Lobbi vs Zendesk
Lobbi.ai is an AI-first contact center platform with real-time voice AI and AI on chat, email, SMS and WhatsApp, priced per plan instead of per agent seat.
One plan price — unlimited users, Twilio and AI usage included.
Zendesk prices per agent seat, bills AI agents per automated resolution beyond the included allowance, and charges voice usage per minute. Lobbi plans include unlimited users, a conversation volume with all Twilio and AI usage, and white-glove onboarding. Voice and text run on the same AI with the same knowledge, tools and rules, and your agents work in Twilio Flex.
Why teams choose Lobbi over Zendesk
Voice and text AI share the same knowledge, tools and rules
Unlimited users on every plan — no per-agent seat costs
All Twilio and AI usage included in the plan price
Go live in 1–2 weeks for standard implementations
White-glove implementation included
Full Twilio Flex integration
All channels on every plan
Keypad CSAT survey on the phone right after agent calls
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Lobbi | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Voice AI (real-time) | ||
| Text chatbot | ||
| Omnichannel | ||
| RAG knowledge base | ||
| AI guardrails | ||
| Agent copilot | ||
| IVR builder | ||
| Built-in surveys | ||
| No per-agent pricing | — | |
| White-glove setup | Limited | |
| Bot versioning | ||
| Twilio Flex native | — | |
| Marketplace / app store | — | |
| Community forums | — | |
| Voice transcription & sentiment | ||
| AI safety (jailbreak & injection detection) | Limited | |
| SLA tracking synced to agent desktop | ||
| After Call Work & disposition codes | Limited | |
| Analytics Hub (role-based landing page) | Limited | |
| Real-time Wallboard with public share link | ||
| Queue callbacks with retry tracking | Limited | |
| AI email routing rules (sentiment, escalation, intent) | ||
| Guided flows with conditional branching | ||
| Post-call keypad survey after agent calls | Limited | |
| CSAT quality controls and low-score reasons | Limited | |
| First contact resolution report per agent | ||
| SLA escalation policies and priority rules | ||
| Blocklist across all channels | ||
| No-code API integration builder for AI actions | ||
| Deterministic quick routes alongside AI | ||
| Telephony and AI usage included in plan price | Limited |