Top 12 Zendesk suite competitors to use in 2022

What is Zendesk?

Zendesk is one of the most popular help desk tools. It was founded in 2007 as an alternative old-school semi-support tool. From the beginning, the device positioned itself as a high-end help desk system for gathering, prioritizing, and solving customers’ requests in one place. In 2014, Zendesk acquired Zophim and third-party live chat software. Nowadays, Zendesk offers a wide variety of customer support tools alongside its help desk. Below are some products that can be used together and separately:

• Support – For ticketing, prioritizing, and solving customer requests via email and social media like Facebook and Twitter.
• Service- Email, live chat, social media, call, chatbot, and help center support.
• Sales- For sales tracking, email marketing, selling via SMS, call, and email, including CRM and custom pipelines.

Zendesk also has the Answer bot for suggesting answers to common questions, identifying when to bring in a live agent, and sharing relevant knowledge base articles with visitors on the go. And even though the company doesn’t have its custom chatbots like Intercom or Drift, they released the Chat Conversation API, which allows integration with third-party chatbots.

Zendesk pricing starts at $25/agent/month for the Support subscription plan or at least $59/agent/month for the Zendesk Suite.

Before you start using Zendesk, see this book on Mastering the software.

Best Zendesk Alternatives and Competitors.

1. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub aims to simplify processes relating to managing customers’ queries and helping to enhance customer engagement for all-sized businesses. Users can easily connect with their customers through live chat, conversational bots, one-to-one communication, canned responses, etc.

Because of HubSpot Service Hub’s automated customer marketing emails and a thorough knowledge base, HubSpot Service Hub allows businesses to constantly engage with customers via streamlined access to numerous case resolutions. The software can be integrated will all relevant Third-party applications.

Pros of HubSpot Service Hub

• It can house all company’s self-serve information.
• The software information and FAQs section is the perfect way to provide users with a valuable article.
• HubSpot Service Hub has immense potential to enhance the workflow of any business, regardless of its size, industry, or target audience.
• HubSpot Service Hub helps to improve the customer service of its users by gathering customer service data and channels together in one place, allowing companies to improve their onboarding processes and support, retain, and continuously grow their customer base.

Cons of HubSpot Service Hub

• The software comes with a steep learning curve for some users
• HubSpot Service Hub is time-consuming to get things done for users as they sift through many layers of options.
• Multiple service reps cannot simultaneously be able to work on a ticket which can potentially lead to duplication or create confusion within the team.

Related article: How to establish a functional virtual call center.

2. SugarCRM (Sugar Serve)

Sugar CRM is a cloud-based platform that handles sales and marketing automation, account management, and anything else associated with customer relationship management. Sugar CRM has unique features like customizable home pages, a shortcut bar, downloadable plug-ins, and a “wizard” feature for new users; SugarCRM is the right solution for any business type.

The platform is built on an open-source platform that allows the freedom to customize solutions to fit your business’s needs.  One of the main reasons many companies prefer SugarCRM over Zendesk to its competitors is its powerful integration features. Sugar CRM can accommodate new models users create with built-in tools.

Pros of SugarCRM

• It is easy to use
• It has a robust search engine that enables users to easily manage enormous amounts of information.
• It has a dashboard collaboration that makes it easy to access business-critical data.

Cons of SugarCRM

• It doesn’t have an inviting user interface
• The platform’s smartphone app has minimal performance.

3. Hiver

Hiver is perfect for small teams, and Hiver was created as the first helpdesk for Google workspace. It helps the team to provide quick and empathetic customer service from Gmail. Users can easily assign, manage, and collaborate on customers’ emails while also enjoying the most advanced analytics and automation from Gmail.

Pros of Hiver

• Hiver is a project management tool that enhances productivity within teams and reduces time spent searching or waiting for specific information from colleagues.

Cons of Hiver

• Hiver is time-consuming due to the lack of overall threaded messages
• Hiver doesn’t come with some of the more advanced features of Zendesk or some of the competitors like HubSpot’s Service Hub or Help Scout, which might be an issue for businesses.

4. Front

Front is a customer communication platform that uses the simplicity of an email inbox and combines it with the automation and insights typical for a CRM. This allows all departments to work together and send their responses faster, organize their messages across all channels, and maintain a personal connection.

Pros of Front

• Front enhances team collaboration with features like assignments, shared drafts, and internal comments
• Front is straightforward to use.

Cons of Front

• Users have cited that Front doesn’t integrate well with popular apps like Slack or Gmail.
• One of the biggest cons of Front is the pricing. Users pay per seat when they want to have it in their account, which can be problematic if you have a volatile customer service workforce that sees increases or decreases frequently.

5. Gorgias

This e-commerce assists desk aims to support small and midsized e-commerce businesses. Gorgias offers its users a few unique features like an easy and carefully-thought solution. Gorgias is not a well-rounded tool like Zendesk, and if not within their narrowed target audience, it might not be the right fit for your business needs. E-commerce offers social media sentiment analysis, something many other competitors do not have as their feature. With the help of artificial intelligence, their engine will scan the page, looking for positive and negative comments about your products or services. That helps companies resolve a negative comment right away or upsell a satisfied customer.

Pros of Gorgias

• It has an email-like user interface that provides a familiar environment for most users
• Gorgias provides a long and growing list of integrations with all apps an e-commerce business would need, such as Shopify, Shopify Plus, Big Commerce, Magento, Instagram, Facebook, Klaviyo, and Gmail, and many more.

