Zendesk vs. Freshdesk: everything you need to know before making a decision (2023)

Have you ever tried playing tennis with this devilish tennis ball machine that keeps throwing balls at you while you have to bounce them back very quickly? Now imagine doing all that swinging on a unicycle. On the edge of a mountain. With eyes closed.

Working in customer support takes a lot of effort, focus and time management as customer queries come from everywhere. You enter your company's Facebook page and see 2-3 new posts there. You go to Twitter and someone has already complained about your service. Also, you open your inbox and it is full of requests from your clients, business partners, parents, cats, etc.

Do you already have that little feeling of suffocation? That overwhelming feeling of not being able to keep up?

Well, you don't have to feel that way when choosing the right one.helpdesk toolto your support team. These solutions take all these communication channels, bring them together in a single dashboard, and provide everything you need to handle incoming requests efficiently. And two of the most popular helpdesk tools are there.ZendeskYnice table.

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Companies that have decided to move to ticketing systems often face the Zendesk vs. freshdesk. Both tools are extensive in their customer service features, have affordable pricing plans for different budgets, offer a pleasant onboarding experience, and are generally very good at what they do.

ThenHow do you make a decision in a situation?like this? There are no two ways. Let's compare Freshdesk with Zendesk in detail.

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Freshdesk looks simpler and easier to use, and it costs less if you choose to buy the full package. Zendesk, on the other hand, wins in integrations and, on rare occasions, features, but feels a little disconnected. Large support departments would be better off with Zendesk.

When you need a multifunctional devicecustomer service solution, Freshdesk can look simpler, easier and healthier. Live chat is also more advanced compared to Zendesk. Also, Zendesk's live chat widget is a bit behind schedule.

Overall, comparing Zendesk and Freshdesk quickly, I would say that companies with large support departments would probably be better off with Zendesk and its strong ticketing options. Freshdesk is best suited for smaller businesses.

If you're looking for something just as powerful but more affordable, why not give it a try?HilfeCrunch? It offers the right support, marketing, and sales resources.

Local comparison between Freshdesk and Zendesk

Here's a quick table of the main differences between Freshdesk and Zendesk. Please read carefully and choose wisely 🙂

Freshdesk vs Zendesk: How did it all start?

To fully paint this picture, let's start the Freshdesk vs Zendesk comparison with a quick history lesson.

So if customer service tools were an Italian mafia, Zendesk would be your godfather. It is one of the oldest and most comprehensive technical support tools on the market. Founded in 2007 in asmall atticsomewhere in Copenhagen, Zendesk is one of the oldestcustomer service toolsout there. The idea arose from the complexityOld school ticketing systems. They were a mess back then, and Zendesk's mission was to fix everything that was wrong with them.

Twelve years later, Zendesk is one of the most comprehensive help desk tools on the market, and it's still going strong.

What about FreshDesk? According to the CEO of Freshdesk, his story was realinspiredby Zendesk itself It was 2010 and it was a mob story:

I read this article on Hacker News. This article was about Zendesk's 60-300% price increase and user dissatisfaction about it. That comment was like a slap in the face. Here was an opportunity that was right in front of me.

Girish Mathrubootham, executive director of Freshdesk

Basically, Zendesk has its originsnearest competitor. Isn't that a nice plot twist? Also, what an excuse to start talking about prices right away.

Zendesk vs Freshdesk: Precios

Both Freshdesk and Zendesk used to offer free plans, but so far only Freshdesk offers some of its tools for free. Of course, they are limited in many ways, but they are free. Good news for all money savers. As of 2021, Zendesk also had free versions of its products, but the company has discontinued them.

You can sign up for the free trials and try any of the paid subscriptions. Zendesk offers a 30-day trial (which is a pretty long trial for SaaS companies), while Freshdesk's plans are available for a 21-day trial (not bad either).

