Intercom vs Zendesk Suite 2024 Comparison

Zendesk, unlike Intercom, is a more affordable and predictable customer service platform. Also, it’s the pioneer in the support and communication tools market. You can always count on it if you need a reliable customer support platform to process tickets, support users, and get advanced reporting. You can also use Intercom as a customer service platform, but given its broad focus, you may not get the same level of specialized expertise. Zendesk is a comprehensive CRM and support suite that offers a variety of features for customer support, sales, and marketing. One of Zendesk’s most notable aspects is its robust ticketing system.

And this, undoubtedly, leaves your customer support agents free to solve urgent matters. In the realm of automation and workflow management, Zendesk truly shines as a frontrunner. It empowers businesses with a robust suite of automation tools, enabling them to streamline their support processes seamlessly.

Instead, they offer a product demo when prospects reach out to learn more about their pricing structure. It enables them to engage with visitors who are genuinely interested in their services. You get to engage with them further and get to know more about their expectations. This becomes the perfect opportunity to personalize the experience, offer assistance to prospects as per their needs, and convert them into customers.

But, you would not be able to experience such a good in-app messaging service on Zendesk. Amid tight budgeting times, Desku proves to be the buddy for excellent worth and without any costly expenditure. However, the approach is far much wider than merely focusing on what would be more cost-effective but instead exploring ways through which a solution that would suit you best could be realized.

An example of the platforms’ different focus is that Intercom includes an email marketing feature, whereas Zendesk doesn’t. Freshdesk, a product of Freshworks, is a customer service software that helps teams provide multichannel support. Its ticketing system offers features like agent collision detection, ticket field suggestions, and prewritten responses. It has automation options, including ticket dispatching that assigns agents to tickets based on skill, or you can configure it for round-robin distribution.

Using any plan, this integration is available to all customers, making the customer support experience and onboarding smooth. It can also handle complex interactions and provide real-time insight to customer support agents. Overall, Intercom is a better option if personalized and robust chatbots are something you are looking for when managing customer support strategy. Today, both companies zendesk chat vs intercom offer a broad range of customer support features, making them both strong contenders in the market. Zendesk offers more advanced automation capabilities than Intercom, which may be a deciding factor for businesses that require complex workflows. Intercom is a customer relationship management (CRM) software company that provides a suite of tools for managing customer interactions.

Evaluating the performance and functionality of Zendesk and Intercom is crucial in determining their suitability for different business needs. Zendesk’s user-friendly interface simplifies the management of customer support processes, contributing to its popularity among businesses seeking practical solutions. On the other hand, Intercom’s focus on facilitating personalized conversations enhances overall customer experience but may have a steeper learning curve due to its advanced messaging capabilities. Intercom offers advanced customer service through its automated functions and is suitable for businesses looking for a sophisticated customer support solution. Another advantage of using Intercom is that it not only enhances customer engagement but is also a great way to increase customer support teams’ productivity. Zendesk offers simple chatbots and provides businesses with straightforward chatbot creation tools, allowing them to set up automated responses and assist customers with common queries.

Intercom vs Zendesk: overall impression

Help Scout’s customer service software features a shared inbox that allows multichannel support. The shared inbox offers the familiarity of using email but with automation options, collaboration tools, and a sidebar that provides customer data and activities. Help Scout includes features like self-service resources and reporting and analytics tools.

With many Intercom alternatives to consider, our related guides make comparing them a cinch. While Intercom offers a “Starter Plan” for very small businesses, the price for larger companies is scaled upward, too. If you only need the services Intercom offers, then you’ll only spend around $75 a month for two seats. Compare Intercom and Zendesk Chat to find the best solution for your particular requirements.

Unlike Zendesk, the prices for Intercom are based on the number of seats and contacts, with each plan tailored to each customer, meaning that the pricing can be quite flexible. This is especially helpful for smaller businesses that may not need a lot of features. Staying updated with the future prospects and developments of Zendesk and Intercom is crucial for anticipating upcoming features and advancements. Examining the roadmap of both platforms helps businesses envision how their customer support needs can align with the evolving market trends and technological innovations.

