Zendesk's live chat starts at Suite Team, US$69 per agent a month billed monthly, because the cheaper Support Team plan does not include messaging. There is no free plan, AI agents are billed per automated resolution, and EU hosting and branding removal sit on higher plans.
The alternatives below cost less per seat, price the whole workspace at once, or include EU hosting on lower plans, each listed for a reason documented by that vendor. The worked examples further down show list-price costs for teams of 2, 5 and 10. For the head-to-head, see Intercom vs Zendesk; for the background, the Zendesk review.
Why teams look beyond Zendesk
- Live chat needs a Suite plan. Support Team at US$25 lacks messaging, so chat starts at US$69 per agent a month billed monthly.
- No free plan. Zendesk offers a 14-day trial; the free Chat Lite plan is legacy and standalone Chat is not sold to new customers.
- AI resolutions cost more past the allowance. After 5 free resolutions per agent a month on Suite Team, each automated resolution costs US$1.50 on a commitment or US$2 pay-as-you-go.
- Branding removal is quote-only. Zendesk reserves it for Suite Enterprise.
- EU hosting sits on higher plans. An EU region is available on Suite Professional and above, not on Suite Team or Suite Growth.
The alternatives, ranked
Freshchat
Teams wanting many agents on a free plan8.1- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Freshchat is Freshworks' live chat and messaging product, with a Free plan for up to 10 agents and paid plans billed per agent from US$19 a month on annual billing. Its Freddy AI Agent is sold in packs of 100 sessions for US$49, available from the entry paid plan. It suits small and mid-sized teams that want several people on chat for free and may later move up to Freshworks' helpdesk.
The catch: Freddy AI Agent is billed per 24-hour session whether or not the question gets resolved, and rule-based bot flows and builder previews draw from the same session pool.
HubSpot Live Chat
Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM7.7- Paid plans from
- US$20 per seat per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- Yes — Free tools
- EU data hosting
- Yes
HubSpot Live Chat is the chat widget and shared inbox that come with HubSpot's free CRM, for up to 2 users at no charge. Removing the HubSpot branding, routing chats and adding the AI customer agent all require paid Service Hub seats, billed per seat, with the agent's resolutions billed in HubSpot Credits on top. It suits small teams that already use, or plan to use, HubSpot as their CRM.
The catch: The widget keeps HubSpot's branding until you buy a paid seat, and HubSpot's own pages list three different Starter prices: US$7, US$10 and US$20 a seat a month.
Crisp
Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting7.2- Paid plans from
- US$45 per workspace per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Per workspace
- Free plan
- Yes — Free
- EU data hosting
- Yes
Crisp is a French customer support suite (shared inbox, chat widget, CRM, knowledge base) that charges a flat monthly price per workspace with a fixed number of seats and no conversation cap. Paid plans run from Mini at US$45 a month for 4 seats to Plus at US$295 for 20, and the Hugo AI agent is metered through included USD credits. Crisp suits small and growing teams that want a predictable bill, many channels and data held in the EU.
The catch: The Crisp watermark stays on every plan below Plus at US$295 a month, and the Free plan has no full conversation history and caps you at 100 customer profiles.
Chatwoot
Technical teams willing to self-host, or US-based teams6.7- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed monthly
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- Free plan
- Yes — Hacker
- EU data hosting
- No
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support inbox from Chatwoot Inc. in San Francisco, sold as a US-hosted cloud service billed per agent and as a free, MIT-licensed Community Edition you run on your own servers. The cloud plans cover website chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS, Telegram and, on Business and Enterprise, voice. Its Captain AI is metered in credits, with 1 credit per AI message or action.
The catch: Chatwoot Cloud is hosted only on AWS in the United States, so keeping data in the EU means self-hosting and maintaining the software yourself.
