Helpin vs Zendesk at a glance
Zendesk and Helpin both run customer support with AI agents. Zendesk is an established help desk for large, multichannel service teams. Helpin is a newer, open-source platform that connects support to the work behind it.
Zendesk offers ticketing, messaging, a native contact center and deep admin controls, with AI agents billed on verified resolutions. It has announced that Zendesk Sell, its sales CRM, will be retired in August 2027.
Helpin keeps support, projects, CRM, meetings and docs on one customer history, with one price per workspace and an open-source edition you can run yourself.
This guide compares Helpin and Zendesk feature by feature, with list prices checked in September 2026, so you can decide which fits the way your team works.
- Zendesk is built for service operations: routing high volumes of tickets across channels, with the controls large teams need.
- Helpin is built for the work after the ticket: the task, the fix, the account and the follow-up, on one customer history.
Here’s how the two compare across the capabilities teams ask about most. A check means included, a dash means partly or on some plans, and a cross means not available.
| Capability |  HelpinCloud or self-hosted | ZendeskHelp desk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Price model | Per workspace | Per agent: Suite Team $55, Professional $115 a month billed annually |
| Teammates | Unlimited teammates on every plan | Each agent is paid |
| AI agent | AI usage allowance included in every Cloud plan | Billed per verified resolution, beyond a small included allowance |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days, no card |
| Open source and self-hosting | Free Community edition (AGPL-3.0, 0.1 beta) | |
| Support | ||
| Channels | Web chat and email | Email, messaging, chat, voice with IVR, social |
| AI answers with human handoff | ||
| Help center | Custom domain, AI answers, API reference | Knowledge base on Suite plans |
| Widget SDKs | Web: JavaScript, React, Next.js, Vue | Web, iOS, Android |
| Support reporting | Knowledge-gap and project reports | Dashboards and analytics |
| SSO and SLA policies | ||
| Beyond support | ||
| Project management | Roadmaps, sprints, objectives, epics | Through integrations such as Jira |
| CRM with deals | Contacts, companies, deals | Zendesk Sell, retiring in August 2027 |
| Meeting notes | Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex | |
| Coding agents | Opens GitHub PRs and GitLab MRs for review | |
| MCP server | Hosted and self-hosted (beta) | Announced; MCP client in early access |
Comparison data verified September 2026.
Core feature comparison
Feature names can sound alike across tools. What matters is how each product handles the work, and what your team does next.
Ticketing and channels
Zendesk covers email, messaging and live chat, social messaging, and voice with IVR through its contact center, with skills-based routing on Suite Professional. Ticketing, macros, automations and SLA policies are deep and mature.
HelpinHelpin handles web chat and email in one shared inbox, with team inboxes, tags, saved replies, internal notes, business hours and CSAT surveys. AI conversation routing and round-robin assignment are part of the Growth plan. It doesn’t offer phone, WhatsApp or social channels today.
The difference: For large, multichannel teams, Zendesk’s routing and controls go further. For chat and email support, both cover the everyday work of a support team.
AI agents
Zendesk’s AI agents are included in every Suite plan and billed per verified resolution beyond a small included allowance; escalated and contained conversations aren’t billed, and Zendesk doesn’t publish the price per resolution. Copilot, which assists your agents, is a $50 per agent add-on on most plans.
HelpinHelpin’s AI agents answer from your docs and the customer’s history, and hand off to your team with what they found. They can also go further: plan the work, open a pull request for review and prepare the follow-up. You choose each agent’s tools and which actions need approval, and usage comes from an allowance included in every Cloud plan.
The difference: Zendesk’s AI sits inside a mature ticketing system. Helpin’s agents also plan and code the fix, with usage included in the plan price.
Help center and knowledge
Zendesk includes a knowledge base and help center on Suite plans, which its AI agents draw on to answer customers.
HelpinHelpin Knowledge publishes help articles, product guides and interactive API reference docs on a Helpin address, your own domain, or a path like /docs through a reverse proxy. Agents draft updates from unanswered questions and shipped changes, and nothing goes live until your team publishes it.
The difference: Both publish customer help content for people and AI. Helpin adds API reference docs and agent-drafted updates.
