LiveAgent

LiveAgent is a versatile help desk software designed to streamline customer support and enhance team collaboration across various channels. Its robust features, such as the Activity Dashboard and Multi-channel support, allow businesses to effectively manage customer inquiries from email, live chat, social media, and more, all in one centralized platform. This integration ensures that no customer request goes unanswered, significantly improving response times and overall satisfaction.

One of the standout features of LiveAgent is its customizable options, including Custom Fields and Design Customization, which enable businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. Additionally, the inclusion of Canned Responses helps support teams quickly address common questions, further optimizing efficiency. With tools like Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Reports and Analytics, organizations can gain valuable insights into their performance and make data-driven decisions to enhance service quality continuously. LiveAgent also supports ITIL compliance, ensuring that support processes align with industry best practices, making it a reliable choice for organizations seeking to improve their customer service experience.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow is a comprehensive help desk software designed to streamline IT service management and enhance operational efficiency. One of its standout features is the Activity Dashboard, which provides real-time insights into ticket status, team performance, and service levels. This intuitive interface allows IT professionals to monitor workloads and prioritize tasks effectively, ensuring timely responses and improved customer satisfaction. With built-in SLA Management, organizations can establish clear service expectations, while automated workflows facilitate the escalation of urgent issues, reducing resolution times.

The platform's robust Asset Management capabilities ensure that all IT assets are tracked and managed efficiently, giving teams visibility into their resources. Additionally, the Knowledge Base empowers users with self-service options by providing access to frequently asked questions and solutions, ultimately promoting faster resolution of common issues. ServiceNow also supports integration with Active Directory, simplifying user authentication and enhancing security through Single-Sign-On. With features like customizable Email Notification Templates and Canned Responses, teams can maintain consistent communication with users, further enhancing the support experience. Overall, ServiceNow offers a well-rounded solution that balances powerful functionality with user-centric design.

	LiveAgent	ServiceNow	Jitbit
	Powerful support suite with ticketing and chat	Enterprise-class ITSM solution	Help Desk Software built for email. Trusted by thousands of companies across 50 + countries.
Pricing: 3 years / 5 agents	$5220	$18000	$3897
Pricing: 3 years / 10 agents	$10440	$36000	$8367
Active Directory	✅ AD catalog integration, but no Windows-integrated authentication	✅ LDAP, SAML authentication	✅ Integration via a script for your server or ADFS and SAML
Activity Dashboard	✅ There's a dashboard report, but it's not live-updated	✅ Live activity dashboard	✅ Live overview dashboard
Asset Management	❌	✅ Full fledged asset management with automated discovery	✅ A complete asset management module tightly integrated into the rest of the app
Canned Responses	✅ 'Canned answers' are available on the $15/mo/user plan	✅ Response templates	✅ You can also assign canned responses to specific ticket categories if you need to
Community Forums	✅ Customer forum is included with all plans	✅ Yes	✅ Ideas Forum comes out of the box
Custom Fields	✅ Multiple custom field types available	✅ Custom fields via additional database columns	✅ Many custom field types, including dependant fields. Various privacy options.
Custom Statuses	✅ Custom statuses are available, but no permission control	✅ Custom statuses for tickets and incidents	✅ Add custom statuses, customize how your customers see them and assign different colors to them
Customer satisfaction survey	✅ For chats only	✅ Separate satisfaction surveys, not tied to tickets	✅ Optional CSATs in email notifications and a report
Design Customization	✅ You can customize customer portal and knowledge base but not the ticketing system	✅ Custom forms layouts only	✅ Unlimited customization options. Change colors with a live preview, add custom CSS and JS
Email Notification Templates	✅ Editing email templates available on paid plans only	✅ WYSIWIG/HTML templates	✅ You are able to completely change a template for any notification type
Escalation	✅ Escalating manually or via routing rules	✅ Manual or via triggers	✅ Possible to set up various escalation scenarios via automation
Exchange Integration	✅ IMAP only	✅ Native integration via a plugin	✅ Native EWS support instead of IMAP. oAuth support for Office 365
Import and Export	✅ Tickets CSV export, users CSV import	✅ Import/export from Excel, export to PDF	✅ Import and Export tickets via CSV files
Internationalization	✅ Yes, with the ability to add custom languages	✅ Extra languages via a plugin	✅ Available in 16 different languages
ITIL Compliance	✅ Yes	✅ Full ITIL/ITSM	✅ Support for most ITIL processes
Knowledge Base	✅ Knowledge Base and customer portal	✅ Knowledge base and the self-service portal	✅ Customizable Knowledge Base optimized for search engines
Live Chat	✅ Live chat button is included	✅ Yes	✅ A free live chat component in the web widget
Mobile Apps	✅ Both iOS and Android	✅ Only via 'Now' mobile app	✅ iOS and Android
Multi-channel support	✅ Email, chat, social networks	❌	✅ Possible to add unlimited channels via integrations and API
On-premise Version	✅ Downloadable license available	✅ Yes, but only the highest pricing tier	✅ A full on-premises version that runs on Windows Server
Reports and Analytics	✅ Multiple reports and analytics included	✅ Yes	✅ 13 reports with an ability to build your own and to export everything to Excel
REST API	✅ API covers all the app features	✅ Included	✅ API covers all the app features
Single-Sign-On	✅ Custom-built PHP solution	✅ SAML, LDAP	✅ SAML, Google login, Windows-integrated etc.
SLA Management	✅ Full SLA management	✅ SLA policies available	✅ Full SLA automation via actions/triggers
Support Widget	✅ Chat widget for websites	❌	✅ Two different versions of a web widget
Third-party Integrations	✅ API and Integrations on $15/mo/user plan and higher	❌	✅ 30 native integrations and 500 more via Zapier
Ticket Collaboration	✅ Reply-history, CC	✅ Transfer and CC, but no live updates and collision detection	✅ See when other techs are viewing tickets in real-time, assign multiple people to a ticket
Workflow Automation	❌	✅ Automation Designer in the 'Now' platform	✅ Automation Rules are very powerful and can go beyond simple if-this-then-that logic

Looking for help desk software? Check out Jitbit. We offer a fully-featured app at a very affordable price. It comes with all the must have features like knowledge base, two-way email integration (including native Exchange and Office 365 support), automation, hundreds of integrations with third-party apps and much more. Available both as a hosted "SaaS" version and an on-premises version you can install on your own server.