The Zendesk alternative without per-agent pricing
Zendesk is extensive helpdesk ticketing and charges per agent. SilentChat puts live chat and the AI chatbot first, includes tickets and costs a fixed monthly price. From €19/month.
Zendesk is established in large support organisations: omnichannel with telephony, a large marketplace with more than 1,800 apps and integrations, AI agents from Suite Team. We compare what both vendors publish — date and sources at the end. We make SilentChat.
The differences are the pricing model (per agent versus a fixed plan), scope (Zendesk is much broader) and hosting (EU data location at Zendesk via an add-on).
SilentChat vs. Zendesk at a glance
As of 21 September 2026. Prices exclude VAT, as the vendors display them to visitors from Germany.
A fixed price instead of per-agent pricing
A team of 5 agents pays 5 × €55 = €275 per month on Zendesk Suite Team (billed annually), and €49 per month on SilentChat Growth — with 300 AI conversations. Zendesk offers considerably more channels and features in return; whether you need them decides the comparison.
Agents in the plan
3, 5 or 15 agents with no per-seat price.
AI in the plan
A fixed number of AI conversations per month.
Tickets included
From Starter, with SLAs and priorities.
Chat and AI first
SilentChat is built around the conversation: live chat and an AI chatbot answering from your knowledge base come first; tickets catch what isn't solved right away. Application at Hetzner in Germany, AI at IONOS in Germany — chat data never goes to a US provider. A data processing agreement on every plan, concluded online during setup. Data export and deletion, encrypted backups with a German provider, support in German.
Switching is easy
Up and running in four steps: 1. Embed the widget via a <script> tag (under 70 KB). 2. Set up your knowledge base or let SilentChat read your website (from Growth) — the AI answers from it. 3. Invite your team and assign roles (departments from Growth). 4. Go live.
A setup assistant guides you through the steps. Free trial, no credit card.
Pricing
Fixed monthly prices per plan, AI conversations included — no billing per seat or per AI answer. Save 20% with annual billing. All prices exclude VAT; plus a free plan that stays free.
| Starter | Growth | Professional | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price/month | €19 | €49 | €129 | from €349 |
| Price/year (−20%) | €182 | €470 | €1,238 | from €3,350 |
| Agents | 3 | 5 | 15 | unlimited |
| Chats/month | 300 | 1,000 | 10,000 | unlimited |
| AI chatbot | 50/month | 300/month | 1,000/month | 3,000/month |
| AI copilot | — | — | 2,000/month | 5,000/month |
| White-label / custom domain | — | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| SAML SSO | — | — | — | ✅ |
To be fair: when is Zendesk the right choice?
Zendesk fits if you run a large support organisation with telephony and many channels, rely on the marketplace with more than 1,800 apps, look after several brands, or want the EU data location from Suite Professional.
SilentChat fits if website chat and email are your main channels, you want predictable cost without per-agent pricing, and both the application and AI should run in Germany.
Frequently asked questions
Because the plan includes a fixed number of agents and AI conversations instead of charging per agent. More agents than the plan limit require the next plan.
Yes — tickets are available from Starter, with SLAs and priorities; custom fields and surveys from Growth. Zendesk's ticketing is more extensive.
Every plan includes a fixed number of AI conversations per month: Starter 50, Growth 300, Professional 1,000, Enterprise 3,000. Once reached, your agents take over — no extra charges. A fair-use limit applies to very long conversations (terms § 4 (4)).
No. Zendesk has more channels, telephony and a large marketplace. SilentChat focuses on website chat, AI chatbot, tickets and knowledge base.
You embed the widget with a script tag, set up your knowledge base or let SilentChat read your website (from Growth), and invite your team. There is currently no automatic import from other tools.
Sources
A helpdesk at a fixed price?
Try SilentChat for free — live chat, AI chatbot and tickets in one tool, operated in Germany.