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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Gong vs Zendesk

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Gong

4.0

Free to start

Zendesk

3.6

From $19/agent/mo

Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Gong4.0
Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Sales leaders running a team of reps who want to coach from real calls and forecast deals more accurately.

Best value

Pick it if: Established support teams, especially those handling phone, chat and email at volume across one or more brands.

Gong scores highest overall, but Zendesk gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeGongZendesk
In one lineRecords and analyses sales calls and emails to coach reps and forecast deals.Helpdesk for support teams, with AI agents that answer customers and a copilot for staff.
Pricing modelPaidPaid
Starting priceSee website$19/agent/mo
Free plan No No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeGongZendesk
Overall rating4.0Winner3.6
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
3.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
2.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeGongZendesk
Access & platform
Free plan No No
Mobile app Yes Yes
Desktop app––
Browser extension Yes–
API access Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No
AI abilities
Works with your files– Yes
Understands images––
Makes images No No
Makes video No No
Writes code– No
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style––
Works in many languages Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 178/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeGongZendesk
Plans

Platform fee

Custom (billed yearly)

Every Gong customer pays this, scaled to team size.

Support Team

$19/agent/mo billed yearly, or $25 monthly

Small teams that only need email ticketing.

Per-user licenceOur pick

Custom per user (billed yearly)

Each rep or manager who records and reviews calls.

Suite Team

$55/agent/mo billed yearly, or $69 monthly

Teams adding live chat, phone and AI agents.

Add-ons (Engage, Forecast, Enable)

Custom

Teams that want outreach, forecasting or coaching in Gong too.

Suite ProfessionalOur pick

$115/agent/mo billed yearly, or $149 monthly

Growing support teams that need skills-based routing and better AI tools.

Suite Enterprise

Custom

Large or regulated support operations.

Which plan to pickStart with the core licence for reps who run customer calls and add Forecast or Engage only once the team uses Gong daily. Push back on bundles and multi-year terms during negotiation.Support Team only makes sense for email-only teams. Most businesses wanting AI and live chat should trial Suite Professional (the trial includes Copilot), then work out how many AI resolutions they will use, because extra resolutions at about $2 each can cost more than the seats.

Key features

AttributeGongZendesk
Standout features
  • Call recording and transcripts
  • Deal insights
  • AI summaries and follow-ups
  • Coaching
  • Forecasting
  • Ask anything
  • Ticketing
  • AI agents
  • Copilot
  • Omnichannel routing
  • Voice and messaging
  • Help centre and reports

Pros and cons

AttributeGongZendesk
Pros
  • Very accurate call analysis and deal warnings
  • Easy for reps: it records and summarises with no extra work
  • Strong coaching tools for managers
  • Wide range of integrations with CRMs and dialers
  • Covers every support channel, including phone, in one product
  • Mature routing, service targets and reporting for big teams
  • Huge marketplace of integrations and apps
  • AI agents and Copilot are built in rather than bolted on from a third party
  • Public API that developers know well
Cons
  • Expensive, with a platform fee on top of per-user licences
  • No public pricing and pressure toward multi-year deals and bundles
  • Renewal price increases are a common complaint
  • Small teams often use only a fraction of the features they pay for
  • Costs climb quickly with agents, add-ons and per-resolution AI charges
  • Users say the meaning of an automated resolution and the bill are hard to predict
  • Setup and admin take real time; small teams find it heavy
  • Frequent complaints about slow, scripted help from Zendesk's own support
  • Its AI agent is generally rated below Intercom's Fin for answer quality

Who each one is for

AttributeGongZendesk
Best for
  • Coaching reps from real call recordings
  • Spotting at-risk deals early
  • Sales forecasting and pipeline reviews
  • Learning why deals are won or lost
  • Ticketing for a team of support agents
  • Phone, chat and email support in one place
  • Routing tickets by skill, language or priority
  • Support reporting and service targets
  • Multi-brand customer service
You'll find it used by
  • Sales leaders
  • Account executives
  • Revenue operations
  • Customer success teams
  • Support teams
  • Contact centres
  • Retail and ecommerce
  • Software companies
  • IT help desks

Questions people ask

Which is better, Gong or Zendesk?

Gong scores highest overall in our ratings (Gong 4.0/5 and Zendesk 3.6/5). Gong is best for coaching reps from real call recordings and spotting at-risk deals early. Zendesk is best for ticketing for a team of support agents and Phone, chat and email support in one place.

Which is cheaper, Gong or Zendesk?

Gong: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. Zendesk: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $19/agent/mo.

Which is easier to use, Gong or Zendesk?

Gong rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Sales leaders running a team of reps who want to coach from real calls and forecast deals more accurately.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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