On Zendesk, start with Zendesk's own AI agents: they are included in every plan, bill only verified resolutions, and sit closest to your tickets. Consider a third-party layer when you need channels or languages Zendesk does not cover, or when you want an agent that would survive a move off Zendesk.
Two facts shape this list. Zendesk does not publish what a resolution costs, so you cannot compare it with third parties on price until sales tells you. And Zendesk bought Forethought in March 2026, so the best-known independent layer for Zendesk is no longer independent.
Quick picks
- Default choice: Zendesk AI Agents — native, with billing only for verified resolutions.
- Enterprise layer: Ada — documented Zendesk handoff and broad channels.
- Check compatibility first: Intercom Fin — Zendesk is missing from Fin's current pricing-page list of supported helpdesks.
The ranking
Intercom Fin
Teams that want a price they can calculate today9.1- Price from
- US$0.99 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Per resolution
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Fin is the AI agent from the company formerly called Intercom, which renamed itself Fin in May 2026. It runs inside the Intercom helpdesk or on top of another one, charges US$0.99 per outcome, and documents more about its pricing, languages and certifications than any other product we reviewed.
The catch: Customer silence for 24 hours is billed as a resolution, and so is a handoff to a human that you configured. Salesforce has agreed to buy the company.
Tidio Lyro
Small online stores that want to start this week7.9- Price from
- US$24.17 per month
- Pricing model
- Per conversation
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Lyro is Tidio's AI agent for small and mid-sized e-commerce businesses. It works as an add-on to Tidio, on its own, or on Zendesk, Intercom and Salesforce through Lyro Connect. Entry prices are public, data is hosted in the EEA, and it supports 48 languages.
The catch: A conversation thread closes after 15 idle minutes, so a visitor who comes back is billed again, and the free quota never resets.
Zendesk AI Agents
Teams already running support on Zendesk7.5- Price from
- US$55 per seat per month
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Zendesk Suite
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Zendesk's AI agents are built into Zendesk Suite and Support plans. Since May 2026 the agentic features are included in every plan and only resolutions verified by a model are billed. What Zendesk still does not publish is what a resolution costs.
The catch: The price per automated resolution is not published anywhere. The only figure in the open is a 2025 forum comment from a Zendesk product manager.
Ada
Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk7.4- Price from
- est. US$36,079 per year
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Ada is a Toronto company whose agent works across messaging, email and voice on top of the helpdesk you already have. It sells by quote, but it is the one enterprise vendor with substantial procurement data: a median contract of US$72,000 a year across 114 purchases.
The catch: Ada's own AI decides which conversations count as billable resolutions, and the contract allows the count to be calculated from a sampled rate.
Gladly AI
Shopify merchants and consumer brands6.6- Price from
- US$1.50 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Mixed
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Gladly AI, formerly Gladly Sidekick, is aimed at retail and consumer brands. It runs inside Gladly's own helpdesk or on top of Gorgias, Zendesk and Salesforce. The only public prices are on the Shopify App Store; everything else is by quote.
The catch: An AI Resolution is not technically defined anywhere we could find, and AI Assists are billed as well.
Decagon
Large enterprises with high volume and a six-figure budget5.8- Price from
- est. US$105,000 per year
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Decagon builds AI agents for chat, email and voice at large consumer, fintech and telecom brands. It publishes no prices and offers no trial. Procurement data puts the median contract at US$432,750 a year.
The catch: No public prices, and the pricing most often observed by buyers is per conversation, so you may pay for conversations the AI does not resolve unless you negotiate otherwise.
Forethought
Teams that want an agent layer across several support systems5.6- Price from
- Quote only
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Forethought sells AI agents for chat, email and voice that sit on top of existing helpdesks. Zendesk completed its acquisition in March 2026 and now sells the product as Forethought AI Agents by Zendesk, including to customers on other helpdesks.
The catch: It is owned by a helpdesk vendor, hosting is in the United States only, and the billable outcome is not defined anywhere public.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Price from | Works on your existing helpdesk | Self-serve sign-up | EU data residency | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | 9.1 | Per resolution | US$0.99 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teams that want a price they can calculate today |
| Tidio Lyro | 7.9 | Per conversation | US$24.17 per month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Small online stores that want to start this week |
| Zendesk AI Agents | 7.5 | Seats plus usage | US$55 per seat per month | No | Yes | Yes | Teams already running support on Zendesk |
| Ada | 7.4 | Quote only | est. US$36,079 per year | Yes | No | Yes | Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk |
| Gladly AI | 6.6 | Mixed | US$1.50 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Shopify merchants and consumer brands |
| Decagon | 5.8 | Quote only | est. US$105,000 per year | Yes | No | Not documented | Large enterprises with high volume and a six-figure budget |
| Forethought | 5.6 | Quote only | Quote only | Yes | No | No | Teams that want an agent layer across several support systems |
How to choose
Get Zendesk's number first. Ask for the committed and overage price per automated resolution and your included allowance. Without it you cannot judge any alternative.
Compare definitions, not only prices. Zendesk bills verified resolutions; Fin bills outcomes including assumed resolutions and configured handoffs; Ada bills resolutions its own AI classifies. The same traffic produces different counts.
Decide how much you value independence. A third-party layer is more work today but makes leaving Zendesk easier later.
Verdict
Pilot Zendesk's own agents first. If the result or the quoted price disappoints, Ada is the best-documented layer for larger teams. Treat Forethought as part of Zendesk's offer, and verify Fin's Zendesk support before planning around it.
For buyers in the United Kingdom
The UK has no AI Act. An AI support agent is governed by the law you already know: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, PECR for anything a chat widget stores on a device, and, for regulated financial firms, the FCA's Consumer Duty. Rules on automated decisions changed on 5 February 2026.
Vendors in this category price in US dollars, so that is what we show; we do not convert prices, because an assumed exchange rate is not a quote. Each review states whether the product documents a UK or EU hosting region and whether it supports the UK–US data bridge route for transfers.
Frequently asked questions
Are Zendesk AI agents included in my plan?
Since the 2026 change, agentic AI features are included in all Suite and Support plans, with a small allowance of automated resolutions. Usage beyond the allowance is billed per verified resolution at a rate Zendesk does not publish.
Does Intercom Fin still work with Zendesk?
We could not confirm it. Zendesk is absent from the helpdesk list on Fin's pricing page, although Fin's help centre still has Zendesk articles. Ask Fin before you plan on it.
Keep reading
- The best AI customer service agents in 2026best list
- The best AI customer service agents for small businessbest list
- The best AI customer service agents for e-commercebest list
- The best AI customer service agents for enterprisebest list
- The best AI customer service agents for Salesforcebest list
- What counts as a resolution?guide
- How to run an AI agent pilotguide
Sources
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- Fin pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
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- Lightspeed customer story — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin channels — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin integrations — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Use Fin AI Agent in multiple languages — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Regional data hosting — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Intercom security — Intercom (Fin) · 18 September 2026
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- Today, Intercom becomes Fin — Intercom (Fin) · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Lyro AI Agent — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- The Lyro AI agent limit — Tidio Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Lyro, the conversational AI agent — Tidio Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Lyro multilanguage support — Tidio Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Privacy policy and GDPR compliance — Tidio Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Lyro: build and integrate — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- Tidio support team achieves 58% automation with Lyro — Tidio · 18 September 2026
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- About multilingual support — Ada Docs · 18 September 2026
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- Life360 case study — Ada · 18 September 2026
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- Ada pricing (buyer data, 114 purchases) — Vendr · 18 September 2026
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- Gladly AI product page — Gladly · 18 September 2026
- Gladly pricing — Gladly · 18 September 2026
- Gladly on the Shopify App Store — Shopify App Store · 18 September 2026
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- What is Gladly AI — Gladly Help · 18 September 2026
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- Set up the Gladly AI Gorgias integration — Gladly Help · 18 September 2026
- Why your helpdesk needs Gladly — Gladly · 18 September 2026
- Voice and SMS phone number costs — Gladly Help · 18 September 2026
- AI security and compliance — Gladly Help · 18 September 2026
- Gladly customers — Gladly · 18 September 2026
- Breeze Airways customer story — Gladly · 18 September 2026
- Gladly announces agentic commerce capabilities at Gladly Connect Live (6 May 2026) — PR Newswire · 18 September 2026
- Decagon homepage — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon integrations — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon Voice — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon security — Decagon · 18 September 2026
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- What is resolution-based pricing? — Decagon · 18 September 2026
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- Rituals case study — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Series D announcement — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Introducing Duet Autopilot — Decagon · 18 September 2026
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- Forethought Solve — Forethought · 18 September 2026
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- AI voice agent — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Multilingual support for Solve — Forethought · 18 September 2026
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- Forethought platform security — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought FAQ — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Grammarly achieves 87% deflection and 4.2 CSAT early with Forethought — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- The secret to scaling CX is hidden in the 3 metrics you already track (YAZIO) — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk completes acquisition of Forethought — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
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- Zendesk to acquire Forethought in major agentic AI play — Computer Weekly · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk acquires agentic customer service startup Forethought — TechCrunch · 18 September 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review