ZendeskLiveAgentZendesk vs LiveAgent

Zendesk vs LiveAgent: $550 or $290 for ten people

A help desk suite against a help desk with live chat and calls: LiveAgent is $130 a month cheaper for five people. What decides between Zendesk and LiveAgent, and a third option for small teams.

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 Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. Pick LiveAgent if you want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price. For five people, LiveAgent is $130 a month cheaper than Zendesk ($275 a month on Zendesk against $145 on LiveAgent), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, $100 under LiveAgent. Zendesk and LiveAgent both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor LiveAgent includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between Zendesk and LiveAgent for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceZendeskZendeskLiveAgentLiveAgent
Built aroundTickets and a queue · messaging came laterA universal inbox · email, chat and calls
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearly
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Suite Team$15/agent/mo · chat on every plan
AI agentPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printedIncluded · chatbot and answer assistant
Copilot for agents$50/agent/moIncluded
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 30-day trial

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. LiveAgent raises tickets too, from a universal inbox.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    As a ticket in the universal inbox, whether it came by email, chat or a call. 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 $145 on LiveAgent.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    $15 buys email and two chat buttons on Small Business; the call center starts on Medium at $29. $145 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. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    The chatbot, answer assistant and triage are included in the paid plans; no per-conversation meter. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats instead.

  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 LiveAgent.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    Email and chat on every plan; calls from Medium; WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and Facebook on Large and up. Zendesk adds Instagram, which LiveAgent lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls instead.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. 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. LiveAgent is a day.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A day: connect the mailbox, add the chat button, set the departments. Zendesk is a project.

Sources: Zendesk pricing · LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
LiveAgentLiveAgent. The LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together

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, AI conversations on LiveAgent

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.

LiveAgentLiveAgent

$145/mo

Adds the call center.

5 × $29 seats
$145
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. LiveAgent includes its chatbot and answer assistant in the seat; no per-conversation rate is printed. 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); LiveAgent 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, LiveAgent 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.

FeatureZendeskZendeskLiveAgentLiveAgentSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per agent; AI included
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
None; 30-day trial
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
Large and up
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Suite plans
Add-on below Large
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Third-party apps only
Viber, not Telegram
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications and side conversations
Slack integration
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
Chatbot included
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
In the seat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
Hands to an agent
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile only
Windows and macOS apps
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 LiveAgent does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a project here and a day on LiveAgent.

Pick LiveAgent if

  • You want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price.
  • AI included in the seat matters more than a tunable AI meter.
  • Five people cost $130 a month less than on Zendesk ($145 against $275), before AI.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Zendesk does not ship.

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 $145 on LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan, where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither Zendesk nor LiveAgent 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. LiveAgent on Medium Business: $58, $145 and $290 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 $100 less than LiveAgent for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Zendesk and $195 under LiveAgent.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox. Neither has a free plan: Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional, LiveAgent a 30-day trial, no card. Zendesk and LiveAgent both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor LiveAgent includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats; LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan. Zendesk and LiveAgent both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. Zendesk is a project; LiveAgent is a day.

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. LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Beside Zendesk's per automated resolution and LiveAgent's included, 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
    LiveAgentLiveAgentAssumed $0$0
    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
    LiveAgentLiveAgent · 30-day trial, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Zendesk vs LiveAgent: the questions people ask

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox. Zendesk and LiveAgent both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets); LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team); LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan).
  • Sellio's inbox: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Zendesk nor LiveAgent has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Zendesk and LiveAgent 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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