What counts as an agent license in Zendesk?

Question

How can I determine who takes up an agent seat in my account?

Answer

Any agent, the owner of the account, and admins use a seat. Even suspended agents use a seat. To gain a seat, downgrade agents to end users and suspend their account.

Light agents and contributors do not use a seat. However, contributors, who are also Chat agents, Guide agents, Explore Admins or Explore Editors, use an agent seat. While light agents can be a Guide Viewer and not consume a seat, they will consume a seat if they are Chat agents, Guide agents, Explore Admins or Explore Editors.

For example, an account on Zendesk Suite has five agent seats. If the account has one admin, three agents, and ten light agents, we would think that they have one available agent seat. However, one of the ten light agents is also a Chat agent, who takes up the final agent seat, so the account cannot add more agents.

There are roles that require a Support seat depending on the product. For a complete list, see this article: Managing agent seats for Support.

Note: Sell account owners occupy a seat both in Sell and Suite plans.

For more details on roles, see the article About team member product roles and access.