For an internal IT team of 1 to 15 technicians, pick IT help desk software that turns email into tickets and links devices to them. Our pick: SherpaDesk, first agent free; device records come with High Camp at $55 per agent per month. No budget: ManageEngine, Spiceworks, or GLPI.
Key takeaways
A helpdesk and PSA (professional services automation) a small IT team can run alone. No contract. No implementation project. No dedicated admin.
| If you… | Pick | Price and why | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run IT alone or with one or two technicians | SherpaDesk | First agent free, forever, with tickets, time tracking, and a knowledge base. Each added agent is on Base Camp ($45 per agent per month, $40 billed annually) | Cloud only |
| Want staff accounts, tickets, and devices such as Chromebooks in one place | SherpaDesk | High Camp ($55 per agent per month, $50 billed annually) adds Asset Manager. Users sync from Google or Microsoft 365, devices from Google | Asset Manager needs High Camp |
| Run ITIL change and problem processes | Freshservice | Pro $119 per agent per month ($99 billed annually) adds problem, change, and release management; 100 asset units included | More asset units cost extra |
| Need a free plan for up to 5 technicians | ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | Standard edition free for up to 5 technicians | Assets start on Professional |
| Want a free hosted start today | Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk | Core plan free for 1 to 5 seats | Ad-free from Premium |
| Must keep the system on your own servers | GLPI | Free, open source, with inventory built in | You run upgrades and backups |
For a team of 3 billed annually, SherpaDesk costs $80 a month on Base Camp and $100 on High Camp. Freshservice Pro costs $297, with 100 asset units included. ManageEngine Standard and Spiceworks Core cost $0, and GLPI costs $0 plus the server you run it on.
Picks By Scenario Comparison Table Cost For A Small Team For Schools How To Choose FAQHow we chose
We publish this guide, and SherpaDesk is one of the 8 tools. It uses the same template and lists its limitations.
Most lists that rank for this query are written for customer support teams. This one starts from the questions IT managers and school technology staff ask each other on r/ITManagers, r/sysadmin, and r/k12sysadmin.
Also considered. In its USD view, TOPdesk lists Essential, with asset management, at $76 per agent per month for 1 to 10 agents, and Engaged, which adds change and problem management, at $109. Its price selector starts at 5 agents, and it offers a 30-day trial with no credit card. The smallest Essential purchase, 5 agents, is $380 a month, against $220 ($200 billed annually) for 5 agents on SherpaDesk High Camp. We kept the list at eight, and three picks already cover the full-ITSM route.
HappyFox Service Desk publishes Team at $69 per agent per month ($49 billed annually), with 500 assets, but the trial starts after a demo. For a team of 3, that is $207 ($147 billed annually), against $110 ($100 billed annually) on SherpaDesk High Camp.
Jira Service Management, Desk365, and osTicket also suit internal IT; they're covered in our guide to Ticketing System Software.
Definition
IT help desk software records every request your staff send to IT as a ticket, routes it to a technician, and keeps the history. It usually sits next to a knowledge base of past fixes.
The help desk ticketing system sits at the core. TechTarget lists what a helpdesk runs on. It names "software to track help requests" and "a knowledge base to record and access notes and information".
The internal version answers your own employees, teachers, or students. The customer-service version answers people who buy a product. They share the ticket, but they differ in who signs in, what gets tracked, and what the reports are for.
| Kind | Who sends tickets | What it adds to the ticket | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal IT helpdesk | Staff, teachers, students | Sign-in with work accounts, device records, knowledge base for repeat fixes | IT departments of 1 to 15 people and school districts |
| Customer-service help desk software | Customers of a product | Email, chat, and social channels; satisfaction surveys; macros | Support teams in software and retail companies |
| IT service desk (ITSM) | Staff, through a service catalog | Change, problem, and release processes; service levels; asset database | Larger IT teams that follow ITIL |
A helpdesk fixes specific problems fast. A service desk also manages the services themselves: service requests, change management, SLA management, and performance reporting. ITIL defines it as part of IT service management.
