Zoho Desk's headline price is hard to beat. The honest question is what that entry price actually includes — and what you'll pay once you need the features you came for.
| DeskNova | Zoho Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | One simple approach — free to start, flat plans topping out at ₹1,999/month per workspace | Paid plans from around $7 per agent / month — the cheapest way in |
| AI assistance | Included at every level — drafts grounded in your knowledge base, suggest-only (a person always approves), no per-use fees, bring your own AI key if you prefer | Zia AI is generally locked to the Enterprise plan (~$40 per agent) — the low price and the AI rarely come together |
| IT assets & vendors | Built in — assets, vendors, contracts, warranty & AMC renewal reminders | Separate Zoho products — more tools from the ecosystem to add and manage |
| SLAs | Included — targets pre-set for your industry, tracked automatically on every ticket | Available; deeper options on higher tiers |
| Self-service portal | Branded self-service portal included — with automatic follow-ups when requesters go quiet | Included help center |
| Setup & support | Minutes — guided setup, sample data to see it working in 30 seconds, founder-led support | Quick to start; ecosystem grows around you |
Competitor pricing and packaging reflect our research as of mid-2026 and can change — always check their current pricing page for the plan you'd actually need.
On headline price, yes. But Zoho’s AI (Zia) generally requires the Enterprise plan at around $40 per agent, and asset management means additional Zoho products. Compare the plan you’d actually need.
AI-assisted replies and summaries are part of the Professional plan and run on your own AI key — suggest-only, and we add no per-use fees.
No — assets, vendors, contracts and renewal reminders are built into the same product as your tickets.
Want the full story? Read the detailed write-up: DeskNova vs Zoho Desk — the complete comparison.
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