plan available with no end date. Each one caps agents, users, tickets, or features, and the limits are listed below.
| Software | Free Plan Details | Best For & Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| Desk365 |
Forever free 3 agents 50 tickets per month |
Microsoft 365 and Teams-based teams G2: 4.9/5 Capterra: 4.9/5 |
| Zoho Desk |
Forever free 3 agents No ticket limit listed |
Teams already using Zoho apps G2: 4.4/5 Capterra: 4.5/5 |
| LiveAgent |
Forever free Unlimited agents No ticket limit listed; 7-day ticket history |
Live chat-heavy teams G2: 4.5/5 Capterra: 4.7/5 |
| HubSpot |
Forever free 2 users No ticket limit listed; 1,000 contacts |
CRM-focused teams G2: 4.4/5 Capterra: 4.4/5 |
| Jira Service Management |
Forever free 3 agents No ticket limit listed; 500 automation runs per month |
IT service management (ITSM) teams G2: 4.3/5 Capterra: 4.5/5 |
| Spiceworks |
Forever free 5 technicians No ticket limit listed |
Small internal IT teams G2: 4.3/5 Capterra: 4.4/5 |
| Freshdesk |
Free trial Not applicable Not applicable |
Structured, SLA-driven support G2: 4.4/5 Capterra: 4.5/5 |
| Front |
Free trial Not applicable Not applicable |
Collaborative shared inbox G2: 4.7/5 Capterra: 4.5/5 |
| Gorgias |
Free trial Not applicable Not applicable |
Ecommerce and Shopify stores G2: 4.6/5 Capterra: 4.6/5 |
1. Desk365
4.9/5
4.9/5
Why it earned a spot
Desk365 is a helpdesk built for teams that run on Microsoft 365, and its free plan handles tickets by email, portal, and Microsoft Teams ticketing. That makes it a practical first helpdesk for IT managers and support leads at small businesses, who can start without a budget request. Teams sits at the center of the product instead of being a connector, and paid plans start at $12 per agent per month billed annually, listed on the Desk365 pricing page
Desk365 free plan features:
- Free for up to 3 agents
- Up to 50 tickets per month
- Email ticketing and unified inbox
- Microsoft Teams ticketing
- Customer support portal
- Web forms and web widget
- Basic workflow automation
- Knowledge base
- Microsoft Entra ID single sign-on
- Built on a SOC 2 Type II certified, GDPR-compliant platform
What customers are saying about Desk365
“Best-in-Class Pricing, Easy Onboarding, and Great Integration” – Peter S.
 Pros
- Â Native Microsoft 365 and Teams integration
- Affordable upgrade path from the free plan
- Easy to set up and use, according to reviewers on G2 and Capterra
- Useful free plan for small support teams
Cons
- 50-ticket monthly limit on the free plan
- Fewer native integrations than larger platforms
2. Zoho Desk
4.4/5
4.5/5
Why it earned a spot
Zoho Desk gives up to three agents email ticketing and a help center at no cost, with no time limit. If your customer data already lives in Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps, it carries across. The free tier stops at basic ticketing, so treat it as a starting point before the Express plan at $7 per agent per month billed annually. Our Zoho Desk pricing breakdown covers each paid tier.
Zoho Desk free plan features:
- Up to 3 agents
- No time limit
- Email ticketing
- Help center and private knowledge base
- Basic ticket management
- Basic reporting
What customers are saying about Zoho Desk
“Zoho Desk Streamlines Multi-Channel Support with Powerful Automation” – Muhammed R.
“Zoho Desk Keeps Customer Requests Organized with Flexible, Time-Saving Automation” – Asif A.
 Pros
- Free for three agents with no time limit
- Fits naturally with Zoho CRM and other Zoho apps
- Lowest paid tier in this list at $7 per agent per month (annual billing)
Cons
- Free plan is limited to basic ticketing, and SLAs and automation sit on paid tiers
- Express caps at five agents, so growing teams move to Standard at $14 per agent per month
3. LiveAgent
4.5/5
4.7/5
Why it earned a spot
LiveAgent is a multichannel helpdesk with built-in live chat, and its free plan offers a chat widget and email ticketing for an unlimited number of agents. It puts chat and email in one inbox at a low starting price. The trade-off is a seven-day ticket history on the free plan, so it fits low-volume teams best.
LiveAgent free plan features:
- Unlimited agents
- Ticket management with one email channel
- Live chat widget
- Essential reporting
What customers are saying about LiveAgent
“It supports simplified customer access to assistance services across all channels.” – Edjelie M.
