If you are thinking about investing in a good help desk system for your business, then it’s always a good idea to try out the free trials of the apps on your shortlist first. In this article we’ll discuss the free trail plan offered by Zendesk to give you a better idea how it works. We’ll also analyze free trial offers of other major help desk solutions available on the market, including Freshdesk, currently a leader in that category. If you want to try our Freshdesk on your own to get a better understanding of how it works you can easily get Freshdesk free trial here. Hopefully, learning about all free trial offers available to you will let you test and then decide on which help desk solution will work best for your company.
Zendesk Free Trial
Here’s how Zendesk looks in action
Zendesk is a very good help desk solution. After a review by our team of experts it received a total score of 9.7/10 which makes it the second best help desk app in our raning, outperformed only by Freshdesk (see below). Zendesk offers a 30-day free trial. The free trial gives access to all Plus plan features for that period. If you wish to try out a different plan, you can place a request to the vendor. You can check out Plus plan features or learn about the Enterprise plan on your own. Customers do not need to provide credit card information to register for the trial.
At the end of the 30 days, you can select one of the five plans and pay by credit card from within your Zendesk account. Contact the sales unit if you wish to pay by invoice. Your trial will become your permanent Zendesk account (all your data, actions, and customizations will remain intact). If you do not wish to continue after the trial, your account will simply expire. If you’d like to get more information about the features, pricing and integrations available for this app you can read our detailed review of Zendesk.
Zendesk Pricing Plans:
Regular: $29 per month per agent
Plus: $59 per month per agent (includes insights, internal knowledge base and time tracking)
Enterprise: $139 per month per agent (includes launch guidance, free light agents, ticket forms and custom roles)
Enterprise Elite: $195 per month per agent
Key Zendesk Features include:
Export ticket views to CSV
Flexible ticket management with automated workflow
Full CSS rebranding
Group rules and macros
Knowledge base portal and community forums included
Mobile support with native iPhone, iPad, and Android apps
Multi-channel support: email, web, phone, chat, social media
Open API enabling seamless integration into your business
Over 100 out-of-the-box integrations with 3rd party apps
Public and private forums
Robust reporting and advanced analytics
Here are 5 alternatives to Zendesk that offer great free trial plans for you to try out:
1. Freshdesk Free Trial
An overview of Freshdesk pricing plans
Freshdesk won our Best Help Desk Software Award for 2015
Our team of B2B experts carried out a detailed analysis of all major help desk solutions available on the market and in our research Freshdesk turned out to be the unquestionable leader in its category. It got an excellent total score of 9.8/10 as our experts were impressed with its features, available integrations, customer support and flexible pricing plans. This score places Freshdesk at the very top of our list of best help desk solutions in 2015. Freshdesk also boasts an outstanding customer satisfaction rating of 98% which further reveals how positive its clients are about the app. We also distinguished Freshdesk with two of our prestigeous awards:Best Help Desk Software Award for 2015 as well as our Expert’s Choice Award for 2015. Freshdesk also provides a wide range of pricing plans to meet requirements of companies of various sizes and types.
Freshdesk Free Trial
You can test ride Freshdesk free for 30 days and the free trial is offered with unlimited agents. The Freshdesk free trial gives access to all the features in the Freshdesk Estate Plan. After the trial period is over, you can select a plan and pay with a credit card to continue using the product. If you do not wish to continue, your account will simply expire.
You can even benefit from a free plan for small teams of up to 3 agents that enables small companies to use the tool at no cost whatsoever. You can easily try out Freshdesk on your own with their great free trial and see for yourself how it works for your company. You can get Freshdesk free trial here.
Key Freshdesk Features:
Automations – Ticket routing, scenario automations
Community Portal with Idea Management & Voting
Email to Ticket Conversion
Integrations: Freshbooks, Google Apps, Harvest, CapsuleCRM
Knowledge Base
Leaderboard & gamification
Multi-channel support, including Facebook & Twitter
Multi-language & multi-time zone support
Multiple Service Level Agreement policies
Multi-product/multi-brand Support
Satisfaction Surveys
Self Service Portal
Freshdesk Pricing Plans:
Sprout: Free up to 3 agents
Email support
Phone support
Knowledge base
Blossom: $16 per agent
Social support
Community forums
Game mechanics
Garden: $25 per agent
Live chat
Multiple products
Multiple locations
Estate: $40 per agent
Enterprise reports
Portal customization
Custom agent roles
Forest: $70 per agent
IP whitelisting
Custom email servers
If you’d like to get more information about various features, integrations and functionalities offered by the app you can read our detailed review of Freshdesk.
2. HappyFox Free Trial
An overview of HappyFox interface
In our help desk evaluation HappyFox received a score of 9.0/1o which earns it a spot on our top 10 help desk software list, although far behing Freshdesk and Zendesk. HappyFox is used by a host of top brands including Whirlpool, Sutherland Global Services, Sony DADC, Warner Bros., Sennheiser, and Metroland Media. You can try out HappyFox’s Mighty plan free for 30 days. You can continue after the 30 days by purchasing a monthly subscription of your chosen plan using credit card or you can also pay by invoice.
