Switching guide
Switch from Zendesk to Flatdesk
Paste an admin email and an API token and Flatdesk copies your Zendesk history over: tickets with their messages and attachments, customers, tags and macros. Nothing changes in Zendesk, and every original record is kept. Then forward your support email when you're ready.
The switch in six steps
- 1
Start the free trial
Sign up with no card. You get every feature for 14 days, so you can run Flatdesk next to Zendesk without paying for both.
- 2
Connect Zendesk
The import screen asks for an admin email and an API token. The token is stored encrypted while the import runs and deleted when it ends.
- 3
Let it copy your history
Agents, tags, macros, customers, then tickets with their messages and attachments. Large imports pick up where they left off if they're interrupted.
- 4
Read the report
Anything that didn't fit is listed with its original record, and you can download the report as CSV. Every original record is also kept as a JSONL archive.
- 5
Try the AI on your own tickets
The AI test drive drafts answers to your 50 most recent answered tickets beside the replies your team sent. Nothing is sent to customers and it doesn't use your AI allowance.
- 6
Forward your support email and add the chat widget
Add a forwarding rule from your support address to the Flatdesk address (Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 steps are in the setup screen), and add the website chat widget with one script tag. Keeping a copy in the old mailbox is fine; Flatdesk ignores duplicates.
Get your Zendesk credentials
- 1.In Zendesk, open Admin Center, then Apps and integrations, then Zendesk API.
- 2.Turn on Token access and click Add API token. Copy it; Zendesk shows it once.
- 3.In Flatdesk, enter your Zendesk subdomain (the acme in acme.zendesk.com), the email of an admin, and the token. Use an admin, so macros, triggers and every ticket are visible.
What comes over
- Agents, tags, macros, customers and organizations
- Every ticket with its messages, internal notes and attachments, including archived tickets
- Custom ticket and customer fields, plus status, priority, type, group, due date and assignee
- The satisfaction score, as a field
- Help center articles and sections from Zendesk Guide (drafts stay drafts)
- Triggers that check tags, subject, message or channel and tag, assign, set status or add a note keep running as Flatdesk triggers. Automations like “pending for 3 days: email the customer, then close” become timed triggers
What you set up again
- A trigger or automation Flatdesk can't run, such as one that emails someone other than the customer, is listed in the report with the original record so you can rebuild it
- If the token belongs to an agent rather than an admin, some macros and triggers may be missing, and the report says so
- If Guide (the help center) isn't turned on for the account, or the token can't read it, no articles come over
- Saved views aren't imported. Flatdesk's inbox filters work differently
Check the fit before you move
Flatdesk handles email and website chat. If you answer customers by phone, SMS or social channels in Zendesk, those stay there. It also has no app marketplace yet. The small teams page lists what it leaves out, and the security page lists what isn't in place yet.
Questions
Will importing change anything in Zendesk?
No. The import only reads from Zendesk, so your tickets, settings and users there stay as they are and you can keep using it side by side.
Can I run the import more than once?
Yes. Records are matched by their original ID, so running it again updates them instead of creating duplicates. A common pattern is to import during the trial, then import again just before you switch email over.
Does the Zendesk import bring my help center?
Yes, if Zendesk Guide is on for your account: articles and their sections come over, and drafts stay drafts. The AI then answers from those articles and links customers to them. Flatdesk's help center is simpler than Zendesk's: search, categories, your own address and translations into up to 10 more languages, but no community forums.
How much does Flatdesk cost after the import?
$49 per agent per month, or $39 billed yearly, with 100 AI answers per agent included and a cap that's on by default. Every seat gets every feature, and viewers who only read tickets aren't billed.
Can I get my data back out of Flatdesk?
Yes. Settings has one .zip download with every ticket, message, customer, macro, help article, the audit log and every attachment as its original file.