Cost Per Ticket by Channel: The Real Numbers for 2026

## Nobody Talks About the Real Cost

Every support leader knows phone is expensive and self-service is cheap. But the actual numbers? They're buried in vendor whitepapers behind lead forms, or they're industry averages so broad they're useless.

I pulled data from HDI's 2025 support benchmarks, Gartner's cost-per-contact studies, and real numbers from support teams I've talked to. Here's what a support interaction actually costs per channel.

## The Channel-by-Channel Breakdown

### Phone: $8-12...