Gleap vs Zendesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gleap and Zendesk share a 2.4 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about value for money, where Gleap grades higher, or ease of use, where Zendesk does.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Gleap
AI-led support inbox with live chat and in-app bug reporting
Zendesk
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams
Which one is for you
Pick Gleap if
- Fits if you ship an app and want bug reports and support in one place
- Works for small product teams with 1 to 4 seats
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you use the AI, since it is billed from a separate balance, about $0.05 a conversation, on top of the plan
- Tight if you are on Hobby, because it is 1 seat and 1 project with Gleap branding
- Watch out: integrations such as Jira, Linear and GitHub start at Growth
- Skip it if you want voice cheaply, as it is $0.075 a minute in the widget and $0.20 by phone
Pick Zendesk if
- Fits if your team answers email, chat and phone and wants one queue for all of it
- Works for funded startups, which can get Suite Professional free for 6 months
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need live chat or a help center, as both start at $55 an agent billed yearly
- Too light for chat-first teams on the $19 plan, which covers email tickets only
- Skip it if you need a fixed bill, since AI resolutions past the allowance cost $1.50 to $2 each
- Watch out: Copilot is a $50 an agent add-on, and phone numbers and call minutes are billed on top
- Watch out: the listing doesn't say whether the trial needs a card, and Suite Enterprise is sold only through sales
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAGleapFair | 2.4GPAZendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$29 a month for 1 seat billed yearly, $99 for 4. Growth works out near $25 a seat before AI usage. | DSupport Team is $19 an agent billed yearly, a little under this category's middle, but it's email tickets only. Chat, phone and a help center start on Suite Team at $55 an agent, above the dearest tenth of help desks, and extra AI resolutions are $1.50 to $2 each. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day trial with no card. No free plan. | CA 14-day free trial of Suite Professional with Copilot, which shows you the top of the range. There's no free plan, and the listing doesn't say whether the trial needs a card. Funded startups can get 6 months free. |
| Features | BShared inbox, live chat, AI agents, bug reporting, help center, surveys and voice. The listing shows no gap in the core support job. | BTicketing across email, chat, social and phone, AI agents on every plan, help centers in 40+ languages with forums, voice numbers in 75+ countries, an IVR and reports you ask for in plain words. The whole job is covered. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You install an SDK, connect channels and set up the AI. | B4.5 from 4,219 App Store ratings for the agent app. Prebuilt dashboards and pre-written replies come on every plan, but routing, triggers and automations take setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android, with Jira, Linear, GitHub, Slack, HubSpot and WhatsApp. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, X, Slack, WeChat and LINE as channels, and an API. No desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | AI support inbox with in-app bug reporting | support teams handling email, chat and phone |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Gleap and Zendesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gleap starts at $29 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zendesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
Zendesk scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Gleap for less, and 1 scores higher than Zendesk for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Gleap also covers shared inbox, surveys and session replay.
- Zendesk also covers reports.
At a glance
| Gleap | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month for 1 seat, billed yearly ($35 billed monthly) | $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on every plan, no credit card needed | 14-day free trial of Suite Professional with the Copilot add-on |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Gleap GmbH | Zendesk, Inc. |
| Price read from | gleap.ai | zendesk.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Gleap
- AI is paid from a separate balance, about $0.05 per conversation by Gleap's estimate, on top of the plan price.
- Hobby is limited to 1 seat and 1 project and shows a Powered by Gleap badge.
- Voice calls cost $0.075 a minute in the widget and $0.20 a minute by phone; extra phone numbers are $5 a month.
- Native integrations such as Jira, Linear, GitHub and HubSpot start at Growth.
Zendesk
- Support Team covers email ticketing only; live chat, voice and a help center start at Suite Team, $55 per agent / month billed annually.
- AI resolutions beyond the included allowance cost $1.50 each on a committed volume or $2.00 each pay-as-you-go.
- Copilot, which adds Auto Assist and suggested first replies, is an add-on at $50 per agent / month billed annually.