 Pros
- Unlimited agents on the free plan
- Live chat built in, not bolted on
- Paid plans start at $15 per agent per month billed annually
Cons
- Ticket messages older than seven days are hidden until you upgrade
- No automation, integrations, SLAs, or knowledge base on the free plan
4. HubSpot Service Hub
4.4/5
4.4/5
Why it earned a spot
HubSpot’s free tools connect ticketing, a shared inbox, and live chat to its free CRM, so every ticket sits next to the customer record. Where sales, marketing, and support already share HubSpot, everyone gets one view of each customer. New free accounts are capped at two users and 1,000 contacts, so it works best for very small teams.
HubSpot free plan features:
- Up to 2 users
- Up to 1,000 contacts
- Ticketing linked to contact records
- Shared team email inbox
- Live chat and basic conversational bots with HubSpot branding
- Email templates and snippets
- Basic reporting dashboards
What customers are saying about HubSpot
“Quick and Efficient Integration for Teams” – Leonardo S.
 Pros
- Full customer history on every ticket through the free CRM
- Free shared inbox and live chat
- Connects with more than 1,500 apps, including Jira and Microsoft Teams
Cons
- Two-user and 1,000-contact caps on new free accounts
- No SLA tracking or knowledge base until paid tiers, and chat carries HubSpot branding
5. Jira Service Management
4.3/5
4.5/5
Why it earned a spot
Jira Service Management is Atlassian’s ITSM tool, and its free plan covers three agents with a customer portal, request queues, and an embedded knowledge base. Teams already on Jira or Confluence can grow it into full ITIL-style incident and change management. Setup takes more effort than simpler tools, and the paid Standard plan starts at $20 per agent per month billed annually.
Jira Service Management free plan features:
- Up to 3 agents
- Unlimited customers
- ITSM and customer service templates
- Customer portal
- Customizable request forms, workflows, and queues
- Embedded knowledge base
- Up to 500 automation rule runs per month
- 2 GB file storage
What customers are saying about Jira Service Management
“Easy-to-Use IT Service Management Tool” – Arjun S.
 Pros
- Deep integration with Jira, Confluence, and the rest of the Atlassian stack
- Portal, queues, and knowledge base included on the free plan
- Grows into incident, problem, and change management on higher plans
Cons
- Three-agent cap and 500 automation runs per month on free
- Steeper setup and learning curve than simpler help desks
- Costs climb as you add agents
6.Spiceworks
4.3/5
4.4/5
Why it earned a spot
Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk is a free, ad-supported IT help desk for small internal IT teams, with up to five technician seats and unlimited end users. With no software budget, small IT teams still get device inventory and a large peer community. A sixth technician moves the whole team to Premium at $5 per seat per month billed annually, so plan for that seat early.
Spiceworks free plan features:
- Up to 5 technician and admin seats
- Unlimited end users
- Ticketing with custom fields
- Employee self-service portal
- Knowledge base
- Multi-factor authentication
- Prebuilt reporting and a Power BI connector
- Free inventory, contract tracking, and connectivity tools
- iOS and Android apps
What customers are saying about Spiceworks
“Functional but clunky” – Severian B.
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 Pros
- Free for five technicians with unlimited end users
- Device inventory and contract tracking come free with ticketing
- Active peer community of IT professionals
Cons
- Ads in the interface, and personal data may be shared with Ziff Davis companies unless you opt out
- No AI, automatic routing, SLA tracking, or native Microsoft Teams or Slack integration
Customer service software with a free trial
The next three platforms do not provide a permanent free plan. They offer limited-time trials that allow businesses to test their paid customer service software before subscribing.
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7. Freshdesk
4.4/5
4.5/5
Why it earned a spot
Freshdesk is a mature ticketing platform with strong SLA, automation, and reporting tools, and its trial gives you every feature for 14 days. Support leads who need structured queues and escalation rules get the most from testing it, provided they are ready to pay afterward. If you are comparing options before you buy, our list of Freshdesk alternatives shows what else is worth testing.
Freshdesk free plan features:
- Trial duration: 14 days
- Plan tested: full Enterprise-level access
- Capabilities to test: automation, AI, analytics, and multichannel support
- When the trial ends: choose a paid plan, with Growth at $19 per agent per month billed annually, or the account is suspended
- Freshworks’ help center also mentions a limited Free Program after the trial, reported as up to 2 agents for 6 months, which is not a permanent plan
What customers are saying about Freshdesk
“A Feature-Rich Platform for Managing Customer Service” – Sreenivasan P.
