Zendesk vs Intercom in 2023: Detailed Analysis of Features, Pricing, and More

This is fine, as not every customer support team wants to be so available on the phone. Here is a Zendesk vs. Intercom based on the customer support offered by these brands. Seamlessly integrate Intercom with popular third-party tools and platforms, centralizing customer data and improving workflow efficiency. There are four different subscription packages you can choose zendesk chat vs intercom from, all of which also have Essential, Pro, and Premium options for businesses of different sizes. You’d need to chat with Intercom sales team for get the costs for the Premium subscription, though. Basically, you can create new articles, divide them by categories and sections — make it a high end destination for customers when they have questions or issues.

You get call recording, muting and holding, conference calling, and call blocking. Lastly, Intercom offers an academy that offers concise courses to help users make the most out of their Intercom experience. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Customers of Zendesk can purchase priority assistance at the enterprise tier, which includes a 99.9% uptime service level agreement and a 1-hour service level goal. At all tiers, there is an additional fee to work with a member of the Zendesk success team on unique engagements. To sum it all up, you need to consider various aspects of your business before choosing CRM software. While deciding between Zendesk and Intercom, you should ensure the customization, AI automation, and functionalities align with your business goals.

Whether you’re into traditional bar charts, pie charts, treemaps, word clouds, or any other type of visualization, Zendesk is a data “nerd’s” dream. It makes sure that you don’t miss a single inquiry by queuing tickets for agent handling. You can configure it to assign tickets using various methods, such as skills, load balancing, and round-robin to ensure efficient handling. While both Zendesk and Intercom offer ways to track your sales pipeline, each platform handles the process a bit differently.

Zendesk vs Intercom: functionality

Not only that but in some regions, it provides data residency options and 2-factor authentication. Depending on custom-defined rules, it allows the routing of conversations to specific agents. With the focus on real-time engagement and pre-filled agent forms, Intercom offers a quicker and more effective intervention. Zendesk bots are rigid and only support the customization of basic responses. It also has outstanding reporting that allows agents to analyze conversations at a granular level. Zendesk has excellent reporting and analytics tools that allow you to decipher the underlying issues behind your help desk metrics.

Intercom’s CRM can work as a standalone CRM and requires no additional service to operate robustly. It offers comprehensive customer data management and lead-tracking features. Intercom’s CRM utility is a solid foundation for managing customer relationships and sales in one platform. 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.

They offer an advanced feature for customer data management that goes beyond basic CRM stuff. It gives detailed contact profiles enriched by company data, behavioral data, conversation data, and other custom fields. Zendesk wins the major category of help desk and ticketing system software. It lets customers reach out via messaging, a live chat tool, voice, and social media. Zendesk supports teams that can then field these issues from a nice unified dashboard.

Automate marketing

Zendesk offers a slightly broader selection of plans, with an enterprise solution for customers with bespoke needs. Intercom is a customer-focused communication platform with basic CRM capabilities. While we wouldn’t call it a full-fledged CRM, it should be capable enough for smaller businesses that want a simple and streamlined CRM without the additional expenses or complexity. You’ll still be able to get your eyes on basic support metrics, like response times and bot performance, that will help you improve your service quality. However, Intercom’s real strength lies in generating insights into areas like customer journey mapping, product performance, and retention.

By using its workforce management functionality, businesses can analyze employee performance, and implement strategies to improve them. Keep up with emerging trends in customer service and learn from top industry experts. Master Tidio with in-depth guides and uncover real-world success stories in our case studies.

The platforms also allow assigning agents based on their expertise and workload. Unlike Intercom, Zendesk allows custom operating hours to be set and displays https://chat.openai.com/ estimated wait times in the live chat. The ticketing system on Zendesk is powerful, allowing agents to manage conversations from several channels.

It is also not too difficult to program your own bot rules using Intercon’s system. Zendesk Sunshine is a separate feature set that focuses on unified customer views. You can contact the sales team if you’re just looking around, but you will not receive decent customer support unless you buy their service. This ensures escalations are addressed faster and issues resolved quicker.

