Comparison

Zendesk Chat vs Intercom Conversations

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Zendesk Chat

This app enables businesses to engage with website visitors in real-time through live chat. It allows for managing conversations, monitoring online users, and providing enhanced customer support from any location. Features include push notifications, agent collaboration tools, and chat history access.

Highlights
  • Manage conversations on the go
  • Monitor website visitors in real-time
  • View visitor website activity
  • Push notifications for new messages
  • Agent-to-agent chat collaboration
  • Pre-written response shortcuts
Features
Read full description

Zendesk Chat is the live chat software trusted and loved by enterprises and small business worldwide. The iPhone & iPad app provides many of the great features available on the web dashboard. Customers are 3 times more likely to make a purchase when you reach out with a chat. Join over 200,000 websites already using Zendesk Chat to better support their customers through the live chat app. Benefits of using the app: - Manage, monitor, and reply to visitor conversations from anywhere - Provide better live customer support with the ability to see the recent pages visited on your website and the past chat history of the visitor - See who's online on your website in real-time and engage with new leads on your website - Never miss a chat message from a customer and be notified when a visitor is on your website with full push notification support - Encourage better agent collaboration on the go with agent-to-agent chats - Improve agent response time and reduce typing time with the shortcuts feature - Easily switch between our online web dashboard and the mobile apps while continuing the conversations from where you left off - On the iPad, continue chatting with a customer while using another application with full support for multi-tasking with Slide Over and Split View Learn more about Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) and create a free account here:https://www.zendesk.com/chat/

About

Intercom Conversations

Manage customer conversations and access your inbox from your mobile device. Respond to messages, assign tasks, and view customer profiles to build better connections.

Highlights
  • Manage inbox on the go
  • View and assign conversations
  • Collaborate with team notes
  • Start/continue conversations
  • Use saved replies
  • Search leads and users
  • View live user profiles
Read full description

The Intercom Conversations app lets teammates access all their Intercom conversations and customers from their iPhone or iPad. Intercom is the first to bring messaging products for sales, marketing & customer service to one platform, helping businesses avoid the stiff, spammy status quo and have real conversations that build real connections. Designed to feel like the messaging apps you use every day, Intercom lets you talk to consumers almost anywhere: inside your app, on your website, across social media and via email. With the Intercom Conversations mobile app you can: Manage your inbox from anywhere View and assign conversations, see where you’re mentioned, and collaborate with your team using internal notes Start or continue a conversation Send a new message or respond to a customer via in-app or email Insert saved replies to resolve common questions faster Search and see your leads and users Gain context by viewing a user or lead’s live profile to reduce frustrating back and forth

Screenshots

Zendesk Chat4 screens
Intercom Conversations4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zendesk Chat at 69% against Intercom Conversations's 18%. Zendesk Chat also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.1) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Intercom Conversations's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zendesk Chat holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 758 and 171 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Zendesk Chat's written reviews are positive against 18% of Intercom Conversations's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zendesk Chat ships an update every 6 weeks, Intercom Conversations every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Zendesk Chat versus Intercom Conversations: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZendesk ChatIntercom Conversations
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (758 ratings) — better2.1 (171 ratings)
Positive reviews68.9% of reviews — better18.2% of reviews
Number of ratings758 — better171
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB51 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZendeskIntercom

Customer experience

Zendesk Chat

All ratings758 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews845 reviews
Positive68.9%
Neutral8.3%
Negative22.8%

Intercom Conversations

All ratings171 ratings
Positive18.7%
Neutral14.6%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews285 reviews
Positive18.2%
Neutral11.9%
Negative69.8%

User reviews

Zendesk Chat

From 758 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Instant notifications
  • 🔒 Secure and reliable
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Great for small businesses
  • 👍 Excellent customer service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections and login issues
  • 🐛 Inconsistent push notifications
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable app
  • 🐛 Limited functionality compared to desktop
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly

Intercom Conversations

From 171 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📱 Mobile access to respond on the go
  • 🔔 Push notifications for new messages
  • ⚡ Quick replies when away from desktop
  • 🎯 Easy to use for basic chat responses
  • 👥 Good for team collaboration awareness

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Constant crashes and instability
  • ❌ Missing core features from web version
  • 💸 Expensive pricing for limited functionality
  • 🔔 Unreliable notifications
  • ⚙️ Poor performance and slow loading

Bugs and requests

Zendesk Chat

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App freezes and crashes
  • Login button not working
  • Inability to see full chat messages
  • Disconnections and lost chats
  • Incorrect online/offline status display

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to stay logged in and receive notifications in the background
  • Improved chat history and visitor tracking
  • iPad app support
  • Customization options for alerts and notifications

Intercom Conversations

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • App crashes when scrolling through conversations
  • App crashes when opening or sending messages
  • Crashes when loading conversations
  • Notifications not working or delayed
  • Message badges not displaying correctly
Show 14 more
  • Filter resets from 'Me' to 'All' automatically
  • Keyboard randomly hides when switching apps
  • Login verification email not sent
  • SAML login not supported
  • Saved replies not inserting when selected
  • Messages not queuing to send
  • Text formatting changes after sending
  • Conversations not loading
  • Macros not functioning properly
  • App crashes on rotation
  • Slow performance on larger devices
  • Filtering by 'Me' shows incorrect ticket counts
  • Translation feature not working
  • Copilot feature not functional

Requested features

16 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ticket attribute management
  • Tag and label functionality
  • Macro/saved reply improvements
  • File attachment capability
Show 11 more
  • Hyperlink creation in replies
  • Customer event history visibility
  • Keyboard shortcuts for external keyboards
  • Do not disturb/quiet hours settings
  • Conversation snooze feature
  • Internal notes functionality
  • Multiple conversation type selection
  • Web version feature parity
  • Advanced formatting options
  • Translation feature in app
  • Intercom call capability

In-app purchases

None

Zendesk Chat

No in-app purchases

None

Intercom Conversations

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zendesk Chat free?
Zendesk Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Intercom Conversations free?
Intercom Conversations is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zendesk Chat or Intercom Conversations?
Zendesk Chat is rated higher. Zendesk Chat averages 4.5 out of 5 from 758 ratings, while Intercom Conversations averages 2.1 from 171 ratings.
Do Zendesk Chat or Intercom Conversations have ads?
Neither Zendesk Chat nor Intercom Conversations shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zendesk Chat or Intercom Conversations?
Zendesk Chat ships an update every 6 weeks, and Intercom Conversations every 5 days. Most recently, Zendesk Chat was updated on September 25, 2026 and Intercom Conversations on September 13, 2026.

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