However, if you are looking for a robust messaging solution with customer support features, go for Intercom. Its intuitive messenger can help your business boost engagement and improve sales and marketing efforts. Zendesk and Intercom also both offer analytics and reporting capabilities that allow businesses to analyze and monitor customer agents’ productivity. As a result, companies can identify trends and areas for improvement, allowing them to continuously improve their support processes and provide better service to their customers. This feature ensures that each customer request is handled by the best-suited agent, improving the overall efficiency of the support team.

Though the Intercom chat window says that their customer success team typically replies in a few hours, don’t expect to receive any real answer in chat for at least a couple of days. If you’d want to test Intercom vs Zendesk before deciding on a tool for good, they both provide free trials for 14 days. But sooner or later, you’ll have to decide on the subscription plan, and here’s what you’ll have to pay. Zendesk is a ticketing system before anything else, and its ticketing functionality is overwhelming in the best possible way. Intercom does have a ticketing dashboard that has omnichannel functionality, much like Zendesk. For standard reporting like response times, leads generated by source, bot performance, messages sent, and email deliverability, you’ll easily find all the metrics you need.

You can also set automatic email notifications to alert customers and agents to ticket updates. It includes solutions for marketing, product onboarding, customer support, and sales. Intercom offers a ticketing system and shared inbox that allows agents to handle customer requests.

This is an AI assistant that will help anyone navigate Guide by providing results as you type your query. The bot also ensures that the customer or employee will find the right article before contacting an agent. Intercom has Articles as a knowledge base solution for self-support, as well as internal support. This feature is available on all the channels your customers use to get in touch with your brand. For instance, Intercom can guide a new software user through each feature step by step, providing context and assistance along the way.

Its suite of tools goes beyond traditional ticketing and focuses on customer engagement and messaging automation. From in-app chat to personalized autoresponders, Intercom provides a unified experience across multiple channels, creating a support ecosystem that nurtures and converts leads. Zendesk directly competes with Intercom when it comes to integrations. This live chat service provider offers 200+ integrations to its user base. With a mix of productivity, collaboration, eCommerce, CRM, analytics, email marketing, social media, and other tools, you get the option to create an omnichannel suite.

Essential Plan

While both platforms have a significant presence in the industry, they cater to varying business requirements. Zendesk, with its extensive toolkit, is often preferred by businesses seeking an all-encompassing customer support solution. Intercom has a wider range of uses out of the box than Zendesk, though by adding Zendesk Sell, Chat GPT 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.

In this paragraph, let’s explain some common issues that users usually ask about when choosing between Zendesk and Intercom platforms. To sum things up, one can get really confused trying to make sense of the Zendesk suite pricing, let alone calculate costs. They’ve been marketing themselves as a messaging platform right from the beginning. 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. Their reports are attractive, dynamic, and integrated right out of the box.

• That’s true, businesses vary by industry, size, purposes, the software they need, a budget for that software, and the list can go on.
• However, compared to the more contemporary designs like Intercom’s, Zendesk’s UI may appear outdated, particularly in aspects such as chat widget and customization options.
• So, communicating with customers on different communication channels would be difficult on Intercom.
• Kayako offers a help desk solution with a shared inbox that helps teams manage customer requests.
• To begin with, putting Zendesk vs. Intercom “side by side” is a thankless job as software differs in functionality, price, and purposes.

Zendesk facilitates efficient ticketing, live chat, and knowledge base management, ensuring timely issue resolution. Intercom focuses on personalized messaging, effective lead nurturing, and streamlined communication, fostering a more engaging customer experience. To begin with, putting Zendesk vs. Intercom “side by side” is a thankless job as software differs in functionality, price, and purposes. The compared vendors share a strategy of delivering their services as either separate add-ons or all-in-one tools.

