# FreeScout vs Zendesk Support API (slim)

> Zendesk Support scores 68.7 (B) to FreeScout's 27.9 (F) for support tickets. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-zendesk.md (~4,500 tokens) · this version ~2,330 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-zendesk.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-zendesk
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Zendesk Support API scores 68.7 (B) on agent readiness against FreeScout's 27.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreeScout leads on reliability. Both do support tickets.

- FreeScout: F 27.9, rank #1407 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freescout.min.md
- Zendesk Support API: B 68.7, rank #276 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zendesk.min.md
- FreeScout, good for Small teams that want a free, self-hosted Help Scout alternative and can run PHP. Ahead on Reliability, 73 against 68. Also Open source.
- Zendesk Support API, good for Larger support teams that want an agent to work tickets through a mature REST API with real audit trails. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 83 against 35; Agent ergonomics, 77 against 50; Security & auth, 75 against 30; Payments & pricing, 10 against 0; Maintenance & community, 81 against 70; Transparency & trust, 87 against 36. Also No incidents deducted, where FreeScout loses 15 points for them.

| Category | FreeScout | Zendesk Support API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 73 | 68 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 35 | 83 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 50 | 77 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 30 | 75 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 0 | 10 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 81 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 36 | 87 |

| Fact (where they differ) | FreeScout | Zendesk Support API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | FreeScout | Zendesk |
| Transports |  | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | none |
| Last release | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-26 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-01-28 |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 21k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

