Zendesk vs Intercom: Which Is Right For Your Business in 2023?

A cloud-based solution enables employees to work anywhere without the need to build, support, and maintain their own data center. This gives companies flexibility in how and where they use the service. Human resource help desks, or HR help desks, help HR teams manage and solve employee matters, questions, and issues across multiple channels. This platform streamlines questions about benefits, payroll, and other company policies into a centralized place. Much like IT help desks, you can integrate employee portal software with HR help desks so employees can quickly and easily search and find answers to common questions. Whether you’re managing customer conversations or handling employee IT support requests, omnichannel help desk software can help.

Although Zendesk isn’t hard to use, it’s not a perfectly smooth experience either. Users report feeling as though the interface is outdated and cluttered and complain about how long it takes to set up new features and customize existing ones. Then, you can begin filling in details such as your account’s name and icon and your agents’ profiles and security features. Zendesk has over 150,000 customer accounts from 160 countries and territories. They have offices all around the world including countries such as Mexico City, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Singapore, São Paulo, London, and Dublin. Many users complain that Intercom’s help is unavailable the majority of the time, forcing them to repeatedly ask the same question to a bot.

Overall impression (aka very subjective take on user experience):

Intercom also has a community forum where users can help one another with questions and solutions. Test any of HelpCrunch pricing plans for free for 14 days and see our tools in action right away. To sum up this Intercom vs Zendesk battle, the latter is a great support-oriented tool that will be a good choice for big teams with various departments. Intercom feels more wholesome and is more client-success-oriented, but it can be too costly for smaller companies.

It’s highly customizable, too, so you can adjust it according to your website or product’s style. So when it comes to chatting features, the choice is not really Intercom vs Zendesk. The latter offers a chat widget that is simple, outdated, and limited in customization options, while the former puts all of its resources into its messenger. Whether you’ve just started searching for a customer support tool or have been using one for a while, chances are you know about Zendesk and Intercom. The former is one of the oldest and most reliable solutions on the market, while the latter sets the bar high in terms of innovative and out-of-the-box features.

It can automatically suggest your customer relevant articles reducing the workload for your support agents. On one hand, Zendesk offers a great many features, way more than Intercom, but it lacks in-app messenger and email marketing tools. On the other hand, Intercom has all its (fewer) tools and features integrated with each other way better, which makes your experience with the tool as smooth as silk. For basic chat and messaging, Intercom charges a flat fee of $39 per month for its basic plan with one user and $99 per month for its team plan with up to 5 users. If you want automated options, Intercom starts at either $499 or $999 per month for up to ten users, depending on the level of automation you’re looking for. Its sales CRM software starts at $19 per month per user, but you’ll have to pay $49 to get Zapier integrations and $99 for Hubspot integrations.

While this may seem like a positive for Zendesk, it’s important to consider that a larger company may not be as agile or responsive to customer needs as a smaller company. Here is a list of tools that work as an alternative to Sortd in terms of features and pricing. When comparing the user interfaces (UI) of Zendesk and Intercom, both platforms exhibit distinct characteristics and strengths catering to different user preferences and needs. The Zendesk marketplace is also where you can get a lot of great add-ons. There are also several different Shopify integrations to choose from, as well as CRM integrations like HubSpot and Salesforce.

It is none other than the modern customer support software of Helpwise. You can use both Zendesk and Intercom simultaneously to leverage their respective strengths and provide comprehensive customer support across different channels and touchpoints. The offers that appear on the website are from software companies from which CRM.org receives compensation.

In the category of customer support, Zendesk appears to be just slightly better than Intercom based on the availability of regular service and response times. However, it is possible Intercom’s support is superior at the premium level. There are 3 Basic support plans at $19, $49 and $99 per user per month billed annually, and 5 Suite plans at $49, $79, $99, $150, and $215 per user per month billed annually. Overall, I actually liked Zendesk’s user experience better than Intercom’s in terms of its messaging dashboard.

