Comparison · facts and prices read on Oct 11, 2026
Alternative to Zendesk Sell: 2 paths before August 31, 2027
Quick answer
Zendesk Sell goes offline on August 31, 2027. For those who want to keep a sales pipeline run by salespeople, Zendesk itself points to Pipedrive. If your selling happens on WhatsApp, the alternative is CertuAI: an AI agent answers and sells, and each conversation becomes a contact, deal and task in the CRM.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent
Zendesk is taking Sell offline and the data of anyone who does not export will be deleted. See the path Zendesk itself recommends, when CertuAI makes more sense and what to do before the deadline.
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Summary in 7 facts
- Zendesk is taking Sell offline and the data of anyone who does not export will be deleted.
- Zendesk Sell goes offline on August 31, 2027.
- For those who want to keep a sales pipeline run by salespeople, Zendesk itself points to Pipedrive.
- The first one applies to any path you choose.
- Pipedrive price read from its pricing page on Oct 11, 2026.
- Zendesk announced on September 9, 2025 that it will retire Zendesk Sell and its mobile app on August 31, 2027 (official Zendesk notice, in English, read on Oct 11, 2026).
- In the notice, the company says it is no longer offering a sales CRM so it can focus on customer service.
By the numbers
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| US$ 14 | Published price: Lite US$ 14, Growth US$ 24, Premium US$ 49 and Ultimate US$ 69 per seat per month, billed annually, with a 14-day trial (Pipedrive pricing page, read on Oct 11, 2026). |
| 12x | Plans from US$ 75 per month. |
| 5 people | 5 people are already included on the Start plan, 10 on Pro and 25 on Max, and each extra person costs R$ 30 (Brazilian reais) per month. |
| 30 days | File expiry: each export stays available for 30 days after it is created. |
| R$ 135 per month | On Oct 11, 2026, the Sell page on Zendesk Brazil's site still showed four plans, from R$ 135 per month (Sell page on Zendesk Brazil's site, read on Oct 11, 2026). |
| 32,5% | 32.5% of customer messages arrive outside business hours (122,720 messages from 67 businesses, from Jul 30 to Sep 30, 2026). |
| 12.2 seconds | On these accounts, half of the AI's replies went out within 12.2 seconds, and on 7.9% of replies the AI called in a team member to continue. |
Three questions before choosing
The answer to each one already points the way.
Who talks to the customer?
If it is salespeople who work each deal, a classic sales pipeline solves it. If the customer reaches out and nobody answers in time, what is missing is someone to answer before the pipeline.
Where does the customer arrive from?
If they arrive through WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger, the sale starts in the conversation. That is where CertuAI works.
How do you want to pay?
Pipedrive charges per seat, in dollars. CertuAI charges per account, with team members already included in the plan.
What to do before August 31, 2027
Four steps, in order. The first one applies to any path you choose.
Export your Sell data now
In Sell, open Settings, then Data, then Export. An administrator or anyone with export permission requests the file, and Zendesk emails a link to download a spreadsheet (.csv file). The link is valid for 30 days.
Save separately what the export does not include
According to Zendesk, the spreadsheet includes leads (the prospects), contacts, deals, notes and tasks. Activity history, appointments, emails, call logs and documents are not included. Anything important from that list needs to be saved another way.
Choose the path and test with real data
Upload part of your contacts to the new tool and follow a few sales from start to finish before switching the whole team.
Only close Sell after checking the files
Zendesk deletes the data when the Sell subscription ends or from August 31, 2027, whichever comes first, and warns there is no going back. Open the spreadsheets and check them before canceling.
Pipedrive or CertuAI: the two paths side by side
Pipedrive price read from its pricing page on Oct 11, 2026. CertuAI's comes from the plan table on the site.
| What to compare | Pipedrive | CertuAI |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Sales team that works a deal pipeline | Business that sells through conversation on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger |
| How it charges | Per seat, in dollars: Lite US$ 14, Growth US$ 24, Premium US$ 49 and Ultimate US$ 69 per seat per month, billed annually | Per account. Plans from US$ 75 per month. If you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money. |
| Team members | Each person uses a seat | 5 people on the Start plan, 10 on Pro and 25 on Max. Extra person for R$ 30 (Brazilian reais) per month |
| Coming from Sell | Migration tools built by Pipedrive, according to Zendesk | No migration tool: you import the contact list by spreadsheet |
| To try it out | 14-day trial |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
What did Zendesk announce about Zendesk Sell?