Why the edge:
- Transparency & trust, Zendesk Support API +51: FreeScout 36 (AGPL-3.0 core, and the module page says the module is AGPL-3.0 too (30). The software keeps data on the operator's server; the site's privacy policy was not read and no data-handling statement for the API was found (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices (0). No telemetry statement or opt-out found (5 of 20, since self-hosted data stays with the operator). 30 + 10 + 0 + 5 = 45.); Zendesk Support API 87 (Closed service under a main services agreement (15). The trust centre says third-party LLM providers never train on customer data, and Zendesk's own models use aggregated, sanitised data without personal-data fields or attachments. We didn't read the privacy notice for retention periods (22). Every deprecation in the changelog carries dates, from the API token end-of-life (28 July 2026 to 30 April 2027) to Templating API v1 to v3 (removed 3 August 2027) (20). Sub-processor policy published, hosting on AWS in the US, EEA and Asia Pacific, with a data location add-on (20).)
- Schema & documentation, Zendesk Support API +48: FreeScout 35 (No OpenAPI, Postman collection or other machine-readable contract found (0). No llms.txt (404) or Markdown docs (0). Each endpoint has a short description and parameter notes such as what `imported` and `embed` do (10 of 20). Parameters are marked required or optional with types, and few enums (8 of 15). curl, JavaScript and PHP examples for each endpoint, and a status-code table with an `errorCode` and `errors` body (12 of 15). Module versions and core releases are tagged, with no dated API changelog (5 of 15). 0 + 0 + 10 + 8 + 12 + 5 = 35.); Zendesk Support API 83 (One OpenAPI 3.0.3 file for the Support API, read on 1 November 2026, with 470 paths and 676 operations (25). No llms.txt found, and developer.zendesk.com/llms.txt answers 404 (0). The reference describes every endpoint and property in detail (16). Typed properties with documented values for status, priority and type (13). JSON examples on each endpoint and documented error responses (14). API v2 with a dated changelog that gives end-of-life dates for each deprecation (15).)
- Security & auth, Zendesk Support API +45: FreeScout 30 (A global API key and personal keys that act with a user's permissions, sent in a header or Basic auth, with no scopes. The docs list an `api_key` query parameter as a way to authenticate, so 10 off (20 less 10, 10). Personal keys follow user roles, with no read-only key and no confirmation step for deletes (5 of 20). Conversations carry customer email, the security policy notes that external images in received email load by default, and no prompt-injection guidance was found (0). No API audit log found (0). SECURITY.md routes core reports through GitHub security advisories, CVEs are requested after fixes, and advisories are published, with no bug bounty or certification (15 of 20). 10 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 15 = 30.); Zendesk Support API 75 (OAuth 2.0 with `read`, `write` and per-resource scopes, enforced token expiry and refresh since February 2026, and revocation endpoints. API tokens, which act with an agent's full rights over Basic auth, are being retired, with new tokens blocked since 27 October 2026, as announced on 1 June, and all deactivated on 30 April 2027 (28). A read-only OAuth scope exists, with no approval step for writes (12). Ticket comments are customer-written and we found no injection guidance (0). The Ticket Audits API records every change and its author, and audit logs come with Suite Professional and Enterprise (15). SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, 27018, 27701 and 42001, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, a Bugcrowd programme and a PGP-signed security.txt, re-read on 1 November 2026, valid to 16 April 2027 (20).)
- Agent ergonomics, Zendesk Support API +27: FreeScout 50 (Responses can be sized with `embed` (threads, timelogs, tags) and `pageSize` (12 of 25). Page and pageSize paging, with conversation filters by mailbox, folder, status, state, type, assignee, customer email and phone (16 of 20). Errors return a status code, an `errorCode` and a list of messages, with each code explained (14 of 20). The docs say a timed-out call is safe to retry; no idempotency keys for creates (3 of 20). No official SDK; few required parameters on most calls (5 of 15). 12 + 16 + 14 + 3 + 5 = 50.); Zendesk Support API 77 (No field selection, but `page[size]` up to 100 and sideloading of related records cut round trips (15). Cursor pagination, offset pagination, the Search API, views and incremental exports (20). Documented errors with codes and descriptions (17). `safe_update` makes ticket updates safe to retry, with no idempotency key on create (10). Official Ruby and PHP clients and the ZCLI, with sensible defaults (15).)
- Maintenance & community, Zendesk Support API +11: FreeScout 70 (Core v1.8.249 tagged on 31 October 2026 (30). Twelve tags from 30 August to 31 October (20). Issue responsiveness was not read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25, unchecked). No official SDK, and no MCP server from the project (0). CI with tests on MySQL and PostgreSQL, and a Laravel dependency advisory taken on 31 October (10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 70.); Zendesk Support API 81 (ZCLI v2.2.0, tagged on 26 October 2026, adds a `connectors:encryption-key` command and two fixes (30). In the 90 days from 3 August the developer changelog has entries on 26 August and 14 September 2026, and ZCLI has five tags, v1.2.0 (17 August), v1.3.0 (9 September), v2.0.0 (10 September), v2.1.0 (1 October) and v2.2.0, counted half as package tags, for 4.5 dated changes (20). Public developer changelog and community, and the client repositories merged changes in September 2026 (13). Ruby client v3.1.2 on 23 July 2026 is current, the PHP client's last tag is v4.1.0 from 16 January 2025 (10). Dependency and security bumps merged on 15 September in both clients, and ZCLI has a test workflow (8).)
- Payments & pricing, Zendesk Support API +10: FreeScout 0 (Self-hosted rule, with pricing scored on the paid module the API needs. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The module's price is drawn by the store's script and could not be read, so it scores as not found (0). The core is free, but no free route to the API exists (0). A person buys the module in a browser and installs it (0). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0.); Zendesk Support API 10 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Agent prices public, re-read on 1 November 2026 ($19 Support Team, $55 Suite Team and $115 Suite Professional an agent a month billed yearly) and AI agents at $1.50 per committed or $2.00 per pay-as-you-go automated resolution, nothing per API call (10). No free plan. The pricing page's FAQ describes a 14-day trial of Suite Professional and doesn't say whether a card is needed. Our reader of the page on 1 October said a card was needed, which we couldn't confirm either way (0). A person signs up and creates an OAuth client in Admin Center (0).)