Key takeaways
- Every free plan is limited somewhere, whether that's seats, conversations, contacts, channels, history, branding or AI. Find the limit you'll hit first, not the longest feature list.
- Hosted free plans cost money only later; open-source tools cost time from day one. Self-hosting is only free if someone enjoys running servers.
- AI is the feature free plans give away least. Expect a small trial allowance at best, so test it properly while you have it.
- Upgrade when the free plan starts costing you customers, for example in lost history, slow replies or missing handoff, not when a sales email says so.
- Tidio is our top pick for most small businesses starting free, because its free plan includes live chat, tickets, 10 seats and a real taste of the Lyro AI agent.
"Free" is the most clicked word in software search, and customer service tools know it. Almost every vendor has a free plan or a free tool. Very few of those plans are built to run your support for long. They are built to get you started, and each one draws its limit in a different place.
That isn't a reason to avoid them. A free plan is a perfectly good way to run support while you're small, as long as you pick the one whose limit you'll hit last. This guide looks at what the main free plans really include, what each one leaves out, and when paying becomes the cheaper option.
Where free plans draw the line
Every free plan restricts something. These are the usual places, and what each one means in practice:
| Limit | What it looks like | When it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Seats | One to five users | As soon as a second or third person helps out |
| Volume | Conversations, contacts or chats per month | In your busiest week, usually mid-month |
| Channels | Website chat only, no WhatsApp or Instagram | When customers message you where you can't answer |
| History | 30 days of conversations | When a customer refers to an issue from last quarter |
| Branding | "Powered by" in your widget | Immediately, if you care how it looks |
| AI | None, or a one-off trial allowance | When you want answers outside office hours |
| Hosting | Free software, your server | From day one, in time spent on updates and backups |
How we chose
We read each vendor's pricing page in early September 2026 and judged the free offer on:
- What a small team can run on it: seats, channels and volume.
- How soon the limits bite for a business getting a few conversations a day.
- AI and automation available without paying.
- The upgrade path: can you grow inside the same tool, or will you have to move?
- Hidden costs such as branding, data retention and self-hosting effort.
What to look for
The limit that matters to you
A shop that gets 200 chats a month needs volume. An agency with eight people needs seats. A business that sells on Instagram needs channels. Start from your situation and check that one limit first.
Whether counting is fair
Check what counts toward the allowance. Some plans count every incoming conversation, spam included; others count only the ones your team answers. The difference can be large on a busy website.
History and data you can keep
A 30-day history limit sounds harmless until a customer writes back about an order from spring. Check retention and whether you can export your conversations.
A way to grow without moving
Migrating help desks is real work (see how to switch help desks without losing data). A free plan that upgrades in place saves a project later.
Free software costs money later; open-source software costs time now. Choose which one you'd rather spend.
The best free customer service software
We read each vendor's current pricing page and judged the free plan on what a small team can actually run on it, how soon the limits bite, and how easy it is to grow out of.
Tidio's free plan gives you live chat, a ticket inbox and up to 10 seats, with 50 billable conversations a month. Only conversations your team replies to count, so unanswered spam doesn't use the allowance. You also get 50 Lyro AI conversations to try the AI agent on real visitors, and Flows for simple automation. When you outgrow it, the paid plans keep the same setup, so you don't have to migrate.
Why we like it
- Live chat, tickets and 10 seats on the free plan
- Only conversations you reply to count toward the limit
- A real trial of the Lyro AI agent and Flows
- Upgrade path without moving tools
Watch out for
- The 50 Lyro conversations are a one-off allowance, not monthly
- 50 human-handled conversations a month suits low volume only
Help Scout's free plan covers up to five users with one shared inbox, a Docs help center and the Beacon chat widget, for up to 100 customers helped a month. It feels like email, so teams switching from a shared Gmail inbox settle in quickly.
Why we like it
- Shared inbox plus a help center on the free plan
- Very easy for teams used to email
Watch out for
- 100 contacts a month and one inbox
- The AI agent (AI Answers) is a paid add-on
tawk.to gives away live chat, ticketing, a knowledge base and a simple CRM without seat or chat limits, and makes money from add-ons. You pay to remove its branding, for AI Assist beyond a small free allowance, and for hired agents.
