Zendesk vs Zammad
Zammad is open source and cheaper per agent, with a free self-hosted option; Zendesk offers a bigger app marketplace and AI agents as a fully hosted service.
Pick Zendesk if…
You want a vendor-run platform with many channels, AI agents and 1,800+ marketplace apps, and your team can budget $19 to $115 per agent per month.
Pick Zammad if…
You want open-source software you can host yourself, or hosted plans from €7 per agent per month in German data centers. You should be comfortable with updates and backups if you self-host.
Price
- Paid
- Freemium
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Customer service platform with ticketing, messaging, phone and AI agents. | Open-source help desk and ticketing system you can host yourself or buy hosted. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | $19 per agent per month, billed annually (Support Team) | €7 per agent per month (Starter v2 hosted, excl. VAT) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web, API | Web, Linux, API |
| Try Zendesk (opens the Zendesk website in a new tab) | Try Zammad (opens the Zammad website in a new tab) |
Zendesk has no free plan on its pricing page. Billed annually, Support Team is $19, Suite Team $55 and Suite Professional $115 per agent per month; monthly billing is $25, $69 and $149. AI agents are billed by automated resolutions, with a small number included and extra ones at $1.50 or $2.00 each. The trial is 14 days with no credit card.
Zammad's code is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is free to download and run on your own servers. Its hosted plans are Starter v2 at €7, Professional v2 at €16 and Plus v2 at €25 per agent per month, excluding VAT, with a 30-day trial. Hosted AI features cost an extra €0.03 per AI call.
Zammad's lower tiers limit agents and channels: Starter v2 allows up to 5 agents and email, web form and SMS. Higher plans add chat, Telegram, SLAs, and for Plus v2 Facebook and WhatsApp. Self-hosting is your job to maintain; Zammad sells self-hosted support packages from €2,999 per year.
Both have documented APIs. Zendesk's pricing page lists far more add-ons, such as Copilot at $50 and Contact Center at $83 per agent per month, and a marketplace of over 1,800 apps. Zammad's pages in this research list no comparable marketplace.
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Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money