TechTarget's view is that small and midsize businesses "with limited IT or support needs can often meet those needs with a dedicated but experienced help desk." As a business grows, the helpdesk "evolves naturally into a broader service-desk environment". In practice, much service desk software sells a helpdesk tier first, so buy the processes your team will use this year.
One IT manager moving a 2-person department off email listed the minimum on r/ITManagers. Intake: "Email in requests that will make a ticket with auto-response, etc". Assignment: "Can assign tech and a timeframe from webinterface or reply emails etc." Users: "User can go online and see/update etc."
Check that floor in every trial. What separates the tools for internal IT is everything around the person and the device.
| Criterion | Why it matters inside an organization | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| Directory sign-in | Staff already have Google, Microsoft 365, or Active Directory accounts. A second password means fewer tickets get filed. | Sync one department and sign in as a staff member |
| Account changes flow through | People join, move buildings, and leave every term. | Disable a test account in your directory and watch it drop out after the next sync |
| Device linked to the ticket | The model, owner, and location answer the first three questions on most hardware tickets. | Link a laptop to a ticket and open it from both sides |
| Repair history per device | Three repairs in a year is the case for a replacement. | Close two tickets on one device and read its history |
| Loaners and audits | Swap devices and room-by-room counts need a status, not a spreadsheet. | Check a device out as a loaner and back in |
| Approvals | New laptops and software licenses need a manager's yes before IT acts. | Route one purchase request to an approver |
| ITIL scope | Change and problem management help when outages repeat; they add setup when they don't. | Find which plan includes them before you compare prices |
| Where it runs | Some policies keep staff and student data on your own servers. | Ask for cloud, private cloud, or on-premise options in writing |
The comparison below covers price, sign-in, assets, time, and hosting, from each vendor's pricing page and docs. Approvals, loaners, and repair history vary by plan and setup, so test them with the trial checklist further down.
Each price shows the monthly rate first, then the annual rate where the page lists both. The Cost Section totals a team of 3.
| Tool | Entry price | Free option | Seat limit or minimum | Directory sign-in | Asset tracking | Time on tickets | Deployment | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SherpaDesk Ours | Base Camp $45 per agent per month, $40 billed annually | First agent free, forever | None; first agent free | Google, Microsoft 365, Active Directory | High Camp ($55, $50 billed annually) | Yes, every plan | Cloud | 14 days, no card |
| Jitbit Helpdesk | SaaS Freelancer $29 a month for 1 agent, $24.92 billed annually; self-hosted $2,490 one-time for 10 agents | No | Plans by agent count: 1, 4, 7, 9 | Active Directory, SAML | Yes | Yes, automatic timer | Cloud or on-premise | Yes, length not stated |
| Freshservice | Starter $29 per agent per month, $19 billed annually | No | None listed | SSO, every plan | From Growth, 100 asset units included | From Growth ($59, $49 billed annually) | Not listed | 14 days |
| SysAid | Professional $89 per agent per month | No | Enterprise from 20 agents | SSO | Yes, on Professional | Not listed | Not listed; private AWS instance on Enterprise | Yes, no card |
| HaloITSM | $99 per agent per month, billed annually | No | From 1 agent; onboarding required | SSO, OIDC, SAML | Listed | Listed | Cloud, private cloud, or on-premise | 30 days, no card |
| ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | Standard free up to 5 technicians | Standard edition | Paid editions from 2 technicians | Active Directory, SAML, Entra ID | From Professional | Yes, work log | Cloud or on-premises | 30 days |
| Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk | Core free; Premium $7 per seat per month, $6 billed annually | Core for 1 to 5 seats | Core capped at 5 seats | Not listed | Through Inventory Online | Not listed | Cloud | Free plan instead |
| GLPI | Open source free; cloud €19 per user per month, excl. tax | Open source edition | Cloud from 1 user | LDAP, Active Directory, user sync; setup needed | Yes, with inventory | Not listed | Self-hosted or cloud | 45 days (cloud) |
For a team of 3 billed annually, SherpaDesk is $80 a month on Base Camp or $100 on High Camp. Jitbit SaaS Startup is $58.25, Freshservice Starter $57, Spiceworks Premium $18, and HaloITSM $297 plus required onboarding. ManageEngine Standard, Spiceworks Core, and self-hosted GLPI are $0. SysAid Professional lists $267 at $89 per agent, billing period not stated. Two prices sit outside that frame: self-hosted Jitbit means buying the 10-agent license for $2,490 one-time, and GLPI's cloud edition is €57 a month, excluding tax.
