Zendesk AI offers deep integration with the full Zendesk ecosystem. Hay offers quick deployment that works with any helpdesk. The right choice depends on your existing setup and implementation timeline.
Hay vs Zendesk AI comes down to speed and simplicity. Zendesk AI requires Suite Professional ($115+/agent/month) plus add-ons, with implementations taking weeks or months. Hay starts at $50/month, works with your existing Zendesk (or any helpdesk), and most teams are live within days.
Zendesk's per-agent pricing adds up fast, especially with AI features
Zendesk AI requires Suite Professional or higher. Legacy plans must migrate. Implementation often requires Zendesk partners or professional services.
Hay works on top of your existing Zendesk. No migration, no implementation fees. Just connect and configure.
Zendesk AI Cost
$1,650/month + implementation
$165/agent x 10 agents
Hay Cost
$135-$725/month
Based on resolution volume, not agent count
Save $925-$1,515/month (56-92% less) plus weeks of implementation time
Zendesk AI
Zendesk AI is an enterprise product with enterprise implementation requirements. Expect discovery calls, solution design, data migration, training sessions, and phased rollouts. The platform is powerful but complex - most teams need Zendesk partners or internal champions to succeed.
Hay
Self-serve by design. Connect your integrations, upload your knowledge base, configure your playbooks in plain English. Most support managers can do this in an afternoon without touching engineering. We optimize for time-to-value, not comprehensive feature coverage.
Teams frustrated with 6-week Zendesk implementations can be live with Hay in under a week.
Zendesk AI
Per-agent pricing means costs scale with team size. This model works well for teams with stable headcount and ensures predictable per-user costs. Adding agents increases your investment proportionally.
Hay
Resolution-based pricing means you pay for outcomes, not seats. Add agents without adding cost. This model works well for teams with variable staffing or who want to scale support capacity without budget increases.
Teams with stable headcount may find either model works. Teams that scale up for seasons or want to grow their support team prefer Hay's approach.
Zendesk AI
Zendesk AI is deeply integrated with the Zendesk ecosystem, which means seamless data flow and native features. This tight integration requires Zendesk Suite - teams on legacy plans would need to migrate to access AI features.
Hay
Hay is an AI layer that works with your existing tools. Use it with Zendesk, Help Scout, Intercom, or even directly via API. Switch helpdesks without losing your AI training. The trade-off is less deep native integration.
Teams fully committed to Zendesk benefit from native AI. Teams using multiple helpdesks or wanting flexibility prefer Hay's approach.
Zendesk AI
Zendesk's AI configuration involves Explore analytics, Flow Builder for routing, Triggers, Automations, and the AI agent settings. It's powerful but requires understanding multiple interconnected systems. Changes can have unexpected downstream effects.
Hay
Plain English playbooks with @-mention actions. 'If customer asks about order status, @Shopify Get Order, then respond with shipping details.' No flow builders, no trigger logic, no automation conflicts.
Support managers can configure and iterate on Hay without Zendesk admin expertise.
Zendesk AI
Zendesk AI is built for enterprises with 100+ agents, dedicated admin teams, and complex compliance requirements. The feature depth supports sophisticated workflows and governance needs that larger organizations require.
Hay
Built for support leaders managing 2,000+ monthly tickets who want quick deployment. We focus on the most common automation needs rather than comprehensive feature coverage for edge cases.
You don't have to leave Zendesk to use Hay. Most teams add Hay as an AI layer on top of their existing Zendesk, avoiding the pain of migration entirely.
OAuth integration takes 2 minutes. Hay can read tickets, customer data, and conversation history.
Link Shopify, WooCommerce, or your custom system. This enables action execution (order lookups, refunds, etc.).
Point Hay at your Zendesk Guide articles or upload PDFs. Indexing happens in minutes.
Write your automation rules in plain English. Most teams complete this in 2-3 hours.
Hay drafts responses in your Zendesk tickets. Agents approve before sending. Refine as needed.
Once confident, let Hay respond automatically for routine queries. Keep human review for complex cases.
Timeframe: Most teams are seeing AI-assisted responses in Zendesk within 3-5 days of starting.
No. Hay integrates with your existing Zendesk. You keep your current setup - agents work in Zendesk as usual, but Hay handles the AI automation layer. Many teams use both simultaneously.
For certain enterprise use cases (complex routing, ITIL workflows, advanced reporting), yes. Zendesk has features Hay doesn't. But for core support automation - answering questions, executing actions, escalating intelligently - they're comparable. The difference is implementation time and cost.
Hay works with any Zendesk plan via API. You don't need to migrate to Suite to use AI automation. This is a significant advantage for teams avoiding forced migrations.
Yes. With the integration, Hay can read customer history, previous tickets, and conversation context. This enables personalized responses based on past interactions.
Answer Bot is Zendesk's older article-suggestion tool. Zendesk AI (the newer agent) is more capable but requires Suite Professional+. Hay's advantage is that we work with any Zendesk tier and focus on action execution, not just article suggestions.
Hay operates alongside, not instead of, Zendesk's automation. You can keep your existing triggers and macros while adding Hay's AI capabilities. They're complementary systems.
Zendesk AI is a powerful enterprise solution for teams with dedicated admin resources, implementation budget, and time.
Hay is for support leaders who need AI automation now, want to work with their existing Zendesk (or any helpdesk), and don't want to pay per-agent. If you're frustrated with Zendesk's complexity or implementation timelines, Hay offers a faster path to the same automation outcomes.
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