- Phone numbers and call minutes are billed as add-ons, and Suite Enterprise is sold only through the sales team.
Key features
Gleap
- Kai AI agents
- Kai Support answers customer conversations from your knowledge, Kai Copilot drafts replies for the team, and Kai Code opens pull requests from bug reports.
- Shared inbox and live chat
- Live chat, support email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Slack and Telegram land in one inbox, with no ticket limit on any plan.
- In-app bug reporting
- Customers report bugs from an app or site with a screenshot, console logs and custom data; session replay is part of the product.
- Help center
- A public knowledge base with articles and collections, which Kai can also learn from together with crawled website pages.
- Surveys, tours and roadmap
- In-app surveys, product tours, checklists, a public feature roadmap and changelogs sit in the same workspace.
- Kai Voice
- Kai answers phone calls and widget voice calls, and teammates take calls from the inbox; calls are billed per minute.
Zendesk
- Ticketing across channels
- Email, messaging, phone and social conversations land in one ticket queue, with routing, pre-written responses, triggers and automations.
- AI agents billed per resolution
- AI agents answer email on every plan and chat wherever messaging is on. Each agent seat includes 5 automated resolutions a month (10 on Suite Professional).
- Messaging and live chat
- Suite plans add chat for websites and apps plus WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, X, Slack, WeChat and LINE as channels.
- Help center
- Suite Team includes one help center in one language. Suite Professional allows up to 5 help centers in 40+ languages, plus community forums.
- Voice
- Phone support in the browser with toll-free or local numbers from 75+ countries. Suite Professional adds an IVR phone tree.
- Reporting
- Prebuilt analytics dashboards on every plan. Suite Professional adds Quick Reports, which builds reports from questions typed in plain language.
Plans
Gleap
Hobby$29
per month for 1 seat, billed yearly ($35 billed monthly)
1 seat and 1 project with live chat, shared inbox, in-app bug reporting and Kai; shows Gleap branding.
Growth$99
per month for 4 seats, billed yearly ($119 billed monthly)
4 seats, unlimited projects, every channel, help center, surveys. Extra seats $25 monthly or $21 a month yearly.
Pro$299
per month, unlimited seats, billed yearly ($359 billed monthly)
Unlimited seats, LLM model choice, advanced reports, custom roles, SLA policies, SOC 2 report, first phone number.
Enterprise$999
per month and up, billed yearly ($1,199 billed monthly)
Adds single sign-on, invoice billing, bring-your-own-model and a success manager; AI priced by agreement.
Zendesk
Support Team$19
per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
Email ticketing with routing, prebuilt dashboards, pre-written replies and automations. No help center, live chat or phone.
Suite Team$55
per agent / month, billed annually ($69 billed monthly)
Adds messaging and live chat, telephony, omnichannel routing, a knowledge base and Action Builder, with one help center in one language.
Suite Professional$115
per agent / month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)
Adds skills-based routing, an IVR phone tree, AI writing tools, Quick Reports and App Builder, and up to 5 help centers in 40+ languages.
Suite Enterprise + CopilotCustom
Adds intelligent triage, Auto Assist, generative AI for voice, approval workflows, a sandbox and custom agent roles. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Gleap
- Startups
$1,200 in AI credits for early-stage startups
Gleap lists $1,200 in AI credits on the Growth or Pro plan for early-stage startups that pass an eligibility check.
- Annual discount
Two months free with yearly billing
Yearly billing is shown as two months free compared with paying monthly, for example $29 instead of $35 a month on Hobby.
Zendesk
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
Zendesk's pricing page marks annual billing as 20% off: Suite Team is $55 per agent a month billed yearly against $69 billed monthly.
- Startups
Startups: 6 months free, up to 2 years via partners
Funded startups up to Series B and under 10 years old get Suite Professional and Copilot free for 6 months, or 1 to 2 years through VC partners, for up to 50 agents.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Gleap or Zendesk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gleap starts at $29 per month for 1 seat, billed yearly ($35 billed monthly), and Zendesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Gleap or Zendesk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Gleap nor Zendesk has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.