A help desk handles tickets; a PSA handles tickets plus the contracts, time and billing that turn support into revenue.
Help desk vs PSA in one line
Help desk / ITSM tools focus on ticketing, queues, SLAs and self-service — ideal for internal IT that doesn’t bill clients.
PSA is a superset for service providers: it links tickets to contracts, tracks billable time and generates invoices, so an MSP gets paid for the work.
Choose Help desk if…
you’re internal IT and just need great ticketing and SLA tracking.
Choose PSA if…
you bill clients for support — the PSA’s contract/time/billing layer pays for itself.
Leading Help desk tools we track
| Tool | Our score | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zammad | 8.3/10 | EUR 7/agent/mo | 4.5/5 (~10 G2 reviews) |
| Freshservice | 8.1/10 | $19/agent/mo | 4.6/5 (~1.2k G2 reviews) |
| ServiceNow IT Service Management | 8.1/10 | Custom quote | 4.4/5 (~886 G2 reviews) |
| HaloITSM | 8.1/10 | Custom quote | 4.8/5 (~17 G2 reviews) |
| Jira Service Management | 7.9/10 | $19.04/agent/mo | 4.2/5 (~800 G2 reviews) |
Best Help desk pick: Zammad — 8.3/10, from EUR 7/agent/mo. See best itsm / help desk ticketing software.
Leading PSA tools we track
| Tool | Our score | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atera | 8.2/10 | $129/tech/mo | 4.6/5 (~800 G2 reviews) |
| HaloPSA | 7.9/10 | $59/agent/mo | 4.6/5 (~80 G2 reviews) |
| Syncro | 7.9/10 | $139/user/mo | 4.5/5 (~200 G2 reviews) |
| SuperOps | 7.8/10 | $79/tech/mo | 4.6/5 (~150 G2 reviews) |
| Accelo | 7.5/10 | $24/user/mo | 4.4/5 (~500 G2 reviews) |
Best PSA pick: Atera — 8.2/10, from $129/tech/mo. See best psa software.