Integrations

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Intercom can even integrate with Zendesk and other sources to import past help center content. I just found Zendesk’s help center to be slightly better integrated into their workflows and more customizable. Broken down into custom, resolution, and task bots, these can go a long way in taking repetitive tasks off agents’ plates. Using this, agents can chat across teams within a ticket via email, Slack, or Zendesk’s ticketing system.

Zendesk offers a more comprehensive suite of tools, including advanced call center features with Zendesk Talk and modular add-ons like Guide, Chat, and Explore for enhanced customization. It provides versatile communication channels, supporting web, mobile, and messaging, with robust AI-powered chatbots for improved efficiency. Additionally, Zendesk’s extensive analytics and reporting capabilities help businesses tailor their services to elevate customer service experience and increase customer satisfaction. Overall, Zendesk’s extensive features and customization options make it a powerful choice for diverse business requirements. In the dynamic landscape of customer support platforms, choosing between Zendesk and Intercom depends on various factors such as budget, specific business requirements, and long-term goals. Businesses should carefully evaluate their needs and consider scalability, user-friendliness, and integration capabilities before deciding on the platform that best suits their requirements.

Premiere Zendesk plans have 24/7 proactive support with faster response times. Other customer service add-ons with Zendesk include custom training and professional services. Integrating AI in the help center helps agents find answers to customer inquiries, providing a seamless customer experience.

Pricing: Zendesk vs Intercom

Its straightforward pricing structure ensures businesses get access to the required features without complex tiers or hidden costs, making it an attractive option for cost-conscious organizations. What sets Zendesk apart is its user-friendly interface, customizable workflows, and scalability. It caters to a wide range of industries, particularly excelling in e-commerce, SaaS, technology, and telecommunications. It is favored by customer support, helpdesk, IT service management, and contact center teams. Intercom plays a very important role in the customer experience through messaging platforms, team collaboration products, and a valuable knowledge base solution.

The company was founded 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. As a conversational relationship platform, Zendesk gives you the option of live chatting with customers via your website, mobile, and messaging.

These tickets can then be systematically tracked, prioritized, and responded to. This structured approach ensures that no customer query goes unnoticed or unattended, regardless of the channel through which it was initiated. When comparing the cost of Intercom to Zendesk, it’s important to consider the pricing structures and potential variations based on your specific customer support and engagement needs. When comparing the pricing of Zendesk and Intercom, there are significant differences to take into account.

Zendesk vs. the rest: Compare the software

It will allow you to leverage some Intercom capabilities while keeping your account at the time-tested platform. Say what you will, but Intercom’s design and overall user experience leave all its competitors far behind. What can be really inconvenient about Zendesk is how their tools integrate with each other when you need to use them simultaneously. Just like Zendesk, Intercom also offers its Operator bot, which will automatically suggest relevant articles to clients right in a chat widget.

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. Understanding these fundamental differences should go a long way in helping you pick between the two, but does that mean you can’t use one platform to do what the other does better? These are both still very versatile products, so don’t think you have to get too siloed into a single use case. 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.

Additionally, Zoho falls short of a frictionless agent experience, with different agent interfaces for chat, phone, and ticketing. According to one user, it has “too many apps and products” that need to be consolidated and simplified. Customerly’s customer experience management system offers tools that blend automation with human support. Though it doesn’t offer an omnichannel workspace, it does have a shared inbox that provides agents with information in one place. Selecting the right customer support solution involves a comprehensive assessment of how each platform aligns with your business requirements.

Many use cases call for different approaches, and Zendesk and Intercom are but two software solutions for each case. No matter what Zendesk Suite plan you are on, you get workflow triggers, which are simple business rules-based actions to streamline many tasks. 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. You get call recording, muting and holding, conference calling, and call blocking.

The primary function of Intercom’s mobile app is the business messenger suite, including personalized messaging, real-time support tools, push notifications, in-app messaging and emailing. Intercom also does mobile carousels to help please the eye with fresh designs. A customer service department is only as good as its support team members, and these highly-prized employees need to rely on one another. Tools that allow support agents to communicate and collaborate are important aspect of customer service software. With the base plan, you get some sweet facilities like a ticketing system, data analytics, customer chat history, and more.