 Pros
- Free for five technicians with unlimited end users
- Device inventory and contract tracking come free with ticketing
- Active peer community of IT professionals
Cons
- Ads in the interface, and personal data may be shared with Ziff Davis companies unless you opt out
- No AI, automatic routing, SLA tracking, or native Microsoft Teams or Slack integration
8. Front
4.7/5
4.5/5
Why it earned a spot
Front is a shared inbox with internal comments and assignments, built for teams that treat customer email as a team sport. Collaboration matters more here than rigid ticket queues. It also carries the highest G2 rating in this list after Desk365, though per-seat prices climb quickly.
Front free plan features:
- Trial duration: 14 days
- Plan tested: all Professional plan features
- No credit card required
- Capabilities to test: omnichannel messaging across email, chat, SMS, and social, plus automation and AI tools
- When the trial ends: choose Starter at $25 per seat per month, Professional at $65, or Enterprise at $105, all billed annually
What customers are saying about Front
“A Powerful Tool for Team Collaboration and Communication” – Angel G.
 Pros
- Shared inbox with internal comments, tagging, and assignments
- Trial includes Professional features, so you can test omnichannel and automation
Cons
- Starter is limited to one channel and 10 seats, so growing teams jump to Professional at $65 per seat
- Copilot and other AI tools are paid add-ons on lower tiers
9. Gorgias
4.4/5
4.5/5
Why it earned a spot
Gorgias is a helpdesk built for ecommerce, and it shows Shopify order data inside each ticket so agents can refund or edit an order without switching tabs. Pricing follows ticket volume instead of seats. Its trial is the shortest in this list at seven days.
Gorgias free plan features:
- Trial duration: 7 days, starting when you verify your email
- No credit card required
- Capabilities to test: Shopify integration, macros, rules, live chat, and social channels
- Trial limit: up to 10 outbound email ticket messages
- When the trial ends: choose a plan, starting at $10 per month for 50 tickets and 3 seats
- Setup is kept until you upgrade, and unpaid accounts and data are deleted after 90 days
What customers are saying about Gorgias
“Flexible, AI-Powered Support That Streamlines Multichannel Customer Care” – Kristen M.
 Pros
- Shopify order details, refunds, and edits inside the ticket
- Pricing is based on ticket volume, so more people can use it without seat costs on higher plans
Cons
- Tickets over your plan limit cost roughly $0.36 to $0.40 each
- AI Agent is billed separately, at roughly $1 per resolved conversation
What is free customer service software?
Free customer service software is help desk or shared inbox software that lets you manage customer requests at no cost, either permanently on a limited plan or for a set trial period. It usually covers ticketing and a shared inbox, and it holds back automation, reporting, or extra seats for paid tiers. The word “free” hides two different offers, which the next section separates.
Vendors also call it free customer support software. The label changes, but the trade-off does not: you get the basics now, and you pay when your team or volume grows.
Forever free plan vs free trial
A forever free plan stays available with no end date but limits agents, tickets, or features. A free trial gives you more features for a short window and then requires payment.
| Forever Free Plan | Free Trial | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | No end date | 7 to 21 days in this list |
| Cost After | $0, until you upgrade | Paid plan required |
| Limits | Caps on agents, users, tickets, or features | Time limit, sometimes feature limits |
| Best For | Small teams running real support at low volume | Evaluating a paid tool before buying |
| In This List | Desk365, Zoho Desk, LiveAgent, HubSpot, Jira Service Management, Spiceworks | Freshdesk, Front, Gorgias |
How to choose free customer service software
Start with your agent count and last month’s ticket volume, because those two numbers decide which free plans can work at all. Then check the rest of the list below against the features your team uses every day.
