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Zendesk AI alternatives.
Five Zendesk AI alternatives worth comparing in 2026 are Dazza, Intercom Fin, Freshdesk Freddy AI Agent, Crisp Hugo and Tidio Lyro. Each is compared below on who it suits, how it charges, from the vendor’s own pricing page, and what 1,000 AI conversations a month cost.
Teams look beyond Zendesk mostly on cost: each agent is $55 to $115 a month, and each automated resolution beyond the allowance $1.50 to $2.00. For five agents and 1,000 AI conversations a month, 60% resolved, Suite Team comes to about $1,138 billed yearly.
Small online shops starting out, especially on Shopify.
Per plan and per AI conversation
$549+, as shown, yearly
Five people on the team and 60% of AI conversations resolved without a person, on each vendor’s cheapest plan that fits, in US dollars. The cost guide shows the arithmetic and lets you change the numbers.
+ THE OPTIONS
Strengths and limits.
Dazza is ours, so it’s first. Every other entry says plainly what it does better.
01
Dazza (ours)
OURS
Best for: Businesses of any size that want an AI customer service agent with unlimited seats and a fixed price per conversation.
How it charges: Per conversation: $49, $149 or $449 a month for 300, 1,500 or 6,000 conversations (£39, £119 or £349), with unlimited seats. Source: Dazza pricing.
Against Zendesk: no agent fees and no resolution fees. The same month is $124 instead of about $1,138.
Strengths
No seat fees and no per-resolution fees. A conversation counts once, however long it runs.
Your rules are checked in code: decisions, customer confirmation, team approval and verified customers before any workflow or tool runs.
Live from your web address in an afternoon, with saved tests and simulated customers comparing the draft with the live agent.
Limits
“Powered by Dazza” can’t be removed, and phone calls need your own Twilio account.
Every conversation Dazza replies to counts, resolved or handed over.
Newer than the rest: several agents per workspace are still being built.
Best for: Small online shops starting out, especially on Shopify.
How it charges: A plan from $0, plus Lyro from $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations, as shown with yearly billing. Source: Tidio pricing, Tidio Lyro AI Agent.
Against Zendesk: built for small shops, with a free plan, and Lyro imports Zendesk articles.
Strengths
A free plan, and Lyro’s first 50 conversations free.
Live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp on every plan.
Native Shopify actions on Growth.
Limits
No Lyro price shown above 50 conversations, and custom above 1,000.
Conversations with your team are metered separately from Lyro.
Up to 10 seats below Plus; branding removal is an add-on.
Four questions that decide most of the bill, and most of the fit.
01
Decide if you need the helpdesk
If you rely on Zendesk’s tickets, SLAs and reporting, keeping Zendesk may be simpler than moving. If you mainly need an AI agent and an inbox, an all-in-one costs less.
02
Count your seats
If many people work the inbox, per-seat pricing dominates. Dazza includes unlimited seats and Crisp includes them per workspace; Intercom, Zendesk and Freshdesk charge for each person.
03
Estimate your resolution rate
Per-resolution pricing costs more as the AI gets better. At 60% resolved, Fin works out at $0.59 per AI conversation and Zendesk at $0.90, before seats.
04
Read the limits
Look for minimums, one-time allowances, credits that run out, member caps and branding you can’t remove. The cost guide lists them.
For five people and 1,000 AI conversations a month, Crisp Hugo (about $120–$170, billed monthly) and Dazza ($124 billed yearly) cost least on published prices, against about $1,138 on Zendesk Suite Team.
Can I keep Zendesk and use another AI agent? +
Intercom’s Fin works inside Zendesk, at $0.99 an outcome with a 50-outcome monthly minimum. Dazza runs its own inbox, so it replaces Zendesk rather than sitting inside it.
Can Dazza import a Zendesk help centre? +
Yes, through Zendesk’s own public articles API, with new articles added on each check.
Do Zendesk’s included resolutions make it cheaper? +
Only at low AI volume. Suite Team includes 5 an agent a month, so five agents get 25. At 600 resolutions a month, 575 are billed at $1.50 or more.
+ SOURCES
Prices checked .
Every competitor price and feature on this page comes from the vendor’s own page. Prices change, so check before you buy, and tell us if something here is out of date. Contact us.