Zendesk vs. MaestroQA

When support quality slips, customer trust starts slipping, too. That’s why more teams are rethinking how they manage quality assurance (QA) and performance at scale. Zendesk and MaestroQA are two popular options. And if you’re comparing Zendesk vs. MaestroQA, you're likely looking for more than just ticket scoring. 

You need a solution that empowers agents, delivers faster insights, and scales with your business. While MaestroQA offers a focused QA tool, Zendesk goes further with its unified agent workspace. It combines AI-powered QA with coaching capabilities, workforce management (WFM), analytics, and offers granular reporting to track your team’s performance. For support leaders who want fewer tools, faster ramp times, and a higher return on investment, Zendesk is the clear choice. Let’s see how Zendesk performs across key areas that matter to modern CX and QA teams.

AI-powered QA

Zendesk takes a proactive approach to quality by using AI to analyze 100 percent of customer interactions, not just a random sample. That means no more guessing how your agents are performing or what your customers are saying. With automated customer service QA and coaching insights, you can improve agent performance, onboard them faster, and provide a consistently high customer experience.

Low total cost of ownership (TCO)

Zendesk is designed to drive better resolutions, and products like AI Agents, QA, and WFM help keep your customer service team running like a well-oiled machine. Zendesk consolidates multiple tools into one powerful solution which means fewer vendor contracts, less training, and lower admin overhead. For growing teams, that translates to real savings and faster time to value. Unlike MaestroQA, which often requires integration with other platforms to deliver full functionality, Zendesk offers an all-in-one support, QA, and analytics solution.

Agility and fast time to value

Zendesk is built for speed. From onboarding to optimization, you can start seeing value fast. AI-powered features require human language prompts, not difficult coding or admin setup, and out-of-the-box reporting and built-in best practices making it easier for agents and managers to run smooth service operations. On average, Zendesk customers get up and running 60 percent faster than industry peers. MaestroQA, while customizable, typically requires more setup and coordination across systems, which can delay insights and impact momentum.

Greater scalability

Zendesk powers over 9,900 internal tickets per month for its own global workforce, while maintaining a 98 percent employee satisfaction (ESAT) score and beating 93 percent of SLAs. That level of scale and service excellence isn’t just a case study—it’s built into the product. Whether you’re supporting five agents or 5,000, Zendesk offers the performance, flexibility, and global infrastructure to scale without compromise.

More in this guide:

• At-a-glance comparison: Zendesk vs. MaestroQA
• MaestroQA vs. Zendesk: Features comparison
• Pricing plans: Zendesk vs. MaestroQA
• Zendesk customer stories
• Frequently asked questions
• Start a free trial of Zendesk QA

Here’s how Zendesk and MaestroQA compare across the most critical support quality features:

Feature	Zendesk	MaestroQA
AI-powered conversation scoring	Built-in AI that scores 100% of tickets	Optional automation
Prompt-based QA insights	Available both for AutoQA categories and Spotlight insights to analyze both agent and customer answers. Opportunity to use prompt library, edit prompts, or generate own	Requires manual setup and tagging
AI agent QA	Available—tracks bot performance and escalations	Not supported
Automated voice QA	Available, AutoQA works in 5 categories: Greeting, Closing, Empathy, Comprehension, and Solution Offered. Customer sentiment	Manual review and transcription
Built-in WFM	Native forecasting, scheduling, and adherence tools	Unavailable
All-in-one support solution	Yes—QA, support, analytics, and WFM in one solution	No—QA-only, integrations needed

Whether it’s Zendesk or MasteroQA, both aim to improve support quality, but Zendesk delivers a broader, smarter feature set that helps you move faster and scale smarter. Let’s break down the key differences feature by feature.

AI-powered QA

See it in action: Explore Zendesk QA.

Zendesk makes quality assurance smarter and faster by automatically scoring every conversation using AI (AutoQA and Spotlight features). It highlights coaching opportunities, detects sentiment shifts, and surfaces outliers so you can improve performance in real time, not just in review cycles.  MaestroQA focuses on manual QA with customizable scorecards and workflows. It offers solid control for teams willing to invest time in reviews, but lacks the built-in AI depth or automation Zendesk provides.

