LiveAgent vs Zendesk
We give LiveAgent a 2.6 GPA and Zendesk a 2.4, out of 4.0. LiveAgent grades higher on value for money. Zendesk grades higher on ease of use. 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.
LiveAgent
Help desk with email tickets, live chat, call center and AI agents
Zendesk
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams
How we grade them
| 2.6GPALiveAgentGood | 2.4GPAZendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BSmall business is $15 an agent a month billed yearly ($19 monthly), inside the cheaper quarter of help desks, and it already has email tickets, live chat, a knowledge base, a customer portal and AI agents. The call center is on Medium at $29. | 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 30-day free trial with no card needed, which is one of the longer ones here. There's no free plan, so after the month you pay or leave. | 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 | BEmail tickets, live chat, a call center with IVR, AI agents, a knowledge base, customer portal and forum, and Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp in the same queue. That covers the whole 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. There's a lot in one product, email accounts, chat buttons, phone queues and automation rules, so expect a learning curve before it all runs. | 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, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Zapier, WordPress, Stripe, BigCommerce and Asana, plus WhatsApp and Telegram as channels and an API. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. | 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 | email, chat and phone support on a budget | 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: LiveAgent and Zendesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
LiveAgent starts at $15 a month for each person 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 $4 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than LiveAgent 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
- LiveAgent starts at $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly). Zendesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
At a glance
| LiveAgent | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of Suite Professional with the Copilot add-on |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Quality Unit, LLC | Zendesk, Inc. |
| Price read from | liveagent.com | zendesk.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
LiveAgent
- Teams that answer email, chat and phone from one help desk
- Small support teams wanting a low per-agent price
- Businesses that want a long trial before paying
Zendesk
- Support teams handling email, chat and phone in one queue
- Companies that want a public help center tied to their tickets
- Teams planning to hand routine questions to AI agents
Worth knowing
LiveAgent
- On Small and Medium, Facebook, X, Viber and WhatsApp cost $39 a month each, and Instagram adds $19 on top of Facebook; they are included from Large.
- The call center, reports and SLAs need Medium or above.
- Small is limited to 3 email accounts, 2 chat buttons and 20 canned messages.
- Time tracking is a $19 a month add-on below Large, and each extra knowledge base costs $19 a month.
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
LiveAgent
- Email ticketing
- Support emails become tickets with collision detection, merging, splitting, tags, custom fields and canned replies.
- Live chat
- A chat button for websites with a real-time visitor monitor and satisfaction surveys. Proactive chat invitations start on Medium.
- Call center
- From Medium up: call queues, IVR, call routing and transfers, and call recording inside the help desk.
- AI agents
- An AI chatbot that hands chats to a person, an answer assistant for agents, and AI that replies to, sorts and summarizes tickets.
- Self-service
- A knowledge base, customer portals and a customer forum on every plan. Extra knowledge bases cost $19 a month each.
- Social and messaging channels
- Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp messages land in the ticket queue. WhatsApp works through Twilio or 360dialog.
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
LiveAgent
Small business$15
per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Email ticketing, live chat, a knowledge base, customer portal, contact forms, automation rules and AI agents. 3 email accounts and 2 chat buttons.
Medium business$29
per agent / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Adds a call center with IVR, AI agent setup, reports, proactive chat invitations, SLAs, SSO and custom roles. 10 email accounts.
Large business$49
per agent / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Adds time tracking and an audit log, and includes Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp without add-on fees.
Enterprise$69
per agent / month, billed annually ($85 billed monthly)
Near-unlimited limits, a dedicated account manager, priority support, no LiveAgent branding and custom billing. Sold after a demo call.
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
LiveAgent
- Annual discount
About 21% off with annual billing
LiveAgent lists Small at $15 per agent a month billed annually against $19 billed monthly, with lower annual rates on every plan.
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.
