Keeping vs. Freshdesk
The Freshdesk alternative that's made for growing businesses
Are you a small business owner looking for a help desk that's simple, affordable, and built for you? Look no further than Keeping.
- Assign every email to one owner, inside Gmail
- Nothing to migrate: your email is already in Gmail
- Set up in two minutes with Google sign-in
Rated 4.5 /5 on G2
14 days free. No credit card required. Works with the Gmail you already use.
2,000+ companies run their shared inbox in Gmail with Keeping
“We've been able to cut our customer response time down to mere minutes for the vast majority of requests. Vacation and illness coverage has been nearly completely solved.”
Why Keeping is a great Freshdesk alternative
Freshdesk is built for big enterprise customers. Pick Keeping if you are a small business that wants a help desk that is simple, affordable and easy to use, with the features you need to provide great customer support and nothing you do not.
Easy set up
Create a Keeping mailbox, forward your shared email address or connect with Google, and invite your team.
Learn More about Easy set up
Communicate status
Know where every support email stands by marking them as Open, Closed or Pending. No more requests slipping.
Learn More about Communicate status
Shared notes
Easily share notes with your whole team to communicate what needs to be done or how to follow up.
Learn More about Shared notes
Multiple mailboxes
Add as many shared inboxes as you like - respond from your personal inbox without having to manage multiple logins.
Learn More about Multiple mailboxes
Advanced reporting
Advanced reporting gives you the data you need to know to measure your team’s performance.
Learn More about Advanced reporting
Response templates
Getting the same questions over and over again? Easily save and share canned answers across your team.
Learn More about Response templates
Collision detection
Keeping prevents multiple team members from working on the same support request at the same time.
Learn More about Collision detection
Confirmation receipts
Let your customers know you're listening with an automatic reply - customizable by mailbox.
Learn More about Confirmation receipts
Keeping keeps your customer support invisible
When a customer sends you an email, they won't know you're using Keeping. They'll just see a friendly email from your support address. No case IDs, no jargon, no confusion.
That's because Keeping is designed to keep your customer support personal. When your team responds to a customer request, they'll be using their own email addresses, so your customers can build relationships with the people who are helping them.
Keeping also keeps your team's email addresses private. That means you can keep your work and personal email addresses separate, and your customers won't be able to see your team's real email addresses.
Keeping works directly inside Gmail
Your team can use Keeping without any training. Keeping is a help desk that works directly inside Gmail, so your team can use it without learning a new tool. They already know how to use Gmail, so they already know how to use Keeping.
That means your team can start using Keeping immediately without downtime or productivity loss.
Keeping also saves you time. Because Keeping is integrated with Gmail, you don't have to switch between different apps to manage your customer support tickets. This means your team can spend less time managing their inbox and more time helping customers.
Freshdesk vs Keeping, feature by feature
See how Keeping and Freshdesk compare across every feature and why Keeping is the best Freshdesk alternative for most small businesses.
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Works inside Gmail | Yes | No |
| Invisible to customers | Yes | No |
| The most popular ready-made plan | $24per user/month | $55per user/month |
| Multiple mailboxes | Yes | Yes |
| Easy setup & onboarding | Yes | No |
| Canned replies | Yes | Yes |
| No lock in | Yes | No |
| Advanced analytics + SLAs | Yes | Yes |
Freshdesk prices from freshworks.com, as of October 2026. | ||
Keeping brings help desk features to Gmail
Keeping is easy to use, saves you time, and helps you provide better customer service.
Collaborate in Gmail
Adding customer support to your operation no longer means opening an extra browser tab. Manage your shared inbox from your own Gmail account. No external app!
- Add collaboration to email
- Stop duplicated work
- Share the workload
Simple & Streamlined
Our instant setup and Gmail integration are designed for the busiest teams. There’s no complex software to configure. You’re up and running and supporting customers in minutes.
- Get started in minutes
- One home for multiple mailboxes
- Save time with shared templates
Best-in-Class Analytics
Advanced reporting gives you the data you need to know how your team responds to customers. Track first response time, resolution time, busiest times, and much more.
- Reports by agent, tag, and mailbox
- Understand how your team can improve
- Visualize the data over time
Automate Everything
Focus on what’s essential and let workflows handle repetitive tasks. Automatically assign tickets, set priority and tags, or change the status based on the content of your email.
- Improve team efficiency
- Respond to customers faster
- Nothing slips through the cracks
Connect the Tools You Use
Keeping is a powerful tool that can help you to stay organized and productive. But it can be even more powerful when you connect it to your other tools, such as Shopify, Zapier, or HubSpot.
Learn More about Connect the Tools You Use
Work together on customer support, right in Gmail
Made for busy teams
Collaborate with team members in real-time — no more forwarding emails and confusion around who is doing what.
Try us for free
Sign in with Google and you're set up in two minutes. The trial is the full product, so your team can run real email through it before you decide.
Secure and safe
Security and safety are at the core of everything we do. We publish our security policies and procedures so that you can see how we protect your data.
Advanced
$24
per user per month
billed annually
Our most comprehensive plan at a price you can afford.
Our customers love us for a reason
Don’t just take our word for it, see what our customers are saying about us.
Rated 4.5 /5 on G2
“Keeping helps our customer service team stay on top of inquiries & recognize when an issue has been handled.”
“It's a great tool for tracking and sharing support emails with colleagues. I love how Keeping email has its own inbox inside Gmail.”
“Keeping seamlessly integrates with Gmail, so we don't have to work with another tool. It allows everyone to see responses from the team.”
“Seeing our shared mailbox right in GSuite, the automatic setup, and the ability to keep track of issues are my favorite features.”
“At our university, Keeping gives us control over the responses of all our agents, as well as ensuring that all emails are being responded to.”
“Our HR department uses Keeping, and it works amazingly well for us to keep organized. It's a simple but robust ticketing system.”
“I like that we can use it right inside our Gmail. I also like that we can assign and prioritize incoming requests.”
“Keeping makes it simple to stay on top of our work orders, and I love that it is integrated with Gmail.”
“Tried them all - Keeping is perfect for our startup. Exactly the features we needed, like Gmail integration and collision detection.”