About Zendesk
Zendesk is a commercial customer service platform used by support teams to handle customer conversations. The vendor emphasizes AI agents that resolve issues from start to finish rather than merely deflecting questions, along with tools that improve service quality, speed and scale.
The platform is described as the Zendesk Resolution Platform and includes Zendesk AI, reporting and analytics, actions and integrations that act on data across systems, and security and trust features. A marketplace lists apps, partners and integrations for both customer and employee service. A free trial and demo are available on the website.
Zendesk is hosted, proprietary software with a pricing page, and it is not self-hosted. It suits support, success and IT teams in small and large companies that want one place to manage tickets, automate answers and measure results.
Key features
- Ticketing for customer conversations
- AI agents that resolve issues
- Reporting and analytics
- Marketplace of apps and integrations
- Actions across connected systems
- Security and trust controls
Good fit for
- →Support teams automating common answers
- →Companies running service across email and chat
- →IT teams handling employee requests
- Tags
- customer-support
- helpdesk
- ticketing
- ai-agents
- customer-service
- analytics
Zendesk: questions and answers
- What is Zendesk used for?
- Zendesk is a customer service platform with ticketing, AI agents, reporting and a marketplace of apps for support teams. It is a good fit for support teams automating common answers, companies running service across email and chat, and IT teams handling employee requests.
- How much does Zendesk cost?
- Paid plans for Zendesk start at $19 per seat per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
- Is Zendesk open source?
- No. Zendesk is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Zendesk include UVdesk, Zammad and FreeScout.
- What are some alternatives to Zendesk?
- Zendesk competes with Intercom, Help Scout and Zoho Desk. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Zendesk alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Zendesk
See all
UVdesk
Customer Support
UVdesk Open Source Community Helpdesk is a comprehensive ticketing support system designed
OSL-3.0vs Zendesk★ 20k
Zammad
Customer Support
Zammad is a web based open source helpdesk/customer support system.
AGPL-3.0vs Zendesk★ 6k
FreeScout
Customer Support
FreeScout — Free self-hosted omnichannel AI-powered helpdesk & shared mailbox
AGPL-3.0vs Help Scout★ 4.6k
Frappe Helpdesk
Customer Support
Modern, Streamlined, Free and Open Source Customer Service Software
AGPL-3.0vs Zendesk★ 3.4k
Libredesk
Customer Support
Open-source, self-hosted customer support desk in a single binary. A lightweight alternati
AGPL-3.0vs Zendesk★ 3k
Faveo Helpdesk
Customer Support
Faveo Open source ticketing system build on Laravel framework
OSL-3.0vs Zendesk★ 1.3k
SaaS alternatives to Zendesk
See all
Intercom
Customer Support
Intercom is a customer service platform that combines a helpdesk, inbox and help center with Fin, an AI agent that handles customer conversations.
SaaS
Help Scout
Customer Support
Help Scout is a customer support platform with a shared inbox, AI assistance and automation, built for small and mid-size support teams.
SaaS
Zoho Desk
Customer Support
Help desk ticketing with SLAs and automation from Zoho
SaaS
Kustomer
Customer Support
Omnichannel customer service CRM with unified customer timelines
SaaS
Salesforce Service Cloud
Customer Support
Case management and support suite on the Salesforce platform
SaaS
Front
Customer Support
Shared inbox that merges email, chat and SMS for team support
SaaS

