eesel AI alternatives: AI agents for your helpdesk and your website
Yevhen Kurapov, co-founder · Updated Oct 19, 2026
eesel AI is free for a one-time 100 credits, then $299 a month for 500 tickets or chats. Below that volume, ChatPal is $50 a month for 1,500 AI replies, about 500 chats. Fin charges $0.99 per outcome on many helpdesks. Zendesk and Gorgias include AI agents inside their own helpdesks. Tidio and Chatbase sell AI in blocks.
We make ChatPal, one of the tools below, and list its limits on the same terms as everyone else's.
eesel AI is an AI agent that sits inside the helpdesk you already use and learns from what is there: help center articles, macros and, in Zendesk, past tickets. Its price is simple. A ticket or chat is one credit, and paid plans start at $299 a month for 500 credits. For a team with a few thousand tickets in Zendesk or Freshdesk, that can be good value. For a small store or a team with a few hundred conversations a month, $299 is a high floor.
The alternatives fall into two camps: AI built into one helpdesk (Zendesk, Gorgias) and AI you add to a helpdesk or website from outside (Fin, ChatPal, Tidio, Chatbase). They also count usage differently: per outcome, per AI reply or per block of conversations. We checked the prices on the vendors' own pages on 19 October 2026; Tidio's larger Lyro quotas are as its price calculator showed them on 15 October.
We make ChatPal, which is one of the options here, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
What eesel AI does well
It reads the history you already have. In Zendesk, eesel imports past tickets, help center articles and macros, and you can run it against past tickets before it answers real ones. Most tools on this page learn only from articles and documents you give them.
It works across many helpdesks. eesel lists Zendesk, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Intercom, Help Scout, Front, HubSpot and Salesforce, plus a website chat bubble, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Slack and Microsoft Teams. If you run two helpdesks, or might switch, one AI vendor across both is useful.
Long conversations cost the same as short ones. A ticket is one credit however many replies go back and forth. Tools that count replies or messages charge more for a long thread.
Where teams start looking elsewhere
The entry price. After the 100-credit trial, the smallest paid batch is 500 credits for $299 a month. If you get 150 tickets a month, you pay for 500. Paying a year upfront gives two months free, through sales.
Credits are a hard stop. When credits run out, eesel's agents pause until the month resets, unless you switch on overage at $0.80 a credit with a cap. Unused credits don't roll over.
Credits are shared. Slack questions, scheduled agents and reports use credits too, so the internal side of eesel draws from the same pool as customer tickets.
Channels you might miss. eesel's integrations page lists no Telegram, which matters if your customers write to you there.
How we chose
We looked at AI agents a small business can sign up for without a sales call, that either work inside a helpdesk or answer on a website and messaging apps, and that publish prices. We read each vendor's pricing page and help pages in October 2026 and rechecked the prices on 19 October. We make ChatPal; we did not test the others hands-on.
The tools are grouped by how they are sold, not ranked. If you're leaving your helpdesk rather than its AI, our Zendesk alternatives page compares helpdesks instead.
eesel AI and six alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| eesel AI | Staying on eesel | Free trial of 100 credits; Teammate from $299 a month for 500 credits to $1,749 for 5,000, billed monthly; a ticket or chat is 1 credit |
| ChatPal | Flat monthly plan, website and messaging apps | Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500, $50 for 1,500 and $120 for 4,000, billed monthly |
| Fin | Per outcome, on many helpdesks | $0.99 per outcome, 50 outcomes a month minimum, no seat fees on other helpdesks |
| Zendesk AI agents | Built into your helpdesk | Included in Suite Team ($55 per agent a month billed annually, $69 billed monthly) with 5 automated resolutions per agent a month |
| Gorgias AI Agent | Built into your helpdesk | Helpdesk from $10 a month for 50 tickets; AI Agent adds about $1 per automated interaction, so Basic goes from $60 to $90 a month with 30 interactions, billed monthly |
| Tidio Lyro | AI sold in blocks | Lyro from $39 a month for 50 AI conversations billed monthly ($32.50 on annual billing), about $700 for 1,000; Tidio shows prices in your local currency |
| Chatbase | AI sold in blocks | Hobby $40 a month for 700 message credits, Standard $150 for 4,000, billed monthly ($32 and $120 billed annually) |
Staying on eesel
eesel AI
Price: Free trial of 100 credits; Teammate from $299 a month for 500 credits to $1,749 for 5,000, billed monthly; a ticket or chat is 1 credit
Good at
- Works inside Zendesk, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Intercom, Help Scout, Front, HubSpot and Salesforce
- In Zendesk, learns from past tickets, help center articles and macros, and can be tested on past tickets first
