# Zoho Desk

Hosted help desk with a Free Forever edition for three agents and an official Zoho MCP server.

Zoho Desk is Zoho's customer support product: multichannel tickets, help center, SLAs, automation, and Zia AI on higher plans. Zoho's own MCP server (zoho.com/mcp) lists Desk among the apps it serves, uses OAuth, and runs under the connecting user's permissions. The Free edition gives three user licenses with limited capabilities.

Alternative to: Zendesk, Freshdesk

- Capabilities: operable
- Vertical: support-bookkeeping
- Shape: product
- Form factor: api
- Execution model: deterministic
- Provenance: human-written (recorded, never ranked)
- Last activity: unknown
- Page: apps/zoho-desk.html
- JSON: apps/zoho-desk.json

## Use it when

- we are a three-person team on Zoho's free plan and want our agent to triage and answer tickets without paying for a seat
- we already live in Zoho (CRM, Books) and want one OAuth connector that reaches Desk tickets alongside the rest

## Gotchas

- Whether the Free edition can use the MCP server is not stated; Zoho gates API and integration features by plan
- Pricing page served INR at fetch time; USD list prices differ
- No public tool list for the Desk MCP; Reach is inferred from one example prompt

## Editions

- Free: Free, closed source
  - hosted: https://www.zoho.com/desk/pricing.html
- Express: ₹420 per user/month, annual (regional pricing shown at fetch), closed source
  - hosted: https://www.zoho.com/desk/pricing.html
- Standard: ₹800 per user/month, annual, closed source
- Professional: ₹1,400 per user/month, annual, closed source
- Enterprise: ₹2,400 per user/month, annual, closed source

## Operable: what an agent can drive

Operability: official. Interface: mcp at https://www.zoho.com/mcp/ (published by the builder, remote).

### Reach (partial coverage)

- Search tickets: reachable. zoho.com/mcp example prompt: Search the desk for any open tickets
- Update ticket status: reachable. same example: Mark them as in progress
- Reply to a ticket: reachable. same example: send a reply that we are working on it
- Create tickets: undetermined. no tool list published on the MCP page; Desk REST API supports it, MCP coverage unconfirmed
- Manage contacts and accounts: undetermined. not stated on the MCP page
- Write help center articles: undetermined. not stated
- Configure SLAs and automation rules: not reachable. MCP page describes acting under user permissions on records; admin configuration is not an example and is unlikely
- Run reports and dashboards: undetermined. not stated
- Handle chat, phone, and social channels: not reachable. live chat is Zoho SalesIQ on the Enterprise plan; channels are set up in the UI

## Code stack

- Languages: none
- Frameworks: none
- Package manager: none
- Database: none
- Hosting target: none

## Evidence and confidence

- formFactor: hosted SaaS; agent interface is a remote MCP with OAuth (confidence 0.9)
- executionModel: no model at runtime in the core product; Zia AI is an add-on on paid plans (confidence 0.8)
- operability: zoho.com/mcp: MCP integrates with many Zoho apps, including CRM, Mail, Calendar, Desk, Cliq, Projects, and WorkDrive; OAuth-based authorization (confidence 0.85)
- editions: zoho.com/desk/pricing.html: Free edition gives you 3 users with limited capabilities; Express, Standard, Professional, Enterprise tiers (confidence 0.7)
- active: Zoho MCP page and pricing live in 2026; no dated changelog captured
- reach:  (confidence 0.4)

## Open questions

- Endpoint URL and tool list of the Zoho MCP server for Desk
- Is MCP or API access included in the Free edition
- USD prices for each plan

## Sources

- https://www.zoho.com/mcp/ (sourcing:support-bookkeeping:registries)
- https://www.zoho.com/desk/ (sourcing:support-bookkeeping:registries)
- https://www.zoho.com/desk/pricing.html (analysis)