Zendesk Sunshine

This page covers the Zendesk Sunshine platform: what it is used for, its key features, how it is priced, what changed in 2026, and how it compares with other tools. Zendesk announced Sunshine at its Relate conference in November 2018 as "an open and flexible CRM platform" built on Amazon Web Services, meant to connect customer data wherever it lives and let developers build customer apps their own way (Zendesk blog). Since then the name has faded. Zendesk now markets the whole stack as the Zendesk Resolution Platform, and "Sunshine" survives mainly in Sunshine Conversations, the messaging API, which has its own page: Sunshine Conversations. In practice, "Zendesk Sunshine" today means the platform features every Zendesk Suite account gets: custom objects, the Zendesk APIs, the apps framework, the marketplace and the integration tools.

What is Zendesk Sunshine used for?

Teams use the Zendesk Sunshine platform to fit Zendesk to their business and their customers instead of the other way round. Typical uses:

• Custom data next to tickets. Store orders, assets, subscriptions, contracts or devices as custom objects and link them to tickets, users and organizations, so agents see the complete picture of each customer in the agent workspace.
• Routing and automation on business data. Use custom object fields in triggers and routing rules, for example to send tickets about premium contracts to a dedicated team.
• Integrations. Connect Zendesk to a CRM, an ERP or an internal system through the REST APIs, webhooks and the marketplace, so data flows both ways.
• Custom apps. Build sidebar apps for the agent workspace with the apps framework or the App Builder, without leaving Zendesk.
• AI agents with context. Give Zendesk AI agents access to knowledge and connected systems, so they can resolve requests instead of only answering questions.

Most of this is low-code: admins create custom objects, fields and ticket forms in Admin Center, while developers take over for APIs, apps and complex integrations that move data between Zendesk and other systems.

Key features

• Custom objects. Define your own data types with up to 100 fields each, linked to tickets, users and organizations through lookup relationship fields. Records can be used in triggers, routing and Explore reports (Zendesk help).
• Zendesk APIs. REST APIs for tickets, users, organizations, custom objects and help center content, plus webhooks and SDKs for web, iOS and Android (developer docs).
• Apps framework and App Builder. Build apps that run inside the agent workspace; the App Builder is AI-assisted and included from Suite Professional.
• Marketplace. More than 1,800 apps, partners and integrations, according to Zendesk's platform page.
• Action flows and integrations. No-code workflow building that connects steps across teams and systems.
• AI agents and copilot. AI agents resolve customer and employee requests across channels; agent copilot and admin copilot support human teams (Zendesk blog).
• Governance and data control. Permissions, custom roles and review of AI behavior, so a larger company keeps control over who sees which customer data.

Zendesk Sunshine pricing

There is no separate Sunshine price. The platform comes with Zendesk Suite, priced per agent. Zendesk's Dutch pricing page showed these annual prices in September 2026 (US prices differ by region):

• Suite Team: €55 per agent per month. Includes AI agents, knowledge base, action builder, messaging, live chat and voice.
• Suite Professional: €115 per agent per month. Adds Admin Copilot, App Builder, skill-based routing and more reporting.
• Suite Enterprise: price on request. Adds approval workflows, a sandbox environment and custom roles.

AI agents are included in every Suite plan but billed by automated resolutions: you pay for each successful resolution, not per seat. That is the cost surprise to check. A busy help center with a high automation rate can spend more on resolutions than on agent seats.

Custom object limits also depend on the plan: 3 objects on Suite Team, 5 on Growth, 30 on Professional and 50 on Enterprise, with up to 50 million records per account. Records count toward account storage.

Legacy Sunshine custom objects are gone

The original "Sunshine custom objects" used a separate API and admin interface. Zendesk released a new, native custom objects experience in 2023 and then retired the old one. Creating new legacy objects stopped on 15 January 2026, and on 27 July 2026 Zendesk removed the legacy APIs, admin interface and all legacy records (Zendesk announcement). If an old integration or blog post refers to Sunshine custom objects, profiles or events, check it against the current custom objects documentation before you build on it.

How the Zendesk Sunshine platform fits the Resolution Platform

The platform is not a product you buy alone. Tickets, the help center, messaging channels and Explore all run on it, and the Resolution Platform is the name Zendesk now gives to that whole stack. Admins manage custom objects, roles and integrations in Admin Center. Developers use the same APIs Zendesk uses for its own features. Messaging runs on Sunshine Conversations, which also lets you connect third-party bots and channels. For most teams the platform is simply "the part of Zendesk you can customize", and the question is how far you want to go beyond the standard ticket model.

AI agents, knowledge and the help center

The newer layer of the platform is about resolving requests, not only routing them. Zendesk AI agents use trusted knowledge to understand customer intent, ask follow-up questions, and retrieve answers from help center articles and connected knowledge sources. Through integrations they can act on customer data, for example check an order status or update account details, and they pass a conversation to a human agent with full context when they cannot resolve it. Zendesk says the platform can move companies closer to resolving up to 80% of customer interactions autonomously; that is the vendor's claim, and your own rate depends on your data and knowledge. Agent copilot suggests replies and next steps to human teams, and agentic analytics shows which requests were resolved, where AI agents struggled and which knowledge is missing; Zendesk calls this feedback cycle the Resolution Learning Loop. Admins keep control over what AI agents can do, which data they can access and which languages and channels they cover. For teams building on the platform, this means custom objects and integrations now also feed the AI agents, so the data model you create for agents is the same one your automation uses.

Where Zendesk Sunshine shines — and where it falls short

Strengths:

• Custom data about customers sits next to tickets and works in triggers, routing and reports.
• Mature, well-documented APIs and a large marketplace.
• AI agents and automation built into the same platform.
• Enterprise governance: roles, sandbox and approval workflows.

Trade-offs:

• Only useful if you run Zendesk; it is not a standalone app platform.
• Object limits on the lower plans are tight (3 on Suite Team).
• Automated-resolution billing makes AI costs hard to forecast.
• The old Sunshine name and legacy features cause confusion in older documentation.

How Zendesk Sunshine compares

• Intercom: customer service platform with the Fin AI agent; strong for messaging-first support.
• HubSpot: CRM with a service hub; better when marketing and sales live in the same system.
• Crisp: lighter, lower-cost messaging and help desk for small teams.
• Twilio: communication APIs for teams that want to build the support stack themselves.
• Sunshine Conversations: Zendesk's messaging API, for multichannel conversations and bots.

Is Zendesk Sunshine worth it?

If your team already runs on Zendesk Suite, the platform is worth using: custom objects, the APIs and the marketplace turn a ticketing tool into a system that fits your business, at no extra licence cost. Professional or Enterprise plans give the most room. If you do not use Zendesk, the platform alone is not a reason to switch; a general low-code platform or a CRM will fit better. For custom objects, integrations or AI agent setups on Zendesk, the low-code agencies and developers on LowCodeDevs can help.

Sources

• Understanding custom objects, Zendesk help: plans, limits and relationships.
• Announcing the removal of legacy custom objects, Zendesk help: the 2026 retirement dates.
• Zendesk pricing: Suite plans and automated resolutions.
• Zendesk Developer Docs: APIs, webhooks and SDKs.
• Meet the Zendesk Resolution Platform, Zendesk blog: the current platform and AI agents.
• Break free with Zendesk Sunshine, Zendesk blog: the 2018 launch.