Why we like it
- No limits on agents or chats
- Chat, tickets and knowledge base in one free tool
Watch out for
- Branding stays unless you pay to remove it
- AI and automation are basic without paid add-ons
HubSpot's free tools include live chat, ticketing and a shared inbox for two users, tied to the free HubSpot CRM. It is a sensible start if your sales team already lives in HubSpot.
Why we like it
- Support conversations land next to CRM records
- Simple ticketing and basic bots
Watch out for
- Two users, HubSpot branding, and no knowledge base or SLAs
- AI agents and WhatsApp are on paid plans
Chatwoot is an open-source omnichannel inbox. Its free cloud plan allows two agents, 500 conversations a month and website chat only, with 30 days of history, or you can host the open-source version yourself with no plan limits.
Why we like it
- Open source, so you can self-host and keep your data
- Covers chat, email, social and messaging apps when self-hosted or on paid plans
Watch out for
- The free cloud plan keeps only 30 days of history and has no AI
- Self-hosting means you run updates, backups and security
Zammad is a full open-source ticketing system with SLAs, a knowledge base and email, chat and phone channels. It is free if you run it on your own server; the hosted version is paid per agent, with a trial.
Why we like it
- Full help desk features at no licence cost
- Strong fit for teams that must keep data in-house
Watch out for
- No free hosted plan
- Needs someone technical to install and maintain it
Which one should you choose?
- Small business that wants chat, tickets and a look at AI: Tidio.
- Customers mostly email you: Help Scout's free plan.
- You want unlimited chat and don't mind the branding: tawk.to.
- Your sales team already uses HubSpot: HubSpot's free tools.
- Data must stay on your own servers and you have technical help: Zammad for ticketing, Chatwoot for an omnichannel inbox. osTicket is another long-running free option.
Two well-known names are missing from this list for a reason: Freshdesk dropped its free plan and now offers a 14-day trial, and Intercom offers a trial rather than a free plan.
How to make a free plan last
A few habits stretch any free plan further:
- Answer the top questions before they arrive. Put shipping, pricing, opening hours and returns on a clear FAQ page and link it from the chat widget's welcome message. Every question answered there doesn't use your allowance.
- Use saved replies for the ten most common answers. They keep responses fast and consistent when only one or two people are covering support.
- Set honest hours. Show when you're online and what happens outside those hours ("Leave your email and we'll reply by 10am"). An offline form is better than a chat nobody answers.
- Turn off what you don't need. Proactive pop-ups on every page create conversations you then have to answer. Use them only on pages where a question means a sale, such as pricing or checkout.
- Export regularly. If your plan limits history, export conversations monthly so you keep a record of past issues.
- Spend the AI trial wisely. Run your allowance of AI conversations on your busiest pages for a week, read every transcript, and fix your help content before deciding whether to pay for more.
When free ends up costing more
A free plan is the right choice until one of these happens:
- You lose conversations to limits. Running out of conversations or contacts mid-month means slower replies just when you're busiest.
- Customers write where you can't answer. If your free plan has no Instagram or WhatsApp, those messages end up on someone's phone.
- Nights and weekends go unanswered. An AI agent covering out-of-hours questions usually pays for itself quickly, and free plans rarely include enough of it.
- Someone spends Fridays on the server. Self-hosting time is a cost, even if nobody invoices it.
When that happens, compare the paid plan of the tool you already use with the alternatives, and remember to count migration effort. For a wider view of what a small team needs, read help desk, live chat or shared inbox, or browse the help desk category.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a completely free help desk?
Yes. Open-source tools such as Zammad, osTicket and Chatwoot are free to self-host, and tawk.to offers free live chat and ticketing without seat limits. Hosted free plans from Tidio, Help Scout and HubSpot are free too, but with limits on conversations, contacts or users.
Does Freshdesk have a free plan?
Not any more. Freshdesk now offers a 14-day trial and paid plans per agent. Intercom also has a trial rather than a free plan.
What is the best free live chat software?
For unlimited free chat, tawk.to. For free chat with tickets, a decent seat count and a trial of an AI agent, Tidio. If you need email more than chat, look at Help Scout's free plan.
When should I upgrade from a free plan?
When the limit starts to hurt customers. Typical signs are running out of conversations mid-month, losing history you need, missing a channel your customers use, or wanting AI to answer outside office hours.