In customer service, AI has become a must-have. That’s why it was big news when Zendesk acquired Ultimate AI in early 2024. The move showed a major shift in how support automation is being packaged and sold.
But what exactly is Ultimate AI? More importantly, what does this acquisition mean for you if you’re in the market for an AI solution? In this guide, we’ll break down the platform, its features, and the real-world impact of its new life inside the Zendesk ecosystem. While Ultimate was a trailblazer in AI support, its new direction might give you pause, especially when other, more flexible alternatives are available.
What is Ultimate AI?
Ultimate AI is a platform for automating customer support with AI-powered virtual agents. The idea has always been to let AI handle common questions across channels like live chat, email, and social media, freeing up human agents for more complex issues.
The company was founded in 2016 by Reetu Kainulainen, Jaakko Pasanen, and Markus Rautio. They built a platform that became popular with larger companies looking to automate a high number of support tickets. In March 2024, customer service giant Zendesk bought Ultimate, making it a core part of its own AI tools. This changed everything for Ultimate, turning it from an independent platform into a feature inside a much bigger one.
A deep dive into Ultimate AI’s features and usability
On paper, Ultimate AI has a strong feature set built for big companies. But when you look closer, the day-to-day reality of using it can be a different story.
Core capabilities of the Ultimate AI platform
Here’s what Ultimate AI says it can do:
- AI-powered virtual agents: The main feature is the ability to build virtual agents that can understand and solve customer problems on their own.
- Multilingual support: It works in over 20 languages, which is a big deal for global teams.
- CRM integration: It was built to connect with major CRMs, though now its focus is almost entirely on its parent company, Zendesk.
- Analytics and reporting: It offers dashboards to track agent performance, how often issues get resolved, and other key service metrics.
The reality of setting up and managing Ultimate AI
Even with those features, setting up and managing the platform isn’t always easy. The process can be complicated and inflexible, which means your team might need developer help just to get started.
Here are a few pain points that stand out:
- A clunky dialogue builder: The tool for creating conversation flows is prone to what the company calls "publishing errors." For instance, if you link two bot messages without a customer reply in between, you can accidentally create an "infinite bot message loop" that breaks the conversation. This suggests the system is less about intuitive building and more about following strict technical rules.
- Surprising technical limits: The platform has some odd restrictions. For example, their documentation points out that buttons in the chat interface can’t have more than 20 characters. This might sound like a small detail, but it makes it tough to write clear, descriptive button text, which can hurt the user experience.
- A confusing user experience: There’s a legacy "Ultimate Chat Widget" that isn’t recommended for new users anymore. This kind of fragmentation can be confusing and shows that the product is in transition, with older features being pushed aside for Zendesk’s own tools.
Pro Tip: If a tool’s help center is full of articles on how to fix technical bugs, it’s often a sign that it’s complicated to use. Modern tools like eesel AI have a different philosophy. Instead of a rigid builder, eesel uses a "human-in-the-loop" design where you set up bots with simple, plain-language instructions. This saves a lot of time and hassle, so you can spend your energy improving the customer experience instead of debugging your bot.
Understanding Ultimate AI pricing and the Zendesk ecosystem
Cost and the risk of being locked into one vendor are two of the biggest things to think about when choosing a new tool. After the Zendesk acquisition, these factors have become even more important when looking at Ultimate AI.
How much does Ultimate AI cost?
Ultimate AI doesn’t list its prices publicly. To get a quote, you have to talk to their sales team, and the process is geared toward large companies. Based on publicly available industry data, the average yearly cost for Ultimate’s services is around $47,000, and some bigger contracts can go as high as $200,000.
This pricing puts it out of reach for most small and mid-sized businesses. It’s a big financial commitment meant for companies that deal with a huge number of support tickets.
The impact of the Zendesk acquisition on Ultimate AI pricing and platform lock-in
Now that Zendesk owns it, Ultimate AI is being pulled deeper into the Zendesk product family. The strategy is to get customers to use more of the Zendesk platform, which leads to "vendor lock-in." If your AI tool and help desk are tightly bound together, switching either one becomes a massive headache and expense.
This is a big problem for businesses that use other help desks like Freshdesk, Intercom, or Gorgias. Ultimate AI might still integrate with them for now, but its future updates and support will naturally focus on the Zendesk ecosystem. You risk becoming a low-priority customer on a platform that no longer cares about being compatible with other tools.
