HubSpot vs Zendesk

Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?

The short answer

HubSpot is the stronger AI pick in CRM: it has a visibility score of 67.6 versus 7.1 for Zendesk, and ranks ahead in 100% of the answers that name both.

Choose HubSpot if…

You want the brand AI engines rank higher (67.6 vs 7.1)
You want a free plan to start
You need more native integrations (2000+ vs 1800+)
AI answers describe it more positively (35% vs 34% positive)

Choose Zendesk if…

You need ISO 27001:2022 or ISO 27018:2019 or ISO 27701:2019 or ISO 27017:2015 or ISO 42001:2023 or FedRAMP LI-SaaS or Cyber Essentials Plus coverage
Industry leader in omnichannel customer support
Scalable platform for large enterprise teams
Mature ticketing operations and SLA management

AI visibility side by side

Latest weekly run · Nov 3

Metric	HubSpot	Zendesk
Visibility score	67.6%	7.1%
Change vs last week	down−1.8%	down−0.2%
Rank in CRM	#1	#11
Share of voice	14.2%	2.8%
Mentions this run	65	13
Positive in AI answers	35%	34%

The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.

Visibility score trend

Weekly runs over the last 60 days

HubSpot −1.9000000000000057pp · Zendesk −0.20000000000000018pp over 1 weekly runs.

Engine by engine

HubSpot leads on 3 of 3 engines

ChatGPT

79.6%

AI Mode

63.1%

7.4%

Perplexity

60.2%

HubSpotZendesk

Head to head in AI answers

12 engine answers name both brands

12HubSpot ranked higher

0Zendesk ranked higher

Prompt	Engine	HubSpot	Zendesk
How do I choose a CRM for a mid-market team?	AI Mode	#1	#4
What should a CRM integrate with?	ChatGPT	#2	#3
What should a CRM integrate with?	AI Mode	#2	#4
What should a CRM integrate with?	Perplexity	#2	#4
What are the best CRM tools in 2026?	Perplexity	#2	#11
Alternatives to the most popular CRM	ChatGPT	#2	#10
Which CRM vendors do analysts recommend?	ChatGPT	#3	#13
Which CRM vendors do analysts recommend?	AI Mode	#4	#5
Which CRM offers a free trial?	AI Mode	#1	#5
Which CRM tools offer annual discounts?	Perplexity	#4	#15
Official website of the top CRM vendors	ChatGPT	#2	#9
Official website of the top CRM vendors	Perplexity	#3	#10

Features, pricing & fit

Dimension	HubSpot	Zendesk
Pricing model	Per seat	Per seat
Entry price	Free; paid from $7 per seat / mo	$19 per seat / mo
Free plan	Yes	No
Onboarding fee	$3,000	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud (SaaS)
Integrations	2000+	1800+
Compliance	SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3	SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001:2022, ISO 27018:2019, ISO 27701:2019, ISO 27017:2015, ISO 42001:2023, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, Cyber Essentials Plus
Support	Phone	Help Center, Community, Partners
Founded	2006	2007
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States	San Francisco, California, United States
Employees	5,000+	5,000+
Funding	Corporate round	Take-private (Hellman & Friedman, Permira)
Best for	Startups, small and mid-sized businesses and enterprises wanting marketing, sales and service on one CRM.	Support teams from startups to enterprises that need omnichannel ticketing with AI automation