by Zendesk, Inc.Help desk and customer support
A per-agent help desk suite with email tickets, live chat, a help center, social channels and voice from Suite Team at $55 per agent billed annually.
Email tickets, live chat, a help center, social messaging and voice in one agent seat, with AI agents on every plan and a broad compliance file.
From Suite Team at $55 per agent a month on annual terms, one seat covers email ticketing, messaging and live chat, one help center, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and X, and voice, so a team does not buy a separate chat or knowledge base tool. AI agents come with every plan and a monthly allowance of automated resolutions, with listed prices beyond it. The trust center lists Zendesk’s own SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001:2022 certificate, and Suite Professional, bought online, adds a path to a HIPAA BAA and a choice of data region.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Help desk and customer support: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Zendesk | Freshdesk | Intercom | Front |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Built-in reachEmail tickets, live chat, a help center, social messaging and voice in one agent seat, with AI agents on every plan and a broad compliance file. | Worth the priceEmail, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in one inbox, with a knowledge base and SAML SSO, from $29 per agent on annual terms. | Saves engineering timeA help desk and an AI agent in one workspace: Fin answers first, your team takes over in the same inbox, and Fin is billed per outcome. | Easy to adoptOne shared inbox where the whole team works email, chat, SMS and social messages together, with tickets, SLAs and CSAT on top. |
| Overall score | 6.1 | 6.7Best | 6.6 | 6.3 |
| Free option | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $19/agent/mo | $19/agent/mo | $29/seat/mo | $25/seat/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat | Seat + usage | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per agent per month; AI resolutions and voice billed by usage | Per agent per month; AI agent sessions, WhatsApp messages and phone billed separately | Per seat per month; Fin outcomes, phone, SMS and bulk messages billed by usage | Per seat per month; Autopilot AI agent billed per conversation |
| Free option | No free plan; 14-day trial of Suite Professional, no card | No free plan on the pricing page; 14-day trial, no card; 6-month Free Program for 2 agents in the help center | No free plan; 14-day trial, no card | No free plan; 14-day trial of Professional, no card |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $275/mo on Suite Team ($55 × 5), computed | $145/mo on Freshdesk Omni Growth ($29 × 5), computed | $145/mo on Essential ($29 × 5), computed | $325/mo on Professional ($65 × 5), computed; Starter allows one channel type |
| Month-to-month price | $69 per agent on Suite Team ($25 / $69 / $149 for the three listed plans) | $35 per agent on Omni Growth ($35 / $95 / $143 Omni; $23 / $66 / $107 Freshdesk) | $39 per seat on Essential ($39 / $99 / $139 for the three plans) | $85 per seat on Professional ($35 on Starter; Enterprise is annual only) |
| AI agent pricing | 5 resolutions per agent/mo included; then $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go | First 500 sessions included once per account; then $49 per 100 sessions | Fin $0.99 per outcome on every plan; qualifications $9.99 | Autopilot per conversation: Triage $0.05, Handoff $0.39, Resolution $0.89 |
| Phone | Built in from Suite Team; numbers and minutes billed by usage | Through Freshcaller, a separately billed Freshworks product; own carrier on Omni Pro and up | Built in on every plan; numbers and minutes billed by usage | Through partner integrations such as Aircall and Dialpad, Professional and up |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Suite Professional ($115); chat conversation rating on Suite Team | Default SLA policies on Growth; multiple SLAs and CSAT surveys from Pro ($79 Omni) | Conversation ratings on every plan; SLAs on Expert ($132) | Professional ($65), the scenario plan |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (on request, under NDA); ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type 2 (report on request); ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (Trust Center, on request) | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (report and certificate on request) |
| HIPAA BAA | Suite Professional and up (Advanced Compliance) | Mutually executed with Freshworks; the HIPAA guide lists Freshdesk Enterprise ($89), not the current Omni plans | Expert plan only, requested through support | When the annual contract price meets a threshold Front does not state |
| EU data hosting | Suite Professional and up, activated by Zendesk on request | EEA data center chosen at sign-up, every plan | New workspaces on a contract (Advanced or Expert), through sales | US or EEA, chosen by contacting support; no plan limit stated |
| SSO | SAML, OIDC or JWT on every plan | SAML on every plan of both editions | SAML on Expert only | SAML SSO and SCIM from Professional; Google and Office 365 sign-in on every plan |
| Data export | REST API on every plan; file export from Suite Growth, enabled by support | Whole-account export (XML in the app, JSON through the API) | All conversations to Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage; REST API | Full export by request to Front Support; Core API on every plan |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Zendesk is a broad help desk suite: every main channel on Suite Team, AI agents on every plan and a deep compliance file. SLAs, CSAT and data region start on Suite Professional, and some plan names and AI tiers differ between pages. | From its public pages, Freshdesk Omni offers chat, social messaging, a knowledge base, SAML SSO and EU hosting from $29 per agent, with every plan priced in public. CSAT, multiple SLAs and custom roles start on Pro, and a few pages disagree on payment and plan details. | From its public pages, Intercom is a full help desk with an AI agent built in, priced per seat plus $0.99 per Fin outcome. SSO, SLAs and the HIPAA BAA need Expert, and a few prices differ between its pages. | From its public pages, Front is a team shared inbox with ticketing, SLAs, CSAT and SAML SSO on Professional and an audit log on every plan. Email plus chat starts at $65 per seat, phone runs through partners, and the HIPAA BAA depends on contract size. |
Evidence: Zendesk: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Freshdesk: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Intercom: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Front: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Zendesk's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read Zendesk's US pricing page with its plan comparison table, the free trial page and trial terms, the trust center, the Zendesk Customer Agreement, help center articles on plan types, add-ons, Advanced Compliance, the Data Center Location add-on, SSO, roles, the audit log, SLAs, CSAT, brands, export, automated resolutions and Talk pricing, and the developer rate-limit and export pages on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up for the trial or call the API for this review. From our location zendesk.com/pricing redirects to Zendesk's Korean site; the US English page loads when that location redirect is turned off, and an Internet Archive copy of the US page from Oct 12, 2026 shows the same prices.
