Warmly vs Zendesk: Customer support chatbot AI comparison (2025)
Warmly specializes in B2B revenue-focused engagement through visitor identification and intent-based outbound, while Zendesk leads in autonomous customer support with AI agents automating over 80% of interactions. For B2B SaaS companies prioritizing pipeline generation over ticket deflection, Warmly's approach delivers documented 12.5% connection rates with high-intent prospects versus traditional support automation.
At a Glance
• Zendesk automates 80%+ of customer interactions using AI trained on 18 billion service conversations
• Warmly focuses on converting website visitors into qualified pipeline through intent intelligence
• Zendesk pricing ranges from $19 to $209 per agent monthly, while Warmly avoids per-seat fees
• Zendesk offers 1,800+ integrations and 99.9% uptime with enterprise compliance certifications
• Both platforms deliver AI-powered chat, but optimize for different outcomes: support efficiency vs revenue generation
In 2025, customer support chatbot deployments exploded as businesses raced to cut costs without hurting experience. Warmly and Zendesk now headline most shortlists for a modern customer support chatbot capable of human-like service.
This comparison breaks down how each platform handles autonomous AI agents, integration depth, ROI potential, and the nuances that matter most when choosing your next customer service AI.
Why compare customer support chatbots now?
Customer expectations have fundamentally shifted. According to the Zendesk CX Trends 2026 report, 74% expect 24/7 service because of AI. The pressure to deliver instant, personalized support around the clock has never been higher.
The business case is equally compelling. CX leaders using generative AI report 83% positive ROI, and companies that embrace these technologies as "CX Trendsetters" experience 33% higher customer acquisition rates and 22% higher retention.
Yet despite rapid AI advancement, the gap between expectation and reality persists. The same research shows that 83% of consumers still believe experiences should be better than they are today. This disconnect creates both urgency and opportunity for teams evaluating customer support chatbot solutions.
For B2B SaaS companies specifically, the stakes extend beyond support efficiency. The right chatbot can identify high-intent accounts, route qualified leads to sales, and turn website traffic into pipeline. Warmly's marketing team, for instance, demonstrated how their own platform identified hundreds of net-new accounts visiting their website, proving that support and revenue generation can work hand in hand.
How do Warmly and Zendesk's autonomous AI agents stack up?
Zendesk positions its AI agents as the most autonomous in customer service. The platform claims its AI can automate over 80% of interactions and resolve even complex requests without human intervention. This autonomy stems from training on what Zendesk calls the world's largest CX dataset, built from more than 18 billion customer service interactions.
The Zendesk copilot adds another layer, increasing team productivity by 20% through proactive assistance. Agents receive suggested replies, contextual insights, and the ability to execute approved actions directly from their workflow. The result is a 15% or greater improvement in operational efficiency.
Warmly takes a different approach, focusing AI capabilities on revenue-driving conversations rather than pure ticket deflection. The platform specializes in visitor identification and intent intelligence, helping B2B sales teams uncover anonymous website traffic and engage high-intent accounts in real time.
| Capability |
Zendesk |
Warmly |
| Primary focus |
Ticket resolution at scale |
Revenue-focused engagement |
| Claimed automation rate |
80%+ of interactions |
Intent-based outbound |
| AI training data |
18B+ CX interactions |
Website visitor signals |
| Human handoff |
Seamless escalation |
Direct sales routing |
For organizations prioritizing massive ticket deflection across support channels, Zendesk offers mature, battle-tested automation. For B2B teams seeking to convert website visitors into pipeline, Warmly's intent-driven approach may deliver more direct revenue impact.
Does either bot really feel human?
The question of whether AI can deliver genuinely human-like service is no longer theoretical. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2026, "64% of consumers say that when AI agents embody human-like traits—such as friendliness, empathy, and even a bit of personality—it builds trust and makes them more likely to engage."
Zendesk has invested heavily in this area. Its AI can match customer tone in conversation, adapting whether users "like to have fun using emojis or prefer the conversation to be more formal," as one customer testimonial notes. The platform also reports that 73% of agents believe an AI copilot would help them do their jobs better.
