Zendesk vs Dispatch Tickets
Enterprise platform vs API-first simplicity. Here's how they compare on pricing, features, and philosophy.
Zendesk is the market leader. Dispatch Tickets is the new challenger. They solve the same problem very differently.
This isn’t a “Dispatch Tickets is better” pitch. They’re different tools for different situations. Here’s an honest comparison.
The Core Difference
Zendesk is an enterprise customer service platform. It does everything—ticketing, chat, phone, knowledge base, AI, analytics, workforce management. It’s built for large teams with dedicated support operations.
Dispatch Tickets is API-first ticketing infrastructure. It does one thing well—tickets—and gives you the tools to build on top. It’s built for technical teams who want to integrate support into their product.
Different philosophies, different trade-offs.
Pricing Comparison
| Zendesk Suite | Dispatch Tickets | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Per-agent | Per-ticket |
| Starting price | $55/agent/mo | $29/mo (1,000 tickets) |
| 5-person team | $275/mo | $29/mo |
| 10-person team | $550/mo | $29-99/mo |
| Engineers included? | Extra seats | Yes, unlimited |
| Multi-brand | Enterprise tier | All plans |
The pricing models are fundamentally different. Zendesk charges per person who accesses support. Dispatch Tickets charges per ticket regardless of how many people access it.
For a 10-person team doing 1,000 tickets/month, that’s $550/mo vs $29/mo. But the comparison isn’t that simple—Zendesk includes a lot more.
What Zendesk Does Better
Feature completeness. Zendesk has everything. Live chat, phone, knowledge base, community forums, AI bots, workforce management, advanced analytics. If you need a feature, Zendesk probably has it.
Enterprise scale. Zendesk handles millions of tickets for companies like Uber and Airbnb. It’s proven at massive scale with complex requirements.
Ecosystem. Thousands of apps and integrations in the Zendesk marketplace. Whatever you use, there’s probably a Zendesk integration.
AI features. Zendesk has invested heavily in AI—answer suggestions, ticket classification, bot deflection. If AI automation matters, Zendesk is ahead.
Support and services. You can buy implementation help, training, dedicated support. For enterprise deployments, this handholding matters.
What Dispatch Tickets Does Better
Pricing simplicity. One number: tickets. No seat counting, no tier navigation, no surprise bills when you add engineers to see customer feedback.
API-first design. Everything you can do in the UI, you can do programmatically. Built for integration, not just “has an API.”
Multi-brand included. Workspaces are a core feature, not an enterprise upsell. Run unlimited brands from day one.
Unlimited users. Founders, engineers, product managers, customer success—everyone can see tickets without incrementing your bill.
Simplicity. Less feature surface means less configuration, less training, less complexity. You’re productive in hours, not weeks.
When to Choose Zendesk
You need the full platform. Phone support, live chat, knowledge base, community forums—all in one place with unified reporting.
You’re enterprise-scale. Thousands of agents, millions of tickets, complex routing and SLAs across regions.
You have dedicated support ops. A team whose job is support, with processes and workflows that need enterprise tooling.
AI automation is strategic. You want to deflect tickets with bots and need sophisticated AI features.
You want vendor support. Implementation help, training, dedicated account management, guaranteed SLAs.
When to Choose Dispatch Tickets
You’re technical and want to build. Your instinct is “let me integrate this” not “let me configure this dashboard.”
Everyone should see support. Founders want customer signal. Engineers need bug context. Per-seat pricing makes this expensive.
You run multiple brands. Separate workspaces without enterprise pricing. Agencies, multi-product companies, franchises.
Simplicity matters more than features. You need ticketing, not a platform. Less is more.
Budget is constrained. Startups, bootstrapped companies, teams that can’t justify $55/seat/month.
The Honest Trade-offs
Choosing Zendesk means:
- Higher cost, especially as team grows
- More complexity to configure and maintain
- Feature depth you may not use
- Proven enterprise reliability
Choosing Dispatch Tickets means:
- Fewer features out of the box
- Newer product, smaller company
- Building more yourself (or doing without)
- Significant cost savings
Neither choice is wrong. They’re optimized for different situations.
Migration Considerations
Zendesk → Dispatch Tickets: Possible but you’ll lose features. If you’re using Zendesk’s phone, chat, knowledge base, or advanced automation, you’ll need alternatives or workarounds. Works best if you’re only using basic ticketing.
Dispatch Tickets → Zendesk: Easy upgrade path. Ticket data exports cleanly. Makes sense when you’ve outgrown simplicity and need enterprise features.
The Bottom Line
Choose Zendesk if you need an enterprise customer service platform with every feature, proven scale, and vendor support—and can afford per-seat pricing.
Choose Dispatch Tickets if you want API-first ticketing infrastructure with simple pricing, unlimited users, and built-in multi-brand—and can live without enterprise features.
Most enterprise teams belong on Zendesk. Most startups and technical teams are better served by Dispatch Tickets. The question is which category you’re actually in.
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Get Early AccessFrequently Asked Questions
They're different tools. Zendesk is an enterprise platform with everything built-in—chat, phone, KB, AI. Dispatch Tickets is API-first infrastructure with simpler pricing. Zendesk is better for enterprises needing full platform. Dispatch Tickets is better for technical teams wanting simplicity and lower costs.
Significantly. A 10-person team on Zendesk Suite costs $550/month ($55/seat). The same team on Dispatch Tickets costs $29-99/month depending on volume. That's 80-95% savings, though Zendesk includes more features.
For pure ticketing, yes. But if you rely on Zendesk's chat, phone, knowledge base, or advanced AI—you'll need alternatives for those. Dispatch Tickets works best when you mainly use Zendesk for tickets and find the extra features unnecessary.
Choose Zendesk if: you need an all-in-one platform, you're enterprise-scale, you want AI automation, or you have dedicated support ops needing advanced workflows. Zendesk's features justify the cost for the right use case.