GigaML vs Zendesk: Choosing the right AI for customer service in 2025

Picking the right AI for your support team can feel like a pretty big deal. Everyone's pushing to automate, but the market is a chaotic mix of built-in tools, specialized agents, and everything in between. It’s easy to get analysis paralysis.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t about ripping out your entire help desk and starting from scratch. It’s about making what you already have better. So, do you stick with the native AI features that come with your platform, like Zendesk AI? Or do you plug in a specialized tool like GigaML to tackle a specific channel?

This guide is here to help you cut through that noise. We'll put GigaML and Zendesk AI head-to-head, looking at what they do, how hard they are to set up, and what they cost, so you can make a call that actually works for your team.

What the GigaML vs Zendesk debate is really about

First, let's get one thing straight. This isn't a true apples-to-apples comparison. You wouldn't choose GigaML instead of Zendesk. Zendesk is your whole help desk platform, the place you manage every customer conversation. GigaML is a specialized AI tool you would plug into a platform like Zendesk.

The real decision here is about your AI strategy. Are you better off with the convenience of a built-in AI that lives inside your help desk, or do you need the focused power of a dedicated, third-party agent?

What is GigaML?

GigaML is an agentic voice AI platform. Its main job is to get rid of phone hold times by using human-like AI voice agents to answer customer calls. Think of it as a specialist you hire to bring top-notch voice automation to your support setup. It’s built for one thing: handling conversations over the phone.

What is Zendesk AI?

Zendesk AI is the collection of AI features baked right into the Zendesk customer service platform. Its goal is to automate simple tasks, suggest replies for your human agents, and run self-service tools like chatbots, all without you ever having to leave the Zendesk interface. It’s sold as the handy, all-in-one AI option for teams already using the Zendesk ecosystem.

Feature and capability comparison: Specialist vs. generalist

When you dig into what each platform can actually do, you see a classic trade-off: the focused tool versus the integrated one. This is where you can start to see where each option might not be enough on its own.

GigaML's specialization: Advanced voice automation

GigaML’s strength is its laser focus on voice. If your support center is swamped with phone calls, this tool is designed to be your best friend. It can handle common inbound support questions, automate phone-based FAQs, and offer a conversational experience that feels a lot more natural than those old "press one for sales" IVR systems.

The catch, though, is that it only solves one piece of the puzzle. What about all the support tickets coming in through email, web forms, and live chat? A voice-only tool can't help you sort those tickets, draft email replies, or keep your internal knowledge up to date. It tackles one problem really well but leaves the rest of your support operation untouched.

While GigaML handles the critical phone channel, most teams need something that works everywhere their customers are. That's where a tool like eesel AI comes in, offering a truly omnichannel approach that automates responses across email, chat, and help desk tickets, not just phone calls.

Zendesk AI's advantage: Seamless native workflow

The biggest plus for Zendesk AI is that it’s already there. If you're a Zendesk customer, turning on features like AI-powered ticket routing or macro suggestions is simple. It pulls information from your Zendesk Guide articles and slots right into your team’s existing workflow.

The problem is the "walled garden." Zendesk AI is pretty smart, but it can only learn from information stored inside Zendesk. This creates a massive blind spot. If your team's most helpful and current info is scattered across Google Docs, Confluence pages, Notion, or Slack threads, the AI has no idea it exists. It’s like trying to answer questions using only one book from a massive library.

This limited knowledge base is the biggest drawback of most native AI tools. An AI is only as good as the information it can access. That’s why platforms like eesel AI are built to connect all your knowledge sources. It can instantly sync with over 100 apps like Confluence and Slack to deliver answers that are way more accurate and complete.

An infographic illustrating how eesel AI breaks the "walled garden" by connecting to multiple knowledge sources, a key factor in the GigaML vs Zendesk debate.

A quick look at key AI support functions

Putting them side-by-side, the gaps become obvious. A really effective AI needs to work across all your channels, pull from all your knowledge, and give you the control to roll it out safely.

• Channel coverage: GigaML is a voice specialist. Zendesk AI is built for text channels like email and chat. A more flexible tool like eesel AI is omnichannel, handling voice, text, and chat in one place.

• Knowledge sources: GigaML relies on pre-programmed scripts. Zendesk AI is stuck with only what's in Zendesk Guide and your macros. In contrast, eesel AI connects to over 100 sources, including Zendesk, Google Docs, and more, for much broader context.

• Getting started: GigaML requires consultation and a guided setup. Zendesk AI is a native feature you can just turn on. eesel AI is self-serve, letting you go live in minutes.

