Customer support and helpdesk
Asked as “customer support and helpdesk platform”, and as “helpdesk and customer support software”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 64 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
31%
Contested · Freshdesk 27%
31Zendesk Support Suite27Freshdesk14TeamSupport28others
31% of first choices, contested.
Since September 2026↗new leaderNew leader since September 2026: Zendesk Support Suite (32%) replaces Freshdesk (44% then, 26% now), 6 points clear, inside the 12-point floor.Zendesk Support Suite leads at 32%, replacing Freshdesk, which led at 44% and stands at 26% now: 6 points clear, inside the floor, so the swap reads as unsettled. The verdict moved from clear leader to contested.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01
Zendesk Support Suite31%28%67criticized default▲+16Since September 2026: 16% → 32%, +16 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 32%
Zendesk Support Suite31%28%67criticized default▲+16Since September 2026: 16% → 32%, +16 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 32%02
Freshdesk27%15%74accepted challenger▼−18Since September 2026: 44% → 26%, −18 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.44% → 26%
Freshdesk27%15%74accepted challenger▼−18Since September 2026: 44% → 26%, −18 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.44% → 26%03
TeamSupport14%0%15accepted challenger▲+13Since September 2026: 2% → 15%, +13 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 15%
TeamSupport14%0%15accepted challenger▲+13Since September 2026: 2% → 15%, +13 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 15%04
Zoho Desk12%0%36accepted challenger▼−12Since September 2026: 23% → 11%, −12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.23% → 11%
Zoho Desk12%0%36accepted challenger▼−12Since September 2026: 23% → 11%, −12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.23% → 11%05
HubSpot Service Hub3%13%38accepted challenger▲+1Since September 2026: 2% → 4%, +1 point. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 4%
HubSpot Service Hub3%13%38accepted challenger▲+1Since September 2026: 2% → 4%, +1 point. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 4%06
Help Scout2%8%36accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Help Scout2%8%36accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
11
Salesforce Service Cloud0%43%28criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Salesforce Service Cloud0%43%28criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%10
LiveAgent0%30%10criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
LiveAgent0%30%10criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%07
Intercom0%15%47accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Intercom0%15%47accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%09
Jira Service Management0%14%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Jira Service Management0%14%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%08
Front0%0%13accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Front0%0%13accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to head
All six head-to-head pages: the top four products, each against each
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
0102030405060708091011Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Zendesk Support Suite31%
Zendesk Support Suite31%02Freshdesk27%
Freshdesk27%03TeamSupport14%
TeamSupport14%04Zoho Desk12%
Zoho Desk12%05HubSpot Service Hub3%
HubSpot Service Hub3%06Help Scout2%
Help Scout2%07Intercom0%
Intercom0%08Front0%
Front0%09Jira Service Management0%
Jira Service Management0%10LiveAgent0%
LiveAgent0%11Salesforce Service Cloud0%
Salesforce Service Cloud0%What they warned about
A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Zendesk Support Suite28%
19 of 67 labels negative · 14 of 6 models · 4 hard negative
“**Zendesk** (Approach with high caution, especially for SMBs)... **Who should avoid**: Teams needing reliable uptime or simple onboarding.” Grok 4.20, negative prompt
Freshdesk15%
11 of 74 labels negative · 11 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“**Freshdesk** (poor support, technical instability, billing surprises)” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Salesforce Service Cloud43%
12 of 28 labels negative · 7 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“Avoid Salesforce Service Cloud unless you are a massive enterprise with a dedicated, in-house Salesforce development team.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Intercom15%
7 of 47 labels negative · 7 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Verdict: Avoid Intercom if you are a budget-conscious team that requires predictable, flat-rate monthly software expenses.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
76 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1054 links across 238 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Intercom36 answers · 41 citations · 13 models
35 answers · 44 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Freshworks28 answers · 48 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Hiver28 answers · 32 citations · 12 models
27 answers · 41 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Zendesk25 answers · 30 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Kayako25 answers · 26 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Capterra21 answers · 37 citations · 10 models
21 answers · 26 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Rework20 answers · 22 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Plain17 answers · 31 citations · 8 models
17 answers · 18 citations · 7 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
28 answers · 11 models
22 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 8 models
19 answers · 9 models
17 answers · 7 models
16 answers · 8 models
15 answers · 7 models
15 answers · 10 models
14 answers · 10 models
14 answers · 7 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best customer support and helpdesk platform”, “customer support and helpdesk platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk Support Suite zendesk.com Zendesk Support Suite 31%, Zendesk for Customer Service 2% | 33% | 181 | 30 | 2 | 5,365,445 | $16,181 | 63 | |
| Freshworks freshworks.com Freshdesk 27% | 27% | 283 | 12,100 | 391 | 111,586 company | $14,486 | 113 | |
| TeamSupport teamsupport.com | 14% | 51 | 1,000 | 1 | 19,052 | 6 | ||
| Zoho parent site Zoho Desk 12% | 12% | 130 | 8,100 | 105 | ||||
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Service Hub 3% | 3% | 235 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| Plain plain.com | 3% | 33 | 90,500 | 83,095 | 1,314 | 0 | ||
| Spiceworks Help Desk spiceworks.com | 3% | 16 | 2,284,947 | 7 | ||||
| Help Scout helpscout.com | 2% | 127 | 8,100 | 173 | 37,899 | 14 | 10 | |
| Pylon usepylon.com | 2% | 37 | 40,500 | 3,118 | 29,726 | $166 | 21 | |
| LiveChat helpdesk.com HelpDesk by LiveChat 2% | 2% | 17 | 76,919 | 1 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 18 sites; 1 of them are among the sites the models cited here (kayako.com). The first result for “best customer support and helpdesk platform” is proprofsdesk.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best customer support and helpdesk platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which helpdesk and customer support software would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top customer support and helpdesk platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best customer support and helpdesk platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a customer support and helpdesk platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which customer support and helpdesk platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
Noise floor in this category
Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.
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Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
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Category-scoped readings
Freshworks (Freshdesk) read as Freshdesk
HubSpot read as HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot (Service Hub) read as HubSpot Service Hub
Salesforce read as Salesforce Service Cloud
Zendesk read as Zendesk Support Suite
Zendesk Suite read as Zendesk Support Suite
Zendesk Support read as Zendesk Support Suite
Zoho read as Zoho Desk
Unresolved, counted raw
Gmail
Jira SM
QNAP Helpdesk
WhatsApp Business groups
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.