The pricing page is clear on the main lines: Support Team $19, Suite Team $55 and Suite Professional $115 per agent a month on annual terms, $25, $69 and $149 month to month, and AI agents on every plan with 5 automated resolutions per agent a month (10 on Professional) and extra ones at $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go. Phone numbers and minutes are billed as usage, priced in a help center article.
A few points need a question to Zendesk. The help center describes a Suite Growth plan that the pricing page does not sell, and several feature articles say "Growth and up". Since May 18, 2026 automated resolutions are grouped into tiers with no per-tier prices listed, while the pricing page still shows one flat rate. Suite Enterprise, which holds custom roles and the audit log, has no published price.
Email, messaging and live chat, one help center, social channels and voice are all on Suite Team at $55 per agent on annual terms.
vs Help Scout: Help Scout and Front handle phone only through integrations; Freshdesk connects phone through Freshcaller, a separately billed Freshworks product.
The trust center lists Zendesk’s own SOC 2 Type II report, ISO 27001:2022 and four more ISO certificates, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, HDS 1.1 and approved Binding Corporate Rules, plus tools for handling card data under PCI-DSS.
vs Help Scout: Help Scout states SOC 2 Type II but does not state ISO 27001, and hosts data in the US only.
Suite Professional includes Advanced Compliance for signing a BAA, and data center location in the US, EEA, UK, Japan or Australia.
vs Freshdesk: Freshdesk’s HIPAA guide lists Enterprise plans, not the current Omni plans with live chat; Front ties a BAA to an annual contract price threshold it does not state.
SAML, OIDC or JWT single sign-on is listed on every plan, including Support Team at $19 per agent.
vs Intercom: Intercom offers SAML SSO on Expert only.
Every plan includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month (10 on Professional); extra ones are $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go, and AI agents can be paused at the limit.
The plan table checks SLA policies, CSAT surveys and up to five help centers on Suite Professional ($115 per agent, annual), not on Suite Team ($55).
Workaround: The 14-day trial runs on Suite Professional, so these features can be tried before choosing a plan.
Voice comes with Suite Team, but numbers and minutes are billed: in the US $1 per number a month and $0.016 per inbound minute, with recording and transcription extra.
Workaround: The Talk pricing article lists the rates, and credit packages are offered to customers who pay by invoice.
JSON, CSV and XML exports are not on Team plans and, on Growth and up, must be switched on by Zendesk support. AI agent tickets cannot be exported.
Workaround: Every plan can export through the REST API, including the Incremental Exports API.
The Customer Agreement says charges are non-refundable, seats cannot be reduced during a term, and plans renew for an equal term at then-current rates unless you give 30 days’ notice.
Workaround: Month-to-month prices are published for the three listed plans.
Zendesk bills each full agent seat per month; annual terms are about 20% below month to month. For our scenario, 5 agents on Suite Team cost 5 × $55 = $275 a month on annual terms, or $345 month to month (computed), before tax. That covers email, messaging and live chat, one help center, social channels, voice software and AI agents with 5 automated resolutions per agent a month. Costs rise with Suite Professional ($115, so $575 a month for 5 agents, computed) for SLAs, CSAT and data region; add-ons such as Copilot ($50 per agent); extra AI resolutions at $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go, with overage billed monthly; phone numbers and minutes; and Action credits at $200 per 100K. Custom roles and the audit log are on Suite Enterprise, which is priced by sales.
Every plan can pull tickets and users through the REST API, including the Incremental Exports API (10 requests a minute). File export in JSON, CSV or XML is on Suite Growth and up once Zendesk support turns it on, and AI agent tickets cannot be exported. The Customer Agreement allows export during the term and for 30 days after it. Trial data is lost if you neither buy nor export before the trial ends.
From its public pages, Zendesk is a broad help desk suite: every main channel on Suite Team, AI agents on every plan and a deep compliance file. SLAs, CSAT and data region start on Suite Professional, and some plan names and AI tiers differ between pages.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per agent per month; AI resolutions and voice billed by usage |
| Free option | No free plan; 14-day trial of Suite Professional, no card |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $275/mo on Suite Team ($55 × 5), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $69 per agent on Suite Team ($25 / $69 / $149 for the three listed plans) |
| AI agent pricing | 5 resolutions per agent/mo included; then $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go |
| Phone | Built in from Suite Team; numbers and minutes billed by usage |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Suite Professional ($115); chat conversation rating on Suite Team |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (on request, under NDA); ISO 27001:2022 |
| HIPAA BAA | Suite Professional and up (Advanced Compliance) |
| EU data hosting | Suite Professional and up, activated by Zendesk on request |
| SSO | SAML, OIDC or JWT on every plan |
| Data export | REST API on every plan; file export from Suite Growth, enabled by support |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Zendesk yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Zendesk yet.
Zendesk lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Support Team (billed annually), costs $19/agent/mo.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: zendesk.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, trust, legal, help center and developer pages of three help desks on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 5 agents with email, chat and a knowledge base cost, where SLAs, SSO and HIPAA sit, and who should pick which.