- A ticket or chat is 1 credit however many replies it takes, with no per-seat price
- Also answers on a website chat bubble, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Slack and Teams
Keep in mind
- The paid plan starts at $299 a month; the free plan is a one-time 100-credit trial
- At zero credits, agents pause unless you turn on overage at $0.80 per credit; unused credits don't roll over
Flat monthly plan, website and messaging apps
ChatPal
Price: Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500, $50 for 1,500 and $120 for 4,000, billed monthly
Good at
- Paid plans from $20 a month, and a free plan that renews every month
- Website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram on every plan, with handoff to your team in its own inbox
- Answers Zendesk tickets itself or drafts replies for your agents, and syncs your Zendesk Help Center
- On Shopify, answers from a synced copy of your catalog and, with order support on, tells signed-in customers where their order is
Keep in mind
- Zendesk is the only helpdesk it connects to
- Learns from files, website links, your Help Center and Notion, not from past tickets or macros
Per outcome, on many helpdesks
Fin
Price: $0.99 per outcome, 50 outcomes a month minimum, no seat fees on other helpdesks
Good at
- Runs on Intercom, Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks, Dixa, Front, Zoho, Sprinklr and Gorgias
- Works on Zendesk tickets and Zendesk Messaging
- One outcome per conversation, however many actions Fin takes; 14-day trial
Keep in mind
- Resolutions, procedure handoffs, routing and disqualifications are all billed outcomes at $0.99, so the bill grows with volume
- Zendesk Messaging needs a Sunshine licence from Zendesk
Built into your helpdesk
Zendesk AI agents
Price: Included in Suite Team ($55 per agent a month billed annually, $69 billed monthly) with 5 automated resolutions per agent a month
Good at
- No second vendor: the AI agent comes with the Zendesk plan
- 10 automated resolutions per agent a month on Suite Professional; 14-day trial
Keep in mind
- Resolutions past the allowance cost $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go
- Overage is allowed by default, billed monthly
Gorgias AI Agent
Price: Helpdesk from $10 a month for 50 tickets; AI Agent adds about $1 per automated interaction, so Basic goes from $60 to $90 a month with 30 interactions, billed monthly
Good at
- With AI Agent on, Starter and Basic come with 30 automated interactions a month and Pro ($550 a month instead of $360) with 190
- Email, live chat, social and TikTok Shop in the same helpdesk, with voice and SMS as add-ons for any plan
Keep in mind
- Each automated interaction also counts as a helpdesk ticket, and past the allowance it is $1.50
AI sold in blocks
Tidio Lyro
Price: Lyro from $39 a month for 50 AI conversations billed monthly ($32.50 on annual billing), about $700 for 1,000; Tidio shows prices in your local currency
Good at
- Learns from an FAQ upload, a website scan or imported Zendesk articles
- Lyro Connect plugs it into Zendesk, Intercom or Salesforce
Keep in mind
- Lyro Connect is only on Tidio's Plus and Premium plans
- The free 50 Lyro conversations come once, not monthly; above 1,000 a month is a custom plan
Chatbase
Price: Hobby $40 a month for 700 message credits, Standard $150 for 4,000, billed monthly ($32 and $120 billed annually)
Good at
- Zendesk integration from Standard; extra credits at $40 per 1,000
- WhatsApp, Messenger and Slack, plus a REST API and webhooks
Keep in mind
- A reply uses 1 to 5 credits depending on the AI model; GPT-5.2, Gemini 2.5 Pro and Claude 5.5 Sonnet use 2
- At zero credits, visitors see that the AI agent is unavailable
What each one learns from, and where it answers
After price, this is where the tools differ most.
| Tool | Knowledge it reads | Where it answers |
|---|---|---|
| eesel AI | Help center, past tickets and macros (Zendesk), websites, Google Drive, Notion, Confluence, SharePoint, PDFs | Zendesk, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Intercom and other helpdesks, chat bubble, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS, email, Slack, Teams |
| ChatPal | PDF, Word, text and Markdown files, website links, Zendesk Help Center, Notion, Shopify or Horoshop catalog | Zendesk, website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram |
| Fin on Zendesk | Zendesk help center, PDFs, text snippets | Zendesk tickets and Messaging; on its own platform also email, voice, Slack and social |
| Tidio Lyro | FAQ upload, website scan, Zendesk articles | Tidio's widget and connected channels; Zendesk, Intercom or Salesforce through Lyro Connect |
| Chatbase | Files, websites and Notion, 40 MB per agent; past tickets as a source on Pro | Website widget, WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack, Zendesk from Standard |
Two gaps to check against your own setup. Only eesel and Chatbase's Pro plan ($500 a month billed monthly) list past tickets as a source; everyone else needs your answers written down as articles or documents. And of eesel, Fin, Chatbase and ChatPal, only ChatPal lists Telegram.