When you onboard a customer support platform, it’s important to consider the level of support the vendor offers. That’s because if there’s a glitch or a system outage, you want an immediate fix or clarity on the resolution. Intercom also offers extensive integrations with over 350 tools that include Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Amplitude, Zoho, JIRA, and more. The platform is recognized for its ability to resolve a significant portion of customer questions automatically, ensuring faster response times. Overall, I actually liked Zendesk’s user experience better than Intercom’s in terms of its messaging dashboard.

It relies on fairly basic automation while routing more complex issues to live agents. While its integrations are not as far-reaching as Zendesk’s, it seamlessly works with modern communication and business tools, like WhatsApp and the most prominent CRMS. Not to mention marketing and sales tools, like Salesforce, Hubspot, and Google Analytics. If you’re exploring popular chat support tools Zendesk and Intercom, you may be trying to understand which solution is right for you. The platform also allows teams to track queries, enabling supervisors to monitor progress and ensure timely responses. Intercom actively enhances its analytics capabilities by leveraging AI to forecast customer behavior.

Both Zendesk and Intercom have very different and distinct user interfaces. 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. To sum up, one can get really confused trying to understand the Zendesk pricing, let alone calculate costs. 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.

Intercom’s Customer Onboarding Feature is More Efficient than Zendesk’s Knowledge Base

It allows the chatbots to handle more diverse inquiries, including troubleshooting steps or specific info. If your goal is to deliver outstanding customer support to your audience, then Zendesk is a good option. It comes with a unified omnichannel dashboard, custom reports, and an advanced ticketing system. However, if you aim to nurture leads and grow sales, then Intercom is the better option. Its AI-powered tools and virtual assistants make it a formidable CRM-powered software.

Whether you’re starting fresh with Intercom or migrating from Zendesk, set up is quick and easy. If you’re already using Intercom and want to continue using it as the front-end CRM experience, integrating with Zendesk can improve it. Yes, Zendesk has an Intercom integration that you can find in the Zendesk Marketplace—it’s free to install. So, you can get the best of both worlds without choosing between Intercom or Zendesk.

Whether you’re starting fresh with Intercom or migrating from Zendesk, set up is quick and easy. We have numerous customers that do this and benefit greatly from our out-of-the-box integration with Intercom. Fintech startup Novo had to pivot to new ways of working in 2020, just like everyone else. But the company’s story isn’t just one of pandemic-induced change—in the first half of the year, Novo’s client base grew from 2,000 to tens of thousands. With over 100,000 customers across all industries and regions, Zendesk knows what it takes to interact with customers while retaining and growing relationships. 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.

• 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.
• Moreover, for users who require more dedicated and personalized support, Zendesk charges an additional premium.
• Since Zendesk’s inception, its ticketing system has remained the best in the business.
• You can see their attention to detail in everything — from their tools to their website.

Meanwhile, our WFM software enables businesses to analyze employee metrics and performance, helping them identify improvements, implement strategies, and set long-term goals. As a result, customers can implement the help desk software quickly—without the need for developers—and see a faster return on investment. Plus, our transparent pricing doesn’t have hidden fees or endless add-ons, so customers know exactly what they’re paying for and can calculate the total cost of ownership ahead of time. In comparison, Intercom’s confusing pricing structure that features multiple add-ons may be unsuitable for small businesses.

However, some users find customization challenging, and the platform is considered expensive, requiring careful cost evaluation. If money is limited for your business, a help desk that can be a Zendesk alternative or an Intercom alternative is ThriveDesk. Choose the plan that suits your support requirements and budget, whether you’re a small team or a growing enterprise.

Intercom Pricing Structure

Salesforce Service Regarding live chat capabilities, both Zendesk and Intercom have integrated solutions. However, users often find Intercom’s live chat more user-friendly and feature rich. Intercom’s live chat functionality goes beyond the basics, incorporating targeted messaging, proactive messaging, and sophisticated chatbot capabilities. So, Intercom Articles will be opposed to Zendesk Suite – in that way the contrast is (more or less) fair.

