Thena vs Zendesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zendesk grades higher than Thena: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Thena grades higher on value for money. Zendesk grades higher on the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zendesk
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams
Which one is for you
Pick Thena if
- Fits if your customers talk to you in Slack and you sell to other businesses
- Works for a team of up to 5 on Starter
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow: Starter has 5 seats and 1,000 tickets a month, and the home page says 10 seats
- Pricey if you want AI chat, as Standard is $79 a user
- Skip it if you need Microsoft Teams, which is listed under Enterprise at $119
- Watch out: the home page mentions a free plan with no card, but the pricing page lists none
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
| 1.8GPAThenaWeak | 2.4GPAZendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$29 per user a month billed annually is the category's middle ($29). Starter stops at 5 seats and 1,000 tickets, and AI web chat needs Standard at $79. | 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 | FThe pricing page lists no free plan or trial, though the home page mentions one with no card. | 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 | CSlack, Teams, email and web chat become tickets by account, with SLAs, a knowledge base and AI. The listing's gaps: AI web chat and the agent studio start on Standard, and Teams on Enterprise. | 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, and much of it lives in Slack or Teams with a separate login for the workspace. | 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 only, with 8 listed integrations and an API on Standard. No phone or desktop app on record. | 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 | B2B support in Slack, tracked by account | 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: Thena and Zendesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Thena starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.3 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, 16 score higher than Thena 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
- Thena also covers shared inbox.
- Zendesk also covers reports.
At a glance
| Thena | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per user / month, billed annually | $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of Suite Professional with the Copilot add-on |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Thena | Zendesk, Inc. |
| Price read from | thena.ai | zendesk.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Thena
- Starter is limited to 5 user seats and 1,000 tickets a month; the homepage lists 10 seats, so the vendor's two pages disagree.
- The homepage mentions "no credit card for free plan" but the pricing page lists no free plan or trial.
- AI web chat and AI agent studio need Standard at $79, and Microsoft Teams needs Enterprise at $119.
- Much of the product lives inside Slack, Microsoft Teams and email, with a separate login for the Thena workspace.
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
Thena
- Slack-native ticketing
- Tickets are detected and managed in Slack with account context. Email, web chat and Microsoft Teams messages also become tickets.
- Account-based tracking
- Tickets, tasks, notes and views are organized by customer company or account, with team boards, groups and routing.
- AI agents
- AI agents answer customers, apply fields, create tickets and escalate. Auto-responses start on Standard and custom deployments on Enterprise.
- SLAs and CSAT
- Service-level policies, auto-responders, internal threads and customer satisfaction collection are part of the ticketing platform.
- Broadcasts and knowledge base
- Product updates can go to Slack, Teams and email audiences, and help center articles support live collaboration.
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
Thena
Starter$29
per user / month, billed annually
Up to 5 user seats and 1,000 tickets a month, with Slack and email channels and AI ticket detection, summaries and tagging.
Standard$79
per user / month, billed annually
Adds AI web chat, AI agent studio, AI auto-responses and co-pilot, AI workflows, MCP and APIs.
Enterprise$119
per user / month, billed annually
Adds custom AI agent deployments, Microsoft Teams, Enterprise APIs, unlimited MCP and enterprise security features.
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
Thena
No public discounts listed.
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, Thena or Zendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zendesk is cheaper to start with: $19 a month for each person, against $29 a month for each person for Thena. Thena starts at $29 per user / month, billed annually, and Zendesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Thena or Zendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Thena nor Zendesk has a free plan. Zendesk has a free trial.
Which platforms do Thena and Zendesk run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zendesk lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.