LiveChat
Established teams with budget per agent5.5- Paid plans from
- US$19 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- Free plan
- No free plan · 14-day trial
- EU data hosting
- Yes
LiveChat is a paid live chat and messaging platform from Text, a Polish company, billed per agent account from US$19 a month on annual billing or US$25 billed monthly. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and the autonomous AI Agent is sold in Text and ChatBot.com plans rather than in classic LiveChat plans. LiveChat suits established sales and support teams that want wide channel coverage and can afford a price that rises with every seat.
The catch: LiveChat has no free plan and Starter holds a single user, so any team of two or more pays the Team rate of US$59 per person a month billed monthly, or US$49 billed annually.
Intercom
Support teams building around an AI agent5.4- Paid plans from
- US$29 per seat per month, billed annually
- Pricing model
- Seats plus AI usage
- Free plan
- No free plan · 14-day trial
- EU data hosting
- On some paid plans
Intercom is a customer service helpdesk whose live chat widget, the Messenger, comes with every plan, sold per full seat from US$29 a month on annual billing and US$39 on monthly billing. Its Fin AI Agent is available on all plans and billed separately at US$0.99 per outcome. The company behind it renamed itself Fin in May 2026 and has been owned by Salesforce since September 10, 2026; Intercom suits teams that want a full helpdesk with an AI agent built in and can pay per seat for it.
The catch: Intercom has no free plan and no included Fin allowance on standard plans, so the bill is seats at up to US$39 each plus US$0.99 for every Fin outcome, including customers who simply leave after Fin's answer.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Paid plans from | Free plan | AI chatbot | EU data hosting | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | 5.3 | Seats plus AI usage | US$55 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | Zendesk AI agents — billed per resolution | On some paid plans | Multichannel support teams wanting one helpdesk |
| Freshchat | 8.1 | Seats plus AI usage | US$19 per seat per month, billed annually | Yes — Free | Freddy AI Agent — billed per session | Yes | Teams wanting many agents on a free plan |
| HubSpot Live Chat | 7.7 | Seats plus AI usage | US$20 per seat per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free tools | Customer agent — billed per resolution | Yes | Two-person teams already on HubSpot CRM |
| Crisp | 7.2 | Per workspace | US$45 per workspace per month, billed monthly | Yes — Free | Hugo — billed per credit | Yes | Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting |
| Chatwoot | 6.7 | Per seat | US$19 per seat per month, billed monthly | Yes — Hacker | Captain AI — billed per credit | No | Technical teams willing to self-host, or US-based teams |
| LiveChat | 5.5 | Per seat | US$19 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | AI Agent (sold in Text and ChatBot.com plans) — billed per resolution | Yes | Established teams with budget per agent |
| Intercom | 5.4 | Seats plus AI usage | US$29 per seat per month, billed annually | No free plan · 14-day trial | Fin AI Agent — billed per resolution | On some paid plans | Support teams building around an AI agent |
What it costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats
| Product | 2 seats · 100 conversations a month | 5 seats · 500 conversations a month | 10 seats · 2,000 conversations a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | US$138 a month (Suite Team) | US$345 a month (Suite Team) | US$690 a month (Suite Team) |
| Freshchat | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$46 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$115 a month (Growth) | Free (Free) if the undocumented conversations limit allows; otherwise US$230 a month (Growth) |
| HubSpot Live Chat | Free (Free tools) | US$100 a month (Service Hub Starter) | US$200 a month (Service Hub Starter) |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | US$95 a month (Essentials) | US$95 a month (Essentials) |
| Chatwoot | Free (Hacker) | US$95 a month (Startups) | US$190 a month (Startups) |
| LiveChat | US$118 a month (Team) | US$295 a month (Team) | US$590 a month (Team) |
| Intercom | US$78 a month (Essential) | US$195 a month (Essential) | US$390 a month (Essential) |
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Zendesk for live chat?
At list prices for a team of five, Crisp Essentials at US$95 a month and the per-seat plans of Chatwoot (US$19) and HubSpot Live Chat (US$20) all cost less than Zendesk Suite Team at US$69 per agent. The free-plan audit checks your own team size.