Warmly's AI chat takes a more conversational, sales-oriented approach. In documented interactions, the platform's AI chat booked meetings with executives at companies like Salesflow and VeryTechnology, leading directly to closed deals. This demonstrates a different kind of "human-like" quality, one focused on relationship-building and business development rather than support resolution.
The data suggests both platforms have made progress on the empathy front, but through different lenses. Zendesk optimizes for support satisfaction; Warmly optimizes for conversion and connection.
Implementation, integrations & data flow
Modern AI chatbots operate as "retrieval-driven, workflow-capable assistants," according to Enjo's analysis of the market. The strongest deployments unify website chat, Slack, and Teams through a single intelligence layer.
Zendesk excels in this area with 1,800+ vetted integrations across platforms like Salesforce, Jira, Shopify, and Slack. Its webhook architecture allows teams to trigger HTTP requests based on specific activities, from user deletions to ticket creations.
For organizations already invested in the Zendesk ecosystem, the AI chatbot integrates tightly with ticketing, knowledge management, and analytics without requiring tool switching. The platform also offers custom CRM integration through its AI Agents API. This feature lets organizations "securely connect your organization's data and business systems with your AI agent," enabling real-time, personalized customer data to flow into bot conversations.
Warmly's integration philosophy centers on revenue workflows. The platform captures form fill data, sends real-time notifications for high-intent activity, and routes qualified prospects directly to sales teams. For B2B SaaS companies using website visitor identification and intent-based outbound, this approach delivers sales-ready leads rather than support tickets.
Key takeaway: Zendesk offers broader integration breadth for support operations; Warmly provides deeper integration with sales and marketing stacks.
What ROI, pricing & efficiency numbers matter most?
A Forrester Total Economic Impact study found that Zendesk customers achieved a 301% ROI over three years. The composite organization in that study cut contact volume by 25%, resolved 30% of inquiries with AI, and reduced handling time by three minutes per ticket.
The cost differential between channels is stark. Gartner data shows the median cost per contact is $1.84 for self-service versus $13.50 for assisted channels. This seven-fold difference explains why organizations are racing to automate.
Zendesk pricing starts at $19 per month for basic plans, scaling to $155 for Professional and $209 for Enterprise per agent monthly. The Copilot add-on runs an additional $50 per agent. For organizations with large support teams, these per-seat costs add up quickly.
Warmly takes a different approach by avoiding per-agent fees entirely. The platform's ROI calculator emphasizes that only 35% of sales time is actively spent selling. By delivering sales-ready leads directly to teams, Warmly aims to maximize that limited selling time rather than deflecting support tickets.
| Metric |
Zendesk (Forrester study) |
Industry benchmark |
| 3-year ROI |
301% |
Varies by deployment |
| Ticket deflection |
Up to 25% |
10-30% typical |
| Self-service cost per contact |
$1.84 (median) |
$1.50-$3.00 |
| Assisted cost per contact |
$13.50 (median) |
$10-$20 |
Warmly's marketing team documented a 12.5% connection rate with high-intent prospects, far exceeding typical cold outreach conversion. For B2B companies where pipeline generation matters more than ticket deflection, this revenue-focused ROI may prove more relevant than support cost savings.
Scalability, compliance & quality assurance checkpoints
Enterprise deployments demand more than feature comparisons. Zendesk delivers 99.9% uptime with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certification, backed by AI trained on over 18 billion interactions across 80+ languages.
The scale is significant. In 2025 alone, 1.7 billion people used Zendesk to connect with businesses, employers, or governments. This operational maturity, built over 18 years with 100,000+ customers worldwide, provides confidence for organizations requiring enterprise-grade reliability.
Multilingual support represents another scaling consideration. Research indicates that 7 in 10 global consumers believe it's important for brands to provide a complete experience in their native language. Zendesk's language coverage across 80+ languages addresses this requirement directly.
Quality assurance has evolved beyond basic metrics. Zendesk's Automated Quality Score (AQS) "uses AI to automatically evaluate and score 100% of customer conversations," according to Zendesk's QA documentation. This allows teams to benchmark AI performance against human agents, track trends over time, and identify training gaps.
For organizations with strict compliance requirements, Zendesk includes built-in security and privacy controls at every platform level. The Advanced Data Privacy and Protection add-on ($50 per agent monthly) provides additional safeguards for sensitive data.
