When it comes to customer support and help desk software solutions, few are as popular as Zendesk. But there are some great Zendesk alternatives out there.
It is a quality customer support and help desk product that can meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. And, it comes highly recommended by their loyal customer base.
Doesn’t work for you?
Don't worry, it is not the only quality customer service software and might not be the best for your customer portal needs.
That is why we have provided a detailed review of Zendesk in this post, along with some of the best Zendesk alternatives.
So, read on to find which of these Zendesk alternatives will suit your help desk and customer service and customer experience needs the best.
Table of Contents
Zendesk Review
Zendesk is an all-in-one suite of solutions that can help enhance your customer support and help desk service.
It can help your support teams manage all customer interactions, including self service queries, push notifications, and live chat, in a smooth and efficient manner.
From a live chat call center solution to knowledge base modules, it has all the tools that you need to help your support team provide excellent customer service and improve the customer experience
It can organize all customer help desk queries from different sources in one place from where you can resolve them faster to provide a better customer experience.
What’s more?
Image Source: Zendesk
And, the best part is that it is not the most expensive customer support solution out there.
Using Zendesk, even a small business can set up an enterprise-grade customer support solution for their company.
Key Features
- It allows you to create a self-service customer service and help desk portal using their knowledge base modules.
- You can integrate it with over 100 third-party apps, including live chat ones.
- It has all of the essential features of a help desk like ticket management, live chat, a call center solution, etc.
- It is compatible with mobile devices and has apps for all key mobile operating systems.
- Support functionality for email, phone, live chat, web, and social media.
- It also provides reporting and analytics features to help improve the customer experience.
- Provides support in five different languages even for live chat.
Pros
- It is not just help desk software, but has features of a CRM software solution as well.
- Can handle all customer interactions, including self service, from one interface providing a seamless experience.
- Easy to set up and use.
- Works well for all types of clients.
- Multiple plan options with different prices and features.
Cons
- It may take a while to understand and use.
- It can be a bit expensive for small to mid-size businesses but has enough features to justify the price.
How Much Does it Cost?
Prices for the Zendesk Support range from $5 to $199 per agent per month, as shown below.
Image Source: Zendesk
Add-on solutions like the guide, live chat, and talk can also be purchased separately.
The entire suite of Zendesk customer service solutions is available starting at $89 per month.
9 Best Zendesk Alternatives & Competitors
1. Freshdesk
This is an award-winning help desk software that is one of the best Zendesk alternatives that you will find.
This cloud-hosted solution helps meet all your customer service needs whether you have a small business or an enterprise.
What does it do?
It provides multi-channel, multi-language support, including live chat. And has automation self service features to streamline the whole process.
The solution is very easy to set up and also provides customization options that can help enhance the customer experience.
Image Source: Freshdesk
Price: Plans start from $15 per agent per month. A free version plan is also available.
2. LiveAgent
This is another award-winning, feature-rich, help desk software solution that is a good Zendesk alternative.
Similar to Freshdesk, it also has all essential help desk features like live chat, email support, and multi-channel support.
What’s it got?
It's a powerful customer service solution that provides 24×7 call-center support.
Therefore, even small businesses can set up a full-fledged support operation with ease.
LiveAgent is suitable for all types of businesses and even large companies can use it without compromising on features.
Image Source: LiveAgent
Price: Plans start from $15 per agent per month. And you can try it for free.
3. Groove
Our next Zendesk alternative, Groove is one of the most popular customer support solutions, suitable for businesses of all sizes.
It comes packed with features like ticket management, email management, workflow automation, live chat, and a configurable knowledge base.
What’s more?
It also has a shared inbox that lets you integrate all of your customer interactions, making problem resolution much faster.
It is also very easy to manage your support teams and tasks using this tool. This in turn can enhance the customer experience.
Overall, it is a good Zendesk alternative, with decent customer support and help desk features with similar or slightly higher prices.
Image Source: Groove
Price: Plans start at $9 per agent per month. A free 15-day trial is also available.
4. SysAid
This is a good help desk and asset management tool which can act as a viable Zendesk alternative.
The best part about this customer support and help desk software is the kind of flexibility that it offers, thanks to the different modules.
How?
You can start with a single module and then keep adding more as your business requirements grow.
What’s more?
Incident and service request management, mobile device management, live chat, self-service, password reset, and mobile apps are some of the features that this Zendesk alternative offers.
Image Source: SysAid
Price: Prices available by request. You can try it for free right now.
5. Rooftop
Our next Zendesk alternative, Rooftop is a collaborative email management platform built for customer support and help desk task management.
The tool allows you to organize and sort your conversations, live chat, and tickets according to your criteria.
This Zendesk alternative also allows you to automatically route messages.
The analytics feature gives you an overview of your support team’s performance so that you can make informed decisions and improve your support operations.
Key Features:
- Shared inbox
- Collaboration tools
- Task management
- Automatic workflows
- Analytics
Pricing
- Starter: $15 per user/month, billed yearly (monthly: $17)
- Team: $25 per user/month, billed yearly (monthly: $29)
- Business: $35 per user/month, billed yearly (monthly: $39)
- Enterprise: on request
Pros
- Easy setup
- Unique sorting system in the support tool
- Powerful search tool that includes social media
- Easy merging and splitting of conversations
Cons
- No direct integration yet
- Some performance issues with very large volumes of emails
- Analytics features aren’t very flexible
Tool/Platform/Software Level ⇒ Beginner/Intermediate/Expert
Usability ⇒ Rooftop is intuitive and easy to use for people who have worked with SaaS products before.