| What to check | What to look for | Example from this list |
|---|---|---|
| Agent limits | Count everyone who replies to tickets, since caps for an all-at-once upgrade | HubSpot allows 2 users, Desk365 and Zoho Desk allow 3 agents, Spiceworks allows 5 technicians, LiveAgent is unlimited |
| Ticket limits | Compare the cap to last month's ticket count | Desk365 caps free at 50 tickets per month, while Zoho Desk and HubSpot list no ticket cap |
| Shared inbox | Several people can see and own the same email | Desk365 and HubSpot include a shared inbox on free plans |
| Microsoft Teams support | Full ticket handling inside Teams, not just notifications | Desk365 runs ticketing in Teams, while Spiceworks has no native Teams integration |
| Automation | Rules that route, tag, and assign tickets | Desk365 includes basic workflow automation, while LiveAgent's free plan has none |
| SLA management | Response and resolution timers | Freshdesk gates SLAs to Pro and above, and Spiceworks has no service level tracking |
| Customer portal | A place for customers to submit and track requests | Desk365, Jira Service Management, and Spiceworks include portals on free plans |
| Knowledge base | Self-service articles that deflect tickets | Desk365, Zoho Desk, Jira Service Management, and Spiceworks include one, while HubSpot reserves it for paid tiers |
| Reporting | Prebuilt dashboards versus custom reports | Spiceworks offers prebuilt reports plus a Power BI connector, and custom reports need Premium |
| Integrations | Connects to the tools your team already uses | Desk365 connects with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID, HubSpot lists more than 1,500 apps, and Jira Service Management pairs with Atlassian tools |
| AI | Whether AI is included or sold as an add-on | Desk365 AI Copilot starts on Plus, Freshdesk's Copilot costs $29 per agent per month, and Spiceworks has no AI |
| Scalability | What happens when you add the next agent | Spiceworks moves all six seats to Premium at seat six, and Front Starter caps at 10 seats |
| Upgrade pricing | First paid tier per agent per month, billed annually | Zoho Desk $7, Desk365 $12, LiveAgent $15, Freshdesk $19, Jira Service Management $20, Front $25 |
A $7 first tier is not the whole price. Zoho Desk’s Express plan caps at five agents, and the next tier is $14 per agent, against $12 for Desk365.
Which free customer service software is right for you?
- Microsoft 365 teams: Desk365 handles tickets inside Microsoft Teams on its free plan. Jira Service Management is the stronger pick if your team lives in Atlassian tools instead.
- Small support teams: Zoho Desk offers three agents with no time limit. Desk365 works if your volume stays under 50 tickets per month.
- CRM-focused teams: HubSpot links every ticket to a contact record. Zoho Desk fits the same need if your CRM is Zoho.
- ITSM teams: Jira Service Management suits teams that need ITIL-style process as they grow. Spiceworks suits small internal IT teams that want device inventory and have five or fewer technicians.
- Live chat-heavy teams: LiveAgent includes a chat widget and unlimited agents on its free plan, with a seven-day ticket history as the trade-off.
- Ecommerce teams: Gorgias shows Shopify order data inside each ticket, but it only offers a seven-day trial.
- Businesses that only need a free trial for evaluation: Freshdesk gives you 14 days of Enterprise-level access, Front gives you 14 days of Professional features, and Gorgias gives you seven days.
Before you pick, count your agents and last month’s tickets, then write down the number that would force an upgrade. If your team runs on Microsoft 365 and handled fewer than 50 tickets last month, start a free Desk365 account and log a full month of real tickets to see whether the limit holds.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single best option, because the right tool depends on your team size, ticket volume, and existing tools. Desk365 fits Microsoft 365 teams, HubSpot fits CRM-focused teams, Jira Service Management fits ITSM teams, LiveAgent fits live chat-heavy teams, and Gorgias fits ecommerce stores.
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No tool in this list is free without limits. Spiceworks is the closest for small IT teams, since it is free for up to five technicians with unlimited end users, but it is ad-supported and moves the whole team to a paid plan at the sixth seat
Six tools in this list offer a forever-free plan: Desk365, Zoho Desk, LiveAgent, HubSpot, Jira Service Management, and Spiceworks. Each one caps agents, users, tickets, or features.
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Freshdesk is not free forever. It offers a 14-day free trial with Enterprise-level access, and after the trial you choose a paid plan starting at $19 per agent per month billed annually. Freshworks’ help center also mentions a limited Free Program, which is not a permanent plan.
A free plan stays available indefinitely with limits on agents, tickets, or features. A free trial gives you more features for a short period, then requires payment to continue.
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Yes, if your ticket volume and agent count fit within the plan’s limits. A team of two or three agents handling a few dozen tickets a month can run on Desk365, Zoho Desk, or Jira Service Management without paying.
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No. Front has no permanent free plan. It offers a 14-day free trial with all Professional features and no credit card, and paid plans start at $25 per seat per month billed annually.
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Upgrade when you hit the agent or ticket cap, when you need SLA timers or automation to keep up with volume, or when missing history, reporting, or integrations slow your team down. The sixth agent is the most common trigger, since some plans move every seat to a paid tier at once.
