ZendeskHubSpot Service HubZendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub

Zendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub: five seats for $275 or $75

A help desk suite against a CRM-based help desk: HubSpot Service Hub is $200 a month cheaper for five people. What decides between Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub, and a third option for small teams.

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

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The short answer

Pick Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. Pick HubSpot Service Hub if your sales and marketing already live in HubSpot and support should share the CRM. For five people, HubSpot Service Hub is $200 a month cheaper than Zendesk ($275 a month on Zendesk against $75 on HubSpot Service Hub), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, $30 under HubSpot Service Hub. Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceZendeskZendeskHubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub
Built aroundTickets and a queue · messaging came laterThe CRM record · help desk on top of HubSpot
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets$15/seat/mo · Starter, yearly
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Suite Team$0 · Free tools: chat with HubSpot branding
AI agentPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed$9 per 1,000 credits · 50 credits per resolution
Copilot for agents$50/agent/moBreeze · in the plans
Free planNone · 14-day trialYes · 2 users, branded chat

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. HubSpot Service Hub raises tickets too, from the CRM record.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    As a ticket on the CRM contact, with every marketing and sales touch beside it. Zendesk raises tickets too, from tickets and a queue.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 for five people, against $75 on HubSpot Service Hub.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    Starter is $15 a seat; Professional is $90 with a $1,500 onboarding fee, and that is where routing and SLAs start. $75 for five people, against $275 on Zendesk.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. HubSpot Service Hub meters AI ($9 per 1,000 credits) above the seats as well.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    Customer Agent costs 50 credits per resolved conversation, and credits are $9 per 1,000, so about $0.45 a resolution. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. Instagram is here and not on HubSpot Service Hub.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    Chat, email and Messenger on the lower plans; WhatsApp and calling on Professional; no Telegram. Zendesk adds Instagram, which HubSpot Service Hub lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. HubSpot Service Hub is a CRM-based help desk instead.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    The rest of HubSpot: marketing, sales, CMS and the shared CRM. Zendesk is a help desk suite instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. HubSpot Service Hub is an afternoon on Starter.

    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

    An afternoon on Starter; Professional comes with a paid onboarding. Zendesk is a project.

Sources: Zendesk pricing · HubSpot Service Hub 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 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
The HubSpot help desk workspace: the ticket with the CRM contact and its timeline
HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub. The HubSpot help desk workspace: the ticket with the CRM contact and its timeline

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 automated resolutions on Zendesk, resolved conversations on HubSpot Service Hub

3000+
ZendeskZendesk

$725/mo

Adds messaging, live chat, voice and AI agents.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 automated resolutions × $1.5
$450
Copilot, 5 × $50
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Zendesk's pricing page says AI agents are priced per automated resolution and does not print the rate. $1.50 is the figure Zendesk has quoted publicly; change it to what your quote says. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub

$206/mo

Shared inbox, chat, 500 credits.

5 × $15 seats
$75
290 resolved conversations × $0.45
$131

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. 50 credits per resolution at $9 per 1,000 credits; Starter's 500 credits cover about ten. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: Zendesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); HubSpot Service Hub pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

Zendesk, HubSpot Service Hub 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.

FeatureZendeskZendeskHubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service HubSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per seat; onboarding fees; AI by credits
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
2 users, HubSpot branding
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
All plans, trained on the help center
Customer Agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
50 credits per resolution, $9 per 1,000
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
On the CRM record
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Triggers and automations, form-based
Professional and up
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Explore; advanced on higher plans
Reports; advanced on Professional
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

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.
  • You need Instagram in the price, which HubSpot Service Hub does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a project here and an afternoon on Starter on HubSpot Service Hub.

Pick HubSpot Service Hub if

  • Your sales and marketing already live in HubSpot and support should share the CRM.
  • You want an AI agent priced per resolution at under a dollar.
  • Five people cost $200 a month less than on Zendesk ($75 against $275), before AI.
  • You want a free plan to start on; Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional.

The third option: Sellio

  • Two to ten of you answer chat, messaging and email. Compare Sellio's workspace plans with $275 a month on Zendesk against $75 on HubSpot Service Hub for five people, including each product's limits.
  • The AI invoice should be known in advance: Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats and HubSpot Service Hub meters AI ($9 per 1,000 credits) above the seats, where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. HubSpot Service Hub on Starter: $30, $75 and $150 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $230 less than Zendesk and $30 less than HubSpot Service Hub for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Zendesk and $55 under HubSpot Service Hub.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; HubSpot Service Hub is a CRM-based help desk built around the CRM record. Only HubSpot Service Hub has a free plan (2 users, branded chat); Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional. Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Zendesk (per automated resolution) and HubSpot Service Hub ($9 per 1,000 credits) both meter AI above the seats. Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub both raise tickets, and neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub ships a desktop app. Zendesk is a project; HubSpot Service Hub is an afternoon on Starter.

What each price leaves out

Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. HubSpot Service Hub: HubSpot Credits at $9 per 1,000; Customer Agent uses 50 credits per resolved conversation. Beside Zendesk's per automated resolution and HubSpot Service Hub's $9 per 1,000 credits, 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 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
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub$0.45$212
    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.

    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite Professional
    HubSpot Service HubHubSpot Service Hub · Free tools, no trial clock
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Zendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub: the questions people ask

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; HubSpot Service Hub is a CRM-based help desk built around the CRM record. Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub both raise tickets, and neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets); HubSpot Service Hub $15/seat/mo (Starter, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team); HubSpot Service Hub $0 (Free tools: chat with HubSpot branding).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Zendesk nor HubSpot Service Hub has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Zendesk and HubSpot Service Hub 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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