Zendesk Sell Is Being Retired: Your Guide to Migrating to Salesforce
Looking for a Zendesk Sell alternative? Here's what to know about your data, and what Salesforce offers to sales teams.
If you run sales on Zendesk Sell, you likely already know it's being retired. What's less obvious is what that means for your data and what a smooth move to your next CRM can look like. This guide covers what's happening, what to export before the deadline, and what Salesforce offers your team going forward.
What happens to your data
According to Zendesk's announcement, data will be deleted either when a subscription ends or on August 31, 2027, whichever comes first.
Exporting your data isn't automatic , and it isn't unlimited. Only admins or users with export permission can start the process, through Settings > Data > Export inside Zendesk Sell. Zendesk delivers the file as a CSV through a secure emailed link.
What you can export out of Zendesk Sell's built-in export feature: leads, contacts, deals, notes, tasks, smart lists, full account data, and your total sales report.
What you can't export through Zendesk Sell's built-in export feature: activity history, appointments, emails, call logs, and documents. Some system fields, like Parent Company ID, are only available through a smart list export. None of this is recoverable once deletion starts. Your export link only stays active for 30 days after it's created. Miss that window and you're generating the export again.
What Salesforce offers
With your data taken care of, here's what's waiting on the other side.
Salesforce Starter Suite and Pro Suite gives every team the essentials — lead and deal management, automated data capture, and AI working in the background from day one.
- Lead, account, contact, and opportunity management: Everything you need to track deals in one place.
- Built-in sales flows and lead routing: Leads get where they need to go without manual handoffs.
- Automated data capture: AI automatically syncs emails, events, and contacts, so records stay current without manual entry.
- Sales quoting and forecasting: Quote deals faster and forecast with more accuracy, plus greater customization and automation across the CRM.
As your business gets more complex, so does what you get. You can upgrade your plan to scale with Agentforce Sales.
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Find the right Salesforce plan for your team
Salesforce scales with you. See current pricing and compare plans to find the right fit for where your team is today.
Starter Suite
The smart CRM suite with even more sales, service, marketing – plus commerce.
$
25
USD/User/Month
(Billed monthly or annually)
- Lead, Account, Contact, and Opportunity Management
- Built-in Sales Flows and Lead Routing
- AI Automatically Syncs Emails, Events, and Contacts
- Dynamic Email Marketing and Analytics
Pro Suite
The flexible CRM suite with more automation and customization across sales, service, marketing, and commerce.
$
100
USD/User/Month
(Billed annually)
- Everything in Starter Plus Greater Customization and Automation
- Sales Quoting and Forecasting
- Access to AgentExchange
- Premier Support (add-on)
Core
The CRM for sales with built-in AI, Slack, Tableau, and Agentforce skills to keep every deal moving.
$
195
USD/User/Month
(Billed annually)
- Everything in Professional Edition plus Momentum and Premier Success
- Slack Business+
- Tableau Next
Advanced
The CRM for sales with enhanced security and agents that help you keep deals moving.
$
395
USD/User/Month
(Billed annually)
- Everything in Core plus enhanced security, more AI and expanded data capacity
- Sales Programs
- Backup & Recover, Archive, Data Detect, Security Center
Max
The most complete Sales platform uniting AI, CRM, and data to help every seller hit quota.
$
550
USD/User/Month
(Billed annually)
- Everything in Advanced, plus our full suite of AI
- Agentforce for Sales and Agentforce Coworker
- Salesforce Spiff, Sales Planning, Sales Programs, Salesforce Maps, Tableau Next, and Slack Enterprise+
- 2.75M Flex Credits per org per year
This page is provided for information purposes only and subject to change. AI can be added to Core and above. Contact a sales representative for detailed pricing information.
How to migrate from Zendesk Sell to Salesforce
Six steps to move your data and workflows over — without losing momentum:
- Assess what you have: Audit your Zendesk Sell data and decide what's actually worth carrying forward. A lead that's gone cold for a year, a deal marked lost, or a contact with no activity in months probably isn't worth re-importing. An open deal, an active account, or a contact you're still in conversation with is.
- Export your data before your subscription ends or August 31, 2027 (whichever comes first): After that point Zendesk permanently deletes it. Call logs, emails, and activity history won't be included in Zendesk Sell's built-in export, so plan for that now. Every migration is different, so treat this as a general outline — the right steps for your setup may vary.
- Set up your new home: Configure Salesforce: set up your pipelines, stages, fields, and permissions, before you bring any records over.
- Bring your data in: Clean and map your export, then import it. Salesforce Data Loader handles this well for bulk records.
- Rebuild your workflows: Recreate automations and reports, and reconnect email and calendar so activity starts flowing again.
- Go live with confidence: Train your team. If it helps reduce risk, keep both systems running briefly during the transition, then monitor closely for the first few weeks.
Switcher offer for Zendesk Sell customers
If your team is weighing the move off Zendesk Sell, a specialist can walk through what a real migration looks like for your specific setup and confirm whether a switcher offer applies to you. From there, you can talk to a migration specialist or start your free year of Starter Suite once the offer is finalized. Either way, starting the conversation now means you're in control of the timeline instead of racing the export deadline.
Limited time offer. Offer ends January 31, 2027 11:59 PM Pacific Time. To be eligible for this offer you must be a current Zendesk Sell customer switching to Salesforce Suites or Agentforce Sales. To redeem this offer, contact our sales team. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer and does not apply to other products, license types, or add-ons. Limit one (1) offer redemption per customer subject to verification of eligibility and availability. Offer is non-transferable, non-assignable, non-refundable, cannot be applied retroactively, and has no cash value. Offer is only applicable to the list price of the initial purchase, it is not applicable to other charges, including applicable taxes or any future charges related to the product(s). Salesforce employees, employees or officials of any government entity or government-owned entity are not eligible for this offer. This offer is available for a limited time only and subject to change at any time. Other terms and restrictions may apply.
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Talk to an expert.
Talk to a specialist about moving to Agentforce Sales and see if you qualify for a switcher offer.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes. Zendesk has announced that Sell is being retired, and customer data faces deletion under Zendesk's own data policy once a subscription ends or the August 31, 2027 deadline arrives, whichever comes first.
It's deleted permanently, with no recovery option. That applies whether the trigger is your subscription ending or the fixed 2027 deadline.
Call logs, emails, activity history, appointments, and documents are not included in Zendesk Sell's built-in export. Only leads, contacts, deals, notes, tasks, smart lists, account data, and the total sales report can be exported.
Once you generate an export, the download link stays active for 30 days. After that, you'll need to create a new export.
Zendesk points departing customers toward Pipedrive, which works if you want a similar standalone deal tracker. For teams that want native AI, deeper forecasting, and a connected environment across sales and service, Agentforce Sales is worth considering as an alternative.
Many teams keep a support tool separate from their sales CRM. Salesforce is built to work alongside other systems, so talk to a Salesforce representative about your specific setup to confirm current integration options between Salesforce and Zendesk's support products.
A standalone CRM tracks your deals. Agentforce Sales does that too, and then does the work around it — agentic AI, opportunity scoring, and conversation intelligence, all built in, so your team spends less time managing tools and more time selling.
Salesforce is built to get lean teams up and running fast — you can start with a free trial, no installation required.
AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.
Pricing and packaging are subject to change. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and Salesforce makes no guarantee about its accuracy or completeness.