Migrate from Zendesk to LiveAgent. Our team does it for free.

Frequently asked questions

How do I migrate from Zendesk to LiveAgent?

Start a free LiveAgent trial and ask LiveAgent's team for the Zendesk migration in the chat or by email. You create a Zendesk API token, the team imports your contacts, companies, agents, knowledge base and tickets from the last three years in the background, and on switch day you point your email, chat, social media and phone numbers to LiveAgent. The move is free on every paid LiveAgent plan.

Is the Zendesk migration to LiveAgent free?

Yes. On every paid LiveAgent plan, from $15 per agent a month billed annually, LiveAgent's team moves your Zendesk tickets, contacts, companies and knowledge base for free; there is no setup fee. You can ask for it during the 30-day free trial and test LiveAgent with your own data before you pay.

How long does a Zendesk migration take?

A Zendesk account usually moves to LiveAgent in one or two days, and accounts with more than 10,000 tickets usually import in about a day too: the import brings tickets in the background, in batches with their messages and attachments. Zendesk keeps working the whole time, so your team answers customers as usual until you switch.

What data moves from Zendesk to LiveAgent?

Customers become contacts, organizations become companies, team members become agents and groups become departments; user, organization and ticket fields, dropdowns included, become custom contact and ticket fields, and tags move too. Tickets from the last three years move with their messages, attachments and internal notes, their requester, assignee and department, and their Zendesk ticket ID; new, open, pending and on-hold tickets arrive open, solved and closed ones resolved. Help Center categories, sections and articles move into LiveAgent's knowledge base.

What does not move from Zendesk?

Triggers do not move as they are: LiveAgent's team sets them up as LiveAgent rules with you. Macros, SLA policies and reports are set up again in LiveAgent. Ticket priority and CCs are not imported and deleted tickets are skipped. Tickets created by Zendesk Talk calls move like other tickets; their recordings and the Talk call log stay in Zendesk. The import brings tickets from the last three years, so export older ones from Zendesk before you cancel if you need them.

What happens to Zendesk tickets created during the migration?

LiveAgent's import runs once more on switch day and brings the Zendesk tickets created since the first run. It skips every ticket it has already imported, matched by its Zendesk ticket ID, so there are no duplicates; replies added in Zendesk to those already imported tickets stay in Zendesk. So run it just before you forward your email, ideally on a quiet day, and finish the conversations still open in Zendesk there.

Do imported Zendesk agents count as paid LiveAgent seats?

Not automatically. LiveAgent's import brings your Zendesk team members as agents, and the account owner then chooses which of them are paid agents and which are archived, so you pay only for the people who answer customers.

Will our support stop during the migration?

No. The import runs in the background while your team keeps working in Zendesk. You switch when the data is checked: forward your support email to LiveAgent, replace the chat code on your website and connect your social media accounts, then cancel Zendesk at the end of its billing period. Until then you can stop at any time, because the import only reads from Zendesk.

Do I need a Zendesk API token to migrate?

Yes. LiveAgent's Zendesk import needs a Zendesk admin account, your Zendesk subdomain and an API token. Turn on Token access and create the token in Zendesk's Admin Center › Apps and integrations › APIs › API tokens on the day the import starts: Zendesk deletes tokens that are not used for 30 days.

Can I export my data from Zendesk myself?

Partly, depending on your plan. Zendesk's full data export (JSON, CSV or XML, in Admin Center › Account › Tools › Reports › Export) is not available on Zendesk's Team plans and must be turned on by Zendesk support. On every Zendesk plan you can export a view of tickets to CSV, without the ticket conversations. For a move to LiveAgent you need no export: the import reads your data through Zendesk's API.

Can I keep my Zendesk Talk phone numbers?

Usually yes. LiveAgent's call center, which comes with LiveAgent's Team plan from $29 per agent a month billed annually, works with a VoIP provider you choose; LiveAgent does not sell phone numbers. You ask that provider to port your numbers from Zendesk; Zendesk approves a port-out request within 24 hours if your account is in good standing, and the new provider sets the date. Toll-free numbers often take longer than local ones, so ask your provider for its timeline. LiveAgent's team helps you rebuild your phone menu (IVR) in LiveAgent.

Will calls drop while the numbers are ported?

Not if you keep both running. Zendesk Talk keeps answering your numbers until the port is done; on the port date your provider switches each number and its calls start ringing in LiveAgent. Expect a short changeover that day, so ask for a date outside your busiest hours, and test LiveAgent's phone menu and routing on a temporary number before it.

Can I run the Zendesk import myself?

Yes. In LiveAgent go to Configuration › System › Plugins, activate the Zendesk Migration plugin and enter your Zendesk subdomain, login email and API token. It imports in the background and stops when everything is in. Most teams let LiveAgent's team run it, because it is free and the team checks the result with you.

Do I have to cancel Zendesk before I switch?

No. Keep Zendesk until your email, chat, social media and phone numbers point to LiveAgent and your team works there, then cancel it at the end of its billing period. On an annual Zendesk contract, plan the switch for the month before renewal.