LiveAgent vs Zendesk
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Zendesk is the stronger AI pick in Live Chat & AI Support: it has a visibility score of 49.3 versus 8.5 for LiveAgent, and ranks ahead in 88% of the answers that name both.
Choose LiveAgent if…
- You want a lower entry price ($15 vs $19)
- AI answers describe it more positively (39% vs 34% positive)
- You need GDPR coverage
- Strong ticketing and help-desk depth
Choose Zendesk if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (49.3 vs 8.5)
- You need more native integrations (1800+ vs 200+)
- You need SOC 2 Type II or 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
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | LiveAgent | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 8.5% | 49.3% |
| Change vs last week | down−1.5% | up+0.3% |
| Rank in Live Chat & AI Support | #10 | #1 |
| Share of voice | 2.7% | 11.2% |
| Mentions this run | 14 | 53 |
| Positive in AI answers | 39% | 34% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
LiveAgent −1.5999999999999996pp · Zendesk +0.29999999999999716pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Zendesk leads on 3 of 3 engines
Head to head in AI answers
8 engine answers name both brands
| Prompt | Engine | LiveAgent | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternatives to the most popular live chat tool | ChatGPT | #10 | #7 |
| Alternatives to the most popular live chat tool | AI Mode | #7 | #8 |
| Alternatives to the most popular live chat tool | Perplexity | #7 | #2 |
| Which live chat tool offers a free trial? | ChatGPT | #5 | #4 |
| Which live chat tool offers a free trial? | AI Mode | #5 | #2 |
| Which live chat tool offers a free trial? | Perplexity | #3 | #2 |
| Official website of the top live chat tool vendors | ChatGPT | #9 | #2 |
| Official website of the top live chat tool vendors | Perplexity | #11 | #3 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | LiveAgent | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat |
| Entry price | $15 per seat / mo | $19 per seat / mo |
| Free plan | No · 30-day trial | No |
| Deployment | Cloud only | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Integrations | 200+ | 1800+ |
| Compliance | GDPR | 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 | 24/7 AI chatbot with human escalation, Email support, In-app live chat (Mon–Fri), Dedicated account manager (Business from 20 agents, Enterprise) | Help Center, Community, Partners |
| Founded | 2004 | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Bratislava, Slovakia | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Employees | 51–200 | 5,000+ |
| Funding | Bootstrapped | Take-private (Hellman & Friedman, Permira) |
| Best for | Small and growing support teams that want email, chat, phone and social in one inbox | Support teams from startups to enterprises that need omnichannel ticketing with AI automation |
Plans side by side
LiveAgent
Zendesk
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
LiveAgent
- Strong ticketing and help-desk depth
- Fast implementation with multi-channel routing and live chat
- 30-day free trial without a credit card
- Good value as a budget help desk
- Chat and ticketing in one suite
Zendesk
- Industry leader in omnichannel customer support
- Scalable platform for large enterprise teams
- Mature ticketing operations and SLA management
- Extensive marketplace and broad integrations
- Free trial available for 14 days
- Heavy, slow deployment compared with lighter tools
- High per-agent costs
- AI add-ons billed separately on top of base fee
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “LiveAgent vs Zendesk”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/liveagent-vs-zendesk, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.