Businesses are recognizing the rising importance of incorporating AI chatbots and automated customer support systems to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers. For support teams, ensuring that agents are on the same page is an essential part of the customer experience. Zendesk has tons of products that are similar to Intercom’s including Zendesk chatbot software, messaging, team collaboration, knowledge base, analytics and reporting. 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.

Help Scout includes features like self-service resources and reporting and analytics tools. Crisp offers multichannel software with various use cases, like sales and customer support. The platform allows users to tag, assign, and collaborate with other agents and departments from a centralized location, and provides agents with a real-time view of what visitors are typing. Agents can manage requests from channels like email, live chat, messaging, X (formerly known as Twitter), and text.

We’d also recommend checking out this blog on suspended ticket management in ZenDesk. Now that we know a little about both tools, it is time to make an in-depth analysis and identify which one of these will be perfect for your business. We give the edge to Zendesk here, as it’s typically aimed for more complex environments. It’s also more exclusively focused on providing help support, whereas Intercom sometimes moonlights as being part-time sales. Whether Intercom is cheaper than Zendesk depends on your specific usage, feature requirements, and the number of users in your organization. The Intercom Messenger, in particular, performs well compared to the Zendesk alternative.

The platform has various customization options, allowing businesses personalized experiences according to their branding. Help Center in Zendesk also will enable businesses to organize their tutorials, articles, and FAQs, making it convenient for customer to find solutions to their queries. Zendesk excels in its ticketing system, offering users an intuitive platform for collaboration among support agents. Its robust workflows streamline the ticket resolution system and efficiently handle all customer complaints. It also enables agents to perform customized workflow management, assign tickets to the right agent for request handling, and track the ticket’s progress.

You need an all-inclusive help desk to help fix complex customer service processes. With pre-built integrations, the Zendesk stack is extensive, unlike Intercom. Connecting the integrations is also easy since the platform Chat GPT has detailed guides and documentation on the steps. However, tweaking the agent’s workspace has limitations compared to Zendesk. Zendesk, on the other hand, offers more detailed control of the retention policies.

In addition to Intercom vs Zendesk, alternative helpdesk solutions are available in the market. ThriveDesk is a feature-rich helpdesk solution that offers a comprehensive set of tools to manage customer support effectively. Intercom is praised as an affordable option with high customization capabilities, allowing businesses to create a personalized support experience. Although the interface may require a learning curve, users find the platform effective and functional. However, Intercom has fewer integration options than Zendesk, which may limit its capabilities for businesses seeking extensive integrations. Intercom has a different approach, one that’s all about sales, marketing, and personalized messaging.

Depending on the seat type (subscription plan), users get access to different features. For example, the Messaging feature is not available in the Support plan, while Articles aren’t available in the Engage and Conver plans. Unfortunately, you can’t calculate the price by yourself since Intercom hid its pricing table.

Zendesk and Intercom: What’s the Verdict?

It started as a ticketing tool just for customer service teams and has evolved over the years into a complete customer support platform. Since, its name has become somewhat synonymous with customer service and support. Both tools also allow you to connect your email account and manage it from within the application to track open and click-through rates.

Compared to Zendesk, Intercom offers few integrations, which may hinder its scalability. Don’t miss out on the latest tips, tools, and tactics at the forefront of customer support. It’s where customers ask the questions that may result in the largest sales in your company’s history. Zendesk has more pricing options, which means you’re free to choose your tier from the get-go. With Intercom, you’ll have more customizable options with the enterprise versions of the software, but you’ll have fewer lower-tier choices. If you don’t plan on building a huge enterprise just yet, we have to give the edge to Zendesk when it comes to flexible pricing options.

Startups usually have low budgets for such investments, making it easier for these small businesses to choose the right plan. The features in Zendesk can scale with growing companies, so Startups can easily customize their plan to changing needs. Before choosing the customer support software, it is crucial to consider the size of the business. Some software only works best for startups, while others have offerings only for large enterprises. Businsses need to do a cost analysis whenever they select customer service software for their business.

