Zendeskの無料プラン：何が起こったのか、2025年にどうすべきか

If you’re here, you’re probably looking for a Zendesk free plan. You’re not alone. A lot of startups and small businesses hit a point where a shared email inbox just creates more problems than it solves. You know you need a real system to manage customer support, but you don't exactly have an enterprise-sized budget to throw at it.

While Zendesk is one of the biggest names in customer service, finding a truly free, permanent option from them has gotten tricky. But don't worry, your search for a better support system doesn’t have to end here. This post will clear up what’s going on with Zendesk’s plans, break down what it really costs to get started, and show you a more modern, flexible way to scale your support with powerful AI that won't drain your bank account.

Is there a Zendesk free plan?

Let's just get right to it: no. As of 2025, Zendesk doesn't offer a permanently free plan for its helpdesk software. This trips a lot of people up, especially since you can find discussions on places like Reddit where people mention competitors like Freshdesk that still have a free tier.

So, what does Zendesk offer instead?

• A 14-day free trial: You get to test out the features from their pricier plans, usually the Suite Professional tier. It’s a good way to see what the platform is capable of, but after two weeks, the clock runs out and you have to decide.

• Low-cost entry-level plans: Their "Support Team" plan is the cheapest way to get in the door, starting at $19 per agent per month if you pay for a year upfront. It’s their version of a budget-friendly option, but it comes with some significant limitations.

For a small or growing business, this setup can be tough. You get a glimpse of all the cool features during the trial, but then you’re stuck choosing between a high price tag or a basic plan that might be missing the tools you need to work efficiently. Before you commit, it’s really important to understand what you’re actually getting for your money.

A full breakdown of Zendesk's pricing plans

To figure out what life looks like after that 14-day trial, you need to get a handle on Zendesk's pricing. It’s broken down into two main types: "Support" plans for basic ticketing, and "Suite" plans that pull in more channels and features.

Zendesk Support plans

These are the foundational plans that focus on classic email ticketing. They’re a decent starting point but don’t include the more advanced communication channels or AI features.

Plan	Price (Billed Annually)	Key Features	Best For
Support Team	$19 / agent / month	Email, Facebook & X ticketing, business rules, basic reporting.	Very small teams just getting started with a ticketing system.
Support Professional	$55 / agent / month	All Team features + CSAT surveys, SLAs, multilingual support.	Growing teams that need to track performance and offer basic customization.
Support Enterprise	$115 / agent / month	All Professional features + skills-based routing, custom roles, sandbox environment.	Larger teams that need more advanced workflows and security controls.

Zendesk Suite plans

The Suite plans are where Zendesk bundles everything together, offering messaging, a help center, and more advanced AI. This is also where the price starts to jump up quite a bit.

Plan	Price (Billed Annually)	Key Features	Best For
Suite Team	$55 / agent / month	Ticketing, messaging (web, mobile, social), 1 help center, basic AI agents, workflows.	Small businesses that know they need to support customers on multiple channels from day one.
Suite Professional	$115 / agent / month	All Team features + advanced reporting, HIPAA compliance, skills-based routing.	Mid-sized businesses looking to optimize their operations and scale.
Suite Enterprise	$169 / agent / month	All Professional features + custom roles, sandbox, advanced AI capabilities.	Large enterprises with complex needs, multiple brands, and a bigger budget.

For the latest numbers, it's always a good idea to check the official Zendesk pricing page.

The real cost of starting with Zendesk's low-tier plans

That $19 per agent price tag looks pretty good at first glance, but the true cost of using Zendesk becomes clear once your team starts to grow and your needs evolve. The platform’s limitations are set up to gently push you into more expensive plans, which can lead to some painful budget conversations down the line.

Why per-agent pricing adds up fast

Zendesk’s per-agent pricing is simple, but it can be unforgiving. When your support team goes from two agents to five, and then to ten, your monthly bill grows right along with it. For a startup, this can turn into a serious operational expense much faster than you’d think.

The real kicker is that many of the features that could save your agents time, like advanced automation, are locked away in the higher-priced tiers. This puts you in a tough spot: either hire more people to handle the workload on a basic plan or pay a premium for the tools that make your current team more effective.