These two tools suit an IT department where the person who runs the helpdesk also answers the tickets. Both let you keep devices and time next to the ticket, on the plans noted below.
Best for IT departments and school districts of 1 to 15 technicians that want staff accounts, tickets, time, and devices in one place
$45 per agent per month on Base Camp · $40 billed annually · High Camp $55 ($50 annually)
A helpdesk and PSA a small IT team can run alone. You can run it as an internal ticketing system for your own staff, or as client-facing ticketing if your team also supports outside organizations. Two founders who ran their own managed service provider (MSP) have built it since 2001, and the first release was a helpdesk for K-12 and IT support teams.
You forward your IT inbox to a SherpaDesk dropbox address, and incoming email becomes tickets. Routing rules send a class of tickets to one technician, and priorities carry response and completion goals with your business hours and holidays.
Your staff don't need new passwords. Users sync nightly from Microsoft 365 or Azure AD groups, or from your Google domain, and sign in with single sign-on; Active Directory sign-in is supported too. Google Device Manager syncs Chromebooks, Android, and iOS devices into Asset Manager.
Recommendation
Choose SherpaDesk if one to fifteen technicians support your own staff or a school district and nobody has time to run the tool itself. Consider another option if policy requires the system on your own servers.
Best for small IT teams that want a flat monthly price for a bundle of agents, in the cloud or on their own server
$69 a month for 4 agents on SaaS Startup · $58.25 a month billed annually · self-hosted $2,490 one-time for 10 agents
The SaaS edition is priced by bundles of agents. Startup covers 4 agents, Company covers 7 for $129 a month, and Enterprise covers 9 for $249, with $29 for each extra agent. The self-hosted edition is a perpetual license instead: $2,490 for 10 agents, one-time, with 12 months of updates and support. Every self-hosted plan has all the features, and plans differ only in agent count.
The features page lists asset tracking, with assets assigned "to users or tickets," plus Active Directory and SAML single sign-on. A timer starts counting when a technician opens a ticket and stops when they leave it. The self-hosted edition installs on Windows, Linux, or Docker.
Recommendation
Choose Jitbit if your team will stay at 4 agents or fewer and you may want to self-host later. Consider another option if you want devices synced from Google; its features page lists no device sync.
These three cover change and problem management for teams that run formal IT processes. Freshservice puts them on Pro. SysAid includes them in Professional, and HaloITSM has no tiers at all.
Best for IT teams that want to start with a service catalog and SLAs, then add problem and change management on Pro
$119 per agent per month on Pro · $99 billed annually · Starter $29 ($19), Growth $59 ($49)
Starter covers incidents, a knowledge base, and the support portal. Growth adds the service catalog, SLA management, and on-call management, and Pro adds problem, change, and release management. Time entries on tickets need Growth, Pro, or Enterprise.
Growth, Pro, and Enterprise include the ITAM Growth package with 100 asset units. Asset units measure the number and type of assets in the CMDB, and more units or features cost extra, in packs of 500. Single sign-on is on every plan.
Occasional agents use day passes: 3 come free at signup, and more start at $3. The Freddy AI Copilot add-on costs $29 per agent per month billed annually.
Recommendation
Choose Freshservice Pro if your department runs change and problem management and wants to grow inside one ITSM vendor. Consider another option if a 3-person team needs time tracking at the entry price.
Best for IT teams that want change, problem, and asset management with AI in one per-agent price
$89 per agent per month on Professional · Enterprise custom, from 20 agents
Professional includes request, incident, change, and problem management, "All-in-one asset management," an AI Copilot for agents and end users, and SLA management. Tickets can come in through a portal, email, chat, or Microsoft Teams, and prebuilt AI connections reach Azure AD, Intune, and Office 365.