Zendesk announced on September 9, 2025 that it will retire Zendesk Sell and its mobile app on August 31, 2027 (official Zendesk notice, in English, read on Oct 11, 2026). In the notice, the company says it is no longer offering a sales CRM so it can focus on customer service.
Until that date, customers keep full access to Sell. For the switch, Zendesk partnered with Pipedrive, which built migration tools for people coming from Sell.
The point that needs attention is the data. Zendesk says all Sell data will be deleted when the subscription ends or from August 31, 2027, whichever comes first, and that once deletion starts there is no going back.
That is why the search for an alternative has two parts: getting the data out and deciding where the sale will live from here on. This page covers both. If you are also looking at other names, see Kommo or RD Station and HubSpot or RD Station.
1. Pipedrive: the path Zendesk itself recommends
Who it is for: a company with salespeople who used Sell the classic way, following each deal stage by stage. If that is you, Pipedrive is the shortest path, because the migration was designed for people coming from Sell.
Published price: Lite US$ 14, Growth US$ 24, Premium US$ 49 and Ultimate US$ 69 per seat per month, billed annually, with a 14-day trial (Pipedrive pricing page, read on Oct 11, 2026). The same page lists extensions paid separately.
What to watch: the price is in dollars and per seat, so the bill grows with the size of the team and changes with the exchange rate. Ask Pipedrive for the final price in reais before signing.
2. CertuAI: when the sale happens on WhatsApp
Who it is for: a business where the customer reaches out on WhatsApp, asks the price and disappears if nobody answers soon. At CertuAI, an AI agent answers and sells on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger with your company's information, and hands off to a person when needed. Each conversation becomes a contact, deal and task in the CRM, the dashboard where contacts and sales in progress live. It comes with the plan, with a pipeline and stages you name.
Price: per account, not per seat. Plans from US$ 75 per month. If you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money. 5 people are already included on the Start plan, 10 on Pro and 25 on Max, and each extra person costs R$ 30 (Brazilian reais) per month. See the CertuAI plans.
What it does not do: CertuAI has no ready-made tool for bringing in the Sell data. The contact list comes in by spreadsheet, and you build the pipeline with your own stages. If your team sells through meetings and email, not through conversation, Pipedrive fits better.
To understand how the agent works in a sale, see AI agent for sales and CRM with WhatsApp and AI.
What is and is not included in the Zendesk Sell export?
The Sell export delivers a spreadsheet with part of the data, not all of it. The list below is the one Zendesk publishes (official Zendesk notice, in English, read on Oct 11, 2026).
- Included in the spreadsheet: leads, contacts, deals, notes, tasks, smart lists, the complete account data and the total sales report.
- Not included: activity history, appointments, emails, call logs and documents.
- File expiry: each export stays available for 30 days after it is created.
How much does Zendesk Sell cost in Brazil?
On Oct 11, 2026, the Sell page on Zendesk Brazil's site still showed four plans, from R$ 135 per month (Sell page on Zendesk Brazil's site, read on Oct 11, 2026). The page does not say whether the price is per person or on what billing basis.
| Zendesk Sell plan | Price on the page on Oct 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Sell Team | R$ 135 per month |
| Sell Growth | R$ 359 per month |
| Sell Professional | R$ 755 per month |
| Sell Enterprise | R$ 1,105 per month |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
Source: zendesk.com.br/sell, read on Oct 11, 2026. The product has a date to go offline: August 31, 2027.
What CertuAI measured on its own WhatsApp accounts
One thing that weighs on the choice: when the customer reaches out and how long it takes for someone to answer. A sales pipeline organizes the deal, but the first reply still depends on a person being available.
