Deskly and Zendesk solve the same problem from opposite directions: one is source-available software you can own outright for $49, the other is a subscription at $55/agent/mo run entirely on someone else's servers.
Head to head
| Deskly | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 once | $55/agent/mo |
| 3 agents, 1 year | $49 | ~$1,980 |
| Email → ticket | Yes | Yes |
| SLA timers | Yes | Higher tiers only |
| Macros / canned replies | Yes | Yes |
| CSAT | Yes | Yes |
| Your data | Your SQLite file | Their cloud |
| Per-agent fees | Never | Always |
What Deskly does well
- Email → ticket — Poll any IMAP inbox or POST to a token-protected webhook — replies thread automatically via subject markers.
- Threaded SMTP replies — Answer over SMTP, threaded back to the requester, with an optional CSAT footer on every reply.
- Full ticket workflow — Open / pending / solved / closed, four priorities, assignees, tags, saved views and search.
- Canned responses — Macros with variable substitution — customer name, ticket id, subject and more.
What Zendesk still does better
There's a real reason Zendesk costs what it does: a bigger team, broader integrations and dedicated support behind it. If that ecosystem is genuinely what you need, it's worth paying for.
Which one should you pick
If your workflow depends on Zendesk's specific integrations or you'd rather not run anything yourself, stay put — that's a legitimate call. If you're comfortable owning the tool and want to stop paying $55/agent/mo for a job your own hardware can do, Deskly pays for itself and then some: one month of Zendesk for a three-person team more than covers Deskly — and it never charges you again, however many agents you add.
Try Deskly — $49, once
Shared inbox, SLA timers, canned replies and CSAT — self-hosted, no per-agent fees.