Last Updated: November 2024
Vision Helpdesk offers customer support software for businesses of every size. Moreover, it comes with tons of features such as Alerts/Escalations, Automated Routing, IT Asset Management, Knowledge Base Management, Real-Time Chat, and SLA (Service Level Agreement) Management.
Still, Vision Helpdesk has many shortcomings including a few bugs, and integration with some tools does not work seamlessly. And there is no quick-start guide to go with the initial configuration either.
That’s why we have put together the top 9 alternatives to Vision Helpdesk.
In this post, you’ll get to know:
- Must-have features for Vision Helpdesk alternatives
- Why should you look for a Vision Helpdesk alternative?
- The Best Vision Helpdesk Alternatives
- Vision Helpdesk Alternatives: Features Comparison
Must-have Features for Vision Helpdesk alternatives
According to Capterra, the 6 basic features that every help desk software must have are:
- Alerts/Escalations,
- Automated Routing,
- IT Asset Management,
- Knowledge Base Management,
- Real-Time Chat, and
- SLA Management.
A free version or trial would be another feature that a Vision Helpdesk alternative must provide, helping you decide whether your specific needs are met by the software or not.
Vision Helpdesk has all of the above features but it lacks automation capabilities and advanced Reports/Analytics.
Let’s have a look at some other cons of the Vision helpdesk.
Why should you look for a Vision Helpdesk alternative?
There are several drawbacks of the Vision Helpdesk, such as:
- The absence of a detailed billing system to keep track of total revenue,
- Outdated Documentation,
- User interface handicaps such as the inability to add custom fields to lists,
- Basic reports,
- Requests for custom features and solutions are not being handled well,
- Customer support via email is slow to respond,
- There are not enough options for customization, and
- The mobile app too needs to be updated as it crashes often on both Android and iOS platforms.
So we got enough reasons to look for a Vision Helpdesk Alternative.
Vision Helpdesk Alternatives: Pricing Information
Alternatives | Pricing starts at | Pricing limitations |
Saufter | Custom pricing | Includes up to 3 users; +$29/month for each extra user |
Freshdesk | Growth Omnichannel ($25 per agent per month) | Includes up to 2000 bot sessions and incoming minutes per month in the Growth Omnichannel plan |
Zendesk | Suite Team ($49 per agent per month) | Up to 50 AI-powered automated answers with the Suite Team plan |
HelpCrunch | Basic ($12 per agent per month, no emails) | Only 1 widget, 3 auto messages, 3 popups, and basic automation available with the Basic plan |
Kayako | Growth ($30 per agent per month) | No internal help center and knowledge base with the Growth plan |
SalesForce Service Cloud | Essentials ($25 per agent per month) | No 24/7 support and configuration services with the Essentials plan |
ProProfs Help Desk |
| Only 1 inbox and 100 tickets with the Free plan; 3 shared inboxes and up to 5 users with the Essentials plan |
Zoho Desk |
| Up to 3 users with the Free plan; No live chat and 24×5 chat support with the Standard plan |
Help Scout | Standard ($20 per agent per month) | 2 mailboxes, 1 Doc site and up to 25 users with the Standard plan |
SummitAI | Custom quote | Unknown |
Note: In each case, the price is as given when billed annually.
Let’s now look at the top 10 Vision Helpdesk alternatives.
The Best Vision Helpdesk Alternatives
- Freshdesk
- Zendesk
- HelpCrunch
- Kayako
- Salesforce Service Cloud
- ProProfs Help Desk
- Zoho Desk
- Help Scout
- SummitAI
1. Saufter
Along with all the basic help desk features, Saufter has extensive automation capabilities, whether they be in the fields of customer support, marketing, or agent onboarding.
You also get to hire trained customer service professionals from their marketplace.
Unlike Vision Helpdesk and most helpdesk software, it facilitates automated agent training and testing based on YOUR past customer interactions.
And, if you are in ecommerce, Saufter’s automated reviews collection and self-service returns center would be icing on the cake!
Pros:
- Unlimited tickets with every plan
- Automated order tracking with every plan
- Live chat, voice, and native social media integration with every plan
- Native Shopify, Woocommerce, and Magento integration
- Customizable Knowledge Base
Cons:
- Automated agent training is available from the Pro Plan
- Includes up to 3 users in all plans, +$29/month for each extra user
Pricing:
- Custom pricing
1. Freshdesk
Freshdesk unifies conversations via email, phone, web, chat, and social media, helping you resolve issues across channels seamlessly. You get to automate workflows and offer convenient self-service options.
Out-of-the-box features like an AI-powered support chatbot, predictive support capabilities, etc. are also on offer.
Pros:
- Very well-designed UI
- A gradual learning curve with regard to the features
- IT Asset Management
- Self-service customer portal
Cons:
- Limited CSAT survey options
- No live chat or voice channels in the starter plans
- The reporting features are not that easy to use with the lower-paid plans
Pricing:
For the Omnichannel plans (Support desk plus messaging and telephony features):
- Growth Omnichannel: $25 per agent per month
- Pro Omnichannel: $ 55 per agent per month
- Enterprise Omnichannel: $92 per agent per month
2. Zendesk
Zendesk is the most popular cloud-based support platform with a built-in fully integrated call center. From foundational support including email to the support suite that includes all the channels and features helpdesk normally provides, Zendesk is the market leader in the helpdesk software space.
One of the best features it provides is – Agents get full context on customer histories to help resolve the most urgent queries faster in a unified agent workspace.