Introducing Zendesk and Intercom

Using the existing knowledge base functionality, they can display self-help articles in the chat window before the customer approaches your team for support. You can create these knowledge base articles in your target audience’s native language as their software is multilingual. In a nutshell, both these companies provide great customer support.

It can be classified as a chatbox for average users, just like the ones found on a variety of websites. The user experience is similar to that of a Facebook Messenger chat. Lastly, Intercom offers an academy that offers concise courses to help users make the most out of their Intercom experience.

These features make it suitable for businesses of all sizes, helping them streamline their support operations and enhance the overall customer experience. One of the things that sets Zendesk apart from other customer service software providers is its focus on design. The company’s products are built with an emphasis on simplicity and usability. This has helped to make Zendesk one of the most popular customer service software platforms on the market. Zendesk provides limited customer support for its basic plan users, along with costly premium assistance options.

SaaS help desks are fantastic options for small and midsize businesses that don’t have the budget or infrastructure to host and maintain an on-premise help desk system. Whether you’re a modest startup or a corporate giant, there are different help desk software options to fit your business. Depending on your company’s size, complexity, and customer service needs, each software can offer unique benefits to help your teams.

The company’s products include a messaging platform, knowledge base tools, and an analytics dashboard. Many businesses choose to work with Intercom because of its focus on personalization and flexibility, allowing companies to completely customize their customer service experience. Intercom, while differing from Zendesk, offers specialized features aimed at enhancing customer relationships.

Intercom, on the other hand, was built for business messaging, so communication is one of their strong suits. Combine that with their prowess in automation and sales solutions, and you’ve got a really strong product that can handle myriad customer relationship needs. I tested both options (using Zendesk’s Suite Professional trial and Intercom’s Support trial) and found clearly defined differences between the two. Here’s what you need to know about Zendesk vs. Intercom as customer support and relationship management tools.

The Zendesk Marketplace offers over 1,500 no-code apps and integrations. Ultimately, the choice between Zendesk and Intercom depends on your business needs. If you need a solution that can rapidly scale and offer strong self-service features, Zendesk may be the best fit. However, if your focus is on creating a seamless, automated customer service experience with proactive engagement, Intercom could be the ideal choice. Customers can become angry, frustrated, or stressed when they can’t complete simple tasks independently.

If you thought Zendesk’s pricing was confusing, let me introduce you to Intercom’s pricing. It’s virtually impossible to predict what you’re going to pay for Intercom at end of the day. You’d probably want to know how much it costs to get https://chat.openai.com/ Zendesk or Intercom for your business, so let’s talk money now. But it’s designed and crafted so well that I can’t seem to get enough of it. It’s highly customizable, so you can adjust it according to your website or product’s style.

Other customer service add-ons with Zendesk include custom training and professional services. Intercom has a wider range of uses out of the box than Zendesk, though by adding Zendesk Sell, you could more than make up for it. Both options are well designed, easy to use, and share some pretty key functionality like behavioral triggers and omnichannel-ality (omnichannel-centricity?). But with perks like more advanced chatbots, automation, and lead management capabilities, Intercom could have an edge for many users. With industry-leading AI that infuses intelligence into every interaction, robust integrations, and exceptional data security and compliance, it’s no wonder why Zendesk is a trusted leader in CX. This type of help desk tool is for companies that operate on a larger scale.

Zendesk or Intercom: Team communication

Zendesk Support has voicemail, text messages, and embedded voice, and it displays the phone number on the widget. Currently based in Albuquerque, NM, Bryce Emley holds an MFA in Creative Writing from NC State and nearly a decade of writing and editing experience. When he isn’t writing content, poetry, or creative nonfiction, he enjoys traveling, baking, playing music, reliving his barista days in his own kitchen, camping, and being bad at carpentry. Keeping this general theme in mind, I’ll dive deeper into how each software’s features compare, so you can decide which use case might best fit your needs. G2 ranks Intercom higher than Zendesk for ease of setup, and support quality—so you can expect a smooth transition, effortless onboarding, and continuous success. Whether you’re starting fresh with Intercom or migrating from Zendesk, set up is quick and easy.

