Assistly
by Assistly, Inc.
Assistly was a web-based customer support platform that combined email, chat, social media, and community interactions in one agent workspace. Salesforce acquired the company and later rebranded the service as Desk.com.
Reason for Shutdown
Assistly ceased operating under its original identity after Salesforce acquired it in 2011 and relaunched it as Desk.com in 2012. Salesforce subsequently retired Desk.com in 2020.
💵 Pricing & access
- Pricing model
- Not documented
- Starting at
- No longer sold
- Official site
- Visit Assistly →
🩺 Health Signals
- HTTP Status
- 200
- Response
- —
- SSL
- —
- Confidence
- 99%
- Domain expires
- —
- Last content change
- —
- Last tweet
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- API status
- —
📅 Timeline
Assistly launches publicly
Assistly announced the public launch of its cloud customer-service platform after operating in beta.
Series A funding announced
Assistly raised $3 million in Series A financing led by Bullpen Capital, with participation from existing investors including True Ventures and Howard Lindzon.
Salesforce acquires Assistly
Salesforce announced an agreement to acquire Assistly for approximately $50 million in cash, net of cash acquired.
Assistly becomes Desk.com
Salesforce relaunched Assistly as Desk.com, ending the Assistly product name and positioning the service for small and growing businesses.
Successor Desk.com is retired
Salesforce retired Desk.com after directing customers toward Service Cloud.
🔄 Alternatives to Assistly
🪦 Other dead Customer Support tools
Stonly
🟡Acquired / MergedStonly was a customer-service platform for interactive knowledge bases, contextual in-app guides, agent support tools, and AI-assisted answers. Customer-service software company Zendesk acquired Stonly in 2024.
Solvvy
🟡Acquired / MergedSolvvy was a customer-support automation platform that used conversational AI and self-service tools to answer customer questions, route issues, and support service teams. Zoom acquired the company in 2022.
Eloquent Labs
🟡Acquired / MergedEloquent Labs developed conversational artificial intelligence for customer-service interactions. The company was acquired by Square in 2019, and its technology and team were incorporated into Square’s broader AI efforts.
Cleverly
🟡Acquired / MergedCleverly was an AI customer-service platform that analyzed support requests, helped agents find answers, and automated repetitive workflows. Zendesk acquired the Lisbon-based company in 2021 and incorporated its technology into Zendesk products.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What was Assistly?
Assistly was a cloud-based customer support application that unified email, live chat, social networks, and community questions in a shared agent workspace.
Is Assistly still available?
No. Salesforce acquired Assistly in 2011 and rebranded it as Desk.com in January 2012. Desk.com itself was retired in March 2020.
Who founded Assistly?
Assistly was founded by customer-service software entrepreneurs Alex Bard, Gary Benitt, Jeremy Suriel, and Brad Birnbaum.
Why did Salesforce acquire Assistly?
Salesforce said the acquisition would extend its customer-service offerings to small and emerging businesses through an accessible cloud help-desk product.
What happened to Assistly after the acquisition?
Salesforce renamed Assistly to Desk.com and continued it as a customer-support service for small businesses before retiring Desk.com in 2020.