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. They have a 2-day SLA, no phone support, and the times I have had to work with them they have been incredibly difficult to work with. Very rarely do they understand the issue (mostly with Explore) that I am trying to communicate to them. When comparing the user interfaces (UI) of Zendesk and Intercom, both platforms exhibit distinct characteristics and strengths catering to different user preferences and needs. In terms of pricing, Intercom is considered one of the most expensive tools on the market.

This option is useful for those who are looking for a smooth switch from Zendesk to Intercom. Formerly known as Insights, Zendesk now uses Explore to provide analytics to help businesses tailor their services to increase customer satisfaction. If your business has an app, in-app messaging can be used to send messages to customers. You can use this with the push notification of the app to keep your customers in the loop of possible promos, rewards, and more. There are several notable alternatives to Intercom in the customer support and engagement space, including Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout, HubSpot, and Zoho Desk. There are several notable alternatives to Zendesk in the customer support and engagement space, including Intercom, Freshdesk, Help Scout, and Zoho Desk.

However, if businesses seek a more personalized customer experience, Intercom’s advanced features could be beneficial. However, customer service (and the ways how a company delivers it) creates a centerpiece of a brand. But if you’re not familiar with them, think of the software as an online human resource department. For instance, customers and staff alike can channel messages through it. The methods that help desks use, however, are meant to cater to possibly thousands to millions of messages.

Zendesk, on the other hand, focuses on multiple aspects like automating ticketing, analytics, self-service, etc. This multichannel approach is especially important for companies that support customers in different regions and countries as access to communication tools can vary. While Intercom is great for tracking user-centric metrics, Zendesk can provide a more comprehensive look at overall customer support performance. Reporting tools are essential to helping support leaders analyze and improve their customer support operations. Several decision-making factors, such as budget constraints, specific business requirements, and long-term goals, influence the choice between Zendesk and Intercom. Understanding these factors assists businesses in making a well-informed decision that aligns with their unique needs and objectives.

It’s an invaluable tool for businesses aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, increase conversions, and build lasting relationships. The comparison of whether Intercom is better than Zendesk depends on your specific customer support and engagement needs and objectives. If you seek to enhance customer engagement through chat-based support, in-app messaging, and proactive outreach, Intercom may be the superior option. Determining whether Zendesk is better than Intercom hinges on your unique customer support and engagement requirements. Zendesk excels as a robust and versatile customer support platform, offering comprehensive tools for managing customer inquiries and support operations across various channels. If your business values a feature-rich and customizable solution for customer interactions, Zendesk may be the better choice.

Moreover, these are new prices as they’re in the middle of changing their pricing policy right now (and they’re definitely not getting cheaper). So when I realized lots of companies actually prefer Zendesk over Intercom, I was surprised. I mean I stumbled upon this article where people from Outreach.io were telling why they’d switched from Intercom to Zendesk, then I saw this comparison, where Zendesk seemed to beat Intercom at the end.

This method helps offer more personalized support as well as get faster response and resolution times. Intercom and Zendesk are both powerful support solutions with unique features. Intercom excels in real-time messaging and customer engagement, while Zendesk focuses on ticketing and strong customer support. The choice between the two depends on specific business needs and budget considerations. If you want to enjoy the benefits of both Zendesk and Intercom in one place and enjoy better value for money overall, Desku is a strong alternative.

You can set up email sequences that specify how and when leads and contacts are engaged. With Zendesk Sell, you can also customize how deals move through your pipeline by setting pipeline stages that reflect your sales cycle. The cheapest (aka Essential) ‘All of Intercom’ package will cost you $136 per month, but if you only need their essential chat tools only, you can get them for $49 per month.

You can even finagle some forecasting by sourcing every agent’s assigned leads. Zendesk is designed with the agent in mind, delivering a modern, intuitive experience. The customizable Zendesk Agent Workspace enables reps to work within a single browser tab with one-click navigation across any channel. Intercom, on the other hand, can be a complicated system, creating a steep learning curve for new users.

