Pick Zendesk if you run a larger team that needs approval workflows, custom roles, workforce management or native voice and WhatsApp. It is a deep platform, and on Suite Professional you can choose your data region.
Pick Solvias if you are a Shopify store and most support arrives by email. With 3 agents and the AI resolving 60% of 400 tickets, the cheapest Zendesk plan comes to €525 a month. Solvias is €99, seats included.
Solvias vs Zendesk at a glance
| Compared on | Solvias | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Free option | Free plan, 50 tickets in total, no card | 14-day trial, no free plan |
| What you pay for | The ticket you reply to | Each agent, every month |
| Entry price | €29 a month, 100 tickets, any number of seats | €25 per agent a month (Support Team, monthly billing) |
| How the AI is billed | Included in every plan | 5 or 10 resolutions per agent a month, then €1.50 to €2.00 each |
| Agent assist (Copilot) | Drafts on every ticket, included | €50 per agent a month, add-on |
| AI and control | ||
| AI drafts and auto-replies | ||
| Review mode before anything is sent | The default for every category | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Shopify order actions | Read-only. A person decides refunds | Refund, and cancel unfulfilled orders |
| Funnels that check the order before replying | Not stated on the pricing page | |
| List of questions your knowledge base misses | Every plan | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Channels and platforms | ||
| Live chat, social, WhatsApp | Suite plans | |
| Voice | Suite plans | |
| Made for Shopify | Shopify only, by Shopify store owners | General platform. Shopify app rated 3.2 |
| Data in the EU | Every plan | EEA data center on Suite Professional and up |
What Solvias and Zendesk cost at four volumes
Same store, same tickets, 3 agents. We put the AI on 60% of tickets and used Support Team, Zendesk's cheapest plan, which covers email and includes 5 automated resolutions per agent. Extra resolutions are pay-as-you-go.
| Tickets a month | Zendesk | Solvias |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | €165 Support Team, 3 agents | €29 Launch |
| 400 | €525 Support Team, 3 agents | €99 Growth |
| 800 | €1,005 Support Team, 3 agents | €239 Growth + 400 extra |
| 1,500 | €1,845 Support Team, 3 agents | €299 Scale |
Euro prices from Zendesk's European pricing page, monthly billing, checked October 1, 2026: €25 per agent, 15 resolutions included for 3 agents, €2.00 per resolution past that. Committed resolutions cost €1.50 and annual billing brings Support Team to €19 per agent. Suite Team, which adds chat, voice and social, is €69 per agent and would add €132 a month at every volume.
Per agent or per ticket: how the two bills work
Zendesk charges per agent, per month. Support Team is €25 an agent on monthly billing, Suite Team €69 and Suite Professional €149. Annual billing lowers that to €19, €55 and €115.
The AI is billed on top. Each agent brings 5 automated resolutions a month (10 on Professional). Past that, Zendesk charges €2.00 per resolution pay-as-you-go, or €1.50 if you commit in advance. You are only billed when the AI fully resolves a conversation.
Solvias works the other way round. You pay for tickets you reply to, and seats are free. Solvias AI is included whether it writes the reply or a person does, so adding a team member or a second store never changes the bill.
On a small team the gap is wide. At 400 tickets with 3 agents, Zendesk is €525 and Solvias €99. The busier the AI gets on Zendesk, the higher the resolution line climbs.
How each one works with Shopify
Zendesk connects to Shopify through an app. Agents can view orders in a ticket, refund them in full or in part, and cancel unfulfilled orders. Editing orders is not listed as a supported action. The app has a 3.2 rating from 93 reviews on the Shopify App Store.
Solvias is built for Shopify only. Every email arrives with the order, the fulfillment and the carrier tracking already attached. Solvias AI reads them before it writes, so it can tell a customer where a parcel is without anyone looking it up.
Solvias has read-only access. It never refunds or cancels. Those requests go to a person with the order and a suggested reply attached.
Setup: an afternoon or a project
Zendesk is built for every industry, with approval workflows, custom roles and a large app marketplace. That depth suits big teams. A small Shopify store often needs less.
Solvias starts with three funnels already built: where is my order, returns and order changes. Connect your mailbox and Shopify, publish them, and the first drafts are waiting the same afternoon. You change a funnel when your policy changes.
Data location: what each one offers
Zendesk offers a Data Center Location add-on with regions in the US, the EEA, the UK, Japan and Australia. It is listed for Suite Professional and higher, free of charge.
Solvias stores your data in the EU on every plan, including Free. It is encrypted at rest and never used to train shared models.
Moving from Zendesk to Solvias
You can test Solvias without touching your Zendesk setup. Connect your support mailbox and Shopify store, and Solvias AI drafts in review mode, so nothing goes out until you approve it.
- Day 1: connect the mailbox and Shopify, publish the starter funnels
- Week 1: hold the drafts against the replies your agents send from Zendesk
- Week 2: turn on auto-send for one category you trust
- Then: move the mailbox fully and lower your Zendesk seats
The first 50 tickets are free with no card, so the test costs nothing but an afternoon.
Who is behind each tool
Zendesk was founded in 2007 in Copenhagen and is now headquartered in San Francisco. It serves companies of every size and industry, and it shows in the depth of the product.
Solvias is young and narrow on purpose. We are Arthur and Bryan, dropshippers and brand owners with over 30 million in revenue across our stores. We built Solvias for our own inboxes first. Read our story.
Solvias or Zendesk: which one to pick
Pick Zendesk if
- You run a large team that needs approval workflows, custom roles or workforce management
- You need native voice, WhatsApp, live chat and social in one place
- You support several products or industries, not only a Shopify store
- You want a large marketplace of apps and integrations
Pick Solvias if
- You are a Shopify store and most support arrives by email
- You want seats free and the AI in the price
- You want to be live in an afternoon, not after a setup project
Solvias vs Zendesk: questions
Is Solvias a good Zendesk alternative for Shopify?
For Shopify stores that mostly answer email, yes. Solvias is built only for Shopify, includes its AI in every plan and charges per ticket, not per agent. If you need voice, chat and enterprise workflows, Zendesk covers more.
Is Solvias cheaper than Zendesk?
For small and mid-sized teams, yes. With 3 agents and the AI resolving 60% of 400 tickets, Zendesk Support Team comes to €525 a month on monthly billing. Solvias Growth is €99, with any number of seats.
Does Zendesk charge for AI?
Yes. Each agent includes 5 automated resolutions a month, 10 on Suite Professional. Past that, Zendesk charges €2.00 per resolution pay-as-you-go or €1.50 committed. Copilot is €50 per agent a month.
Can I keep Zendesk while I test Solvias?
Yes. Solvias drafts in review mode on the same mailbox, so you compare its drafts with your team's replies before you change anything in Zendesk.
Does Solvias do phone or WhatsApp like Zendesk?
No. Solvias handles email only: Gmail, Outlook or any IMAP and SMTP mailbox. Zendesk Suite covers voice, WhatsApp and live chat.
Does Zendesk store data in the EU?
On Suite Professional and higher, you can choose the EEA as your data center region at no extra cost. Solvias stores data in the EU on every plan, Free included.
Every number about another product on this page comes from its own public pages, checked on October 1, 2026. Prices change, so check their page before you decide. Spot something out of date? Write to info@solvias.io and we fix it.