Live Chat & Chatbots · alternatives
Alternatives to Zendesk Chat
20 live chat & chatbots tools sit alongside Zendesk Chat in this directory. Below is what separates each from Zendesk Chat on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 9
- Cheaper to start
- 7
- Zendesk Chat starts at
- $49/month
Why people look past Zendesk Chat
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Zendesk Chat entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Zendesk Chat starts at $49/month. Across the 6 live chat & chatbots tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $24.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Zendesk Chat carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 9 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Modern messaging for customer engagement
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
- Starts $49 a month cheaper, at Free.
- 4 tiers to Zendesk Chat's 3.
Open-source chatbot platform and framework
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
- Sold on a open-source model rather than subscription.
All-in-one communication platform for customer engagement
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 4 tiers to Zendesk Chat's 3.
Conversational AI platform powered by machine learning
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
Google's conversational AI platform
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
- Sold on a usage-based model rather than subscription.
IBM's enterprise AI platform for conversational experiences
- Can be used without paying; Zendesk Chat cannot.
Every Zendesk Chat alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk Chat (this page) | $49/month | Subscription | 3 | |
| Freshchat | Free | Subscription | 4 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Botpress | Free | Open-source | - | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Jivochat | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Ada | Free | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Google Dialogflow | Free | Usage-based | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| IBM Watson Assistant | Free | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Crisp | Free | Freemium | - | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Chatra | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| HubSpot Live Chat | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Kore.ai | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Gorgias | $10/month | Usage-based | 4 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Conversica | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| LiveChat | $20/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Capacity | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Haptik | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Comm100 | $29/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Kayako | $30/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Bold360 | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Acquire | $50/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Zendesk Chat |
| Amazon Lex | $0.00075/per text request | Usage-based | - | vs Zendesk Chat |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Zendesk Chat badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (9)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Freshchat , Free
- Botpress , Free
- Jivochat , Free
- Ada , Free
- Google Dialogflow , Free
- IBM Watson Assistant , Free
- Crisp , Free
- Chatra , Free
Cheaper than Zendesk Chat (7)
Entry price under Zendesk Chat's $49/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
What you would be giving up
Zendesk Chat is most often brought in for support teams wanting live chat bundled with ticketing rather than a standalone chat widget. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Zendesk Chat is broadly right and the question is cost, the Zendesk Chat pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Live Chat & Chatbots category lists everything the directory holds, and best live chat & chatbots tools ranks them.
Zendesk Chat runs on web, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Zendesk Chat alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Zendesk Chat?
- 20 other live chat & chatbots tools are listed in this directory, led by Freshchat, Botpress, Jivochat, Ada. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Zendesk Chat?
- 9 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Freshchat, Botpress, Jivochat, Ada, Google Dialogflow.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Zendesk Chat?
- Yes. 7 of the alternatives below start under Zendesk Chat's $49/month: Freshchat at Free, Crisp at Free, Gorgias at $10/month, LiveChat at $20/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Zendesk Chat?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Zendesk Chat?
- Zendesk Chat is most often brought in for support teams wanting live chat bundled with ticketing rather than a standalone chat widget. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Zendesk Chat?
- Botpress is recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Zendesk Chat alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Live Chat & Chatbots, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored slot runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Zendesk Chat against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Zendesk Chat covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every live chat & chatbots tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Live Chat & Chatbots category, 20 tools beside Zendesk Chat. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.