A more transparent alternative: eesel AI’s pricing model
On the other hand, eesel AI has a straightforward pricing model that grows with you and doesn’t make you change your whole setup. It’s designed to work with the tools you’re already using.
eesel’s pricing is based on how many AI interactions you use each month (an interaction is an answer or an action). You can start small and increase your usage as you see the benefits. This makes powerful AI available to teams of all sizes, not just giant corporations.
| Feature | Ultimate AI | eesel AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Custom / Enterprise Quote | Transparent, Interaction-Based Tiers |
| Starting Price | Est. ~$47,000 / year | Starts at $239 / month (billed annually) |
| Public Pricing | No | Yes, all plans listed on website |
| Platform Strategy | Integrated into Zendesk ecosystem | Help desk agnostic (layers on any stack) |
| Ideal User | Enterprise teams committed to Zendesk | Teams of any size seeking flexibility |
Is Ultimate AI the right choice? Exploring modern alternatives
Choosing an AI platform is more than a technical decision; it’s a strategic one. You need a tool that solves your immediate issues without boxing you in later.
The core challenge with Ultimate AI: a fragmented, rip-and-replace approach
The main problem with choosing Ultimate AI now is that it’s not an independent, tool-friendly platform anymore. It’s part of Zendesk’s "walled garden." This puts pressure on you to "rip and replace" your current systems and move everything over to the Zendesk ecosystem. If your company uses a mix of different tools, this is a risky move that could make you less flexible.
The confusing user experience, with its old widgets and complicated builders, points to a product that’s still figuring things out. You’re not just buying a tool; you’re buying into a period of uncertainty as it gets fully absorbed into its new home.
The eesel AI advantage: a flexible, integrated layer
eesel AI takes a different tack. Instead of making you switch platforms, it acts as a smart layer on top of the tools you already have. This gives you all the benefits of AI without the pain of a huge migration.
Here are a few ways eesel is different:
- True integration: eesel AI connects to all your knowledge sources. It doesn’t just learn from help desk tickets; it trains on your internal wikis like Confluence and Google Docs, your team chats in Slack, and your e-commerce data from Shopify. This makes for a much smarter and more context-aware AI.
- Simulation before you scale: With eesel AI, you can run simulations on your past tickets before going live. This lets you test the AI’s accuracy, see how many tickets it would have solved, and figure out your potential return on investment. It lets you test the waters risk-free and gives you the confidence to roll it out.
- Multi-bot architecture: You can create and manage separate, specialized bots for different teams (like Support, IT, and HR) from one account. This keeps knowledge separate and secure, so your IT bot isn’t trying to answer customer support questions.
Should you choose Ultimate AI in 2025?
Ultimate AI is a capable automation tool, but since Zendesk bought it, there are some big trade-offs to consider. The high cost, lack of public pricing, and strong push toward vendor lock-in make it a risky choice for any business that isn’t already all-in on Zendesk. Its complicated setup and technical rules are also a big hurdle for teams that want something fast and easy to use.
For businesses that need an AI solution that works with their tech stack, not against it, a flexible, layered approach makes more sense. An AI platform should make your existing tools better, not force you to ditch them.
Ready for an AI solution that works with your tools, not against them? Book a demo of eesel AI today or start a free trial to see how you can automate support without migrating your help desk.
Frequently asked questions
The main purpose of Ultimate AI is to automate customer service by using virtual agents to resolve common and repetitive inquiries. This allows human support agents to dedicate their time and expertise to more complex or sensitive customer issues.
Based on its high enterprise pricing and complex, developer-heavy setup, Ultimate AI is built primarily for large corporations. Smaller businesses would likely find more value in alternatives with transparent, scalable pricing that don’t require a massive upfront investment.
While some legacy integrations may still function, Ultimate AI is now part of the Zendesk ecosystem, and its future development will prioritize that platform. If you use another help desk, you risk facing limited support and increasing pressure to migrate to Zendesk to get the full benefits.
The platform can be challenging for non-technical users, as it features a clunky dialogue builder and has been known to require debugging. Most teams will need developer assistance for the initial setup and ongoing management, which makes it less accessible than more intuitive, user-friendly AI tools.