Key features like AI and automation are expensive extras

While the basic plans have simple business rules, the kind of smart, time-saving automation and AI you really want is reserved for the expensive Suite plans. Or, it's sold as a separate, pricey add-on.

For example, Zendesk's "Advanced AI" package costs an extra $50 per agent per month and is only available if you're already on the Suite Professional plan ($115/agent/mo) or higher. All of a sudden, giving just one agent access to intelligent triage and generative replies costs you over $165 a month.

A screenshot of Zendesk's intelligent triage feature, which is often an expensive add-on for those not on a Zendesk free plan.

This is a huge constraint. Instead of being forced into an expensive bundle, a tool like eesel AI can connect to any Zendesk plan, even the $19 one. You can add powerful and customizable AI from the beginning without being strong-armed into a massive upgrade.

Limited knowledge sources and a tricky setup

Zendesk's built-in AI is designed to work best inside its own world: the Zendesk Help Center and your ticket history. But what if your company’s knowledge is scattered everywhere else? If your source of truth lives across Google Docs, Confluence, and Notion, getting that information into Zendesk’s AI is a manual, and often frustrating, process.

On top of that, getting the most out of Zendesk's advanced features often requires a lot of time and technical know-how. For lean teams without a dedicated administrator, this "setup cost" is a hidden expense that can slow you down and keep you from getting the value you paid for.

A smarter alternative: Adding AI to your helpdesk

Instead of locking yourself into a rigid, all-in-one platform, there's a more modern and flexible way to build your support system. You can pick a simple, affordable helpdesk that fits your budget and then layer a specialized AI platform on top. This approach gives you top-tier functionality without the enterprise-level price.

Enhance what you have with eesel AI, don't rip it out

eesel AI is built to work with the tools you already have. With a one-click integration for Zendesk, you can add a powerful AI Agent to handle frontline questions and an AI Copilot to help your human agents. You don't have to migrate a single ticket or change how your team works. It's a totally different way of thinking compared to traditional software suites that often demand a full migration just to get better AI.

A screenshot showing the eesel AI Copilot drafting a reply within Zendesk, an alternative to a comprehensive Zendesk free plan.

Go live in minutes, not months

One of the biggest headaches with enterprise software is the setup time. With eesel AI, the process is designed to be self-serve. You don't have to book a sales call or sit through a mandatory demo just to see if it’s a good fit. You can sign up, connect your helpdesk, point the AI to your knowledge sources, and start automating support in a matter of minutes. That speed is perfect for teams that need to move fast and see results without a long, drawn-out project.

Unify all your knowledge, wherever it lives

This is where a dedicated AI layer really makes a difference. eesel AI isn't stuck inside your helpdesk. It learns from your past tickets, macros, and help center articles, but it can also connect to all your other knowledge sources. Whether your documentation is in Confluence, Google Docs, Notion, or SharePoint, eesel AI can access it. This creates a single, unified brain for your support AI, which means more accurate and helpful answers for your customers.

Test with confidence and pay as you go

Deploying a new AI tool can feel like a bit of a leap of faith. How do you know it will actually work? eesel AI takes the guesswork out of it with a simulation mode. You can test your AI setup on thousands of your past tickets to see exactly how it would have performed. This gives you a clear, data-backed forecast of your automation rate and cost savings before you turn it on for live customers.

That transparency applies to the pricing, too. Instead of a per-agent model that costs you more as your team grows, eesel AI uses a clear, interaction-based model. You pay for the value the AI delivers, not for how many people are on your team. This means no surprise bills and a predictable cost that scales with your needs, not your headcount.

Moving beyond the search for a Zendesk free plan

While a permanent Zendesk free plan might be a thing of the past, the search for one teaches an important lesson: the traditional, all-in-one suite isn't always the best or most affordable option. The entry-level plans are often too basic, while scaling up gets expensive and complicated fast.

The smarter way to build your support stack today is by pairing a simple, affordable helpdesk with a powerful, dedicated AI layer. This modular approach gives you more control, better features, and a budget you can actually stick to.

Instead of paying for a costly Zendesk upgrade just to get decent AI, why not add it to the plan you already have? See how eesel AI can automate your frontline support, draft replies for your agents, and finally unify all your scattered company knowledge.

You can try it yourself or book a demo to see how the simulation works on your own ticket history.