Nowadays, it’s a crucial component in helping businesses focus on high-priority interactions and scale their customer service. MParticle is a Customer Data Platform offering plug-and-play integrations to Zendesk and Intercom, along with over 300 other marketing, analytics, and data warehousing tools. With mParticle, you can connect your Zendesk and Intercom data with other marketing, analytics, and business intelligence platforms without any custom engineering effort. If ticket management and workflow optimization are your primary concerns, Zendesk’s automation capabilities might be a better fit. However, if you’re looking to improve your customer’s user journey with personalized conversations, Intercom’s automation features and AI assistant are likely to be beneficial. Intercom generally has the edge when it comes to user interface and design.

Zendesk has a broad range of security and compliance features to protect customer data privacy, such as SSO (single sign-on) and native content redaction for sensitive data. In comparison, Intercom’s reporting and analytics are limited in scope when it comes to consumer behavior metrics, custom reporting, and custom metrics. Discover how to awe shoppers with stellar customer service during peak season. Customerly’s CRM is designed to help businesses build stronger relationships by keeping customer data organized and actionable. With this data, businesses identify friction points where the customer journey breaks down as well as areas where it’s performing smoothly.

With the wide customization options and drag-and-drop editing tools, Intercom makes it easy to implement the modifications. It also allows businesses to align the customizations with their brand easily. Intercom offers extensive chat widget customization options, unlike Zendesk. Agents can tweak the font, chat window size and position, add logos, and change the theme color. These include chatbot automation features, customer segmentation, and targeted SMS messaging to reach the right audience efficiently. It provides a real-time feed and historical data, so agents can respond instantly to consumer queries, as well as learn from past CX trends.

It offers automatic routing with prewritten responses and triggers, but for reporting and self-service options, you’ll need to turn to integrations to flesh it out. 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. The software also comes with basic reporting, automation and AI, and some apps and integrations.

Intercom is more for improving sales cycles and customer relationships, while Zendesk, an excellent Intercom alternative, has everything a customer support representative can dream about. You need a complete customer service platform that’s seamlessly integrated and AI-enhanced. Zendesk provides comprehensive security and compliance features, ensuring customer data privacy.

Discover how this Shopify store used Tidio to offer better service, recover carts, and boost sales. Luca Micheli is a serial tech entrepreneur with one exited company and a passion for bootstrap digital projects. He’s passionate about helping companies to succeed with marketing and business development tips. Customerly allows you to rate prospects, either manually or automatically, so you can prioritize the most valuable leads. Our platform also supports dynamic list building, enabling you to run targeted surveys, send newsletters, and automate marketing actions, all from one place.

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. Understanding your budget constraints, specific business requirements, and long-term goals is crucial. Evaluate factors such as scalability, user-friendliness, integration capabilities, and the type of customer experience you aim to provide before making a decision. As businesses expand and evolve, the scalability and flexibility of their customer support platform becomes important. Examining the scalability and flexibility of Zendesk and Intercom helps businesses determine which platform can accommodate their growth trajectory and changing needs.

Zendesk offers a versatile array of communication channels, including email, chat, social media, phone, and web forms. This breadth of options ensures that businesses can effectively engage with their customers through their preferred communication method. Both Intercom and Zendesk have proven to be valuable tools for businesses looking to provide excellent customer support. Evaluate their features, compare them based on your business needs, and choose the one that aligns best with your goals and objectives. Zendesk’s AI offers automated responses to customer inquiries, increasing the team’s productivity, as they can spend time on the most crucial things.

Intercom software is designed to resemble the messaging apps we use every day, Intercom allows you to talk to consumers from inside your app, across your website, and via email. With Intercom, it is self-explanatory where customers need to address their queries. There is a blue chat box in the right-hand corner of our software where customers pop in their queries. Once customers send their questions, the team members linked to customer support at Hire-Hive are notified via email. It enables businesses to have real-time conversations with their customers through their website or mobile app. In contrast, Zendesk offers a more diverse range of communication channels, including email, social media, phone, and live chat.