ZendeskPure ChatZendesk vs Pure Chat

Zendesk vs Pure Chat: $223 apart for five people

A help desk suite against a live chat software: Pure Chat is $223 a month cheaper for five people. What decides between Zendesk and Pure Chat, 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 Pure Chat if you want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI. For five people, Pure Chat is $223 a month cheaper than Zendesk ($275 a month on Zendesk against $52 on Pure Chat), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, $7 under Pure Chat. Zendesk and Pure Chat both include website chat in the price; only Zendesk has email and Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between Zendesk and Pure Chat for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceZendeskZendeskPure ChatPure Chat
Built aroundTickets and a queue · messaging came laterA chat widget for small sites · operators in packs
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets$39/mo · Growth: 4 operators, 1 site
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Suite Team$39/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printedNone · no AI agent
Copilot for agents$50/agent/moNone
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 30-day trial of PRO

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. Pure Chat has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    As a chat in the widget, with the visitor's page and history in the operator dashboard. Zendesk raises a ticket where Pure Chat keeps a conversation.

  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 $52 on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    $39 buys four operators on one site; PRO at $79 buys ten operators on unlimited sites, extras $8 to $13 each. $52 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. Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none) instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    No AI agent or copilot; canned responses and triggers only. 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. email and Instagram are here and not on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Website chat only; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. Zendesk adds email and Instagram, which Pure Chat lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. Pure Chat is a live chat software instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Visitor tracking, transcripts and mobile apps. 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. Pure Chat is minutes.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Minutes: paste the widget. Zendesk is a project.

Sources: Zendesk pricing · Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat
Pure ChatPure Chat. The Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat

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

Zendesk, Pure Chat 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.

FeatureZendeskZendeskPure ChatPure ChatSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per month with operator packs
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
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Suite plans, plus conversation fees
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Suite plans
Not offered
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
Not offered
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
None
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
No AI to bill
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
No AI to hand off from
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Triggers and automations, form-based
Triggers only
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Explore; advanced on higher plans
Chat reports
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 email and Instagram in the price, which Pure Chat does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Pure Chat does not have.

Pick Pure Chat if

  • You want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI.
  • Operator packs suit you better than per-agent pricing.
  • Five people cost $223 a month less than on Zendesk ($52 against $275), before AI.
  • Time to the first reply is minutes here and a project on Zendesk.

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 $52 on Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none), where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat 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. Pure Chat: $52 a month for five ($39 for 4 operators plus $13 for the fifth); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $230 less than Zendesk and $7 less than Pure Chat 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

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Neither has a free plan: Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional, Pure Chat a 30-day trial of PRO. Zendesk and Pure Chat both include website chat in the price; only Zendesk has email and Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats; Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none). Zendesk has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app. Zendesk is a project; Pure Chat is minutes.

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. Pure Chat: No AI agent. Beside Zendesk's per automated resolution and Pure Chat's none, 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
    Pure ChatPure ChatSee vendorNot quoted
    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
    Pure ChatPure Chat · 30-day trial of PRO
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Zendesk vs Pure Chat: the questions people ask

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Zendesk has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets); Pure Chat $39/mo (Growth: 4 operators, 1 site).
  • Chat in the price: Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team); Pure Chat $39/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Zendesk nor Pure Chat has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Zendesk and Pure Chat rows is on the shared inbox page.

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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