From ticket to fix
Zendesk manages the ticket and connects to tools like Jira for engineering work, so the fix and its status live in another system.
HelpinHelpin includes projects with roadmaps, sprints, objectives and epics. A conversation can become a task with the customer’s history attached, a coding agent can open a GitHub pull request or GitLab merge request for review, and the team can follow up in the original conversation when the fix ships.
The difference: If tickets often become engineering work, keeping both on one history is Helpin’s biggest difference.
CRM and meetings
Zendesk Sell is Zendesk’s sales CRM, but Zendesk plans to retire it on August 31, 2027 and recommends Pipedrive as a migration partner. Zendesk doesn’t record meetings.
HelpinHelpin includes a CRM with contacts, companies, deals and pipelines, and a meeting notetaker for Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex. Decisions and action items from calls stay on the same customer record as the conversations and tasks.
The difference: If you rely on Zendesk Sell, you’ll need a new CRM by 2027. Helpin includes one, on the same customer history as support.
Developers and integrations
Zendesk offers REST APIs, iOS and Android SDKs and more than 1,800 marketplace apps. It’s moving API access from tokens to OAuth, and has announced an MCP server, with an MCP client in early access.
HelpinHelpin offers web SDKs for JavaScript, React, Next.js and Vue, a Helpin MCP server (in beta, hosted or self-hosted), connections to external MCP servers for agents, and GitHub and GitLab integrations. It doesn’t have native mobile SDKs or a large app marketplace yet.
The difference: Zendesk’s marketplace is one of the largest in support software. Helpin focuses on your product, your code and your AI tools.
Why teams look beyond Zendesk
Four common reasons teams give for looking elsewhere, and how Helpin handles each one.
- Ticket
- Jira or another tool
Helpin- Conversation
- Task
- Pull request
- Follow-up
The fix happens in another tool
Zendesk manages the ticket and connects to tools like Jira for engineering work. Helpin keeps the conversation, the project task, the pull request and the customer follow-up in one place, so nobody copies context between systems.
- Per agent
- + Copilot per agent
Helpin- Workspace price
- AI allowance included
Costs grow per agent and per add-on
Zendesk charges per agent, and add-ons such as Copilot are priced per agent too. Helpin charges per workspace with unlimited teammates, and includes an AI usage allowance in each Cloud plan.
- Zendesk Sell
- Retiring August 2027
Helpin- Contacts
- Companies
- Deals
The sales CRM is being retired
Zendesk plans to retire Zendesk Sell in August 2027 and stop offering a sales CRM. Helpin includes contacts, companies and deals, with the support and meeting history attached to each account.
- Hosted by Zendesk
Helpin- Helpin Cloud
- or your servers
You can’t run it yourself
Zendesk is a hosted service with a deep admin surface. Helpin is open source under AGPL-3.0: use Helpin Cloud or run it yourself with Docker Compose.
Pricing and value
Zendesk charges per agent: Suite Team is $55 and Suite Professional $115 a month billed annually, with Enterprise priced on request. AI agent resolutions beyond the included allowance, and Copilot at $50 per agent, are billed separately.
HelpinHelpin charges one price per workspace, with unlimited teammates. Starter is $79 and Growth $239 a month billed annually ($99 and $299 billed monthly), and each includes an AI usage allowance. The self-hosted Community edition is free.
Estimate what your team would pay
Change the team size, plans and AI volume to match your team. The estimate uses list prices and says plainly when Zendesk costs less. See Helpin pricing.
Estimated at list prices · 8 agents · billed annually
Helpin costs $2,412 less a year than Zendesk.
HelpinGrowth$239/moHelpinGrowth, billed annually
- Growth plan, one workspace
- $239
- 8 agents
- Included
- AI usage allowance
- $239 included
- Per month
- $239
- Per year
- $2,868
Heavy AI use can go past the allowance; overage is metered.
ZendeskSuite Team, billed annually
- 8 × Suite Team at $55
- $440
- Per month
- $440
- Per year
- $5,280
- Zendesk bills AI agent resolutions beyond a small included allowance, and doesn’t publish the price, so they aren’t included.
- Copilot is an extra $50 per agent. Zendesk shows annual prices only.