What 300 and 1,000 conversations cost
The AI line only, in US dollars a month, billed monthly. We assume every conversation is answered by the AI (for Fin, that every one is a billed outcome), three AI replies per conversation for tools that count replies, and two credits per reply for Chatbase, the rate of mid-range models such as GPT-5.2 and Claude 5.5 Sonnet (its cheapest models use one). Helpdesk seats are left out, since you pay them either way. Tidio's two figures are from its price calculator on 15 October, so confirm the current price with them.
| Tool | 300 a month | 1,000 a month | What is counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| eesel AI | $299 (500 credits) | $499 (1,000 credits) | Tickets and chats |
| ChatPal | $50 (1,500 replies) | $120 (4,000 replies) | AI replies |
| Fin | $297 | $990 | Outcomes |
| Zendesk AI agents, 3 agents on Suite Team | $428 (285 past the 15 included, at $1.50 committed) | $1,478 | Automated resolutions |
| Tidio Lyro | about $210 | about $700 | AI conversations |
| Chatbase | $150 (Standard, which Zendesk needs; 1,800 credits) | $230 (Standard plus 2,000 extra credits) | Message credits |
Gorgias is left out because its AI interactions also count as helpdesk tickets, so the cost depends on your Gorgias plan. With AI Agent on, Basic is $90 a month instead of $60 and comes with 30 automated interactions, about $1 each. Past that allowance, each interaction is $1.50 and also counts as a ticket.
Two things move these numbers. If your conversations run long, say six replies each, ChatPal's 1,000-conversation month becomes 6,000 replies, past its $120 plan, while eesel still counts 1,000. If many conversations simply go to your team, Fin charges less than the table shows, since a conversation passed on without an outcome isn't billed (a handoff that follows a set procedure is).
Which alternative fits
You run Zendesk and want AI on tickets. Start with what you already pay for: Suite Team includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month, Suite Professional 10. If you need more, compare Zendesk's $1.50 per resolution with Fin at $0.99 per outcome and eesel at $0.60 per ticket on its 500 batch, falling to about $0.42 at 2,000. ChatPal connects to Zendesk on every plan, the free one included: in Autopilot it answers tickets and hands the ones it shouldn't keep to a Zendesk group, and in Copilot it drafts replies your agents accept, edit or reject. Copilot needs a Zendesk plan that allows private apps, Suite Growth or above. Setup is in our Zendesk AI chatbot guide.
You run Gorgias for a Shopify store. Gorgias's own AI Agent keeps everything in one helpdesk and one bill. eesel and Fin also work inside Gorgias if you want to compare per-ticket or per-outcome pricing.
You don't have a helpdesk, and most questions arrive in chat or DMs. You may not need one yet. ChatPal answers on your website, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram from your documents and website pages, and hands a chat to your team in its inbox when the AI shouldn't answer. On Shopify it answers from your catalog and, with order support on, tells signed-in customers where their order is. Tidio and Chatbase answer on a website widget, with Chatbase adding WhatsApp and Messenger.
You have thousands of tickets and long threads. eesel's per-ticket count, imports of past tickets and support for many helpdesks suit this case. At 2,000 tickets a month it is $849. Fin is the other strong option at that size, if you're comfortable with per-outcome billing.
You want to spend nothing yet. ChatPal's free plan gives 100 AI replies every month on every channel. eesel's 100 credits and Tidio's 50 Lyro conversations are a one-time trial.
Switching from eesel AI
- List what eesel reads today. Help center, Google Drive, Notion, PDFs, past tickets. Most alternatives take the help center and documents; few take past tickets, so turn the answers you rely on into articles first.
- Count your last month honestly. Take tickets and chats the AI handled, not all tickets, and for tools that count replies, look at how long a typical thread runs.
- Run the new agent in draft mode first. In Zendesk, ChatPal's Copilot mode drafts replies in the ticket sidebar, so agents see answers before customers do (it needs Suite Growth or above). Elsewhere, test in the tool's preview with last month's real questions.
- Move one channel at a time. Start with the website chat or one messaging app, then tickets.
- Cancel eesel at the end of a billing month, since credits reset monthly and don't roll over.
For the per-outcome side of the decision, see Intercom Fin alternatives. For what ChatPal does in Zendesk, see the Zendesk AI agent page, and for plan details, pricing.