The plan card's button reads "Get a quote." The FAQ says the free trial gives access to all features with no credit card. You can choose a plan and pay from your account during the trial, by PayPal, credit card, bank transfer, or check. It also says the price depends on the package and the number of users and assets. Enterprise is priced on request and starts at 20 agents.
Recommendation
Choose SysAid if you want ITIL processes, assets, and AI on one plan. Consider another option if you need a fixed monthly total before you start, since the final price depends on users and assets.
Best for IT teams that want every ITSM module in one price, in the cloud or on-premise, and can budget an onboarding project
$99 per agent per month for 1 to 24 agents · billed annually
Halo charges by the number of agents, "never by tickets, end-users, or data volume." The page says Halo "has no tiers, editions or add-ons," and its trial includes all features and modules. Onboarding packages are required with purchase "at a bespoke cost depending on scope".
Its capability list includes time tracking, assets and CMDB, change management, and a self-service portal. You can deploy it in Halo's cloud, a private cloud, or on-premise. Not-for-profit organizations get a 15% discount.
Recommendation
Choose HaloITSM if you need full ITSM for a growing department, possibly on your own servers, and can fund an onboarding project. Consider another option if you want to set up the helpdesk yourself this week.
Free help desk software comes in three forms: a free tier with a seat cap, a free plan with ads, and open source you host yourself. One district technician on r/k12sysadmin raised the question to ask of all three. "My concern with free would be how is the company justifying the cost of providing it? People submit all sorts of PII and passwords in helpdesk tickets".
Best for IT teams of up to 5 technicians that want a free ITIL-style helpdesk with a paid path to assets
Free Standard for up to 5 technicians · Professional $645 a year for 2 technicians and 250 assets
Standard is the IT service desk alone. Professional adds IT asset management, and Enterprise adds change management, projects, and a CMDB. In the cloud, Professional starts at $645 a year for 2 technicians and 250 assets, or $65 a month.
Staff can sign in through Active Directory, SAML, or Microsoft Entra ID, with Entra ID user sync, and technicians record time spent with work logs. The pages don't say which edition each needs.
Paid Standard starts at $1,545 a year for 10 technicians. The page says predictive, generative, and conversational AI come with every edition at no extra cost.
Recommendation
Choose ManageEngine Standard if you need a free helpdesk for up to 5 technicians and assets can wait. Consider another option if devices must sit on tickets from day one.
Best for one- to five-person IT teams that want a free hosted helpdesk today
Free Core for 1 to 5 seats · Premium $7 per seat per month, $6 billed annually
Core includes ticketing, incident tracking, alerts, reporting, an end user portal, and multi-factor authentication, with unlimited end users. Premium removes the seat cap and the ads, and adds task lists, bulk actions, and custom ticket statuses.
Device records come through Spiceworks' separate Inventory Online tool, which the helpdesk connects to. It came up in six of the seven forum threads we read.
Recommendation
Choose Spiceworks if you need a free ticket queue this afternoon. Consider another option if devices must live on the ticket, or if you want no ads on a free plan.
Best for IT teams that must self-host and want inventory and tickets in the same open source tool
Free open source · cloud €19 per user per month, excl. tax
GLPI is open source help desk software that keeps ticket management and the IT asset inventory together. The publisher's cloud edition starts at €19 per user per month excluding tax, from 1 user, with a 45-day trial.
Staff can sign in against an LDAP directory such as Microsoft Active Directory, and users can be imported and synchronized; it needs the PHP LDAP module and a directory configuration.
If you host it yourself and want vendor support, GLPI Network Basic costs €100 a month for up to 10 technical staff. It came up in six of the seven threads we read, often as the free way to get a helpdesk and an inventory together.
Recommendation
Choose GLPI if policy keeps data on your servers and someone on the team will own upgrades. Consider another option if nobody wants to run a server.