There is a short learning curve after which this Zendesk alternative will show itself to be a very powerful and versatile platform, with great automation features.
The customer support software is available in English, French, and Dutch.
Pro Tip: Organize your work in self-service projects and auto-route conversations right away. That way, nothing gets lost and you don’t need to manually dispatch emails.
Image Source: Rooftop
6. Vision Helpdesk
This Zendesk alternative is a high-rated, all-in-one help desk platform that is suitable for businesses of all sizes.
It offers plenty of features for small businesses to set up their support operations from scratch.
What does it have to offer?
It has a simple and easy-to-use interface packed with comprehensive customer support and help desk features, such as live chat.
One of its most powerful features is the incident management functionality that lets you solve customer problems in a smooth and efficient manner.
Image Source: Vision Helpdesk
Price: Plans start from $12 per agent per month.
7. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a popular customer support software even though it is not as robust as some of the other options on this list.
What does it do?
Zoho Desk provides multi-channel support and offers some self service automation features that can help you make your customer service and help desk process more efficient.
Image Source: Zoho Desk
Price: Plans start from $18 per agent per month. A free version of Zoho Desk is also available.
8. Freshservice
Freshservice is another popular and highly-rated customer support software that you can use as a Zendesk alternative.
It has a very simple and easy-to-use design that anyone can understand.
And, it is quite easy to set up as well.
What’s more, you ask?
It has an accessible knowledge base, asset discovery, and a robust ticket management system.
It also has additional features like incident and problem management, vendor management, and release management.
Image Source: Freshservice
Price: Plans start from $29 per agent per month. A 21-day free trial is also available.
9. TeamSupport
This is a robust customer support software that is best suited for large businesses and enterprises as it is a bit expensive for small businesses.
What’s in it for you?
The help desk product’s high price is justified by its features, as it has everything that you need to set up a full-fledged support function.
This tool is great at streamlining your customer support process and help you resolve customer queries easily.
It is a cloud-based, highly scalable solution that can grow with your business.
Overall, it is one of the greatest Zendesk alternatives for large businesses.
Image Source: TeamSupport
Price: Plans start from $50 per month. A free trial option is also available.
Bonus Tool #1: Dimelo
This is an all-in-one, omnichannel, customer service platform that can help you manage all customer interactions from one interface.
It has a robust business communications management functionality that tracks and streamlines your internal and external conversations, including live chat.
What else?
The best part is that the interface is easy and anyone can learn to use it quickly.
And, it provides support on different channels like social media, website, forums, live chat, and mobile.
Image Source: Dimelo
Price: For pricing, request a quote.
FAQs
Q1. Is there a free alternative to Zendesk?
A. Yes.
Free alternatives to Zendesk include:
- Freshdesk
- Zammad
- OsTicket
Q2. Is Zendesk software?
A. Yes.
It’s a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed to help companies improve customer relationships.
Q3. Who are Zendesk's competitors?
A. Zendesk’s competitors include:
- SysAid
- Freshservice ITSM Software
- Dimelo
- TeamSupport
- Vision Helpdesk
Q4. Is Zendesk like Salesforce?
A. No.
Zendesk enables you to manage issues by organizing all customer interactions with your brand in one place.
It helps you offer personal, seamless, and efficient customer support.
On the other hand, Salesforce is a customer relationship management system that helps your marketing, commerce, sales, service, and IT teams collaborate.
However, Salesforce also has a client service solution known as Service Cloud.
With it, you get a 360-degree view of customer inquiries while providing fast, personalized, and smart communication.
Q5. Why is Zendesk the best?
A. Some features that make Zendesk one of the best platforms include:
- Ease of use
- Useful add-ons like Guide, Live Chat, Talk, and Answer Bot
- Integrations with email, social channels, website, and mobile
- Ability to use artificial intelligence to automate repetitive self service tasks
- Easy access to analytics
- Integrations with third-party mobile apps
- Ability to track each agent's performance
- Access to customer satisfaction surveys
- Support in multiple languages
Q6. How much does Freshdesk cost?
A. Pricing as of February Freshdesk is as follows:
- Sprout plan – Free
- Blossom plan – $15 when billed annually and $19 billed monthly
- Garden plan – $35 billed annually and $45 billed monthly
- Estate plan – $49 billed annually and $69 billed monthly
- Forest plan – $99 billed annually and $125 billed monthly
Q7. Is Zendesk easy to use?
A. Yes.
Zendesk's products are easy to set-up and deploy even in a complex environment.
Q8. What is Zendesk's ticketing system?
A. It's a system that helps brands collect and track interactions with customers from numerous channels that includes social media sites.
Zendesk's ticket system helps support teams handle and continue conversations with customers on various channels without losing context.
It makes it easy to track, prioritize, and solve customer support inquiries fast.
Zendesk's ticketing system also makes it easy to access and manage information from one central hub.
This then gives your support team a full view of every customer and their journey.
Q9. Can Zendesk be used as a CRM?
A. Yes, but only for customer support.
Zendesk's CRM specifically targets customer support. It includes software that helps businesses improve their support team relationships and communication with customers.
This way, they can easily connect their support team with customers contacting them from various channels, including social media platforms.
Ready to Make a Decision?
These are some of the best Zendesk alternatives for you to choose from.
You can use this list as your starting point while searching for the best customer service software solutions.
Zendesk is a good option, but there are plenty of other options to help ensure customer satisfaction as well.
So, check out the features of each and then take your pick based on your requirements.
Are there any good Zendesk alternatives you think deserve a mention on this list? Let me know in the comments below.
