Our rating: 3/5 for this setup

Zendesk to Chatwoot with AI replies: first reply in about a minute

An app company moved support from Zendesk to Chatwoot. In-app form submissions land in a Google Sheet, and Apps Script emails each one into the Chatwoot inbox with the device details, labels it by category and mirrors every message to a Slack thread. AI replies use a prompt per inquiry type, follow the team's email template and hand off to a person when unsure. Every Friday an LLM posts a bilingual summary of the week to Slack.

New Added Nov 2, 2026 · ✓ Last checked Nov 2, 2026

It broke for meBroke?

Diagram drawn by AppToBot from this recipe's source. It shows the flow, not a screenshot of the product.

Setup steps

Keep your in-app form as a Google Form so device details are filled in automatically
In Apps Script, email each formatted submission into the support inbox Chatwoot is connected to
Use Chatwoot's API to set the category label and contact attributes
Add a webhook script that mirrors every Chatwoot message to a Slack thread
Write a system prompt per inquiry type with your reply template, and escalate when the model isn't confident
Schedule a Friday LLM digest of the week's inquiries to Slack

Steps summarized from the original Blog source ↗. Use “Copy” to grab them with the tools and source link, or copy an AI prompt.

How it went

First reply time went from an average of 1,186 minutes on Zendesk (Jan 15–Feb 15) to about a minute on Chatwoot (Feb 16–26), and resolution time from 289.7 hours to 30. The one-minute reply is the AI answering as soon as a conversation opens; human follow-ups average 6 hours 46 minutes.

Worth knowing

The Zendesk averages were skewed by outliers (medians of 299 minutes and 172.8 hours), and ten days is a short window, as the writer notes. Chatwoot is chat-first, so they kept form intake to get complete first messages.

Only what the original source ↗ says, re-read Nov 2, 2026. How we write these

Try it with AI

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or your own agent for step-by-step help. Prompt written by AppToBot from this recipe's data, not by the original author. It keeps drafts for your review and asks before anything is sent or paid.

Help me set up this automation using Chatwoot (hosted plan) + Google Forms, Sheets and Apps Script + an LLM + Slack: "Zendesk to Chatwoot with AI replies: first reply in about a minute".
Goal: replace Zendesk ticketing.

How it should work:
- Trigger: A user submits the in-app support form
- Then: Apps Script emails it into Chatwoot with device details
- Then: AI replies with the prompt for that inquiry type, or escalates
- Then: Every message is mirrored to Slack
- Result: First reply in about a minute

Setup steps (summarized from the original source):
1. Keep your in-app form as a Google Form so device details are filled in automatically
2. In Apps Script, email each formatted submission into the support inbox Chatwoot is connected to
3. Use Chatwoot's API to set the category label and contact attributes
4. Add a webhook script that mirrors every Chatwoot message to a Slack thread
5. Write a system prompt per inquiry type with your reply template, and escalate when the model isn't confident
6. Schedule a Friday LLM digest of the week's inquiries to Slack

Guide me one step at a time. Ask me for anything you need (accounts, sheet or channel names) before you start.

Safety rules:
- Build and test with sample data first, and show me a sample result before anything goes live.
- Keep anything that goes to other people (emails, posts, replies, record updates) as drafts for my review until I say otherwise.
- Never send, post, buy, pay, delete or change records without my approval.
- Tell me about any cost (paid plans, API usage) before I'd incur it, and help me set a spending limit.
- Keep API keys and passwords out of shared docs and chats.
- Privacy: Inquiries are stored in your Google Sheet and in Chatwoot; message text goes to the AI model that drafts replies.

Based on: https://tech.anotherball.com/en/2026-02-27-aiops-cs-zendesk-to-chatwoot/

Zendesk ticketingChatwoot (hosted plan) + Google Forms, Sheets and Apps Script + an LLM + Slack

Tool names link to each official site (opens in a new tab).

Cost afterNot reported (Chatwoot hosted plan; the writer says operating costs are low)

SetupHard · Not reported

Time savedNot reported

SkillAdvanced

Running cost: 💲 Paid plan needed Uses Chatwoot's hosted plan; the price and AI costs aren't stated. How we sort costs
Stack: Google Sheets · Slack

App vs bot, side by side

Old app vs bot
	Old app / habit	Bot
Tool	Zendesk	Chatwoot with AI auto-replies and an Apps Script intake
Monthly cost	Not reported	Not reported (Chatwoot hosted plan; the writer says operating costs are low)
Setup	None (already in use)	Not reported · Advanced
Your time	Baseline	Not reported
Maintenance	Handled by vendor/you as before	Apps Script triggers and a webhook handler that you maintain yourself.
Privacy	Data stays with the app vendor	Inquiries are stored in your Google Sheet and in Chatwoot; message text goes to the AI model that drafts replies.

Full comparison

Replaces	Zendesk
Bot / agent stack	Chatwoot with AI auto-replies and an Apps Script intake
Monthly cost before	Not reported
Monthly cost after	Not reported (Chatwoot hosted plan; the writer says operating costs are low)
Setup time	Not reported
Time saved	Not reported
Skill level	Advanced
Reliability	3/5: firsthand, with numbers, escalation and human follow-up built in, but only 10 days of data at the time of writing.
Maintenance	Apps Script triggers and a webhook handler that you maintain yourself.
Privacy & data	Inquiries are stored in your Google Sheet and in Chatwoot; message text goes to the AI model that drafts replies.
Best for	Teams with form-based support who want control over AI replies
Not for	Teams that want a ready-made help desk with AI built in and no scripting

Pros and cons

Pros

First reply in about a minute at any hour
Every raw inquiry in a Sheet for analysis
A prompt per inquiry type, with escalation

Cons

Custom Apps Script glue to keep running
Short measurement window; human follow-ups still average almost 7 hours

Source and evidence

Company engineering blog (Feb 2026) with before-and-after figures over a short window: 10 days on Chatwoot against a month on Zendesk. The writer plans to recheck with a full month of data.

Read the original Blog source ↗

“Not reported” means the source doesn't say. We never fill gaps with guesses. Numbers marked “per author” or “vendor claim” are the source's own and weren't independently tested. Source last checked Nov 2, 2026.

Our rating is an editorial opinion based on the public source above, not lab testing. Spot an error? Request a correction.

Plain-text summary (for search and AI assistants)

Zendesk to Chatwoot with AI replies: first reply in about a minute. Replaces Zendesk with Chatwoot with AI auto-replies and an Apps Script intake. Cost before: Not reported. Cost after: Not reported (Chatwoot hosted plan; the writer says operating costs are low). Setup: Not reported, Advanced. Time saved: Not reported. Reliability 3/5: 3/5: firsthand, with numbers, escalation and human follow-up built in, but only 10 days of data at the time of writing. Best for: Teams with form-based support who want control over AI replies. Not for: Teams that want a ready-made help desk with AI built in and no scripting. How it went (per source): First reply time went from an average of 1,186 minutes on Zendesk (Jan 15–Feb 15) to about a minute on Chatwoot (Feb 16–26), and resolution time from 289.7 hours to 30. The one-minute reply is the AI answering as soon as a conversation opens; human follow-ups average 6 hours 46 minutes. Worth knowing: The Zendesk averages were skewed by outliers (medians of 299 minutes and 172.8 hours), and ten days is a short window, as the writer notes. Chatwoot is chat-first, so they kept form intake to get complete first messages. Source: https://tech.anotherball.com/en/2026-02-27-aiops-cs-zendesk-to-chatwoot/

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