FullSession | Zendesk alternatives: compare the support workflows your team actually needs | Roman Mohren | October 2026
Article: https://www.fullsession.io/blog/zendesk-alternatives

SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS INVENTORY AND SHORTLIST RECORD
A working file for your team. Every field is blank on purpose: fill it in from your own queue, contracts and vendor demos. Nothing here reports a completed test or a vendor result.

HOW TO USE THIS FILE
Part A inventories the channels you answer. Part B inventories the workflows you depend on. Part C turns the inventory into a path decision. Part D records one shortlisted product per copy, with the plan you would need and the source you checked. Part E is a budget worksheet built on each vendor's own billing unit.
Mark each requirement M (must-have), U (useful) or N (not needed). A requirement is M only if losing it would break a promise to customers or stop a team from doing its job. Write the evidence next to the mark.
Prices, plans and capabilities change often. Record the date you checked each source, and confirm the plan you would buy in a demo.


PART A: CHANNEL INVENTORY
Period reviewed (for example, the last 90 days):
Total contacts in the period:

1. Email ticketing
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Contacts in the period:
   Shared addresses routed today:
   Evidence and notes:

2. Website chat (visitors on your website)
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Contacts in the period:
   Share that are buying questions (pricing, plans, demo requests):
   Evidence and notes:

3. In-app chat (customers or users inside your web app)
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Contacts in the period:
   Share that are "how do I do this" tasks:
   Evidence and notes:

4. Phone
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Calls in the period:
   IVR, call recording or contact center needed? (yes / no):
   Evidence and notes:

5. Social and messaging apps (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS)
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Contacts in the period, by app:
   Evidence and notes:


PART B: WORKFLOW INVENTORY

6. Ticketing and statuses
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Statuses and fields your reports depend on:

7. SLA policies
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Contracted first-response time, by customer tier:
   Contracted resolution time, by customer tier:

8. Macros or saved replies
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Macros used weekly (count):
   Macros that change ticket fields (count and names):

9. Routing and assignment
   Mark (M / U / N):
   Manual assignment / round robin / skills-based (circle what you use):

10. Knowledge base or help center
    Mark (M / U / N):
    Must the new tool host the help center, or only answer from it?:
    Where your docs live today:

11. AI agent
    Mark (M / U / N):
    Questions it must answer (top five by volume):
    Actions it may take, and with whose approval:
    Billing unit you can measure today (resolutions, outcomes, sessions, conversations):

12. Reporting
    Mark (M / U / N):
    Metrics leadership reviews every week (exact names):

13. Integrations
    Mark (M / U / N):
    CRM, billing, ecommerce and engineering tools to connect:

14. Access controls and data handling
    Mark (M / U / N):
    Roles, SSO/SAML, audit logs, masking requirements:


PART C: PATH DECISION
Are any of these marked M: email ticketing (1), phone (4), SLA policies (7), field-changing macros (8)?
   Answer (yes / no):
If yes: keep a full helpdesk. Options to compare:
   Keep the current helpdesk and add an AI agent inside it (for example, Max runs inside Zendesk, HubSpot, Freshdesk and other supported helpdesks)
   Move to a full helpdesk alternative
If no: a chat-first desk is in scope as well (for example, FullSession Desk: Max, shared inbox and human chat on your website and inside your web app, no seat fees).
Decision and reason:
Decided by and date:


PART D: SHORTLIST RECORD (copy once per product)
Product:
Plan you would need to cover every M requirement:
Source URLs checked, with date:
Requirements covered on that plan (list numbers from Parts A and B):
Requirements not documented on the pages checked (list numbers):
Requirements confirmed in a demo (list numbers, with date and who confirmed):
AI agent billing unit, in the vendor's own words:
What that unit counts, and what it does not count:
Test conversation 1 (an email or chat your team handled last month):
   What happened in the demo:
Test conversation 2 (a customer who needed help completing a task in your product):
   What happened in the demo:
How a handoff to a person works, observed:
Open questions for the vendor:


PART E: BUDGET WORKSHEET (one column per product)
Use each vendor's own unit. Do not convert one vendor's unit into another's.

Product:
Seats or users needed:                       ____ x price per seat ____ = ____
Plan term (monthly / annual):
Monthly AI volume in this vendor's unit:     ____ x price per unit ____ = ____
Included AI allowance or minimum:
Channel add-ons (voice minutes, WhatsApp, SMS):
One-time onboarding or setup fees:
Retained third-party subscriptions (for example, a helpdesk kept on the add-an-agent path):
Optional recording or analytics plans:
Estimated monthly total before tax:
Notes and assumptions:

Max (FullSession Support & Sales Desk) formula, from https://www.fullsession.io/pricing?solution=desk (checked 19 October 2026):
Monthly AI charge = the higher of $99 or $0.39 x AI-assisted conversations. Example: 1,000 conversations = $390. The $99 minimum applies at 253 conversations or fewer.
One conversation = one user in one thread for a fixed 24 hours from Max's first substantive answer, guidance or supported action. Human replies add no charges. The Desk app, shared inbox, human chat and supported integrations are included, with no seat fees. Core CX / UX recording, third-party subscriptions, taxes and separately agreed services are excluded.
Your estimated AI-assisted conversations per month:
Your estimated Max charge:


Bring this file to a walkthrough: https://www.fullsession.io/book-a-demo?solution=support-desk