- Helpin measures AI usage in tokens, not resolutions. Paid plans can turn on metered overage beyond the allowance.
Hosting and data
Zendesk is a hosted service, and there’s no way to run it on your own infrastructure.
HelpinHelpin is open source under AGPL-3.0. Use Helpin Cloud, or run the Community edition (0.1 beta) on your own infrastructure with Docker Compose and your own AI provider. Nothing leaves your servers unless you connect it.
Switching and onboarding
Zendesk offers a 14-day trial with no card, running on Suite Professional. Ticket and user exports are off by default and must be enabled by Zendesk on request, and full JSON exports need higher plans.
HelpinHelpin’s trial runs for 14 days on the Growth plan, with no card. Our team will help you plan the move: what to set up first, how to run both tools side by side, and when to cut over.
Moving from Zendesk.
Start with part of your support, then move the rest when you’re ready.
Take from Zendesk
- Tickets and users (ask Zendesk to enable exports)
- Organizations
- Help center articles
- Macros you want to keep as saved replies
Set up in Helpin
- Chat widget on your site or app
- Support address, forwarded to Helpin
- Help center on your own domain
- Team inboxes, tags and saved replies
- AI agent guidance and approval rules
- 01
Run Helpin alongside Zendesk
Available nowInstall the widget on a few pages and connect a support address. Move queues over when your team is ready, ideally before your next renewal.
- 02
Rebuild your help center
Available nowRecreate your articles in Helpin Knowledge and publish them on your own domain.
- 03
Import tickets and contacts
Coming soonA Zendesk importer is coming soon. Until then, Zendesk account owners can request ticket and user exports.
Where Zendesk is stronger
Zendesk is a good product. These are the areas where it’s ahead of Helpin today.
Omnichannel and voice.
Native contact center, IVR and messaging channels. Helpin supports web chat and email.
Enterprise controls.
SSO, SLA policies, sandboxes, custom roles and approval workflows.
Ecosystem.
More than 1,800 marketplace apps and mobile SDKs for iOS and Android.
Reporting.
Mature dashboards and analytics for large service teams.
Which one fits your team?
Zendesk is built for large, multichannel service teams. Helpin suits product-led teams whose support questions turn into product and account work.
Choose Zendesk if…
- You run a large service operation with voice, IVR and many channels.
- You need enterprise features such as SSO, SLAs, sandboxes and approval workflows.
- You rely on a large marketplace of more than 1,800 apps.
Choose Helpin if…
- Support questions regularly become roadmap and engineering work.
- You want CRM, meeting notes and projects in the same product as support.
- You want one price per workspace, with unlimited teammates.
- You want to self-host an open-source product.
Questions about Helpin vs Zendesk
Is Helpin a good Zendesk alternative?
It is for product-led teams that want support connected to projects, CRM and meetings, or that want to self-host. Large contact centers that need voice, IVR and many channels are better served by Zendesk today.
Is Helpin cheaper than Zendesk?
For most teams with several agents, yes. Helpin charges one price per workspace with an AI allowance included. Zendesk charges per agent, with AI resolutions and Copilot billed separately. Try the calculator above with your own numbers.
What happens to Zendesk Sell?
Zendesk has announced that Zendesk Sell will be retired on August 31, 2027. Helpin includes a CRM with contacts, companies and deals.
Can Helpin import my Zendesk data?
A Zendesk importer is coming soon. You can export data from Zendesk today and start Helpin alongside it while you move over.
Can we run Helpin alongside Zendesk?
Yes. Add the Helpin widget to a few pages or forward one support address, and keep Zendesk for everything else while your team tries the workflow. Move the rest when you’re ready.
How is AI billed in Helpin?
Every Cloud plan includes a monthly AI usage allowance, measured in tokens at published rates. On an active paid plan you can turn on metered overage if you need more. Self-hosted installs use your own AI provider and pay it directly.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The 14-day trial runs on the Growth plan, needs no card, and includes $140 of AI usage.
Can we self-host Helpin?
Yes. The Community edition is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, and runs with Docker Compose. It is a 0.1 beta, and coding agents arrive with the 0.2 release.
Will you help us switch?
Yes. Book a call and we’ll plan the move with you: what to set up first, how to run both tools side by side, and when to cut over.