CertuAI measured this on the accounts that answer on WhatsApp with CertuAI's AI. 32.5% of customer messages arrive outside business hours (122,720 messages from 67 businesses, from Jul 30 to Sep 30, 2026). On these accounts, half of the AI's replies went out within 12.2 seconds, and on 7.9% of replies the AI called in a team member to continue.
When a team member was the one who replied, half of the replies went out within 2.2 minutes, and 9 in 10 within 139.9 minutes. It is not a fair one-to-one comparison with the AI: the person only enters the count in conversations where the AI did not reply first. The whole method is on the page about AI data in customer service on WhatsApp.
| What was measured | Result | Base | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer messages that arrive outside business hours (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) | 32,5% | 122,720 messages from 67 businesses | 30/07 a 30/09/2026 |
| Time until the AI replies (half of the replies) | up to 12.2 seconds | 32,230 replies from 57 accounts | 30/07 a 24/09/2026 |
| Time until the AI replies (9 in 10 replies) | up to 21.1 seconds | 32,230 replies from 57 accounts | 30/07 a 24/09/2026 |
| AI replies that called in a team member | 7,9% | 37,951 replies from 57 accounts | 30/07 a 24/09/2026 |
| Time until a team member replies (half of the replies) | up to 2.2 minutes | 9,639 replies from 37 accounts | 26/08 a 24/09/2026 |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
Source: CertuAI's customer service base, aggregated numbers only, no conversation read by a person. Test accounts, test contacts, imported history and CertuAI's own sales conversations are left out. Measured on Sep 25, 2026, redone every month. Method at certu.com.br/dados.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Zendesk Sell?
It depends on how you sell. For a team of salespeople working a deal pipeline, Zendesk itself points to Pipedrive and offers migration. For those who sell through conversation on WhatsApp, CertuAI puts an AI agent in to answer and logs each conversation in the CRM.
When will Zendesk Sell end?
On August 31, 2027. Zendesk announced the retirement on September 9, 2025 and says customers keep full access to Sell until that date (official notice read on Oct 11, 2026).
What happens to my Zendesk Sell data?
According to Zendesk, all Sell data is deleted when the subscription ends or from August 31, 2027, whichever comes first. Once deletion starts, there is no going back. Export first.
How do I export Zendesk Sell data?
In Sell, open Settings, then Data, then Export. An administrator or someone with export permission requests the file and receives a link by email to download the spreadsheet. The link is valid for 30 days. Activity history, appointments, emails, call logs and documents are not included in the export.
How much does Pipedrive cost?
On Pipedrive's pricing page on Oct 11, 2026: Lite US$ 14, Growth US$ 24, Premium US$ 49 and Ultimate US$ 69 per seat per month, billed annually, in dollars. There is a 14-day trial and extensions are paid separately.
How much does CertuAI cost?
Plans from US$ 75 per month. If you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money. The price is per account, and 5 people are already included on the Start plan, 10 on Pro and 25 on Max. To see what is in each plan, open CertuAI's plans page.
Can I bring my Zendesk Sell contacts over to CertuAI?
You can bring over the contact list: you export the spreadsheet from Sell and import it into CertuAI's CRM. CertuAI has no ready-made migration tool for Sell, so you build the pipeline with your own stages.
Can I use Pipedrive and CertuAI at the same time?
Yes, and it makes sense for a company with salespeople. CertuAI answers whoever arrives on WhatsApp, and the team keeps working the deal in Pipedrive's pipeline.
If your customers reach out on WhatsApp, put an AI agent in to answer
You tell it how your business works, CertuAI builds the agent, and you test it with the questions your customers really ask before turning it on for your number.
Plans from US$ 75 per month. If you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money.
Create my agentIn short
Zendesk Sell goes offline on August 31, 2027. For those who want to keep a sales pipeline run by salespeople, Zendesk itself points to Pipedrive. If your selling happens on WhatsApp, the alternative is CertuAI: an AI agent answers and sells, and each conversation becomes a contact, deal and task in the CRM.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent