GladlyZendeskGladly vs Zendesk

Gladly vs Zendesk: customer service or help desk suite

A customer service platform against a help desk suite: Zendesk is $625 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Gladly if you want one timeline per customer instead of a ticket queue, across voice and messaging. Pick Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. For five people, Zendesk is $625 a month cheaper than Gladly ($900 a month on Gladly against $275 on Zendesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $230 under Zendesk. Gladly and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Gladly has WhatsApp. Neither Gladly nor Zendesk includes Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Gladly and Zendesk sell here at one price.

At a glanceGladlyGladlyZendeskZendesk
Built aroundThe customer, not the ticket · one timeline per personTickets and a queue · messaging came later
Entry planQuote · no printed prices$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets
Chat in the priceQuote · all channels in the seat$55/agent/mo · Suite Team
AI agentSidekick · per resolution, by quotePer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed
Copilot for agentsIn Sidekick$50/agent/mo
Free planNone · demo firstNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    GladlyGladly

    As a moment on the customer's timeline, whatever the channel; there is no ticket number. Zendesk raises a ticket where Gladly keeps a conversation.

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. Gladly has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    GladlyGladly

    No price is printed; older summaries put seats near $180 a month, with a demo before a quote. $900 for five people, against $275 on Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 for five people, against $900 on Gladly.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    GladlyGladly

    Sidekick, the AI agent, is sold per resolution, priced in the quote. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats as well.

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. Gladly meters AI (Sidekick) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    GladlyGladly

    Voice, email, chat, SMS, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp on one timeline; no Telegram. WhatsApp is here and not on Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. Gladly adds WhatsApp, which Zendesk lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    GladlyGladly

    Voice with IVR, a help center and task management for retail service teams. Zendesk is a help desk suite instead.

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. Gladly is a customer service platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    GladlyGladly

    A sales cycle, then a guided onboarding. Zendesk is a project.

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. Gladly is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding.

Sources: Gladly pricing · Zendesk pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Gladly customer timeline: calls, chats and emails from one person in one thread
GladlyGladly. The Gladly customer timeline: calls, chats and emails from one person in one thread
The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
ZendeskZendesk. The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields

Pricing references: Gladly pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification); Zendesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Gladly, Zendesk and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureGladlyGladlyZendeskZendeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Quote; AI per resolution
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None
None; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
In the seat
Suite plans
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
In the seat
All plans
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Plus fees
Suite plans, plus conversation fees
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
In the seat
Suite plans
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not offered
Third-party apps only
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Not offered
Slack notifications and side conversations
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Sidekick
All plans, trained on the help center
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per resolution, quoted
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to a hero
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Timeline, not tickets
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules and routing
Triggers and automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reporting
Explore; advanced on higher plans
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser only
Browser and mobile only
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Gladly if

  • You want one timeline per customer instead of a ticket queue, across voice and messaging.
  • You are a consumer brand with a team large enough for a sales-led rollout.
  • You need WhatsApp in the price, which Zendesk does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding here and a project on Zendesk.

Pick Zendesk if

  • Your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage.
  • You need phone support and a contact center in the same tool.
  • Five people cost $625 a month less than on Gladly ($275 against $900), before AI.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Gladly does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Gladly or Zendesk who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $900 a month on Gladly against $275 on Zendesk for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Gladly meters AI (Sidekick) above the seats, Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Gladly nor Zendesk includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Gladly: $900 a month for five (5 seats × about $180, from older summaries); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $855 less than Gladly and $230 less than Zendesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Zendesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Gladly is a customer service platform built around the customer, not the ticket; Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue. Neither has a free plan: Gladly offers no trial, Zendesk a 14-day trial of Suite Professional. Gladly and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Gladly has WhatsApp. Neither Gladly nor Zendesk includes Telegram outright. Gladly (Sidekick) and Zendesk (per automated resolution) both meter AI above the seats. Zendesk has tickets and Gladly does not, and neither Gladly nor Zendesk ships a desktop app. Gladly is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding; Zendesk is a project.

What each price leaves out

Gladly: Sidekick is priced per resolution in the quote. Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. Beside Gladly's Sidekick and Zendesk's per automated resolution, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Gladly does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (No prices printed; a demo, then a quote. Older summaries put seats at about $180 a month.), so they are marked unverified here beside Zendesk's, and Gladly's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    GladlyGladlySee vendorNot quoted
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    GladlyGladly · None; demo first
    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite Professional
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Gladly vs Zendesk: the questions people ask

Gladly is a customer service platform built around the customer, not the ticket; Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue. Zendesk has tickets and Gladly does not, and neither Gladly nor Zendesk ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Gladly Quote (no printed prices); Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Gladly Quote (all channels in the seat); Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: Telegram, which neither Gladly nor Zendesk has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Gladly and Zendesk on the same rows.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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