Zendesk is one of the most complete helpdesks available: tickets, workflows, SLAs, a multilingual help center, and AI agents. It's built for support teams, and that's exactly why many small businesses look elsewhere.
On Zendesk, live chat starts on the Suite Team plan at $55 per agent a month (billed yearly). AI agents include a few automated resolutions per agent each month, then charge $2.00 for each one. For a small business, that adds up quickly.
A note before we start: we make ConvoAsk, so we're not neutral. To keep this useful, every price below comes from each company's own public pricing page (checked on 14 and 15 October 2026), and we say where each tool is stronger than ours. Prices change, so check their sites before you decide.
Zendesk alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Paid plans start at | How the AI is charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConvoAsk | Small businesses: AI chatbot, live chat and a simple helpdesk | No; 7-day free trial, no card | $19/month | Message credits included in the plan |
| Intercom | Growing teams needing a full support platform | 14-day trial | $29 per seat/month | $0.99 per resolved conversation (Fin) |
| Crisp | One shared inbox for chat, email and messaging apps | Yes, without AI | $45/month | AI credits by plan; AI chatbot from $95 |
| LiveChat | Teams that chat with customers all day | 14-day trial | $19 per user/month, billed yearly | AI resolutions by plan, extra packs of 50 |
| Tidio | Live chat for online stores, with AI as an add-on | Yes, live chat | $24.17/month, plus Lyro AI | Lyro from $32.50/month for 50 AI conversations |
For reference, Zendesk has a 14-day trial; Support Team from $19 per agent a month billed yearly; live chat from Suite Team at $55 per agent; 5 automated resolutions per agent a month on Team plans (10 on Suite Professional), then $2.00 each; and a Copilot add-on at $50 per agent a month.
Why look for a Zendesk alternative?
- Live chat costs more than you'd expect. It's on the Suite plans, from $55 per agent a month.
- AI is charged per resolution. After the few included, each automated resolution costs $2.00.
- It needs looking after. Zendesk's power comes with setup: groups, triggers, views and workflows. Many small businesses don't have someone to run it.
Why you might stay with Zendesk
If you run a support team, Zendesk is hard to beat: tickets, workflows, SLAs and reporting, many channels, a multilingual help center, a large app marketplace, and advanced AI agents and Copilot for larger teams. It scales all the way to enterprise.
The alternatives, one by one
1. ConvoAsk: an AI chatbot first, with a simple helpdesk
ConvoAsk answers your customers from your website, day and night, in their own language, and shows the source of every answer. When it can't help, your team takes over in live chat, or the visitor reaches you on WhatsApp, by phone or by email. It books calls and saves leads.
On Pro, the helpdesk covers what most small businesses need from Zendesk: tickets from chat and email, AI-drafted email replies, assignment, rules, internal notes and satisfaction surveys. There's also a simple help page for your customers.
- Price: 7-day free trial, no card; Starter $19/month (2,000 message credits, live chat, bookings); Pro $49/month (5,000 credits, 10 team members, helpdesk, API, no branding). No per-agent or per-resolution fees.
- Good for: small businesses that want most questions answered automatically, and a simple place to handle the rest.
- Watch out for: it's simpler than Zendesk on purpose: no SLAs, no multilingual help center and fewer channels.
Read the full comparison: ConvoAsk vs Zendesk
2. Intercom: the modern support platform
Intercom combines inboxes, a help center, workflows and the Fin AI agent.
- Price: from $29 per seat/month, plus $0.99 per conversation Fin resolves.
- Good for: growing teams that want a full platform.
- Watch out for: per-seat and per-outcome pricing, like Zendesk. ConvoAsk vs Intercom
3. Crisp: a shared inbox, priced per workspace
Crisp puts chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS into one inbox, with ticketing and 100+ integrations on its Plus plan.
- Price: free plan (no AI); Mini $45/month with 4 seats; Essentials $95/month with the AI chatbot and 10 seats.
- Good for: small teams that want one inbox for every channel.
- Watch out for: ticketing and branding removal are on Plus ($295/month). ConvoAsk vs Crisp
4. LiveChat: live chat with tickets included
LiveChat includes tickets from its entry plan, with AI agents and 200+ integrations.
- Price: $19 per user/month billed yearly ($25 monthly), with 10 AI resolutions a month.
- Good for: teams who chat with customers all day and want tickets too.
- Watch out for: per-user pricing and a small AI allowance. ConvoAsk vs LiveChat
5. Tidio: live chat for online stores
Tidio is popular with e-commerce, with a free live chat plan, social channels and mobile apps.
- Price: free plan; Starter $24.17/month; Lyro AI from $32.50/month for 50 AI conversations.
- Good for: stores whose team answers chats themselves.
- Watch out for: AI is priced separately. ConvoAsk vs Tidio
What it costs: a worked example
One person, and about 300 customer questions the AI resolves in a month:
- Zendesk: Suite Team at $55 for one agent (billed yearly), with 5 resolutions included, plus 295 more at $2.00: about $645 a month.
- ConvoAsk: Pro, $49 a month, including 5,000 message credits, so 300 conversations fit easily.
How to switch from Zendesk
- List your top 20 questions. Pull them from your current chat history: prices, delivery, opening hours, bookings, returns.
- Create a free ConvoAsk account and paste your website. It reads your pages and builds your chatbot's knowledge in a few minutes. Add files, Notion pages or Google Drive documents if your answers live there.
- Test it with those 20 questions, in your customers' own words, plus one question your website doesn't answer. Each answer shows the page it came from, and the chatbot should say when it isn't sure.
- Set up the handoff: live chat with your team, WhatsApp, phone, email or a message form, so people can always reach a person.
- Swap the code on your website. Remove the old chat script and paste ConvoAsk's one line in its place. We have step-by-step guides for WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow, and a 2-minute video for the first three.
If your answers live in Zendesk help center articles, add those pages as sources in ConvoAsk so the chatbot can answer from them.
Our verdict
For a support team that needs workflows, SLAs and many channels, Zendesk is still one of the best tools available. For a small business that wants most questions answered automatically, plus live chat and a simple helpdesk at a flat price, ConvoAsk is a better fit, and you can start free.
You can try ConvoAsk free for 7 days, with every Pro feature and no card needed, and see how it answers your own customers' questions before you change anything on your website. Our step-by-step guide to adding an AI chatbot to your website and its video walkthrough cover the whole setup.
Questions
What is the best Zendesk alternative for a small business?
It depends on how much of the work you want the AI to do. If you want most questions answered automatically, with live chat and a simple helpdesk at a flat price, ConvoAsk suits small businesses well. If you need one inbox for every channel, look at Crisp.
Is there a free alternative to Zendesk?
Crisp and Tidio have free live chat plans, with AI limited or not included. ConvoAsk has a 7-day free trial with every Pro feature and no card needed. Zendesk itself offers a 14-day trial.
Does ConvoAsk have tickets like Zendesk?
Yes, on the Pro plan: tickets from chat and email, AI-drafted replies, assignment, rules, internal notes and satisfaction surveys. It's simpler than Zendesk, by design.
How much does Zendesk's AI cost compared with ConvoAsk?
Zendesk includes a few automated resolutions per agent each month, then charges $2.00 for each one. ConvoAsk includes a monthly allowance of AI replies in its flat plans ($19 or $49 a month), with no per-resolution fee.