Zammad vs Zendesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zammad grades higher than Zendesk: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zammad grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Zendesk grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zammad
Open-source help desk, hosted in Germany or run on your own server
Zendesk
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams
Which one is for you
Pick Zammad if
- Fits if you want a help desk you can host yourself or rent hosted
- Works for a team that wants WhatsApp and Facebook channels on the top plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow: Starter stops at 5 agents and Professional at 35
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and AI features cost €0.03 per call on top
- Watch out: annual billing runs a full year and needs notice at least two months before it ends
- Watch out: self-hosting makes you responsible for updates, backups and uptime, and support subscriptions for it start at €2,999 a year
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
| 2.8GPAZammadGood | 2.4GPAZendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is €7 per agent a month billed annually, under the $11.40 mark, but it stops at 5 agents, and chat and SLAs need Professional at €16. Prices exclude VAT. | 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 | BThe open-source software is free to run yourself and the hosted service has a 30-day Professional trial. Self-hosting means updates, backups and uptime are yours. | 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, forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp, with macros, triggers, SLAs and a knowledge base across the plans. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in core ticketing. | 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 channels, triggers and roles need setting up. | 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 6 listed integrations including GitHub and GitLab links. 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 | an open-source help desk you can host or rent | 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: Zammad and Zendesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Zammad starts at about $7.82 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 $11.18 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 Zammad 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
- Zammad is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Zammad also covers shared inbox.
- Zendesk also covers reports, help center and AI support agent.
At a glance
| Zammad | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly) | $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | The open-source software is free to download and run on your own servers; you handle updates, backups and availability. | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the hosted service on the Professional plan | 14-day free trial of Suite Professional with the Copilot add-on |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Zammad GmbH | Zendesk, Inc. |
| Price read from | zammad.com | zendesk.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Zammad
- Prices are in euros and exclude value-added tax; hosted plans cap agents at 5 on Starter and 35 on Professional.
- Annual billing runs for a full year and needs notice at least two months before the term ends.
- AI features are optional and cost €0.03 per AI call on top of the plan price.
- Self-hosting makes you responsible for updates, backups and availability.
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
Zammad
- Multichannel tickets
- Email, web forms and SMS on every hosted plan, chat and Telegram from Professional, and Facebook and WhatsApp on Plus.
- Automation tools
- Text modules, macros, triggers, schedulers and business hours are in the Starter plan; SLAs and custom roles start at Professional.
- Knowledge base
- A monolingual knowledge base is included from Professional and a multilingual one from Plus.
- Hosted in Germany
- Hosted instances run in an ISO 27001-certified German data center with SSL encryption and two-factor authentication.
- Optional AI features
- Professional and Plus can switch on AI features such as ticket summaries, charged at €0.03 per AI call.
- Open source, self-hostable
- The full code is public under a GPL v3 licence, so a team can run it on its own servers.
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
Zammad
Starter v2€7
per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly)
Hosted. Up to 5 agents; email, web form and SMS channels, text modules, macros, triggers and 20 GB of disk space.
Professional v2€16
per agent / month, billed annually (€18 billed monthly)
Hosted. Up to 35 agents; adds chat and Telegram, SLAs, individual roles, a monolingual knowledge base and 50 GB of disk.
Plus v2€25
per agent / month, billed annually (€27 billed monthly)
Hosted. Unlimited agents; adds Facebook and WhatsApp, a multilingual knowledge base, GitHub/GitLab links and reporting.
Self-hosted€0
Download Zammad and host it yourself under its open-source licence, with no vendor support included.
Self-hosted support€2,999
per year (Business); Enterprise €5,999, Corporation €9,999
Support subscriptions for self-hosted installs, with response times of 6, 4 or 2 hours and 15, 45 or 95 service requests a year.
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
Zammad
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
The hosted pricing page offers a lower per-agent price on annual billing than on monthly billing, labeled as a 10% saving.
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, Zammad or Zendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zammad is cheaper to start with: about $7.82 a month for each person, against $19 a month for each person for Zendesk. Zammad starts at €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly), and Zendesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Zammad or Zendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zammad has a free plan. Zendesk does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Zammad 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.