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The table totals a team of 3 technicians on the plans the entries discuss, with any required charges the pricing page lists. Prices are per month.
| Tool and plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Additional charges | Assets on this plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SherpaDesk Base Camp (first agent free) | $90 | $80 | None; migration included | No; High Camp |
| SherpaDesk High Camp (first agent free) | $110 | $100 | None; migration included | Yes |
| Freshservice Pro | $357 | $297 | Asset units beyond the included 100 | 100 asset units |
| HaloITSM | Not listed | $297 plus required onboarding | Required onboarding, priced by scope | Yes |
| SysAid Professional | $267 (billing period not stated) | Final price depends on users and assets | Yes | |
| Jitbit SaaS Startup (up to 4 agents) | $69 | $58.25 | None listed | Yes |
| Spiceworks Core | $0 | $0 | Ads; up to 5 seats | Separate tool |
| Spiceworks Premium (no ads) | $21 | $18 | None listed | Separate tool |
| ManageEngine Standard | $0 | $0 | None up to 5 technicians | No; Professional |
| GLPI open source | $0 | $0 | Your server and your time | Yes |
Billed annually, Jitbit's SaaS Startup gives a team of 3 assets on the ticket for $58.25 a month, for up to 4 agents. GLPI's cloud edition is €57 excluding tax. The same team pays $100 on SherpaDesk High Camp, $297 on HaloITSM plus required onboarding, and $297 on Freshservice Pro with 100 asset units included. SysAid Professional lists $267, billing period not stated. On monthly billing, the same team pays $69 on Jitbit, $110 on High Camp, and $357 on Freshservice Pro.
The extra $41.75 a month on High Camp buys Chromebook sync from Google Device Manager into the asset list. Jitbit's features page lists no device sync. If you don't need it and will stay at 4 agents, Jitbit costs less.
The free tiers cost $0, and the cost moves elsewhere. On ManageEngine, devices wait for Professional. On Spiceworks Core, you accept ads and a 5-seat cap, and devices sit in a separate tool; Premium removes both limits for $18 a month billed annually. On GLPI, someone on your team runs the server.
Your first SherpaDesk agent is free, forever, so a team of N agents pays for N−1. A one-person IT department pays $0 for tickets, time tracking, and a knowledge base.
School IT is stretched on classroom technology. CoSN surveyed 607 education technology leaders in 2026. In it, 66% of districts reported adequate staffing for core technical work such as network administration, with 1:1 device programs at an all-time high. But 58% said they are understaffed for supporting the technology used for teaching and learning.
Tickets in a small district often still arrive the old way. "Currently they email or call me. We are a small district," one technician wrote on r/k12sysadmin. Another, comparing free tools, was "looking for something that is integrated with asset management and inventory". For a district, the best help desk software already knows its students and devices.
| Need | Why | Test in the trial |
|---|---|---|
| Staff and students from Google or Microsoft | Accounts change every semester; manual user lists fall behind. | Sync one building's users and sign in as a teacher |
| Chromebooks in the asset list | The device record should arrive without typing serial numbers. | Sync one cart and open a device from a ticket |
| Loaner devices | A student's swap device needs a status, not a sticky note. | Mark a device as a loaner and check it back in |
| Audits by location | Year-end counts happen room by room. | Assign an auditor to one room and mark a device missing |
| Where the data lives | Tickets hold student names and sometimes passwords. | Ask the vendor how it is paid for and where data is stored |
In SherpaDesk, user sync comes from Google with single sign-on, and Google Device Manager brings Chromebooks into Asset Manager on High Camp. Devices can carry Loaner and Daily Loaner statuses, and an asset auditor can verify a location or mark devices missing. For K-12, pricing is based on student enrollment; see Helpdesk Software For Education.
Among the other tools here, GLPI and Jitbit track assets on any plan, and SysAid includes asset management in Professional. Jitbit accepts purchase orders on annual plans, and Spiceworks lets tax-exempt organizations pay by invoice.
No list can name the best help desk software for your office or district; your own requests can. Start with what goes wrong today. On r/ITManagers, one team described "too many tickets getting lost in email or Slack, and our current tool feels clunky and outdated". A new support lead on r/sysadmin put it more simply: "sometimes i forget things and then someone reminds me a week later".
