Zammad vs. Zendesk

Zendesk is often considered the biggest player on the helpdesk market. Founded in 2007, they surely have quite some experience - and they have built an extensive world of tools and features for both sales and customer support teams. Launched in Denmark but now based in the US, they have made a name for themselves globally. So surely it's a great go-to option? Wait!

Before you make a decision, have a look at other options such as Zammad! The open-source underdog is growing in popularity for various reasons. Launched in 2016, our founder Martin Edenhofer and his team of developers have extensive experience in the helpdesk industry, as they are the masterminds behind the global player OTRS. After successfully growing OTRS into an impactful corporation, Martin started Zammad as the more modern approach to the same idea.

Zammad has since received a lot of praise - and even some awards. Our users love the decluttered interface and the ease of use, made possible by the intuitive setup. All your standard features are already part of the package, with no extra installations required. Where Zendesk might ask you to download an extra app for your Suite, Zammad already has you covered!

Zammad vs. Zendesk:
Who is it for?

Both Zendesk and Zammad address teams of all sizes and industries, and yet Zammad is by far the more affordable option, especially for smaller businesses. We've taken a detailed look at the smallest plan of both solutions - the Zendesk Suite Team and the Zammad Starter Plan - and discovered that you will have to pay 10x as much for Zendesk* while finding fewer of the most essential features included (or even pre-installed).

Meanwhile, at Zammad, we have the small teams and solopreneurs in mind, offering you an affordable solution at the fraction of the price and with a free trial that is twice as long* - because we know that in order to find the perfect system, you need to test it properly!

*(Pricing for Zendesk Suite Team = EUR 49/ agent and month, vs. Zammad Starter Plan = EUR 5/agent and month. Trial length at Zendesk = 14 days, vs. Zammad = 30 days. Last update of this information: January 2022)

Zammad vs. Zendesk:
Feature overview

If you're feeling a bit indecisive right now, don't worry: We have created a more detailed comparison for you. For this purpose, we have decided to look at the respective smallest plans, which are the Suite Team for Zendesk, and the Starter Plan for Zammad.

Why choose Zammad

Our headquarters are in Germany, as is the location of our servers. This ensures a particularly easy DPA for our EU customers, as well as maximum data privacy and security for all our users.

Zammad is open-source, which means that our code is freely available for anyone to view or use. If you want, you can also self-host the system on your own servers, which is entirely free of charge.

What is more, Zammad can be adjusted to your very own use case, identity, and workflows. Create dynamic ticket screens, apply your own branding and styles, and define new roles, fields, and templates. You can even easily connect your preferred third-party tools thanks to our strong REST API.

The Zendesk Migration Wizard

If you're itchy to get started with Zammad now, we've got some great news: You can set up a brand-new instance within a few seconds only! And if you're currently using Zendesk, our migration wizard will help you to import all your existing Zendesk files into Zammad, allowing you to continue working seamlessly. Let's do this, shall we?

I want to know more about the migration!