Warmly addresses security through its focus on B2B use cases, where data governance requirements often differ from consumer support. The platform's visitor identification capabilities operate within established privacy frameworks for business contact data.
Which platform is right for you in 2025?
The choice between Warmly and Zendesk ultimately depends on your primary objective.
Choose Zendesk if:
• You need to deflect high volumes of support tickets
• Your team manages complex, multi-channel customer service
• Enterprise compliance and uptime guarantees are non-negotiable
• You're already invested in the Zendesk ecosystem
Choose Warmly if:
• Converting website visitors to pipeline is your priority
• You're a B2B SaaS company focused on intent-based outbound
• Per-agent pricing creates budget constraints
• Revenue generation matters more than ticket deflection
As Zendesk CEO Tom Eggemeier noted in the 2026 CX Trends report, "AI is not the differentiator anymore. How intelligently you apply it is." Both platforms offer capable AI, but they apply it toward fundamentally different outcomes.
Research from McKinsey supports the revenue case: companies with high customer experience ratings achieved twice the revenue growth of their peers. Whether that growth comes from support efficiency or sales enablement depends on your business model.
For B2B SaaS teams using website visitor identification and intent-based outbound, Warmly's approach to delivering sales-ready leads aligns directly with pipeline goals. The platform's documented success in identifying high-intent accounts and routing them to sales teams demonstrates a different kind of AI value, one measured in revenue rather than tickets deflected.
Consumer expectations now include 95% demanding clear explanations for AI decisions and 81% wanting representatives to pick up where they left off. Meeting these expectations requires not just AI capability, but thoughtful implementation aligned with your specific customer journey.
Key takeaways
• Zendesk leads in autonomous support automation, with claims of 80%+ interaction resolution and 301% three-year ROI documented by Forrester
• Warmly excels at revenue-focused engagement, with a documented 12.5% connection rate with high-intent website visitors
• Per-agent pricing models favor Zendesk for small teams but can become costly at scale
• Integration depth matters: Zendesk offers 1,800+ vetted integrations; Warmly focuses on sales and marketing stack connectivity
• Human-like AI interactions drive trust, with 64% of consumers more likely to engage with friendly, empathetic AI agents
• Enterprise requirements like 99.9% uptime, SOC 2 compliance, and multilingual support favor established platforms
For B2B SaaS companies evaluating customer support chatbot solutions, the decision framework is clear: if your bottleneck is support ticket volume, Zendesk's mature automation delivers proven results. If your bottleneck is converting website traffic into qualified pipeline, Warmly offers a more direct path to revenue impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the primary differences between Warmly and Zendesk chatbots?
Warmly focuses on revenue-driving conversations and visitor identification, while Zendesk emphasizes ticket resolution and support automation. Warmly is ideal for B2B SaaS companies aiming to convert website visitors into sales leads, whereas Zendesk suits businesses needing extensive support ticket deflection.
How does Zendesk's AI chatbot improve customer support efficiency?
Zendesk's AI chatbot automates over 80% of interactions, leveraging a vast dataset of customer service interactions to resolve complex requests without human intervention. This results in improved operational efficiency and reduced handling times.
What integration capabilities do Warmly and Zendesk offer?
Zendesk provides over 1,800 integrations with platforms like Salesforce and Slack, ideal for comprehensive support operations. Warmly focuses on integrating with sales and marketing stacks to deliver sales-ready leads, making it suitable for B2B SaaS companies.
How does Warmly's approach to AI differ from Zendesk's?
Warmly's AI is designed to identify high-intent accounts and engage them in real-time, focusing on revenue generation. In contrast, Zendesk's AI aims to automate support interactions and improve customer service efficiency.
What ROI can businesses expect from using Zendesk's AI chatbot?
According to a Forrester study, Zendesk customers achieved a 301% ROI over three years, with significant reductions in contact volume and handling times. This makes Zendesk a cost-effective solution for businesses with high support demands.
How does Warmly support B2B SaaS companies in pipeline generation?
Warmly's platform identifies high-intent website visitors and routes them to sales teams, enhancing pipeline generation. This approach aligns with B2B SaaS companies' goals of converting traffic into qualified leads.
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