Threada vs. Zoho SalesIQ and Desk AI
Zoho SalesIQ and Desk AI cover live chat, forms, and help desk automation. Threada focuses on grounded answers for your website with citations, freshness controls, and per-embed metrics. Here is how they differ and when to pair them.
Comparison
| Dimension | Threada | Zoho SalesIQ / Desk AI |
|---|---|---|
| Grounding | Hybrid RAG with citations and refusal policy | Flows, canned replies, and knowledge base |
| Freshness | Sitemap-first crawl, IndexNow, incremental recrawl | Manual updates and help desk sync |
| Analytics | Per-embed impressions, opens, chats, messages, fallback reasons | Chat and ticket analytics inside Zoho |
| Security | SRI, strict widget CSP, origin checks, SSO, formal threat model | Platform security, embed headers depend on setup |
| Multi-tenant | Agency friendly styling and quotas per tenant | Single org focus |
When Threada fits best
- Visitors need cited answers on marketing, docs, and pricing without opening tickets.
- Agencies run multiple brands and require isolated styling, quotas, and analytics.
- Security teams insist on strict CSP and origin validation for embeds.
- Ops wants retrieval transparency to tune accuracy quickly.
When to keep Zoho front and center
- Ticket workflows and CRM-linked chats are primary.
- Your team is deeply invested in Zoho flows and macros.
- Authenticated cases require Desk permissions and customer history.
Run both together
- Place Threada on public pages for factual Q&A with citations.
- Keep SalesIQ or Desk for live chat, forms, and ticket flows.
- Route account or billing intents from Threada to Zoho agents when authentication is needed.
- Compare containment and CSAT in both systems; adjust Threada crawl cadence or thresholds as needed.
Threada reduces bounce with grounded answers while Zoho tools stay focused on CRM and ticket workflows.