Prompt-based categories and insights

With Zendesk, your QA teams can create custom prompts by telling AI what to look for in support interactions and how to score their quality. Collect product feedback, competitive intel, sensitive data handling, or anything else by spotlighting agent and customer messages that include specific phrases or topics. In addition, identify knowledge gaps, underperforming agents, and training needs. MaestroQA offers tagging and reporting, but without AI-generated prompts, teams may need more time to identify and act on key conversation themes.

Uncover what matters most with Zendesk QA.

AI agents QA

Drive resolutions with Zendesk AI agents.

Zendesk uses AI to assess how well AI agents, virtual agents, or bots handle conversations, including deflection rates, escalation patterns, and customer sentiment. It gives you a clear picture of where customer service chatbots succeed and where they need tuning. You can combine the insights available on BotQA dashboard as well as the insights gathered with custom prompt-based insights. MaestroQA does not currently support AI agent-specific QA, requiring separate processes or tools to track bot performance.

(Automated) Voice QA

Zendesk QA supports all channels, including voice. Voice QA includes automatic transcription, AutoQA scoring in 5 categories, as well as sentiment analysis. You can review calls faster, detect compliance risks early, and coach agents more effectively, without listening to every minute of every call. MaestroQA offers voice QA but leans heavily on manual transcription review. It requires more time and effort to surface trends compared to the AI-powered workflows Zendesk offers.

Dial up your voice support with AI.

Workforce management (WFM)

Make staffing smarter with Zendesk WFM.

Zendesk offers an integrated WFM solution that helps you forecast demand, schedule agents, and manage real-time adherence—all from one place. You can use AI to predict staffing needs and optimize shift coverage, scaling service efficiently. MaestroQA does not offer built-in workforce management. Teams looking to handle staffing and scheduling should integrate external WFM tools.

Zendesk (billed annually)	MaestroQA
Support Team: $19 per agent/month Support Professional: $55 per agent/month Support Enterprise: $115 per agent/month Zendesk QA: $35 per agent/month Zendesk WFM: $25 per agent/month Zendesk WEM bundle: $50 per agent/month	Contact MaestroQA for pricing
*Plans are billed annually.

Zendesk offers transparent, tiered pricing that scales with your needs, starting at just $35 per agent/month for QA. Even at the entry level, Zendesk delivers powerful omnichannel capabilities, automation, reporting, and access to AI tools. With predictable pricing and bundled features, you get a low TCO and faster time to value.

MaestroQA, on the other hand, doesn’t publish its pricing upfront. You’ll need to contact sales for a quote, and costs are determined by the number of agents graded, which can quickly add up as your team grows. 

While some additional seats are included at no cost, key features like analytics, integrations, or advanced QA workflows may require custom pricing or additional tools to replicate the built-in capabilities Zendesk offers, increasing complexity and overall spend.

From fast-growing startups to global brands, companies rely on our quality management software to drive consistency, coach agents, and deliver world-class support at scale. Here’s how leading teams use Zendesk QA to raise the bar on service.

Kahoot! + Zendesk = Smarter, more empowered agents

Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform, wanted more than ticket reviews—it wanted a culture of ownership around quality. With Zendesk QA, Kahoot! gained a system that helps agents connect their work to real impact and drive continuous improvement.

“Zendesk QA helps agents see how important quality is—not just for the company, but for themselves.”

— Filip, senior quality & training specialist at Kahoot!

Liberty + Zendesk = Quality that scales

Luxury goods company Liberty’s support team prides itself on delivering consistent, high-quality service. Zendesk QA gives it the tools to track performance, stay aligned, and proactively address coaching opportunities.

"We need to provide great customer service 100 percent of the time. Zendesk QA has helped us maintain focus on the consistency of quality and identify specific areas where we need to improve."

— Sophie Elgar, quality and training manager at Liberty

CityGo + Zendesk = A more inclusive approach to QA

Before Zendesk, car pooling company CityGo’s QA process was spreadsheet-heavy and time-consuming. Now, their entire team contributes to the quality process with more clarity, faster feedback, and better engagement.

“Customer service teams need the right tools to work at their best. Using spreadsheets, my quality manager lost a lot of time each month. Zendesk QA offers the possibility for the whole team to participate, it gives voice to your team."

— Michael (Micka) Buczynski, head of customer service at CityGo