Switching from Zendesk, without the spin.
Here is the honest version. There is no automatic Zendesk import in Solves today, so we will not promise one. What you get instead is a clean start: guided, forwarding-first mailbox setup, your brands created properly, and your saved replies brought across by hand. During early access we set you up founder-led, so you are working tickets in days.
No automatic Zendesk import yet
Be clear before you plan: Solves cannot read your Zendesk account and pull tickets across today. A self-serve importer is coming, but it is not live. So switching means starting fresh on Solves, with your support email forwarded in and your saved replies set up by hand. During early access we do that founder-led with you.
The short answer
Why teams leave Zendesk, and what moving looks like today
Most small teams do not leave Zendesk because anything is wrong with it. They leave because of cost as the seat count grows and complexity they never needed. Moving to Solves today means a fresh start, set up by hand during the pilot, not a one-click transfer.
Why teams move away from Zendesk
Two reasons come up again and again. The first is cost: Zendesk is priced per agent, so every helper who picks up overflow, every part-timer and every occasional hand adds another monthly seat, which for a small UK team can climb faster than the support load itself. The second is complexity: a platform built to scale to large contact centres carries a lot of surface a small email team will never touch.
Solves answers both deliberately. It is priced in GBP team bands, so you size the plan to the team and let helpers help without a per-seat penalty. And it is email-first on purpose: owned tickets, ownership, private notes, saved replies, SLA timers and multi-brand, without the chat, phone and social surface you may have been paying for and not using.
What moving to Solves looks like right now
Because there is no live importer, the move is a clean start rather than a data lift. In practice that means three things. You set up your brand and mailbox with guided, forwarding-first setup: plain-English DNS steps where you want them, or simple forwarding from your existing support address. You bring your saved replies across by hand during the pilot, which is a good moment to prune the ones you no longer use. And new email starts landing as owned tickets in Solves from go-live, building fresh contact history grouped by brand.
A self-serve Zendesk importer is on the roadmap, but it is not built and not live, so we will never frame it as a working data transfer that reads your Zendesk account today. When it ships, this page will say so. Until then, the honest path is a guided fresh start, and for early-access teams we run that with you.
What you land on
A simpler desk on the other side
Everything below is shipped in Solves today. No automation engine, no chat, no fake import.
Owned email tickets
Shared-inbox email becomes owned tickets with assignment, clear states, priority and tags, so nothing slips between New, Open, Waiting and Resolved.
Notes kept separate
Public replies and private notes are hard-separated, with light collaborators who can add notes only and a guard against sending as the wrong brand.
First-response and resolution SLA timers
Timers with per-brand or organisation targets, and a breaching view that surfaces overdue tickets so nothing ages out unseen.
Saved replies you bring across
Reuse your best answers, scoped per brand or shared organisation-wide. We help you bring your Zendesk macros across as saved replies by hand in early access.
Saved queue views
New, Unassigned, Waiting, Snoozed, Breaching SLA, Resolved and All, with filters for brand, mailbox, assignee, state, priority, tag and search.
Reports that answer the obvious
Open backlog, ageing, waiting, first response, resolution and created-versus-resolved, filterable by brand, so you see how the team is doing.
How the switch works
Plan, set up your mailbox and brand, go live
A short, low-risk path you can run alongside Zendesk until you are ready to cut over.
Plan the move
We agree what comes across: which saved replies are worth keeping, your states and priorities, who needs access to which brand. You export anything you want to keep from Zendesk, and we set a realistic go-live date.
Set up your mailbox and brand
Create each brand in Solves and verify its mailbox with guided, forwarding-first setup: copyable DNS steps, or simple forwarding from your support address. Live sending stays gated until the mailbox is verified, so a reply cannot go out before the setup is right.
Go live, keep Zendesk for reference
Forward support email into Solves so new tickets land as owned work, run both systems briefly if you want a safety net, then switch forwarding fully across. Keep Zendesk read-only for old conversations until your team is settled, then close it.
Honest expectations
What we will and will not claim
A switching page should tell the truth, so here it is in plain terms. We will not say Solves imports your Zendesk tickets automatically, because it does not. We will not say Zendesk is being discontinued, because it is not. We will not claim feature parity with a full contact-centre suite, and we will not tell you Solves is the right call if you genuinely depend on live chat, phone or social channels. For those needs, Zendesk or another broad platform is the better fit.
What we will do is set you up by hand during early access: create your brands, verify your mailboxes with guided setup, and bring your saved replies across with you, so you are answering email on a simpler, GBP-priced desk in days. If a self-serve importer would change your decision, talk to us about timing rather than taking a roadmap line as a promise.
| Automatic Zendesk ticket import | Not available today. A self-serve importer is coming, not live. Historic tickets stay in Zendesk for now. |
|---|---|
| Your support email address | Kept. It lives at your email provider, not in Zendesk, so you forward it into Solves and switch when ready. |
| Saved replies and macros | Brought across by hand during early access, a good moment to keep the ones that earn their place. |
| Setup help | Founder-led during the pilot: brand creation, guided mailbox verification and saved-reply migration with you. |
| Old conversations | Export from Zendesk before you close it; keep the account for reference during the changeover. |
Early-adopter pilot
The first 20 paid customers get Team at GBP 49 a month for 6 months, then GBP 79, with setup help, guided mailbox setup and saved-reply migration included. A good moment to switch with a hand on the wheel rather than a tool that is not ready.
FAQ
Switching from Zendesk: common questions
Is there an automatic Zendesk import in Solves today?
No. There is no working Zendesk import yet, so we will not pretend there is. A self-serve Zendesk importer is on the roadmap but not live. What is ready today is a clean start on Solves: guided, forwarding-first mailbox setup, your brands created properly, and saved replies brought across by hand. During early access we do that founder-led with you, so you are working tickets quickly.
What is the best alternative to Zendesk for a small UK team?
It depends on what you use. For a small UK team running support mostly over email, an email-first desk like Solves keeps the job simple: owned tickets, private notes, first-response and resolution SLA timers with a breaching view, and multi-brand in one queue, priced in GBP team bands rather than per agent. If you genuinely rely on live chat, phone or social channels, a broader platform is the better fit, and we will say so plainly.
Is Zendesk being discontinued?
No. Zendesk is not being discontinued and is not shutting down. It is a large, established helpdesk and remains a sensible choice for teams that need its breadth. Teams move away for their own reasons, usually cost as the seat count grows or complexity they do not need, not because the product is going away. If Zendesk fits your team, there is no rush to leave it.
How do I get rid of Zendesk without losing my support email?
Your support address lives at your email provider, not inside Zendesk, so you keep it. The safe order is: set up and verify your brand and mailbox in Solves, forward a copy of your support email so new tickets land in both places while you settle in, then switch forwarding fully across. Only close your Zendesk account after exporting anything you want to keep.
Will my old Zendesk tickets come across?
Not automatically, and not today. Because there is no live importer yet, historic Zendesk tickets stay in Zendesk for now. Most teams keep their Zendesk account in read-only or low-cost mode for a short window to look up old conversations, and export their data before closing it. New email starts fresh in Solves from go-live, and contact history builds up there, grouped by brand.
How long does switching from Zendesk take?
The Solves side is quick: creating a brand and verifying a mailbox is usually same-day once your DNS or forwarding is in place. The honest variable is your own change: deciding which saved replies to bring, agreeing states and priorities, and forwarding into both systems briefly before you cut over. Many small teams are live in a day or two, then keep Zendesk for reference for a few weeks.
Switch from Zendesk the honest way
Book a guided migration and we will set up your brand, mailbox and saved replies with you during early access.