Intercom’s messaging system enables real-time interactions through various channels, including chat, email, and in-app messages. Connect with customers wherever they are for timely assistance and personalized experiences. As your business grows, so does the volume of customer inquiries and support tickets. Managing everything manually is becoming increasingly difficult, and you need a robust customer support platform to streamline your operations. Intercom is a customer support messenger, bot, and live chat service provider that empowers its clients to provide instant support in real-time.

Another critical difference between Zendesk and Intercom is their approach to CRM. In addition to its service features, Zendesk offers a fully integrated CRM solution, Zendesk Sell, available for an additional cost, starting at $19/agent/month. It includes tools for lead management, sales forecasting, and workflow management and automation. Its customer data platform lets you manage customer data, segmentation, and automated reminders. However, this may be sufficient for smaller businesses or those using an existing CRM that integrates with Intercom. Zendesk is more robust in terms of its ticket management capabilities, it offers more customization options and advanced features like a virtual call center app.

Another feature Intercom offers that Zendesk doesn’t is email marketing tools. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customers. Both Intercom and Zendesk provide you with their own Operator bot, which immediately suggests relevant material to clients via the chat widget. When it comes to creating an optimum knowledge base experience, both Intercom and Zendesk are excellent choices with similar capabilities for your needs. In navigating this conundrum, several digital tools can come in handy, and two of the most popular options are Intercom and Zendesk.

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. Intercom’s chatbot feels a little more robust than Zendesk’s (though it’s worth noting that some features are only available at the Engage and Convert tiers). You can set office hours, live chat with logged-in users via their user profiles, and set up a chatbot. Customization is more nuanced than Zendesk’s, but it’s still really straightforward to implement. You can opt for code via JavaScript or Rails or even integrate directly with the likes of Google Tag Manager, WordPress, or Shopify.

Zendesk can be more flexible and predictable in this area as you can buy different tools separately (or even use their limited versions for free). Though Intercom chat window says that their team typically replies in a few hours, I received the answer in a couple of minutes. Their agent was always trying to convert me into a lead along the way, but heck, that’s a side effect of our job. Honestly, when it comes to Zendesk, it is not the most modern tool out there. What can be really inconvenient about Zendesk, though is how their tools integrate with each other when you need to use them simultaneously.

Winner — Intercom edges out Zendesk here due mainly to its customizable workflow capabilities. If your company is looking for customer support software, you have likely heard of Intercom and Zendesk. Learn how top CX leaders are scaling personalized customer service at their companies. So it will transmit the live data on the users and what they are doing in your app.

As for the category of voice and phone features, Zendesk is a clear winner. Zendesk Support has voicemail, text messages, and embedded voice, and it displays the phone number on the widget. The learning and knowledgebase category is another one where it is a close call between Zendesk and Intercom. However, we will say that Intercom just edges past Zendesk when it comes to self-service resources. Easily track your service team’s performance and unlock coaching opportunities with AI-powered insights. It also offers a Proactive Support Plus as an Add-on with push notifications, a series campaign builder, news items, and more.

The two essential things that Zendesk lacks in comparison to Intercom are in-app messages and email marketing tools. On the other hand, Intercom lacks many ticketing functionality https://chat.openai.com/ that can be essential for big companies with a huge client support load. The cheapest plan for small businesses – Essential – costs $39 monthly per seat.

And in this post, we will analyze two popular names in the SaaS industry – Intercom & Zendesk. Zendesk’s Help Center and Intercom’s Articles both offer features to easily embed help centers into your website or product using their web widgets, SDKs, and APIs. With help centers in place, it’s easier for your customers to reliably find answers, tips, and other important information in a self-service manner. Intercom recently ramped up its features to include helpdesk and ticketing functionality. Zendesk, on the other hand, started as a ticketing tool, and therefore has one of the market’s best help desk and ticket management features. If you’re exploring popular chat support tools Zendesk and Intercom, you may be trying to understand which solution is right for you.