Open-source alternative to Zendesk
Zendesk is a customer support benchmark, with built-in AI and a large integration catalogue. It is billed per agent. Chatwoot, which we host in Europe, brings your channels into one shared inbox for a flat fee, with unlimited agents.
Zendesk has maturity on its side: founded in 2007, it claims more than 80,000 business customers, an AI that triages and resolves part of the requests, and it offers data hosting in the European Economic Area at no extra cost from the Suite Professional plan. Its plans are billed per agent, from €19 to €115 per agent per month on annual billing depending on the plan. These public prices are the ones listed on Zendesk's French pricing page on 1 October 2026, on annual billing, and may change.
Chatwoot is open-source software under the MIT license. We host and operate it in Europe, from €99 per month excluding VAT, with an unlimited number of agents. Its API is publicly documented, as our Chatwoot guide shows, and the instance can move back onto your own infrastructure.
Point-by-point comparison
| Criterion | Chatwoot (Bunker) | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Open source (MIT), auditable | Proprietary |
| Billing | Flat fee from €99/month excl. VAT, unlimited agents | Per agent, €19 to €115 per month depending on the plan (annual billing) |
| Free plan | No | No, 14-day trial |
| Data hosting | Europe | Region of choice (US, EEA, UK, Japan, Australia), free from Suite Professional |
| Publisher or operator | Bunker, a company incorporated in France | Zendesk, Inc., San Francisco (United States) |
| Channels | Email, chat, social media, WhatsApp, API | Email, chat, messaging, voice (Talk), API |
| AI triage and answers | AI triage as an integration, on quote, through our gateway hosted in Europe | Built in; AI agents billed per resolution |
| API and export | Documented REST API, webhooks | REST API, incremental ticket export |
| Re-internalization | Yes, same software on your infrastructure | No self-hosting offered, data export through the API |
The price of a seat, multiplied by the team
On the Suite Team plan, Zendesk lists €55 per agent per month on annual billing. For 10 agents, the bill reaches €550 per month, against €190 on the entry Support Team plan at €19. Copilot, offered as an add-on from Suite Professional, adds €50 per agent per month (public prices checked on 1 October 2026).
Our Chatwoot plan starts at €99 per month excluding VAT and does not move when you add an agent. The two offers do not cover the same scope: Zendesk offers voice and native AI, which our plan does not.
Where your conversations go
Zendesk offers to host data in the European Economic Area, in data centers located in Ireland and Germany. That improves data location.
Zendesk is still a company incorporated in the United States, though. The CLOUD Act, a 2018 US law, can allow US authorities to order a provider subject to US law to produce data it controls, even when that data is stored in Europe, subject to the remedies the Act provides.
With us, Chatwoot is hosted in Europe by a company incorporated in France, and our subprocessors are listed in the data processing agreement required by Article 28 of the GDPR.
What Zendesk does better, and what you gain by leaving
Zendesk keeps the edge on functional depth: built-in voice, native AI that resolves part of the requests, a very large integration catalogue. For a large contact center, those strengths matter.
For support over email, chat and social media, Chatwoot covers the essentials. You gain a cost that does not follow your headcount, open software you can take back in-house, and AI triage with a model hosted in Europe through our sovereign AI gateway.
Frequently asked questions
Can Chatwoot replace Zendesk?
For support over email, chat, social media and WhatsApp, yes, with the shared inbox, assignment, canned responses, macros, automation rules and reports. For Zendesk's built-in voice or native AI, our plan has no included equivalent.
How much does Zendesk cost for 10 agents?
On the Suite Team plan, €55 per agent per month on annual billing, so €550 per month for 10 agents, according to public prices checked on 1 October 2026. Our Chatwoot plan starts at €99 per month excluding VAT, whatever the number of agents, with a different functional scope.
Can we bring our Zendesk history into Chatwoot?
Zendesk lets you export tickets through its API. Importing them into Chatwoot goes through the Chatwoot API and is prepared case by case, depending on volume and the fields to keep.
Customer support you keep
Chatwoot hosted in Europe, open source, flat fee and unlimited agents.
Bunker is not affiliated with Zendesk. "Zendesk" is a trademark of its publisher, referenced here for comparison to designate the competing service.