Zoho Desk pricing plans at a glance
Prices are per agent per month in US dollars, from Zoho's public US pricing and plan comparison pages. Local sales tax is added at checkout.
| Edition | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Agent limit | SLA policies | AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Express | $7 | $9 | Up to 5 agents | Default SLA only | Basic automation |
| Standard | $14 | $20 | Unlimited | 4 per department | No answer bot |
| Professional | $23 | $35 | Unlimited | 10 per department | Answer bot, sentiment, generative AI with Zia or your own key |
| Enterprise | $40 | $50 | Unlimited | 20 per department | Full Zia suite |
Zoho also lists a free edition for up to three users with email only. It has no public help center and no SLA beyond the default, so it rarely fits a team that sells support to customers.
What you actually get on each Zoho Desk plan
Express is built for very small teams that want to get off a shared mailbox. It covers email and social channels for one brand, direct assignment and a default SLA. The five-agent cap is the catch: the sixth hire forces a move to Standard, which doubles the seat price.
Standard is where Zoho Desk becomes a real help desk for most teams. You get a public help center, up to four SLA policies per department, multi-level escalations, custom functions and webhooks. For a team that promises one or two response times and does not need AI, Standard at $14 billed yearly is one of the best deals in the market.
Professional adds what growing teams ask for next: collision detection, team ownership, mass reply, telephony, blueprints for guided processes, ten SLAs per department, the answer bot and sentiment analysis. Generative AI features also start here, through Zia or a key from your own AI provider.
Enterprise adds live chat through Zoho SalesIQ, a sandbox, skill-based routing, 20 SLAs per department, 30 workflow rules per department and a second social brand. Teams usually move here for live chat or the full Zia suite, not for SLAs.
What Zoho Desk really costs per year
Seat prices look small until you multiply them. Here is what the plans cost for common team sizes, billed yearly, before tax and before any AI provider charges.
| Team size | Standard | Professional | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 agents | $840 a year | $1,380 a year | $2,400 a year |
| 10 agents | $1,680 a year | $2,760 a year | $4,800 a year |
| 25 agents | $4,200 a year | $6,900 a year | $12,000 a year |
Paying monthly costs 30 to 50 percent more. Ten agents on Professional billed monthly pay $4,200 a year instead of $2,760, which is the difference between a yearly and a monthly plan on almost any help desk. If you are confident in the tool after the trial, the yearly plan is the better buy.
Costs that do not show on the Zoho Desk pricing page
The seat price is not always the whole bill. Four things add to it, depending on how you work.
- Your AI provider: if you connect your own AI key on Professional, the provider bills you for usage separately, and that cost grows with ticket volume.
- Live chat: on plans below Enterprise, chat comes from a separate Zoho product with its own pricing.
- Telephony: calls run through a connected phone provider, which charges per number and per minute.
- Light agents: people who only view tickets and add notes are available from Standard, with 50 included on Enterprise. Check how many of your colleagues need full seats before you count.
None of these are hidden fees in a bad sense. They are the usual price of a modular suite: you pay for the parts you turn on. Budget them before you compare Zoho with a tool that bundles them.
Which Zoho Desk plan should you choose?
Pick Standard if you have up to 20 agents, email and a help center are your main channels, and you do not need AI. It gives you real SLA policies and escalations at $14 a seat.
Pick Professional if you want the answer bot, sentiment analysis and generative drafts, or if agents keep replying to the same ticket at the same time and you need collision detection.
Pick Enterprise only if you need built-in live chat, a sandbox to test changes, skill-based routing or more than ten SLA policies per department.
Skip Express unless you are sure the team will stay at five agents or fewer for the next year.
Zoho Desk pricing compared with other help desks
How the Zoho Desk seat price sits next to the tools teams usually shortlist with it. Prices per agent per month, billed yearly, from each vendor's pricing page.
| Tool | Plan with several SLA policies | Price | How AI is billed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Desk | Standard | $14 | Generative AI from Professional, with Zia or your own key |
| Freshdesk | Pro | $55 | AI Agent sessions in packs of 100 for $49, Copilot $29 per agent |
| Ticketagent | Team | $49 | AI drafts and a pooled resolution volume included in the seat |
| Help Scout | Plus | $37.80 | AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution |
| Zendesk | Suite Professional | $115 | Per automated resolution, Copilot $50 per agent |
On the seat price alone, Zoho Desk wins against every tool here, and we will not pretend otherwise. The comparison changes when AI is a requirement. On Ticketagent, Team at $49 includes AI drafts on every ticket and 150 AI resolutions per seat each month, pooled across the workspace, with no key to connect and no usage bill. Ten agents on Zoho Desk Professional pay $230 a month in seats plus their AI provider's usage. Ten agents on Ticketagent Team pay $490 a month with the AI volume already inside. Which is cheaper depends on how many tickets your AI answers, so run your own numbers.
If you track software spend across many tools, a SaaS spend dashboard helps you see the help desk line next to everything else at renewal time.
Zoho Desk pricing questions
How much is Zoho Desk per month?
Zoho Desk costs $7, $14, $23 or $40 per agent per month on Express, Standard, Professional and Enterprise when billed yearly, and $9, $20, $35 or $50 when billed monthly. A ten-agent team on Standard pays $140 a month billed yearly.
Is Zoho Desk cheaper than Freshdesk?
Yes, at every comparable tier. Zoho Desk Standard at $14 per agent billed yearly includes several SLA policies and escalations, which Freshdesk sells on Pro at $55. Freshdesk's entry plan, Growth at $19, is also above Zoho Desk Express at $7.
Does Zoho Desk charge for AI?
The answer bot, sentiment analysis and generative AI start on Professional at $23 per agent billed yearly. Below Enterprise, generative features can run on your own AI provider key, and that provider bills your usage separately. The full Zia suite comes with Enterprise.
What is the Zoho Desk agent limit on Express?
Express is capped at five agents. A sixth agent means moving the whole team to Standard, which raises the seat price from $7 to $14 billed yearly.
Does Zoho Desk offer a free trial?
Yes, Zoho Desk offers a 15-day trial of its paid editions without a credit card, so you can test SLAs, escalations and the help center on real tickets before you pay.
What is a cheaper alternative to Zoho Desk with AI included?
Few help desks undercut Zoho Desk on seat price. If you want AI included rather than billed by usage, Ticketagent Team at $49 per agent billed yearly bundles AI drafts and 150 AI resolutions per seat each month, which can cost less in total once your AI answers a large share of tickets.