Customer enquiries were coming through email. Things were getting lost. Someone would reply, someone else would reply again, and nobody could tell at a glance what was still open and what had been handled. You needed somewhere to log enquiries, track who was handling each one, and see the status at a glance.

You searched for a solution. Zendesk came up. Large review count, trusted brand, free trial. You set it up. The ticket queue worked immediately. Assignees, statuses, reply threads. That was the job and it was done.

Then the trial ended. Zendesk Suite Professional is around A$115 to A$150 per agent per month. For two agents, that is A$230 to A$300 a month. For a ticket queue.

The Four Things Your Business Actually Uses

A ticket list showing what is open. An assignee on each ticket. A reply thread with internal notes. A way to see what is still waiting.

That is the job most small businesses hired Zendesk to do. And Zendesk does all four.

It also does AI-powered answer bots, omnichannel routing across email, chat, social and voice, SLA policies with breach alerts, customer satisfaction surveys, community forums, a knowledge base authoring tool, advanced analytics dashboards, the Sunshine Conversations platform, and workforce management tools. You pay for all of it. Most small businesses open four things.

What your Zendesk subscription pays for
  • AI-powered answer bot and automation
  • Omnichannel routing (email, chat, social, voice)
  • SLA policies and breach alerts
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys
  • Community forum and help centre
  • Advanced analytics and Merebase dashboards
  • Sunshine Conversations platform
  • Workforce management and quality assurance
What most small businesses actually open
  • Ticket list with open and closed status
  • Assignee per ticket
  • Reply thread and notes
  • A way to see what is still open

Who Zendesk Is Actually Built For

Zendesk is a serious tool for customer support teams handling hundreds or thousands of tickets per week. Companies with multiple support tiers and SLA commitments. Businesses with dedicated support agents across email, live chat, social media, and voice channels at the same time. Enterprises that need routing rules, escalation paths, and support operations reporting at scale.

If your business is a small team taking enquiries through a shared inbox, or a trades company logging customer calls, or a professional services firm tracking client requests, Zendesk is built for a different operation entirely. You are using a fraction of the platform and paying the full enterprise rate every month.

The Cost of Paying for a Support Department You Do Not Have

Zendesk Suite Professional runs around A$115 to A$150 per agent per month. Two agents means A$230 to A$300 a month before any add-ons. Per-seat pricing means the bill grows the moment anyone new needs access to the queue.

Picture a small business that has been on Zendesk for three years. They use the ticket list, the assignee field, and the reply thread. They have never configured an SLA policy. They have never touched the answer bot. They have never opened the Sunshine Conversations panel. Three years at A$260 a month comes to A$9,360 spent on a support department infrastructure for a team that just needed a queue.

Zendesk Suite Professional over 3 years
A$9,360
~A$260/mo. for 2 agents. Recurring. Forever.
Merebase Merebase support ticket tracker
A$499
Once. No subscription fee after that.

What a Merebase support ticket tracker Includes

A Merebase support ticket tracker is built for the job your team actually has. You describe how enquiries arrive, what statuses you use, how you assign work, and what your team needs to see at a glance. The app is built to do exactly that.

What a Merebase support ticket tracker includes:

Support ticket queue with ticket intake form for customers. Assignee tracking. Status tracking (open, in progress, waiting, closed). Reply thread and internal notes per ticket. Search and filter. Data export. Unlimited agents. A$499 once. You bring your own hosting. A basic plan runs A$5 to A$20 a month.

There is no answer bot to configure. No omnichannel routing to set up. No SLA dashboard you will never read. The app holds your queue. Nothing else takes up space on the screen.

Your Ticket History Is Already in Zendesk

This is the most common reason people stay. Their ticket history is in Zendesk and moving it feels like a project in itself.

Zendesk lets you export tickets as a CSV file. The data is yours and always has been. A custom Merebase app can import that file and continue from where Zendesk left off. Your ticket history comes with you.

Once the data is in your own app, it stays there. No platform can reprice it, restrict access to it, or hold it if you decide to leave.

Common questions
Is there a cheaper alternative to Zendesk for small businesses?
Yes. A Merebase support ticket tracker built by Merebase does what most small businesses actually use Zendesk for: logging enquiries, assigning them, and tracking what is still open. A$499 once. No subscription fee. No per-seat pricing. You bring your own hosting.
Can I migrate my ticket history from Zendesk?
Yes. Zendesk lets you export tickets as a CSV file. A custom Merebase app can import that history and continue from where Zendesk left off. You keep your ticket records. The scope for how your data migrates is agreed in writing before any payment.
What does a Merebase support ticket tracker include?
A Merebase support ticket tracker from Merebase includes a ticket list with open and closed status, assignee per ticket, reply thread and internal notes, search and filter, and data export. A customer intake form can be added so enquiries arrive directly in the queue. A$499 once, agreed in writing before payment.
Can customers submit tickets without an account?
Yes. A custom intake form can be built so customers submit enquiries without needing a login. The form feeds the internal queue directly. Your team sees new tickets arrive and can assign and respond from there.