Is Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations better?

Neither clearly leads. Heap starts at Free and Zendesk Sunshine Conversations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations?

Heap has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Heap and On request for Zendesk Sunshine Conversations.

Does Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Heap for free?

Yes. Heap has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zendesk Sunshine Conversations starts at On request.

What is Heap best used for?

Heap is most often used for user behavior analysis, conversion optimization, product adoption, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and conversion optimization are not what Zendesk Sunshine Conversations is typically brought in for.

What can Heap do that Zendesk Sunshine Conversations cannot?

Heap covers Autocapture, Retroactive analytics, Session replay, Funnel analysis. Zendesk Sunshine Conversations covers Live chat, SMS messaging, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp integration. Both handle Salesforce.

SaaS · head to head

Heap vs Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Heap

SaaS

Product analytics for the modern product team

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Live Chat & Chatbots

Omnichannel messaging and customer engagement platform

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Heap has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Heap no built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation; Zendesk Sunshine Conversations cannot be purchased standalone; requires expensive Zendesk Suite Professional or higher plans
They diverge on capability: Heap covers Autocapture, Zendesk Sunshine Conversations covers Live chat.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Heap and Zendesk Sunshine Conversations actually diverge.

Attributes where Heap and Zendesk Sunshine Conversations differ
Attribute	Heap	Zendesk Sunshine Conversations
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Category	SaaS	Live Chat & Chatbots
Founded	2013	2015

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Heap

Autocapture
Retroactive analytics
Session replay
Funnel analysis
User segmentation
Path analysis
Data science
Virtual events

Only in Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Live chat
SMS messaging
Facebook Messenger
WhatsApp integration
Zendesk Support
Slack
API
Web support

Both cover

Salesforce

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Heap

User behavior analysisnot Zendesk Sunshine Conversations
Conversion optimizationnot Zendesk Sunshine Conversations
Product adoptionnot Zendesk Sunshine Conversations
Customer journey mappingnot Zendesk Sunshine Conversations
A/B testing analysisnot Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Customer engagementnot Heap
Lead generationnot Heap
Customer supportnot Heap
Sales automationnot Heap

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Heap

No built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation
Group analytics and advanced features require a sales conversation, not self-serve
Cloud-only deployment; no self-hosted option for data security or compliance requirements
Session replay lacks developer debugging tools compared to PostHog
Pricing for Growth and Pro plans requires direct sales contact; no transparency on how pricing scales

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Cannot be purchased standalone; requires expensive Zendesk Suite Professional or higher plans
Low included monthly active users (1,000 MAU) and notifications (1,000) necessitate paid add-ons for most businesses
Custom implementations require developer resources for webhooks and API configuration

Pricing, plan by plan

Heap

Free

FreeFree
- Up to 10,000 monthly sessions
- Basic charts
- 6 months data history
Growth$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Sense AI assistant
- 12 months data history
Pro$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Account analytics
- Engagement matrix
Premier$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Data warehouse integration
- Unlimited projects

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

On request

Team$19/month
- Chat + messaging
- Basic features
- Limited agents
Growth$49/month
- Omnichannel
- Advanced automation
- Routing
Professional$99/month
- All features
- Custom workflows
- Premium support

Which should you pick?

Choose Heap if

You need autocapture.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want retroactive analytics.

Heap review

Choose Zendesk Sunshine Conversations if

You need live chat.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want sms messaging.

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations review

Questions people ask

Is Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations better?: Neither clearly leads. Heap starts at Free and Zendesk Sunshine Conversations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations?: Heap has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Heap and On request for Zendesk Sunshine Conversations.
Does Heap or Zendesk Sunshine Conversations run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Heap for free?: Yes. Heap has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zendesk Sunshine Conversations starts at On request.
What is Heap best used for?: Heap is most often used for user behavior analysis, conversion optimization, product adoption, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and conversion optimization are not what Zendesk Sunshine Conversations is typically brought in for.
What can Heap do that Zendesk Sunshine Conversations cannot?: Heap covers Autocapture, Retroactive analytics, Session replay, Funnel analysis. Zendesk Sunshine Conversations covers Live chat, SMS messaging, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp integration. Both handle Salesforce.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Heap: What does Heap's autocapture feature do?

Heap's autocapture is a single code snippet that automatically captures every click, swipe, tap, pageview, and form fill on your website and apps without requiring manual event setup. Once installed, Heap captures the entire digital experience of every user on every platform with no ongoing engineering maintenance needed.

Source

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations: Can I buy Zendesk Sunshine Conversations standalone?

No. Sunshine Conversations is only available with Zendesk Suite Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus plans. It cannot be purchased as a standalone product.

Source

Heap: What are Heap's pricing plans and how much do they cost?

Heap offers a Free plan for up to 10,000 monthly sessions. Growth, Pro, and Premier plans use custom session-based pricing that requires contacting sales for a quote. Free includes basic charts and 6 months data history. Growth adds the Sense AI assistant. Pro adds account analytics. Premier adds data warehouse integration and dedicated customer success management.

Source

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations: What messaging channels does Sunshine Conversations support?

Sunshine Conversations connects 15+ messaging channels including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, and provides a Web Widget for on-site chat.

Source

Heap: Does Heap include session replay and A/B testing?

Heap includes integrated session replay showing exactly what users did on your site. However, Heap does not include built-in A/B testing or feature flags. Teams requiring these capabilities must use separate tools or integrate with third-party platforms.

Source

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations: What are the usage limits on Zendesk Sunshine Conversations?

The base includes 1,000 Monthly Active Users and 1,000 notifications per month. Additional usage requires $50 add-ons for each 2,500 MAU pack or $50 for each 25,000 notification pack.

Source

Heap: What integrations does Heap support?

Heap supports over 100 integrations connecting to business tools including marketing platforms, CRMs, and data warehouses. This allows insights to reach relevant teams and ensures data flows to other business systems automatically.

Source

Heap: Does Heap offer self-hosting or is it cloud-only?

Heap is cloud-only and does not offer self-hosted options. Organizations requiring on-premises deployment should consider alternatives like PostHog which supports self-hosting alongside its cloud product.

Source

Heap: What is Sense and how does it help with analytics?

Sense Chat is Heap's AI assistant that enables users to access analytics without extensive technical knowledge. It allows teams to ask questions about user behavior and get answers directly without lengthy onboarding or technical expertise, making insights more accessible to non-technical stakeholders.

Source

Heap vs Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Heap

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Heap

Only in Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Both cover

What people use each for

Heap

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Where each one falls short

Heap

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Pricing, plan by plan

Heap

Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Which should you pick?

Choose Heap if

Choose Zendesk Sunshine Conversations if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Heap

More on Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Keep looking

Other head to heads