HappyFox Pricing Plans:
HappyFox offers four price plans:
Popular: $19 per staff/month
Mighty: $29 per staff/month
Fantastic: $49 per staff/month
Enterprise: $69 per staff/month
You can save up to 25% on annual payment.
Features of all plans inlcude:
iOS and Android apps
Knowledge base
Multilingual support
Rich text formatting in tickets
Smart business rules
SSL security
Unlimited tickets
Key HappyFox Features:
Works on iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices
Supports voice, email, chat, social media, and mobile channels
SSO: Google and SAML
Social media integration with Facebook
Smart rules for automation
SLA management
Scheduled reports
REST API
Live chat integration
Knowledge base and FAQ
In-depth reporting
Group contacts
Custom fields
Convert emails into tickets
Community forum
Canned actions
If you need a more thorough overview of HappyFox and its capabilities you can find more information about this software in our detailed review of HappyFox.
3. Samanage Service Desk Free Trial
Here’s how Samanage UI looks like
Another possible help desk alternative is Samanage Service Desk. In our review this app was evaluated with a total score of 9.0/1o which proves its a very solid product, although there is still some room for improvement before it can match its top competitors. Samanage offers a 14-day free trial. It offers unrestricted access to the full Integrated Solution which includes IT Service Desk and IT Asset Management. After the trial period, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for Service Management and/or Asset Management. If you decide to upgrade, all your information and data from the trial will be retained. If you do not wish to continue, your account will simply be disabled.
Samanage Service Desk Pricing Plans:
Samanage Service Desk offers help desk and asset management solutions on monthly subscription. You can select between Service Management and Asset Management, or a combination of both. Pricing starts at $250/month.
Key Samanage Service Desk Features:
Automatic classification
Built-in best practices
Drag & drop setup
Integrations suite
IT Asset Management
IT Service Catalog
IT Service Desk
Knowledge Base
Mobile Access
No-regrets undo
Reports and API
Risk Detection
Self-service Portal
SLA Management
Snapshot view
Tailored dashboard
For more information on Samanage Service Desk and its features, integrations and pricing details you can read our detailed review of Samanage Service Desk.
4. Salesforce Sales Cloud Free Trial
In our help desk review Salesforce Sales Cloud received a score of 9.6/10 which places it as one of our top three help desk solutions, right after the leaders Freshdesk and Zendesk. Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial. You can use your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+ account to sign up. Free trial are offered for all its avalable pricing plans.
Salesforce Sales Cloud Pricing Plans:
Group: €27
Professional: €65
Enterprise: €125
Unlimited: €250
Performance Edition: €300
If you’d like to get a more complex overview of Salesforce and its features, integrations and pricing you can read our detailed review of Salesforce Sales Cloud.
5. Work[etc] CRM Free Trial
A quick glance at Work[etc] user interface
You may also consider Work[etc] as your help desk solution. Our B2B review team gave Work[etc] a total score of 9.0/10 which earns it a place on our top 10 help desk solutions list. Work[etc] offers a fully featured free trial, although only for a 14-day period. No credit card is required to sign up and you can get started within two minutes. The free trial includes Sales, CRM, Projects, Billing, Discussions and more features offered in the Team Edition. It does not include Customer Portal or Advanced Analytics.
Work[etc] Pricing Plans:
Starter: $78/mo
2 user max
2,000 Contacts
3GB Storage
Team: $195/mo
3 users included
Each extra user + $49/mon
10,000 Contacts
15GB Storage
Social Media, Email Marketing, Customer Portal, Accounting Integrations & Reporting
Foundations: $395/mo
3 users included
Each extra user + $59/mo
20,000 Contacts
50GB Storage
Everything from Team Plan with Contractor Portal & Deep Reporting
Key Work[etc] Features:
Billing featuring multi-currency, subscription, and catalog
CRM with customer account history, reminders, contact tagging, and more
Custom Fields viewable on sales, projects, and support cases
Documents, Blogs, and Reporting
For five to 100 employees
Gmail and Outlook Plugins
Helpdesk with support tickets
iPhone, mobile, and Android Support
Project Management with client access, among others
There is also a more comprehensive analysis of the app and its features in our detailed review of Work[etc].
Bottom Line
A thorugh comparison of Zendesk and Freshdesk reveals that while Zendesk offers a great help desk software and a solid free trial plan, Freshdesk can give your company better features and more benefits at more flexible prices. With a final evaluation score of 9.8/10 for Freshdesk and the Best Help Desk Software Award for 2015 this solution is by far the best option if you’re looking for an effective solution that will be able to fulfill all the needs of your business. You can also easily try out Freshdesk on your own with a free trial plan that will let you test all the key features before you decide if you want to go for a paid plan. You can get Fresdesk free trial here.
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