• Ticket triage: GigaML doesn't handle ticket triage. Zendesk AI offers basic routing. eesel AI provides advanced, customizable rules to manage your queue.

• Testing before launch: It's unclear how you can test GigaML. Zendesk offers limited testing. eesel AI has a powerful simulation mode that lets you test it on thousands of your past tickets before it ever talks to a customer.

Setup, integration, and ease of use

How you implement an AI tool is just as important as what it does. A powerful solution doesn't help much if it takes months to get running or forces you into rigid workflows.

GigaML's implementation: The traditional enterprise way

With its specialized focus and "Contact us for pricing" page, setting up GigaML probably feels like a classic enterprise software purchase. You can expect a series of sales calls, scheduled demos, and a hands-on onboarding process led by their team. That level of support can be nice, but it's also slow. It often eats up a lot of time from your team leads and might even need developers to get fully integrated, pushing back the date you actually start seeing results.

Zendesk AI's setup: Convenient but inflexible

For existing Zendesk customers, turning on the native AI is easy. It’s just another feature inside a platform you already use every day, so there isn't much of a learning curve. But that convenience comes at a price: flexibility. You’re often locked into Zendesk’s way of doing things, and tweaking the AI’s behavior to fit your team’s unique processes can be difficult, if not impossible. You have to work their way.

The modern alternative: Self-serve setup and a confident launch

There's a better approach that gives you both power and simplicity. Unlike solutions that require long sales cycles, eesel AI is built for modern teams that need to move fast. It's completely self-serve, you can sign up, connect your help desk with a single click, and have a working AI agent ready to test in minutes. No demo required.

One of the biggest anxieties of launching AI is the uncertainty. Will it annoy customers? Will it actually close tickets? eesel AI tackles this head-on with its simulation mode. You can safely test your AI on thousands of your real historical tickets to get an accurate prediction of its resolution rate and find any knowledge gaps before a single customer interacts with it. This lets you fine-tune its behavior and roll it out with total confidence.

eesel AI's simulation mode, which allows for safe testing before launch, a key consideration in the GigaML vs Zendesk evaluation.

A practical pricing guide

An AI tool's pricing model can make or break its value. You need clarity and predictability, but that’s not always what you get.

GigaML's pricing: Custom and not very clear

GigaML uses a "Contact for Pricing" model. This is pretty common for enterprise tools, but it's frustrating when you just want to know if something fits your budget. It means you can't estimate costs without getting on a sales call. The final price is likely custom-built for you and might include big setup fees or long-term contracts, making it a less-than-ideal choice for teams that want to start small and grow.

Zendesk AI's pricing: Bundled with a catch

Zendesk includes its AI features in its higher-tier plans or sells them as an add-on that charges you per resolution. This is where it gets a little strange. A "pay-per-resolution" model sounds fair at first, but it creates a weird conflict of interest: the more tickets your AI successfully resolves, the higher your bill. It essentially penalizes you for success and makes your costs unpredictable, especially during busy months.

eesel AI's pricing: Transparent and predictable

A modern tool should have modern pricing. With eesel AI, the costs are simple and upfront. Plans are based on a predictable number of AI interactions per month, not resolutions, so you never get a surprise bill for doing well. All the core features, from the AI Agent to the Copilot and Triage, are included in every plan. You can start with a flexible monthly subscription and cancel anytime, a world away from the rigid annual contracts and hidden fees you see elsewhere.

eesel AI's transparent pricing page, a key differentiator in the GigaML vs Zendesk comparison.

Moving beyond the simple GigaML vs Zendesk choice

So, what's the verdict? The GigaML vs Zendesk debate really brings a core challenge of AI adoption into focus. GigaML gives you a powerful but narrow voice solution that comes with a traditional, opaque sales process. Zendesk AI offers convenience for basic tasks but is stuck in its own ecosystem with a pricing model that punishes success.

The best AI strategy isn't about picking between these two limited options. It's about finding a platform that is both powerful and flexible, specialized and easy to get started with. You need an AI that can learn from all your scattered knowledge, not just what's sitting in your help desk. You need full control over what gets automated. And you need to be able to test it with confidence and pay a fair, predictable price.

eesel AI was built to strike this balance. It connects all your knowledge, gives you complete control over automation, lets you test confidently, and offers a transparent pricing model that grows with you, not against you.

Ready to see how a truly flexible AI can improve your support stack? Connect your helpdesk and start your free trial of eesel AI today. You can simulate its performance on your own data in just a few minutes.