One reply in that thread called a basic queue "such a huge benefit compared to walk up/emails/instant message requests that get buried or forgotten". Once every request becomes a ticket, the choice comes down to three questions: who runs the tool, where devices live, and where the data must sit.
Then run your own help desk software comparison. Give each trial one week, and follow one employee and one device from start to finish.
Before you choose, count the requests that never become tickets: the hallway question, the chat message, the call at 4:50 pm. That's work your team does with no record, which is hard to defend when budget season comes.
Estimate the IT work with no ticket
requests × minutes × 52 weeks ÷ 12 months ÷ 60, rounded up. Your numbers stay in the browser.
Not to start. Get email intake, routing, and the knowledge base working first. Where AI is offered, check how it is priced. ManageEngine says its AI comes with every edition at no extra cost, and SysAid lists an AI Copilot in Professional. Freshservice sells Freddy AI Copilot as an add-on at $29 per agent per month billed annually.
How this works in SherpaDesk
Your staff and devices come from the systems you already run. Users sync nightly from Microsoft 365 or Azure AD groups, or from your Google domain, and sign in with single sign-on. Google Device Manager syncs Chromebooks into Asset Manager with serial number and MAC address.
A teacher emails your IT address, and the forwarded message becomes a ticket. Your technician links the Chromebook to the ticket, logs the time with the timer, and turns the fix into a knowledge base article for the next teacher.
Base Camp ($45 per agent per month, $40 billed annually) covers tickets, time tracking, and the knowledge base. High Camp ($55 per agent per month, $50 billed annually) adds Asset Manager. Your first agent is free, forever.
Ticket Management In SherpaDesk →
Where SherpaDesk fits
You get SherpaDesk as a cloud service only. A policy that requires self-hosting points to GLPI, Jitbit, ManageEngine, or HaloITSM on your own servers. Asset Manager and the Google device sync need High Camp.
Ticket statuses are fixed, and you add custom fields for other states. There is no built-in survey tool; you attach your own survey to the closed-ticket email. If your department runs formal change and release management, an ITSM suite such as Freshservice Pro, SysAid, or HaloITSM fits better.
For an internal team of 1 to 15 technicians with no one free to run the tool, our pick is SherpaDesk. Base Camp is $45 per agent per month ($40 billed annually), and High Camp ($55, or $50 billed annually) adds the asset list. Your first agent is free, so a team of 3 pays $80 or $100 a month billed annually. See the Picks Table.
Yes. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Standard is free for up to 5 technicians, and Spiceworks Core is free for 1 to 5 seats. GLPI is free and open source if you host it. Your first SherpaDesk agent is free, forever, with tickets and time tracking, which covers a one-person IT department.
Ask before you load real tickets. Users put names, account details, and sometimes passwords into requests, as one district technician pointed out. Ask each vendor where data is hosted and how the free tier is paid for. Spiceworks, for example, shows ads on its free Core plan. Self-hosted GLPI keeps the data on your own server.
A helpdesk resolves specific problems quickly. A service desk also manages IT services, including service requests, change management, and SLA reporting, as ITIL defines it. Small teams with limited needs often do well with a helpdesk and grow into a service desk later. For a deeper look at tickets alone, read our guide to Ticketing System Software.
Yes. GLPI is open source and runs on your own server. Jitbit sells a perpetual self-hosted license, $2,490 for 10 agents, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus comes in cloud and on-premises editions, and HaloITSM offers on-premise deployment. Budget time for patching, backups, and upgrades. You get SherpaDesk in the cloud only.
Usually, yes. An MSP bills clients for its time, so it needs contracts and invoicing next to the ticket, not only an asset list. Read our guide to MSP Software, and our explainer on PSA Software. For remote monitoring tools, see RMM Tools.
Patrick co-founded SherpaDesk and has led it as CEO since 2013. He has worked with IT service providers since 1998, first on network projects for schools and government offices, then on the helpdesk software their technicians use every day.