Cons of Gorgias

• Gorgias is mainly focused on being a help desk for e-commerce businesses, so it is not entirely an ideal Zendesk alternative for companies that aren’t in the e-commerce sector
• Reporting features are also limited to canned reports with primary export. As many e-commerce businesses depend on the reporting data, it might be challenging to find value in Gorgias if you cannot see it through reporting.

6. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is similar to Zendesk and is a universal tool with great integration capabilities and excellent value for money. Zoho desk offers a free plan to explore the basic features, so businesses looking to start with the more advanced functionality will need to purchase a plan. Another great thing about Zoho Desk is that its most expensive plan is half the price of Zendesk Professional Suite. As these tools offer almost the same features, it is a more affordable alternative that will not disappoint you. Zohodesk has powerful analytics, flexibility in billing for customer support representatives, and a wide range of integrations.

Pros of Zoho Desk

• With Zoho Desk’s multiple support channels, you can use different communication methods and make the most of each.
• Zoho Desk has one of the cleanest user-friendly UI, making it easy to scale and customize to fit your needs, making it an excellent choice for startups.

Cons of Zoho Desk

• Zoho Desk has too many confusing and overwhelming options when using the tool.
• Most people using Zendesk or its alternatives also need to create reports. As much as Zoho Desk offers decent reporting features, its most significant downside is the lack of visualization in reporting.

7. AzureDesk

AzureDesk is another help desk software that aims to ‘go beyond customer satisfaction to customer delight.’ While many of the alternative tools provide various communication options, AzureDesk focuses mainly on support via email. By integrating with an organization’s current email system, AzureDesk assures users that they’ll be able to track tickets and provide support as needed easily.

AzureDesk also allows users to quickly prioritize and categorize tickets as they come in, enabling organizations to assign issues to the best agent for the task at hand. Agents and other team members can also attach private messages to tickets to communicate any need-to-know information to the agent assigned to a given instance.

Pros of AzureDesk

• AzureDesk has a simple interface; its pathways consist of specific tools which are straightforward.
• AzureDesk’s support staff is incredibly responsive and helpful

Cons of AzureDesk

• AzureDesk isn’t made for multi-channel communication
• Customer-facing fields and forms aren’t very customizable, and the overall aesthetic appearance of the tool is basic.

8.  Groove

Another Zendesk alternative is Groove.  Groove help to streamline the process of collecting customer inquiries and providing support as needed. With Groove, agents can provide customer service and support via email, Twitter, Facebook, live chat, phone, and text message. In addition, Groove also allows multiple agents to collaborate on a single support instance in real-time via both customer-facing channels and private internal means.

Pros of Groove

• Groove has a clean and straightforward, intuitive user interface.
• Groove has several powerful integrations. Most users have been quite satisfied with the ease with which they could migrate data from their current system into Groove’s database.

Cons of Groove

• Groove’s reporting feature has been cited as lackluster
• The customer-facing portals are not entirely customizable or brandable

9. HappyFox

HappyFox is an all-in-one solution for an organization’s help desk software needs. HappyFox users can support their clients through email, live chat, social media, and phone. This enables support staff to reach customers where they want to be contacted, making the entire process more accessible.

Pros of HappyFox

• HappyFox’s ticketing and documentation system are streamlined to perfection.
• HappyFox allows organizations to update their knowledge base and other customer-facing content easily.

Cons of HappyFox

• The help desk software lacks robust features and reports.
• HappyFox isn’t practical and affordable for startups just starting the ground because it requires a three-user minimum, which some startups may not have the capacity for.

10. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is primarily a help desk software that focuses on helping organizations streamline the process of ticket intake and service provision. LiveAgent provides an all-in-one solution for companies looking to build a call center, provide live chat via the website and social media channels, and create a knowledge base for its customers to use at their convenience.

Pros of LiveAgent

• LiveAgent provides numerous ways for organizations to connect and communicate with their clients, from live chat and email to telephone and live chat.
• While LiveAgent’s team is not very responsive, it is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful.

Cons of LiveAgent

• The software lacks proper documentation and instructions for organizations just getting started with the tool.
• Users in the past have mentioned that LiveAgent’s mobile app isn’t as robust and streamlined as the desktop version of the software. However, the software was claimed in 2018 to be working and making improvements in the area.

11. Intercom

Intercom is a customer messaging platform that is focused on enabling organizations to build an authentic relationship with their clients throughout every stage of the sales funnel.

Pros of Intercom

• Intercom is incredibly easy to use.
• Users of Intercom has cited that both the desktop and mobile version of the software are on-par with one another. Compared to many other tools on the list.

Cons of Intercom

• While Intercom offers a variety of features and functions, it doesn’t outperform the other tools on this list in most areas.
• Intercom’s pricing structure has been reported to be arbitrary and confusing.

12. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a helpdesk solution that focuses on usability and affordability. With Freshdesk, organizations can set up automation to handle specific customer inquiries as appropriate. This includes automatic delivery of help desk tickets to the correct department or agent, prioritization of inquiries based on severity, and auto-responders when a hands-on response isn’t necessary.

Pros of Freshdesk

• Fresh desk is incredibly easy to use due to its minimalistic user interface.
• Fresh desk developers have continued to test and tweak the software to perfection based on user feedback and other such data.

Cons of Freshdesk 

• Some users of Freshdesk have reported minor issues in which specific automation causes redundant messages to be sent internally. For example, one user reports that agents will receive duplicate emails if a ticket is automatically assigned To their Department and Personally to them.
• Also, the collision mentioned above detection ensures multiple agents don’t pick up a single ticket; users have reported instances in which the customer submits numerous tickets for a particular issue, which can cause internal problems if not caught immediately.

While Zendesk remains highly ranked among competitors in the customer service software industry, it is by no means your only option as this list shows.

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