For a HubSpot Zendesk integration, you have two vendor apps. Data Sync by HubSpot matches Zendesk users and organizations to HubSpot contacts and companies, both ways, and copies tickets into HubSpot. Zendesk's own HubSpot app puts new and solved tickets on each contact's timeline. Zapier is a third way. Where they stop: tickets only go one way, from Zendesk to HubSpot, Zendesk's app shows them on the contact and nowhere else, and nobody tells the deal owner what the customer wrote. AI agents read the tickets, update the deal, and tell the right person.
What a HubSpot Zendesk integration has to do
Sales works in HubSpot and support works in Zendesk. Without a link between them, a rep calls about a renewal without knowing the customer has had three open tickets all week, and support has no idea the account is in the middle of a sale.
So connecting HubSpot to Zendesk has to do two things. Each ticket has to land on the right contact and company in HubSpot. And what the ticket says has to reach the person who owns that customer, while it still matters.
Three ways to connect HubSpot and Zendesk
The first two come from the vendors. Some teams install both.
Data Sync by HubSpot
- How it works
- HubSpot's own app for Zendesk, in the HubSpot Marketplace. It matches Zendesk users to HubSpot contacts and Zendesk organizations to HubSpot companies, and keeps them the same both ways. It copies Zendesk tickets into HubSpot tickets, and can bring the ticket conversation across too.
- Good for
- Teams that want one list of customers and companies in both programs, with no imports.
- Where it breaks
- HubSpot's listing says ticket sync is one-way and archived tickets don't sync. Custom field mappings need Data Hub Starter or higher. HubSpot checks for changes every 5 minutes, so a change can take up to 10 minutes to show.
Zendesk's HubSpot app
- How it works
- Zendesk built it and lists it as Zendesk in the HubSpot Marketplace. It sends new tickets, solved tickets and satisfaction ratings to the contact's timeline in HubSpot, with a link back to the ticket. Requesters it can't match become new HubSpot contacts.
- Good for
- Sales teams that only need to see a customer's tickets on the contact.
- Where it breaks
- Zendesk's guide says it is one-way, shows tickets on the contact timeline only, syncs only the email address, and can't be changed to show other ticket details. It is rated 2.2 out of 5 in the HubSpot Marketplace, and 36 percent of its 39 ratings are one star.
A Zapier zap
- How it works
- Zapier has Zendesk steps like New Ticket and Updated Ticket, and HubSpot steps like Create or Update Contact, Create Ticket and Update Deal. You build each zap yourself.
- Good for
- Teams with one rule the apps can't do, like making a HubSpot task when a ticket gets a certain tag.
- Where it breaks
- Each rule is a zap you build and keep up. When one fails, the ticket simply doesn't arrive, and someone has to notice.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read each new and updated ticket in Zendesk, find the contact, company and deal in HubSpot, add a short note, and tell the deal owner when a customer with an open deal or a renewal writes in or waits too long.
- Good for
- Teams where sales and support share customers, and a bad week in support can cost a renewal.
- Where it breaks
- Anything your rules keep for a person, like a refund or a reply to an angry customer, goes to the owner in one message.
How to set up the HubSpot Zendesk integration
These follow HubSpot's and Zendesk's own guides. Open them for the screens.
- 1Check your plans and access
Both apps need a paid Zendesk Suite plan, listed from Suite Team up. In HubSpot you need to be a Super Admin, or have App Marketplace permissions.
- 2Install Data Sync for Zendesk
In HubSpot, click the Marketplace icon, then HubSpot Marketplace. Search for Zendesk, open the Data Sync app, click Install, log in to Zendesk and click Allow.
- 3Set up the sync
Go to Settings, Integrations, Connected Apps and open Zendesk. Click Set up your sync, match users to contacts and organizations to companies, set the direction and which app wins under Data conflict resolution, then click Save and sync.
- 4Add Zendesk's app for the ticket timeline
On Zendesk's integration page, enter your Zendesk subdomain and allow access on both sides. In HubSpot, open a contact, go to Activities, click Filter activity and check Integrations, Zendesk. Don't test its webhook in Admin Center; Zendesk says that disconnects it.
- 5
Check ten customers by hand
Open ten customers in both programs. Check the names, the company and the tickets match. Then check again after the first month.
Where the HubSpot Zendesk integration stops
Both apps move information into HubSpot. The work in the middle is acting on it, and that is still people copying, checking and chasing.
Tickets go one way. HubSpot's listing says ticket sync is one-way, and Zendesk's guide says its app is one-way, from Zendesk to HubSpot. A rep who sees a ticket in HubSpot can't answer it there, and a change to the deal never reaches the support agent. Someone pastes it into the ticket by hand.
What comes across is narrow. Zendesk's app shows tickets on the contact timeline only, not on the company or the deal. Only the email address syncs, not first or last names, and you can't change which ticket details appear. With Data Sync, archived tickets don't sync, contacts without an email are left out by default, and your filters only apply to the first sync.
It can stop without much warning. Zendesk says testing the integration's webhook in Admin Center disconnects it, and that a setup error happens from time to time. HubSpot says each time you save the sync it starts over, and a large account can take days. Zendesk's app holds a 2.2 out of 5 rating in the HubSpot Marketplace, with more than a third of its ratings at one star.
And nobody is told. A ticket can land on the contact, but the deal owner still finds out about a renewal customer's bad week only if they open the record and read it.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish, in your own HubSpot and Zendesk. Your team talks to them in Slack or Teams.
Your CRM stays right without anyone typing.
- Logs emails and callsas they happen
- Checks off the task when the reply landsright away
- Moves the deal to the right stageper deal
No customer waits days for a reply.
- Checks open ticketsevery hour
- Finds ones waiting too longper ticket
- Nudges the owner and tells your leadright away
The right person sees each ticket first.
- Reads new ticketsas they come
- Tags them and sends them to the right personright away
- Flags urgent ones to your leadright away
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own HubSpot and Zendesk and see only what their job needs. Customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Does HubSpot send tickets back to Zendesk?
No. HubSpot's Data Sync app syncs contacts and companies both ways, but its listing says ticket sync is one-way, from Zendesk into HubSpot. Zendesk's own HubSpot app is one-way too.
Which Zendesk plan do I need for the HubSpot integration?
Both listings in the HubSpot Marketplace ask for a paid Zendesk Suite plan, from Suite Team up. Zendesk's guide says its app works with all HubSpot subscriptions. Custom field mappings in Data Sync need HubSpot's Data Hub Starter or higher.
Should I use Data Sync or Zendesk's app?
Data Sync keeps customers and companies matched and copies tickets into HubSpot. Zendesk's app only puts ticket events on the contact's timeline. Many teams want the first. Neither one tells the deal owner what a ticket means for the sale.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.