But what if you are willing to pay for the tools you use? Let's review the actual price comparison between Zendesk and Freshdesk 💸

Zendesk Pricing

If you choose the Zendesk Suite, the team subscription will cost at least €59/agent per month. Advanced packages can cost up to €199/agent. Or pay annually and save 35%.

Each Zendesk Suite covers the following channels:

• Ticketing (help desk tool to collect, prioritize and resolve requests)
• Voice support (aka call center)
• live chat
• social media
• knowledge base

While these channels are covered by all Zendesk Suite subscriptions, they have very different functionality. For example, there are several knowledge bases available in the growth plan, which costs €99/agent/month. Setting up your live chat widget's opening hours will cost at least €125/agent/month. And if you want to remove Zendesk branding, you're better off paying $199/agent/month.

Alternatively, you can opt for one of Zendesk's support packages. It offers email and social media ticketing and costs significantly less. Basic support plan starts at €25/agent per month.

cool desktop prices

When purchased as a ticketing service, Freshdesk can be slightly cheaper than Zendesk. The most basic subscription is just €18 per agent per month when billed monthly, while the most expensive subscription is €95 per agent per month. Zendesk Support pricing plans start at €25/month and do not include knowledge base integration.

However, if we compare Freshdesk and Zendesk all-in-one subscription plans, Freshdesk omnichannel plans are cheaper. They start at €35/agent/month billed monthly.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk: What do they offer?

I'll be honest with you. If I had to choose between Zendesk and Freshdesk right now, I wouldn't know which one is better. Zendesk is widely considered to be the most comprehensive help desk tool out there. They have everything a customer support team needs and more. But the thing about Freshdesk is that it's just as good a tool. The problem between Freshdesk and Zendesk is real. What a shock!

Features of Zendesk

counseling center

As I mentioned earlier, Zendesk is the godfather of help desk tools as we know them. Its ticketing capabilities are the most comprehensive in the industry and work like a charm. (Although I have to say, your dashboard looks impressive at first glance.)

The tool turns all customer inquiries via phone, chat, email and social media into tickets that are easy to manage, resolve and collaborate on. Zendesk helps customer support teams collect all issues from disjointed channels and centralize them into a prioritized, actionable list.

There are a number of features to help larger teams work together more efficiently. Customer service teams get a real-time view of how each issue is resolved with a simple issue tracking system. For example, you can see the activity log and the name of the agent that manages it.

What also sets Zendesk apart from the competition is its reporting. They provide the most detailed reports on everything like: B. how quickly service employees resolve tickets and how a ticket's status evolves from open to closed.

live chat

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Zendesk's chat widget due to the limited customization options and outdated design. However, in terms of functionality, it has most of the necessary features like shortcuts (saved replies), automatic triggers, and live chat analytics.

knowledge base

The Zendesk Tool Guide has many features, from localization to bot integration and feedback forums. Basically, you can create new articles and organize them by categories and sections; make it a quality place for customers if they have questions or issues.

Zendesk also offers Answer Bot which can take your knowledge base game to the next level. Answer Bot automatically suggests relevant articles for customers, reducing the workload for your support team. And it's also multilingual.

Freshdesk resources

(Video) Zendesk vs Jira Service Management: Making the Right Call

counseling center

It's the core of Freshdesk's functionality. Their ticketing system works very well and is very smooth to use. Basically, every email, chat or call turns into tickets where they can be prioritized, assigned or grouped. It is also possible to integrate your Twitter and Facebook pages with Freshdesk and receive customer inquiries from there.

And yes, all this can be done automatically. You can automate routine tasks on your helpdesk, for example B. setting priorities, ticket tracking and other operational tasks that help you run your support.

Freshdesk likes to emphasize its team collaboration features like automatically assigning tickets to the right person, real-time information on who is already handling a given ticket, etc.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy Freshdesk's ticketing tools are to work with.

live chat

doing well Freshdesk is really just one tool (or rather a set of technical support tools) in the Freshworks family. So if you want live chat for your website, consider signing up for another tool called Freshchat (or opting for an expensive all-in-one plan). Prices vary between €0 and €83 with monthly payment.