Ultimately, it’s important to consider what features each platform offers before making a decision, as well as their pricing options and customer support policies. Since both are such well-established market leader companies, you can rest assured that whichever one you choose will offer a quality customer service solution. Zendesk is a customer service software company that provides businesses with a suite of tools to manage customer interactions. The company was founded in 2007 and today serves over 170,000 customers worldwide. Zendesk’s mission is to build software designed to improve customer relationships. Zendesk is an AI-powered service solution that’s easy to set up, use, and scale.

Many use cases call for different approaches, and Zendesk and Intercom are but two software solutions for each case. Intercom’s native mobile apps are good for iOS, Android, React Native, and Cordova, while Zendesk only has mobile apps for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. In terms of pricing, Intercom is considered one of the most expensive tools on the market. And there’s still no way to know how much you’ll pay for them since the prices are only revealed after you go through a few sale demos with the Intercom team.

Intercom does not have a dedicated workforce management solution, either. Zendesk boasts robust reporting and analytics tools, plus a dedicated workforce management system. With custom correlation and attribution, you can dive deep into the root cause behind your metrics. We also provide real-time and historical reporting dashboards so you can take action at the moment and learn from past trends.

From Answers to Assist, we released a ton of product updates in 2023. MILAN — AC Milan have officially announced the appointment of former AS Roma and Lille manager Paulo Fonseca as the new head coach of the Rossoneri. The Portuguese has signed a three-year deal valid until the summer of 2027. Fonseca, who already coached in the Italian Serie A from 2019 to 2021, will make his comeback to Italy as he replaces Stefano Pioli on the AC Milan bench. The club’s advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced the decision during a press conference held at the AC Milan training center. We have even more information on help desks and related software and tools.

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Plus, teams can easily share information, improving collaboration between departments and leading to faster resolutions. If compared to Intercom’s chatbot, Zendesk offers a relatively latest platform that makes support automation possible. So far, the chatbot can transfer chats to agents or resolve less complex queries in seconds.

Messagely’s pricing starts at just $29 per month, which includes live chat, targeted messages, shared inbox, mobile apps, and over 750 powerful integrations. Messagely’s chatbots are powerful tools for qualifying and converting leads while your team is otherwise occupied or away. With chatbots, you can generate leads to hand over to your sales team and solve common customer queries without the need of a customer service representative behind a keyboard. NovoChat, on the other hand, is great for businesses that primarily engage with their clients through messaging apps. The program is simple to use and includes all of the necessary capabilities for providing good customer service. Intercom focuses on real-time customer messaging, while Zendesk provides a comprehensive suite for ticketing, knowledge base, and self-service support.

With all your key customer data and context in one, unified agent workspace, you have the information you need to tailor and personalize the support experience. Personalized support not only boosts the customer experience but it also builds customer loyalty. Your help desk solution provider should offer quality support and resources—like technical support, customer success, education, and community—so your business can drive value.

Every single bit of business SaaS in the world needs to leverage the efficiency power of workflows and automation. Customer service systems like Zendesk and Intercom should provide a simple workflow builder as well as many pre-built automations which can be used right out of the box. Zendesk is not far behind Intercom when it comes to email features. There is a simple email integration tool for whatever email provider you regularly use. This gets you unlimited email addresses and email templates in both text form and HTML.

Email marketing, for example, is a big deal, but less so when it comes to customer service. Still, for either of these platforms to have some email marketing or other email functionality is common sense. The best help desks are also ticketing systems, which lets support reps create a support ticket out of issues that can then be tracked. Ticket routing helps to send the ticket to the best support team agent. Powered by Explore, Zendesk’s reporting capabilities are pretty impressive. Right out of the gate, you’ve got dozens of pre-set report options on everything from satisfaction ratings and time in status to abandoned calls and Answer Bot resolutions.

