Saufter
61E-commerce helpdesk with email, chat and knowledge base plus behaviour-driven campaign suggestions.
Best for: Small e-commerce teams on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or BigCommerce
Added 2mo ago
Paidfrom $99/mo
53trust score out of 100
1
ai-for / helpdesk
AI Tools for Helpdesk
As of , EffectHub tracks 8 AI tools for helpdesk; 3 of the 8 have a free tier.
Saufter, Drag and Chatisto lead the list on click-through. 6 of the 8 ship a public API.
A weekly email when new tools land here.
- 8
- tools tracked
- 3 of 8
- free to start
- 6
- ship a public API
Where these sit in the catalog
The shortlist — tools for helpdesk
ranked by click-through
Drag
70A shared Gmail inbox with Kanban boards and Varley, a built-in AI that drafts, triages and resolves conversations on credits.
Best for: Support or sales teams who live in Gmail and want a shared inbox without switching platforms
United KingdomAdded 1mo ago
Paidfrom $12/seat/moAPI
60trust score out of 100
1
Chatisto
71AI support agent trained on your site content, paired with shared live-chat and email inboxes for small teams.
Best for: Small teams replacing a shared inbox with something that auto-answers routine questions
SlovakiaAdded 1mo ago
Freemiumfrom $29/moAPI
60trust score out of 100
1
Intercom
79Customer service helpdesk built around Fin, an AI agent billed per resolved conversation
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise teams automating a large share of tier-1 support
United StatesAdded 2mo ago
Paidfrom $29/seat/moAPI
62trust score out of 100
1
Shared-inbox helpdesk with knowledge base, live chat and an AI agent billed per resolution.
Best for: Small and mid-sized support teams that want email-style replies
United StatesAdded 2mo ago
Freemiumfrom $25/seat/moAPI
65trust score out of 100
1
Customer communication suite whose knowledge base feeds self-service articles and the AI agent answering in live chat.
Best for: Small and mid-sized teams consolidating chat, inbox and help centre
United StatesAdded 2mo ago
Paidfrom $12/seat/moAPI
60trust score out of 100
1
Free Chrome extension that drafts support replies inside Zendesk, Intercom, Gorgias or Gmail
Best for: Support teams on Zendesk, Intercom or Gorgias who want drafting help without switching
PolandAdded 2mo ago
Free
62trust score out of 100
1
Unthread
71Turns Slack and Teams messages into tracked tickets and answers the repeat ones from your own docs.
Best for: Teams running customer or internal support inside shared Slack channels
Added 2mo ago
Paidfrom $50/seat/moAPI
54trust score out of 100
1
Compared at a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | API | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saufter | from $99/mo | No | Not confirmed | Unverified |
| Drag | from $12/seat/mo | No | Yes | Active |
| Chatisto | from $29/mo | Yes | Yes | Active |
| Intercom | from $29/seat/mo | No | Yes | Active |
| Help Scout | from $25/seat/mo | Yes | Yes | Active |
| HelpCrunch | from $12/seat/mo | No | Yes | Active |
| Tidio Copilot | Free | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| Unthread | from $50/seat/mo | No | Yes | Active |
Compare helpdesk tools head-to-head
Questions about helpdesk tools
Is there a free helpdesk tool?
Yes. 1 of the 8 AI tools for helpdesk on EffectHub's list is free to use — Tidio Copilot; 2 more have a free tier with paid upgrades.
Which helpdesk tools have an API?
6 of the 8 AI tools for helpdesk on EffectHub's list ship a public API, including Drag, Chatisto, Intercom and Help Scout. The API badge on each card is re-checked against the vendor's documentation.
Cite this
For journalists, researchers and AI assistants: the figures on this page in one sentence you can quote.
As of October 26, 2026, EffectHub tracks 8 AI tools for helpdesk; 3 of the 8 have a free tier. (EffectHub, “AI Tools for Helpdesk”, Oct 2026, https://effecthub.net/ai-for/helpdesk)
Figures as of How we count
These figures are free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.