Freshchat allows for in-app and triggered messaging within its chat widget, as well as tracking of user events (e.g. last pages visited) and properties (e.g. location, browser language). You can also connect your knowledge base to the chat widget and display an FAQ section there.

If we compare the look and feel of Freshdesk and Zendesk chat widgets, I like Freshdesk much more as it looks simpler and more modern.

knowledge base

As a knowledge management software, Freshdesk offers a nice and clean help center feature. And it's also multilingual (meaning you can provide a translation of your articles into any language you like).

Probably the best thing about their self-service tool is that it includes some search engine optimization features to help you get your content ready for Google to index.

Other than that, I didn't find anything particularly noteworthy about their self-service tool. It's nice and clean, but not as well-developed as Zendesk Guide.

Freshdesk x Zendesk: analysis

cool desktop results4.5/5 starsin capterra you4.4/5 starsin G2 based on 2676 reviews. Many users cite ease of setup and use as the tool's main advantages. However, some customers have complained that their support team is sometimes almost unreachable, while the tool is not always as reliable as they would like.

Zendesk is not far behind with a score of4.4/5 starsand 3,152 reviews on Capterra. Over 5,000 G2 reviewers have rated4.3/5 stars. The tool has many loyal customers who have been loyal to it for many years. They often mention that Zendesk is easily scalable due to the number of features and subscription levels it offers. However, its strongest side can sometimes be its most annoying feature, as users mention the complexity of the tool.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk: What about customer support?

I really enjoyed Zendesk's customer support. I asked a question in live chat and got an immediate response: friendly and straightforward.

When leaving a message in Freshdesk's live chat, you'll always see an indication of when you can expect a response. When I put mine down it said "Current response in less than 15 minutes". 3 hours later, and I'm still waiting for someone to answer me.

Zendesk vs. Freshdesk - my honest overall impression

Let's say this right away. I liked Freshdesk the most the moment I signed up for their toolset and they gave me dashboard access. And here's why.

You need time to understand Zendesk. While it's true that Zendesk offers a great onboarding process and provides a lot of helpful advice at every step of your journey, I still want to get started right away rather than struggling to understand how things work there.

Also, when working with the Zendesk dashboard, you find that you have to open your tools in separate browser tabs. This is definitely not the best solution for smaller customer support teams.

On the other hand, Freshdesk is screaming from the rooftops that its interface is more intuitive and easier to set up and dive into. And to be honest, that was my impression too. I liked how Freshdesk is structured and how they onboard newcomers.

When you sign up for the tool for the first time, you'll see a short welcome video from the CEO, then get a 20-minute demo where the team walks you through the basics of Freshdesk. And this video is more than enough to get you started.

In general, I resolved the dispute between Zendesk and Freshdesk in favor of the latter. Freshdesk really is cheaper, more intuitive and more consistent. However, in my opinion, these bigger companies like Zendesk are bigger precisely because of their complexity and lack of coordination.

Which should I choose: Freshdesk or Zendesk?

Honestly, it's your unique business needs that can help you make the right choice, be it Zendesk or Freshdesk. If you ask me, I would choose Freshdesk. It's just that I liked your dashboard as soon as I entered it. And I can't dismiss that feeling. It's also cheaper, making it an obvious choice for smaller businesses.

With all of its tools, departments, features, and devices, Zendesk can be a great fit for larger (read: huge) companies.

However, I would recommend looking for more consistency.alternatives- AsHilfeCrunch. With HelpCrunch, you get a modern and fully customizable live chat backed by support features like assigning tags and letters, adding private notes to your colleagues, reassigning customer requests from one agent to another, etc. .

Try one of HelpCrunch's pricing plans for free for 14 days and see our tools in action right away.