Comparison
Airclou Helpdesk vs Zendesk
Zendesk is the mature incumbent — every channel, a huge marketplace, years of enterprise depth. Airclou is the AI-native alternative: the AI drafts, acts, and resolves under guardrails you set, on every paid plan.
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The honest verdict
Two different bets on what a helpdesk is
Both products organize your support queue. They disagree about who works it — and that difference decides which one fits your team.
Zendesk tracks the work. Airclou does it.
Zendesk added AI to a ticketing core built for people. Airclou was built around the AI: every conversation arrives understood, drafted, and — where you allow it — resolved.
One price, AI included
Zendesk sells the suite, then the AI add-on, then charges per automated resolution. Airclou is one per-agent price with the AI in it — the bill doesn’t grow because the AI got useful.
Where Zendesk is ahead
Voice, WhatsApp and social channels, 1,000+ marketplace apps, and a decade of enterprise references. If you depend on those today, Zendesk is the safer pick — honestly.
Side by side
Feature by feature
| Feature | Airclou Helpdesk | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Helpdesk core | ||
| Email, live chat & help center in one inbox | Included | Included |
| SLAs, business hours & escalations | Included | Included |
| Reporting & CSAT | Included | Included |
| Voice / phone channel | — | Included |
| WhatsApp & social channels | — | Included |
| App marketplace | Stripe + your own APIs | 1,000+ apps |
| AI | ||
| AI-drafted replies, grounded in your knowledgebase | Every paid plan | Paid add-on |
| Drafts cite their sources (articles, account data) | Included | — |
| AI executes real work (refunds, plan changes) | Growth plan and up | Via marketplace apps |
| Human approval gates on AI actions | Included | — |
| Full audit trail of every AI action | Included | — |
| Pricing | ||
| Starting price | $19 per agent / month | $55 per agent / month |
| AI pricing | Included in the plan | Add-on + per automated resolution |
| Free plan | 1 agent, no AI | — |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 14 days |
Zendesk features and pricing are from their public pages at the time of writing and can change — check zendesk.com for current details.
The difference, shown
What AI-native looks like on a real ticket
Drafts that arrive with receipts
Before an agent opens the ticket, a reply is waiting — written from your knowledgebase and the customer’s actual account data, with the sources attached. Verify in a glance, not a re-research.
- Grounded in your articles, SOPs, and live billing data
- One click to send, or edit in place
- Low-confidence drafts are flagged, never auto-sent
Refunds that wait for your approval
The AI can verify a duplicate charge and prepare the refund — but anything irreversible parks at a gate you configured. Your team stays in charge of the money; the AI does the legwork.
- Approval envelopes by action, amount, or customer segment
- Idempotent execution — a retry can never double-refund
- Every action logged with who approved it and why
Switching
Questions teams ask before leaving Zendesk
How do we move our help center over?
Point Airclou at your existing Zendesk help center and it imports your articles into the knowledgebase — the same knowledge that grounds every AI draft from day one. You review and publish; nothing goes live unedited.
Can we run Airclou next to Zendesk during the trial?
Yes, and we recommend it. Forward a portion of your support address to Airclou and compare the AI drafts against your real queue for two weeks — no cutover, no risk to your current setup.
What happens to our Zendesk ticket history?
Export it from Zendesk before you leave — you own that data. We help you bring open tickets and customer records across during onboarding so conversations in flight don’t lose their thread.
Zendesk has voice and social channels. Airclou doesn’t?
Correct — today Airclou covers email, live chat, and your customer portal. If phone or WhatsApp support is core to your operation right now, Zendesk is the safer choice until we ship those channels.
Is the AI an add-on, like Zendesk’s?
No. AI drafting and auto-resolution are part of every paid Airclou plan, and there is no per-resolution fee. The AI resolving more of your queue doesn’t make your bill unpredictable.
Are we locked into a contract?
No. Airclou bills monthly per agent and you can cancel anytime. Annual billing exists for the discount, not as a lock-in — and your data is exportable either way.
Make the switch
Try it on your real queue
Import your help center in an afternoon, forward part of your inbox, and judge the drafts on your own tickets — while Zendesk keeps running.
Free 14-day trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime