Zendesk Chat vs Converge

Zendesk Chat is a live chat solution designed for customer support teams, offering seamless integration with the broader Zendesk ecosystem. While it provides solid web chat functionality, it lacks the multi-channel messaging capabilities that modern businesses need.

Zendesk Chat excels in traditional web chat with features like visitor tracking, chat routing, and proactive messaging. However, it's limited to website chat and doesn't support popular messaging channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram DMs that customers increasingly prefer. The platform requires separate tools for social media messaging, creating fragmented customer conversations.

Zendesk Chat is now part of Zendesk Suite, with no standalone chat option for new customers. The Suite Team plan at $55/agent/month costs $165/month for 3 agents or $275/month for 5 agents. For more features like SLAs, Suite Growth at $89/agent/month brings costs to $267/month for 3 agents or $445/month for 5 agents.

Converge offers flat $49/month pricing with up to 15 team members and all messaging channels included. Additional costs to consider with Zendesk: annual billing is required for listed rates, and AI agent resolutions incur per-resolution fees.

Zendesk Chat is best for established support teams already using Zendesk's platform. However, its per-agent pricing model and limitation to web chat only make it less suitable for businesses wanting unified messaging across WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social channels that Converge provides at a flat $49/month rate.

While Zendesk Chat works well for traditional web support, modern customer communication happens across multiple channels. Converge's unified approach and flat pricing make it the better choice for businesses wanting comprehensive messaging coverage without the complexity and escalating costs of per-agent pricing models.