Zendesk prices each agent, then adds Copilot and resolution charges beyond an allowance. Helply’s Team plan covers 5 seats, the Assist Agent, and 15,000 AI credits for $499 a month. A drafted reply uses 2 credits, and an end-to-end resolution uses 10.
Zendesk charges $25 to $149 per agent a month ($19 to $115 billed yearly), with Suite Enterprise by quote. Copilot is an add-on for Suite Professional and up, at $50 per agent a month on yearly billing. Zendesk includes AI agents on every plan and bills automated resolutions beyond an included allowance.
Helply vs. Zendesk: the quick verdict
Zendesk fits high-volume contact centers that can budget for per-agent licenses plus Copilot and lean on its voice tools and 1,800+ Marketplace apps. Helply fits B2B software teams, ecommerce brands, and marketplaces whose ticket volume grows faster than their hiring. Helply and Zendesk are both complete help desks, and both sell AI agents that take action in other systems.
- Zendesk: $149 per agent a month on Suite Professional ($115 billed yearly), plus $50 per agent a month for Copilot, billed yearly.
- Zendesk AI agents: on every plan, with overage charges for resolutions past the included allowance.
- Helply: Starter costs $79 per seat each month and holds up to 3 seats. Team is $499 a month, and that price buys 5 seats plus 15,000 AI credits.
- The Support Agent, which can resolve tickets, and the Assist Agent, which drafts replies, come with every Helply plan. Team includes 2 Background Agents, and Pro and Growth include the full set.
- Helply’s Team plan is priced at $499 a month billed monthly for 5 seats and 15,000 pooled AI credits. Five Zendesk Suite Professional agents with Copilot cost $825 a month billed yearly, before extra resolutions.
Helply vs. Zendesk compared: pricing, AI agents, Copilot, and voice
Helply and Zendesk both cover ticketing, messaging, and AI agents. They differ on who needs a paid license and how each vendor charges for AI.
| Capability | Helply | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | A complete help desk built around AI agents; your team can take over any conversation | A help desk priced per agent; AI agents on every plan, Copilot as a paid add-on |
| Pricing | Team: $499 a month including 5 seats and 15,000 AI credits; Starter: $79 per seat a month (3 seats at most) | $25 to $149 per agent a month ($19 to $115 billed yearly); Suite Enterprise + Copilot by quote |
| Free trial | 14 days free, no credit card required | 14 days, no credit card; no free tier |
| AI agents | Support and Assist Agents on every plan; 2 Background Agents on Team and the full set from Pro; their work uses credits | AI agents on every plan take action across systems; Zendesk bills automated resolutions beyond an allowance |
| Agent assist | Assist Agent included on every plan | Copilot add-on for Suite Professional and up, $50 per agent a month billed yearly |
| Customer context | CRM data, Stripe or Chargebee billing, and product data from connected tools, beside the full support history | Customer profile and interaction history in the ticket; more data through custom objects and 1,800+ Marketplace apps |
| Channels | Email, chat, and Slack notifications on every plan; Slack Connect, SMS, WhatsApp, and Discord from Team; Microsoft Teams from Pro; Telegram also supported | Email, messaging, live chat, and social on Suite plans |
| Phone and voice | Supported call information, transcripts, and follow-up in the customer’s support history | Voice on Suite plans, with numbers and minutes billed by usage; Contact Center add-on at $83 per agent a month, billed yearly, plus usage |
| Slack | Manage customer support conversations in Slack Connect channels (Team plan and up) | Slack DMs as a channel, 1:1 only, no threads; @zendesk opens tickets from Slack Connect channels |
| Background work | Background Agents flag churn risk, feature requests, upgrade intent, and knowledge gaps (2 agents on Team, all on Pro and up) | Prebuilt dashboards on every plan; triage through Copilot; QA and WFM as add-ons |
| Team access | On Starter, a seat for everyone who logs in; from Team up, unlimited view-only seats for teammates who don’t answer tickets | A paid license per agent; Suite Professional comes with up to 100 light agents, more as an add-on |
| Best for | Growing B2B and B2C teams that want AI agents on repetitive work and the wider company on view-only seats (Team and up) | High-volume contact centers that run on Zendesk workflows, voice, and Marketplace apps |
How Helply runs support differently from Zendesk
Agent assist without a per-agent add-on
The Assist Agent drafts replies beside your team on every plan, while Zendesk charges $50 per agent a month for Copilot, billed yearly. Helply’s Support Agent investigates a billing-configuration bug or a “where’s my order?” question across your connected tools. It can resolve the ticket, or escalate it with the work already done.
