Aqvitus and Zendesk

Zendesk has more of everything — contact center, workforce management, an app for every integration. Aqvitus is narrower on purpose, and gives a small team the AI allowance, the visible lanes and the approvals as standard rather than as an allowance of five resolutions per agent.

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Every Zendesk figure on this page is as listed on their site on 29 September 2026.

Aqvitus Zendesk

The AI is charged: per AI conversation — counted once, however it ends; per automated resolution — a request resolved by the AI without escalating to a person — beyond 5 to 15 included per agent a month
What that costs: $0.30, $0.25 or $0.20 after the plan’s allowance; $1.50 a resolution committed, $2.00 pay as you go
The base price: $49, $249 or $749 a month, with 2, 6 or 20 people included; $19 to $169 per agent a month billed annually ($25 to $219 monthly); the top tier is sales-only
Trial: 14 days of Team, no card; 14 days, no card

Zendesk figures as listed on their site on 29 September 2026.

What Zendesk does well

The established helpdesk, rebuilt around AI agents and billed per automated resolution on top of agent seats.

Breadth: ticketing, messaging, voice, help center, QA, workforce management and 1,800+ marketplace apps from one vendor.
A resolution is only counted when it did not escalate to a person — a stricter definition than several rivals use.
A low entry seat price, an analyst leadership position, and a startup offer their site describes as free for up to two years.

When Zendesk is the better choice

If you need a contact center, IT service management, workforce management and an app for everything, Zendesk has all of it and Aqvitus does not.

What each of us counts

The base price is only half the bill. The other half is the unit — and the two products below do not count the same thing.

Aqvitus

per AI conversation — counted once, however it ends

$0.30, $0.25 or $0.20 after the plan’s allowance

$49, $249 or $749 a month, with 2, 6 or 20 people included

Zendesk

per automated resolution — a request resolved by the AI without escalating to a person — beyond 5 to 15 included per agent a month

$1.50 a resolution committed, $2.00 pay as you go

$19 to $169 per agent a month billed annually ($25 to $219 monthly); the top tier is sales-only

Zendesk counts an automated resolution only when the AI did not escalate, which is a stricter, fairer definition than several rivals use — but it means a conversation the AI triaged and handed over is work you have paid a seat for twice over. Aqvitus counts that handoff once, at the plan rate, and tells you it did.

No per-resolution fees. And our reports never count a customer going quiet as a success.

Where Aqvitus is different

The AI allowance is not a rounding error

Their included resolutions are 5 to 15 per agent a month, so real volume is billed at $1.50 to $2.00. A Team plan on Aqvitus includes 1,500 AI conversations for $249, and $0.25 each after that.

Rules decide, not the model

Aqvitus validates every action the AI proposes and runs it through rules you wrote before anything happens. It is deterministic code, not a second model checking the first.

Built for a small team from the start

Zendesk’s own FAQ says its automation takes time to learn and tune. Aqvitus is one product with one set of lanes, and a two-person workspace sees the same screens as a twenty-person one.

Your model on Enterprise

Aqvitus routes each kind of work to a model through a router, so an Enterprise workspace can bring its own key or run models it hosts itself. That is not on offer in the self-serve helpdesk market.

Side by side

Aqvitus prices in full are on our pricing page. Zendesk's were read from their own site.

Aqvitus and Zendesk, side by side.
Product	What the base price buys	How the AI is charged	What the AI costs	Trial
Aqvitus	$49, $249 or $749 a month, with 2, 6 or 20 people included	per AI conversation — counted once, however it ends	$0.30, $0.25 or $0.20 after the plan’s allowance	14 days of Team, no card
Zendesk	$19 to $169 per agent a month billed annually ($25 to $219 monthly); the top tier is sales-only	per automated resolution — a request resolved by the AI without escalating to a person — beyond 5 to 15 included per agent a month	$1.50 a resolution committed, $2.00 pay as you go	14 days, no card

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Every figure for Zendesk is as listed on their site on 29 September 2026. Prices change; check theirs before you decide. Aqvitus prices are on our pricing page.

AI First. Human Always.

Put the AI in front of every conversation, and keep your team in charge of everything that matters.

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