Crisp alternatives

16 help desks compared against Crisp on pricing, AI, channels and security. Crisp positions itself as: the ai customer support platform for every business.

Open makes one of the products on this list, so read the table rather than the ordering. Every figure carries its source and the date it was last checked, and anything a vendor says about itself that we could not verify independently is labelled a claim — including ours.

The alternatives

  1. 01

    Open.cx

    Ours

    Best for: High-volume teams (5,000+ tickets/mo) that want automation without switching helpdesks.

    Entry price: $0.90 per resolution

    Open.cx vs Crisp, side by side

  2. 02

    Intercom

    Best for: Mid-market and enterprise SaaS/tech teams wanting a unified AI agent plus human helpdesk.

    Entry price: Essential: $29/seat/mo (annual); $39 monthly.

    Intercom vs Crisp, side by side

  3. 03

    Dixa

    Best for: Ecommerce and DTC brands at mid-market scale.(claimed)source

    Entry price: EUR 89/agent/mo (Growth, monthly). About EUR 71 annual.

  4. 04

    Freshdesk

    Best for: SMB to enterprise ticketing; strong for ecommerce.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $19/agent/mo (Growth); $29 Omni

  5. 05

    Front

    Best for: B2B with cross-team customer ops (tech, logistics, professional services, finance).(claimed)source

    Entry price: $25/seat/mo (Starter; up to 10 seats; single channel; annual).

  6. 06

    Gladly

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise retail, ecommerce, and hospitality (Ulta, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, TUMI).(claimed)source

    Entry price: ~$180/agent/mo (Hero, annual).(3rd-party)source

  7. 07

    Gorgias

    Best for: Ecommerce brands, especially Shopify.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Starter $10/mo (50 tickets, 3 seats); Basic $60/mo (300 tickets).

  8. 08

    Help Scout

    Best for: SMB and mid-market across SaaS, ecommerce, education, and healthcare.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Standard $25/user/mo (monthly); about $21 annual.

  9. 09

    HubSpot Service Hub

    Best for: Growing SMB to mid-market teams wanting unified CRM and service without a separate helpdesk.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Starter $15/seat/mo (monthly); promo ~$9 noted.(3rd-party)source

  10. 10

    Kayako

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise (retail/ecommerce, SaaS, financial services, healthcare) wanting managed, expert-led AI.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $79/mo flat (Kayako One).(3rd-party)source

  11. 11

    Kustomer

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise retail, travel, and finance replacing legacy ticketing (e.g. Turo, Everlane, Sweetgreen).(claimed)source

    Entry price: Enterprise ~$89/seat/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source

  12. 12

    Re:amaze

    Best for: Ecommerce merchants (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce) and SMB online businesses.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $29/agent/mo (Basic, monthly); $26.10 annual.

  13. 13

    Salesforce Service Cloud

    Best for: Large enterprises on Salesforce needing CRM-unified service at scale with AI.(3rd-party)source

    Entry price: Starter Suite $25/user/mo (annual; max 10 users).

  14. 14

    Twilio Flex

    Best for: Companies needing a customizable, developer-first contact center embeddable into apps and CRMs.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $1.00/active user hour or $35/monthly active user.

  15. 15

    Zendesk

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise support teams wanting an all-in-one omnichannel helpdesk with built-in AI agents. Also SMBs via self-serve.

    Entry price: $19/agent/mo (Support Team, annual, email only). $55 (Suite Team, omnichannel).

  16. 16

    Zoho Desk

    Best for: SMB and mid-market in the Zoho ecosystem. 125,000+ businesses.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Express $7/agent/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source

Crisp and the alternatives, side by side

 CrispOpen.cxIntercomDixaFreshdesk
Pricing modelFlat rate per workspace/mo, not per-seat (extra seats $10/mo each).Per resolution. No seat, setup, or per-message fees.Per-seat (Full seats) plus per-outcome Fin AI. Lite seats free on Advanced/Expert.Per-agent/mo plus usage add-ons (Mim per conversation, voice per minute).Per agent/month. AI billed separately.
Entry price$45/mo (Mini, 4 seats, 5,000 profiles, ~$5 AI credits).$0.90 per resolutionEssential: $29/seat/mo (annual); $39 monthly.EUR 89/agent/mo (Growth, monthly). About EUR 71 annual.$19/agent/mo (Growth); $29 Omni
Free planYes. Forever free; 2 seats, 100 profiles, no AI credits.NoNoNoFree tier for up to 2 agents
Autonomous AI agentYes. Hugo AI agent resolves tickets 24/7.Yes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.Yes. Fin AI Agent resolves conversations end to end.Yes. Mim (built in-house 2023, OpenAI GPT) resolves end-to-end across chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS.Yes. Freddy AI Agent resolves tickets end to end.(claimed)source
Runs on your existing helpdeskNative only.Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio.Both. Native on Intercom or standalone on Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshdesk, Dixa, Front, Zoho Desk, Sprinklr.Native only.Native to Freshdesk only
VoiceVia integration (Aircall, Ringover, KrispCall; no native phone)Native (hosted numbers in 100+ countries), inbound and outbound, or bring your own carrier via SIPNative (Intercom Phone; also AWS Connect, Talkdesk, Twilio Flex, Zoom Phone via SIP).Native (VoIP, browser-based).Add-on (Freshcaller, a separate product)

Last updated:

The full seventy-plus row comparison for any pairing lives on its own page.

Questions

Why do teams look for a Crisp alternative?
Most often the pricing shape rather than the product. Crisp bills flat rate per workspace/mo, not per-seat (extra seats $10/mo each). Entry pricing: $45/mo (Mini, 4 seats, 5,000 profiles, ~$5 AI credits). A team whose ticket volume is growing faster than its headcount tends to start pricing the alternatives at that point.
What are the closest alternatives to Crisp?
Open.cx, Intercom and Dixa are the three most often compared against Crisp. Which fits depends on whether you are replacing the help desk itself or adding AI on top of the one you have — those are different projects.
Do I have to migrate off Crisp to use AI?
No. Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio. That matters because a migration and an AI rollout are usually two separate decisions, and doing both at once is how each one gets blamed for the other's problems.
Where do the figures on this page come from?
Public vendor pricing and documentation pages, each with the date it was last checked. Anything a vendor says about itself that cannot be independently verified is marked as a claim rather than presented as fact, including our own.