Bring in the whole company on view-only seats
Helply’s Team plan and up include unlimited view-only seats, so success, product, engineering, and leadership can read conversations and leave internal notes. On Zendesk, each teammate needs a paid license or a light-agent spot. Suite Professional bundles up to 100 light agents who can view tickets and add private comments; Zendesk sells more as an add-on.
Find churn risk and upgrade intent in your support queue
On Pro and up, Helply’s Background Agents start on their own when the right signals appear. The Churn Agent flags churn risk early, the Revenue Agent spots upgrade intent, and the Knowledge Agent finds gaps in your docs. If something needs attention, they can alert teammates, update systems, create work, or trigger workflows.
Zendesk pricing vs. Helply pricing
Zendesk costs $25 to $149 per agent a month ($19 to $115 billed yearly), plus Copilot and AI resolutions beyond an allowance. Helply’s Starter plan is $79 a seat a month. Team, Pro, and Growth include seats and AI credits for $499, $999, and $1,999 a month.
- Support Team: $25 a month per agent ($19 billed yearly)
- Suite Team: $69 a month per agent ($55 billed yearly)
- Suite Professional: $149 a month per agent ($115 billed yearly)
- Suite Enterprise + Copilot: price by quote from Zendesk Sales
- Zendesk Copilot add-on (Suite Professional and up): $50 per agent a month, billed yearly
- AI agents: on every plan, billed per automated resolution beyond an included allowance. Since May 18, 2026, new accounts get resolution tiers, and Zendesk Sales sets their rates. Zendesk’s pricing page lists $1.50 per committed resolution and $2.00 pay-as-you-go.
- Resolution-tier allowance: $5 per agent a month on Suite Professional, capped at $5,000 a year; unused allowance doesn’t carry over.
- Contact Center add-on: $83 per agent a month, billed yearly, plus usage; it needs a Suite plan and a Premier plan
- Workforce Engagement Bundle (QA and WFM): $50 per agent a month, billed yearly
| Cost line | Helply | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Plan compared | Team: 5 seats and 15,000 AI credits (Starter covers up to 3 seats) | Suite Professional with Copilot, the entry Suite plan for Copilot |
| Price per agent a month | 5 seats included; extra seats are $99 a month each | $115 billed yearly, plus $50 for Copilot |
| Five human agents | Included | $575 a month |
| Agent assist | Assist Agent included | Copilot: $250 a month for five agents |
| AI billing | Credits by effort: drafting a reply costs 2, investigating 6, and resolving a conversation end to end 10 | Per automated resolution, drawn first from an included allowance |
| Doesn’t use credits or allowance | Spam, auto-replies, notifications, Playground tests, the help desk with AI off, and a teammate stepping in after an AI attempt | Assisted escalations and contained resolutions |
| Usage limits | Usage alerts warn you first; on Team, AI stops at the limit until you top up or change plans | Zendesk bills each automated resolution beyond the plan allowance |
| Users without a paid license | Unlimited view-only seats from the Team plan up | Up to 100 light agents come with Suite Professional; more as an add-on |
| Monthly total | $499 billed monthly; Team fits about 1,000 conversations a month when AI works on every one | $825 billed yearly, before resolutions beyond the allowance |
Helply Team is $499 billed monthly for 5 seats plus 15,000 AI credits, and paying yearly costs the same. Credits per conversation top out at 15, so 1,000 conversations a month stay inside Team’s 15,000 even at that cap. Five Zendesk Suite Professional agents with Copilot cost $825 a month billed yearly at list price, before resolutions beyond the allowance.
Each new Zendesk agent needs a paid license, plus $50 a month billed yearly if your team runs Copilot. Helply Team includes 5 seats and unlimited view-only seats, and each extra seat is $99 a month. Usage alerts warn your team before it reaches the credit limit.
Teams that switched
“The two-knowledge-base problem that broke every other tool just worked, it routed to the right product on its own. And I set it up myself, no engineering ticket. Now my whole team can see support conversations without me buying a license for each of them.”