Which Zendesk alternative has EU hosting on its entry plan?
Crisp states EU hosting on every plan, LiveChat and Freshchat let you choose the region at sign-up, and HubSpot Live Chat lets any paid account choose its EU region. See EU-hosted live chat.
Is Intercom a good alternative to Zendesk?
Intercom is the closest match in features and billing model, and its published seat and AI prices are lower. Zendesk still offers EU hosting without a sales contract and includes free AI resolutions per agent. The full breakdown is in Intercom vs Zendesk.
Related pages
- Zendesk reviewreview
- Zendesk pricing explainedpricing
- Best live chat software in 2026best list
Sources
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- WordPress plugin — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
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- Messaging vs live chat: which is right for you? — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
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- Zendesk Copilot — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk for Startups — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Hello Sugar customer story — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk completes acquisition of Forethought — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Consortium led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira completes acquisition of Zendesk — Permira · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk press — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk on the Vendr marketplace — Vendr · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshchat pricing — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freddy AI Agent and chatbot sessions FAQs — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Understanding Freddy AI features and pricing — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- How can I remove the Freshworks branding from the widget? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Provide multilingual support to your customers — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Where are your data servers located? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks sub-processors — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks Trust Center — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- What is Freshchat? — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshchat live chat software — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshchat developer documentation — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Freshworks announces winners of the 2026 Global Customer Awards — Freshworks · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub pricing — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub Preise (hubspot.de) — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot Product & Services Catalog — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub pricing (HubSpot blog) — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Service Hub product page — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot live chat — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- AI customer service agent — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Understand the customer agent — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot cloud infrastructure and data hosting FAQ — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- HubSpot security — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Create and customize a mobile chatflow — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Our story — HubSpot · 18 September 2026
- Crisp pricing — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Getting started with the Free plan — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Hugo pricing and billing explained — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- How to increase my limits and quotas — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp EU GDPR compliance status — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp compliance status with SOC 2 — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp compliance with ISO 27001 — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp sub-processors — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- What languages are supported by Crisp — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Chatbox SDKs — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- About Crisp — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp live chat — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Crisp AI Core Update (Hugo launch, AI replies become paid) — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Summer 2026 Crisp product update — Crisp · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot Cloud pricing — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot self-hosted plans — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- How AI credits work in Captain — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Captain AI credits and billing — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Fair use policy — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot security — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot home page — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot for enterprise — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
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- Chatwoot handbook: company — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- Chatwoot LICENSE — Chatwoot · 18 September 2026
- WooCommerce integration — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat pricing — Text · 18 September 2026
- Text pricing (plans with the AI Agent) — Text · 18 September 2026
- ChatBot.com pricing — Text · 18 September 2026
- Pay-per-agent pricing model — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat subscription policy — Text · 18 September 2026
- Data storage policy — Text · 18 September 2026
- Data Processing Addendum — Text · 18 September 2026
- List of sub-processors — Text · 18 September 2026
- How to change the chat widget language — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat Marketplace — Text · 18 September 2026
- LiveChat features — Text · 18 September 2026
- Shopify integration — Fin (Intercom) · 18 September 2026
- WordPress plugin — Fin (Intercom) · 18 September 2026
- Intercom pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin AI Agent outcomes — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Your workspace settings — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Early Stage program — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Usage-based channels — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Regional data hosting — Fin · 18 September 2026
- How data is hosted and processed in Intercom — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom security — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Localize the Messenger to work with multiple languages — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Use Intercom in your preferred language — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Omnichannel helpdesk — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom live chat — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Installing Intercom — Fin · 18 September 2026
- About Fin — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Today, Intercom becomes Fin — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce completes acquisition of Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Lightspeed customer story — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom on the Vendr marketplace — Vendr · 18 September 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not installed or tested these products ourselves. Method: How we review