Freshdesk vs Zendesk: A Comparison [2023]

Snigdha
By Snigdha | Last Updated on March 4th, 2024 11:40 am

The customer support you offer is of supreme importance today, as customers hold a lot of power. A dissatisfied or disgruntled customer often resorts to social media to express their discontent, which can tarnish an organization’s reputation. It only makes sense, therefore, to be proactive about the quality of your customer support and have a near omnipresence across all channels. This level of support is only achievable when you have strong customer support software. I chose to look into two of the most popular customer service software available today - Freshdesk and Zendesk - and weigh them against each other. Though they are comparable, there is yet another product that is worth mentioning - Appy Pie Desk. Read ahead to see how the two stack up against each other and which one is better suited to your business needs.

Table of Contents

Introduction

According to a recent Gartner study, IT service desks that leverage technologies based on machine learning will free up to 30% of support capacity. This means you not only free up your resources for more critical cases but also ensure quick resolutions of common customer queries. Additionally, you must also consider the money you can save by using a help desk platform and workflow automation. If you were to handle a help desk ticket, it would cost you $22. However, if you were to use automation, you can resolve 22% of total service desk tickets at practically no cost. Yet another important point that emerged during my research was that employing Freshdesk integrations, Zendesk integrations, and creating automated workflows further elevated the overall quality and efficiency of customer support you offer.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk - a quick comparison

Zendesk has been around since 2007 and is one of the oldest customer support management software. The platform supports phone-based support teams that require powerful calling capabilities. Zendesk is, however, more than that as it offers a brilliant ticketing automation system and self-service solutions, in addition to offering custom configurations. Freshdesk, on the other hand, is an affordable and scalable customer support management system that focuses heavily on cost optimization. It was launched in 2010 in response to the pricey but popular help desk software - Zendesk.

User-friendliness

For first-time users, both Freshdesk and Zendesk offer ample training materials for onboarding and optimum use. However, the onboarding process for Zendesk is much easier. With Freshdesk, I had to approach the customer support team before I could find my way to any training resources. Even when I eventually reached the resource library, it was overwhelming to deal with the massive overload of information and lack of flow. Onboarding Zendesk, on the other hand, was structured and easy to navigate. Both Freshdesk and Zendesk are quite intuitive and comparable, but the onboarding process is what sets the two apart.

Pricing

Both platforms offer multiple pricing plans, but there is a defining difference when you compare Zendesk and Freshdesk, as Freshdesk offers bulk pricing, and Zendesk sticks to a flat per-agent price structure. Freshdesk has four pricing plans: Free, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise. The Free plan lets you add up to 10 agents to the account and offers multiple features like integrated ticketing across email and social channels, ticket trend reports, knowledge base, and analytics and reporting. As you move up the pricing levels, more features are added to your plan, and at the Enterprise level, you get advanced features like bot sessions, Sandbox, skill-based routing, unlimited products, and audit logs. Zendesk Support has three plans - Support Team, Support Professional, and Support Enterprise. The pricing plans start at $19 and go up to $115 for the Enterprise level. The base plan includes a ticketing system that includes email and social media, pre-configured business rules, pre-built reporting dashboards, and customer ratings. In the Enterprise plan, you further get skills-based routing, customized agent roles, and Sandbox. Though Zendesk does not offer a free plan, it does offer a 14-day free trial for every plan apart from the Enterprise plan.

Integrations

As a customer service management platform, Freshdesk and Zendesk have their strengths and thus, have strong fan followings of their own. But that does not mean you cannot make them even more useful with meaningful integration with Freshdesk and Zendesk workflow automation. Let us discuss in detail some of the most effective Freshdesk app integrations and Zendesk app integrations that will be perfect for your unique business requirements.

Top Freshdesk integrations

  • Integrate Freshdesk with Discord so that whenever you create a new ticket on Freshdesk, a new Discord channel is automatically created in a category of your choice
  • Establish an automated workflow between Freshdesk and Etsy so that whenever you update a ticket on Freshdesk, corresponding shop details are updated on Etsy automatically.
  • Connect Freshdesk with Microsoft Teams so that whenever you create a new customer on Freshdesk a corresponding new member is automatically added to your Microsoft Teams.
  • Create a meaningful integration between Freshdesk and Autotask so that whenever you create a new ticket on Freshdesk, a corresponding new contact is created automatically on Autotask.
  • Connect Freshdesk with SharePoint so that whenever you create a new ticket on Freshdesk a corresponding new item is created automatically on Sharepoint.

Top Zendesk integrations

Top integrations with Freshdesk and Zendesk

  • Connect Freshdesk and Zendesk so that whenever you create a new customer on Freshdesk, a corresponding new user is automatically created on Zendesk.
  • Integrate Zendesk and Freshdesk so that whenever you create a new internal note on Zendesk a corresponding new Freshdesk ticket is created automatically.
  • Establish a meaningful integration between Freshdesk and Zendesk so that whenever you update a Freshdesk ticket a corresponding Zendesk ticket is updated automatically.

Appy Pie Desk - a comprehensive Help Desk Solution

As I sat down to compare Zendesk and Freshdesk, I saw a serious contender emerge - Appy Pie Desk. The help desk software from Appy Pie is perfect for customer service & support that lets you manage support requests, collaborate with colleagues, automate repetitive manual tasks, and enhance overall customer experience. The platform offers a unified omnichannel inbox that lets you bring together customer queries from emails, chat, and social media channels. Appy Pie Desk also has some great in-built automations, a self-service knowledge base, and the opportunity and tools to build a thriving community around it. With our paid plan being available for only $10 per agent per month, it is a great choice for companies of all sizes and scales.

Conclusion

As I wrap this up, I can say with certainty that Freshdesk, Zendesk, and Appy Pie Desk are all great choices, and the one you choose will depend on your specific needs. The best part, however, is that Freshdesk and Zendesk integrations boost up the functionality of these highly potent apps. Now that you have some great integration suggestions to inspire you, head over to Appy Pie Connect and start creating your automated workflows.

FAQs

  • Are Zendesk and Freshdesk the same?Despite both being popular options for help desk management, Freshdesk and Zendesk have some very clear differences. Onboarding is easier in Freshdesk, but Zendesk has been around for much longer. Zendesk provides more filters and customization options to filter and save ticket views.
  • Why Freshdesk is better than Zendesk?Freshdesk has a more affordable and scalable solution that is built around better cost optimization. The platform was actually founded in 2010 in response to the high pricing offered by Zendesk. Another reason why Freshdesk is better than Zendesk is that it facilitates collaboration on tickets between different departments.
  • Who is Zendesk’s main competitor?Freshdesk, Appy Pie Desk, Gorgias, Help Scout, Dixa, HubSpot Service Hub, and Intercom are the main Zendesk competitors.

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Snigdha

Content Head at Appy Pie

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