- Zendesk replaced across two products and two knowledge bases
- 52% of conversations resolved end-to-end
- 34% drop in ticket volume
“It doesn’t deflect technical questions, it resolves them, and it finally remembers how. We describe a workflow in plain English and it becomes a Skill. Living docs showed us exactly where our documentation was lying to customers, and fixed it.”
- Zendesk + GitHub setup replaced with one platform
- 79% of technical questions resolved end-to-end
- 3x faster responses
Switching from Zendesk
Skip the big-bang migration. Run Helply on part of your queue while the rest stays on Zendesk. Cut over once AI resolution quality and your workflows match what you need.
- Start a 14-day free trial (no card) and point Helply at a slice of your Zendesk queue.
- Connect Zendesk, then pick which supported customer, conversation, and knowledge data comes across.
- Validate your Helply workspace, connect your channels, and switch.
- Tickets and conversation history
- Help center articles
- Customer records
Helply or Zendesk: which should you choose?
- Your workflows depend on some of the 1,800+ apps in the Zendesk Marketplace.
- You run a high-volume contact center and want Zendesk Contact Center at $83 per agent a month, billed yearly, plus usage.
- You’re a qualifying startup with up to 50 agents: Zendesk can be free for 6 months or longer.
- Your ticket volume is outpacing your hiring plan.
- More people need to read the inbox than you want to license. From Team up, engineers checking a bug or ops staff tracing an order join on unlimited view-only seats.
- You want Helply’s Assist Agent on every plan instead of paying $50 per agent a month for Copilot, billed yearly.
- You want Background Agents to flag churn risk, spot upgrade intent, group feature requests, and find knowledge gaps. Pro and up include all of them.
Frequently asked questions
How is Helply different from Zendesk?
Helply builds its help desk around AI agents, and every plan includes the Support and Assist Agents. Zendesk charges per agent, sells Copilot as an add-on, and bills AI resolutions past an allowance.
Can Helply replace Zendesk?
Yes. Helply includes ticketing, a knowledge base, workflows, reporting, and the Support and Assist Agents. The Team plan adds SLAs and Background Agents.
How much does Zendesk cost?
Zendesk costs $25 to $149 per agent monthly ($19 to $115 billed yearly). Copilot costs $50 more per agent, billed yearly, from Suite Professional up.
Why is Zendesk so expensive?
Zendesk prices by the agent seat, so your bill rises with each agent. It charges extra for Copilot and for AI resolutions past an allowance.
Is there a free version of Zendesk?
Zendesk has no free tier. It offers a 14-day free trial, and qualifying startups can get it free for 6 months or longer.
How does Zendesk charge for AI agents?
Zendesk includes AI agents on every plan and bills automated resolutions beyond an allowance. Since May 18, 2026, Zendesk Sales sets resolution-tier rates.
What are the different types of Zendesk agents?
Zendesk has paid agents, who update tickets, and light agents, who view tickets and add private comments. Suite Professional bundles up to 100 light agents.
How does Helply’s pricing work?
Starter is $79 a seat a month for up to 3 seats. The Team plan costs $499 a month and bundles 5 seats with 15,000 AI credits, and Pro and Growth cost $999 and $1,999. You pay these same prices on annual billing.
Does Helply charge per agent like Zendesk?
Starter does: $79 for each seat every month. Team, Pro, and Growth charge per company and include 5 to 10 seats plus unlimited view-only seats. Extra seats cost $99 a month on Team and $150 a month on Pro and Growth.
Is Helply cheaper than Zendesk for a five-person team?
Against Zendesk Suite Professional with Copilot, yes. Five agents there cost $825 a month billed yearly, before extra resolutions, and Helply’s Team plan is $499 a month billed monthly. Zendesk Support Team and Suite Team cost less per agent: $19 and $55 billed yearly.
Can I run Helply alongside Zendesk before switching?
Yes. Run Helply on part of your Zendesk queue during the 14-day trial, then bring your history across and cut over.
Does Helply support Slack Connect and Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Slack Connect channels, WhatsApp, Discord, and SMS start on Team, and Microsoft Teams starts on Pro. Helply also covers email, chat, Telegram, and phone.
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