At the end of the day, there is not a universally better option, just one that suits your needs and preferences the most. Say what you will, but Intercom’s design and overall user experience are leaving all its competitors far behind. It’s beautifully crafted and thought through, and their custom-made illustrations are just next level stuff. You can see their attention to detail in everything — from their tools to their website. Intercom doesn’t really provide free stuff, but they have a tool called Platform, which is free. The free Intercom Platform lets you see who your customers are and what they do in your workspace.

This not only increases customer satisfaction but also reduces operational costs. It’s no secret that Zendesk is the G.O.A.T. of help desk software. Designed to enhance the employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX), our help desk software is the best of both worlds.

The restaurant reservation system collected employee feedback stating that it was cumbersome to submit support tickets to its internal help desk. After implementing additional channels and regular status updates, OpenTable achieved a more responsive and transparent process, confirmed by follow-up surveys. Although open-source software may technically be more flexible, only companies with highly skilled programmers can customize the software to suit their needs.

• It also includes a list of common questions you can browse through at the bottom of the knowledge base home page so you can find answers to common issues.
• Here are a few key features to look for when comparing help desk software.
• The setup can be so complex that there are tutorials by third parties to teach new users how to do it right.
• Zendesk offers more flexibility with its pricing options and also has free services.

Here’s a list of criteria we’ve used to differentiate the two for you. In addition, some of the services Zendesk offers have a free plan (find them below in the tables). Intercom does not have a built-in call center solution, but you can integrate zendesk vs intercom Intercom with other call center software. If I had to describe Intercom’s help desk, I would say it’s rather a complementary tool to their chat tools. It’s great, it’s convenient, it’s not nearly as advanced as the one by Zendesk.

Reporting and analytics help you monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like ticket volume and first contact resolution time. Vivantio’s portal widget builder features custom themes and designs, and the software’s searchable online knowledge base comes with custom forms and fields. Its help desk also features pre-built and customizable reporting and analytics dashboards as well as a report builder that allows teams to create custom charts to visually display data and metrics. Pop-up chat, in-app messaging, and notifications are some of the highly-rated features of this live chat software. Zendesk is another popular customer service, support, and sales platform that enables clients to connect and engage with their customers in seconds.

It features automated workflows, AI-powered productivity tools, and a single ticketing system for issue resolution. Self-service options allow customers to manage tickets without additional help and find articles in the help center. Help Scout offers a customer help desk that enables support teams to manage customer conversations collaboratively. The tool consolidates requests from email, live chat, self-service portals, and other channels into a shared inbox. All requests filter into this centralized location where they can be tagged, updated, and assigned to agents or teams. Our employee-centric help desk makes it easy for agents to deliver an exceptional experience—whether for customer service or IT support.

On the other hand, Zendesk’s customer support includes a knowledge base that’s very intuitive and easy to navigate. It divides all articles into a few main topics so you can quickly find the one you’re looking for. It also includes a list of common questions you can browse through at the bottom of the knowledge base home page so you can find answers to common issues.

This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all software companies or all available software companies offers. So, by now, you can see that according to this article, Zendesk inches past Intercom as the better customer support platform. Intercom’s large series of bots obviously run on automations as well. As mentioned before, the bot builder is a visual drag-and-drop system that requires no coding knowledge; this is also how other basic workflows are designed.

If you need help choosing your next help desk solution—look no further. Our help desk software comparison list provides an overview of features, pricing, and free trials of the top help desk software. Compared to Intercom, Zendesk’s pricing starts at $49/month, which is still understandable but not meant for startups looking for affordable pricing plans. These plans are not inclusive of the add-ons or access to all integrations.

That means all you have to do is add the code to your website and enable it right away. Intercom offers a simplistic dashboard with a detailed view of all customer details in one place. Operators will find its dashboard quite beneficial as it will take them seconds to find necessary features during an ongoing chat with the customers. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Admins will also like the fact that they can see the progress of all their teams and who all are actively answering a customer’s query in real-time.

Intercom is a customer relationship management (CRM) software company that provides a suite of tools for managing customer interactions. The company was founded Chat GPT in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Intercom’s products are used by over 25,000 customers, from small tech startups to large enterprises.