Pros:
- Easy-to-set-up automations
- Very reliable and intuitive, with multiple potential integrations
- Customizable knowledge base and help center
Cons:
- Not so user-friendly dashboard
- Tagging and macro systems need a bit of work
- Expensive compared to similar alternatives
- No self-service customer portal
Pricing:
- Suite Team: $49 per agent per month
- Suite Growth: $79 per agent per month
- Suite Professional: $99 per agent per month
- Suite Enterprise: $150 per agent per month
3. HelpCrunch
HelpCrunch is a top-rated communication platform for Customer Support as well as Sales and Marketing. You can convert more leads, drive sales and provide faster customer support with a highly customizable chat widget.
Also, it’s possible to process customer requests faster with actions like tagging, assigning, and merging conversations. One agent can handle up to 5 chats simultaneously.
Pros:
- Uniquely different pop-ups and automatic follow-ups
- Simple yet highly customizable suite for emails and chat
Cons:
- Plenty of bugs
- Lack of native integrations
Pricing:
- Basic: $12 per agent per month
- Pro: $20 per agent per month
- Enterprise: Custom quote
4. Kayako
Kayako brings together your multi-channel conversations and customer information, making it possible for you to support your customers as a team and with a personal touch. You get an easy-to-search repository of self-help articles, videos, and FAQs.
There are several automations available such as routing conversations, ticket status updating, etc.
Pros:
- One of the best platforms for professional communication
- Neat and unobtrusive widget
Cons:
- Some functionalities are expensive for a single agent
- No integration with Scrum and Agile software tools
Pricing:
- Growth: $30 per agent per month
- Scale: $60 per agent per month
5. Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud allows every interaction across touchpoints to be powered by intelligent automation and collaborative employee experiences. With unified data across every department, you get a complete view of every customer.
It is flexible enough to solve business needs with custom solutions across multiple user groups.
Pros:
- Easy to track tickets
- Wonderful reports and easily customized dashboards
Cons:
- Highly complex and does not come with out-of-the-box customization
- Unable to resolve spam issues
Pricing:
- Essentials: $25 per agent per month
- Professional: $75 per agent per month
- Enterprise: $150 per agent per month
- Unlimited: $300 per agent per month
6. ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs Help Desk puts all your customer-facing inboxes in one location, with additional features such as ticket collaboration, auto-responses and canned responses, and a self-service knowledge base that reduces ticket volume by up to 80%.
Your agents can get started in minutes without extensive training or onboarding as the software is designed to look and feel like email.
Pros:
- Great insights are offered regarding performance, at individual and team levels
- A simple and easy-to-use tool which is financially viable
Cons:
- Not enough integrations available
- Deployment needs an upgrade for iOS users
Pricing:
For the help desk and live chat,
- Free: 1 user
- Essentials: $15 per agent per month
- Premium: $25 per agent per month
7. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is an award-winning, context-aware help desk software with multi-channel capabilities. It packs advanced multi-stakeholder process management, embeddable self-service, and a powerful AI assistant. You get decades of experience in building, deploying, maintaining, and supporting on-premise and cloud software.
Pros:
- Exemplary one-on-one support
- Wonderful help center
Cons:
- Makes it hard to navigate between different apps
- The interface lacks some customization options
Pricing:
- Free: Up to 3 users
- Standard: $14 per agent per month
- Professional: $23 per agent per month
- Enterprise: $40 per agent per month
8. Help Scout
Help Scout is scalable like any other help desk but offers a personalized customer experience like email. With best-in-class reporting, robust API and many integrations, and the free app on iOS, Help Scout enables the customer-facing team to focus exclusively on growing customer relationships.
Pros:
- East-to-use integrated knowledge base
- Easy to set up and maintain the system
- Solid API that permits collection of data from other apps to provide a consolidated view of the client, apart from just their email history
Cons:
- Best solution but only if all customer interactions occur via email
- Difficult to customize the interface according to specific requirements
- Reporting functions do not carry sufficient detail
Pricing:
- Standard: $20 per agent per month
- Plus: $35 per agent per month
- Company: $60 per agent per month
9. SummitAI
SummitAI effortlessly brings service and asset management together in one platform (with AI) to help you achieve greater levels of responsiveness. It uses machine reasoning and codeless workflow-based automation to deliver up to 20% annual savings in IT help desk operations and up to 45% greater total cost of ownership.
The CSAT process within the system works well and is flexible enough to have different questions for different customers.
Pros:
- Awesome chatbot, from an end-user perspective
- Unified platform across modules
- User and admin friendly
Cons:
- Lacks a public forum for users at all levels to share information and make product recommendations
- Does not include a chat feature for contacting the service desk
Pricing:
- Custom quote
At-a-glance Comparison of the Best Vision Helpdesk Alternatives
By now, you must have got an idea of every Vision helpdesk alternative. Still, here’s a quick feature comparison:
Alternative | Alerts/ Escalations | Automated Routing | Automation Capabilities | Free Trial/ Demo | IT Asset Management | Knowledge Base Management | Real-Time Chat | Reports/ Analytics | SLA Management |
Freshdesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free Trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Zendesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
HelpCrunch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Kayako | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Salesforce Service Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ProProfs Help Desk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Zoho Desk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free Trial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Help Scout | Yes | Yes | Yes | Both | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
SummitAI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Demo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Conclusion
In the end, it is up to you to decide which of these alternatives to Vision Helpdesk you pick. Assuming you do not need an IT help desk, of course, if you need software that offers IT Asset Management too, you should try Freshdesk.
Ultimately, your specific business needs will determine your choice.
However, if you are looking for software that provides all-around eCommerce service, then you should try Saufter. It assists you in providing social proof as it collects reviews from platforms like Google, Facebook, Trustpilot, etc., and posts them on your socials.
Moreover, it can automate your customer support with the help of its chatbot. Saufter can also provide 24X7 order and return management in your store.
So, what are you waiting for?