Top 4 Zendesk Alternatives for Customer Service in 2024

Research shows that customer support teams are under immense pressure to deliver efficient, timely, and high-quality support to customers. Traditionally, desk software like Zendesk has been instrumental in enabling customer support teams to manage customer interactions effectively. However, there are alternatives to Zendesk in the market, which can better suit diverse business and customer support team needs.

In this article, we evaluated Zendesk’s customer service software and 4 Zendesk alternatives.

Comparison of Zendesk and Top 4 Alternatives

Table 1. The total number of reviews and average rating of Zendesk and top 4 Zendesk alternatives

Table is ranked according to number of reviews, except our sponsors.

*_{Review counts are from software review platforms Capterra and G2 as of 2023/09/12.}

Review of Zendesk

Features

• Intelligent chatbots
• Customer feedback and survey tools (in premium plans)
• 1000+ software integrations
• 40+ supported languages
• Self service options
• Facebook, Instagram, Twitter integration

User ratings

• G2: 4.3/5¹
• Capterra: 4.4/5²

Pricing

• Starting from $49 per seat/month
• 14 days free trial

Cons

• Some users find Zendesk’s out of the box functionality and customization flexibility restrictive.³
• Tickets can be suspended from time to time according to some users.⁴

Top 4 Zendesk Alternatives

1- Salesforce Service Cloud

Features

• Intelligent chatbots (in premium plans)
• Customer feedback and survey tools (in premium plans)
• Software integrations (not detailed)
• 30+ supported languages
• Self service options (add-on)
• Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube integration

User ratings

• G2: 4.2/5⁵
• Capterra: 4.4/5⁶

Pricing

• Starting from €25 per seat/month
• 30 days free trial

Pros

• Salesforce’s starting price is cheaper than the other 2 alternatives.
• Free trial period is longer than the other alternatives.
• Salesforce Service Cloud has a wide range of social media integration opportunities.
• The platform offers generative AI assistance to its users, which is appreciated by users.

Cons

• Salesforce Service Cloud can require additional packages for having the best of its capabilities.

• Small business users have difficulty in using Desk.com, which is a small business version of Salesforce Service Cloud.
• Some users find it hard to set up and get used to the platform.⁷

Sponsored:

Salesforce is the CRM market leader and Salesforce Service Cloud platform designed specifically for customer service and support with AI-driven assistants. Service Cloud enables workflow automation for many branches of the customer service by streamlining customer support processes, managing cases, and centralizing customer interactions and data in one unified platform.

2- Intercom

Features

• Customer feedback and survey tools (add-on)
• 350+ software integrations
• 35+ supported languages
• Self service options
• Facebook and Instagram integration

User ratings

• G2: 4.5/5⁸
• Capterra: 4.5/5⁹

Pricing

• Contact Intercom for pricing
• 14 days trial for 2 seats

Pros

• Users state that the Intercom platform has a user friendly interface and is easy to navigate.¹⁰

Cons

• Pricing policy is not transparent.
• Intercom doesn’t offer intelligent chatbots, which are important tools for today’s customer service.
• Some users indicate that the tool can slow down occasionally.¹¹

3- Hubspot Service Hub

Features

• Intelligent chatbots
• Customer feedback and survey tools (in premium plans)
• 1000+ software integrations
• 10+ supported languages
• Self service options
• Facebook integration

User ratings

• G2: 4.4/5¹²
• Capterra: 4.4/5¹³

Pricing

• Starting from $150/month (up to 5 seats)
• Free version available

Pros

• HubSpot Service Hub offers integration possibilities with other business apps and software.
• Users find HubSpot’s knowledge base very successful.¹⁴

Cons

• Hubspot Service Hub’s social media integrations are limited.
• Its multilingual options are limited.
• Users complain that the interface is complicated to proceed smoothly.¹⁵

4- Zoho SalesIQ

Features

• Intelligent chatbots
• 30+ software integrations
• 28+ supported languages
• Real-time visitor tracking
• Multimedia customer support including voice notes and screen share
• Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr integration

User ratings

• G2: 4.4/5¹⁶
• Capterra: 4.5/5¹⁷

Pricing

• Starting from $7/month (per agent)

Pros

• Users find the real-time view of website visitors, location tracking, and chat capabilities beneficial for sales and support.
• Zoho is cost-effective, making it accessible for small businesses.

Cons

• Zoho Desk for customer service is criticized for not having a learning platform similar to competitors like Salesforce or Microsoft.¹⁸
• Creating analytics reports and performance evaluations in Zoho is noted as challenging, particularly due to the lack of drag-and-drop functionality.¹⁹

If you want to learn more about customer service technologies, you should continue reading:

What is customer support software?

Customer service software (also called customer support software) is a type of program or system used by organizations to manage customer communication and service requests. This software typically includes a wide array of features such as: 

• Ticketing systems
• Live chat
• Multi channel support including email, SMS, phone
• Social media integration
• Knowledge base creation 

The key objective of customer support software is to facilitate efficient handling of customer queries and complaints, thereby enhancing the quality of service provided.

There are several benefits to using customer service software:

• It enables efficient and centralized management of customer requests, reducing response times and improving service levels.
• It can provide detailed analytics and reporting, allowing companies to track service quality, identify common issues, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
• It automates routine tasks, freeing up customer service agents to focus on more complex issues.

What are the key components of customer service technology?

2 main tech solutions that constitute a successful customer service are:

1- Customer service software

Handling customer support on various platforms and meeting escalating customer expectations can pose a significant challenge for customer service teams. To address this problem, many businesses utilize a customer support software solution. These tools simplify support operations, improve response times, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Most of customer service tools include:

• Omnichannel support
• Ticketing system
• Automated intelligent routing
• CRM integration
• Live chat and chatbots
• Reporting and analytics
• Customization

However, extra distinctive features are required to select the best software among others. Some extra features that can be taken as a selection criteria are:

• Conversational AI/Intelligent chatbots
• Customer satisfaction surveys & feedback tools
• Integration capabilities with other software
• Multilingual support
• Social media integration
• Self service options

2- Customer self service tools

Customer self service tools are designed to allow customers to access information and perform tasks without the need for direct interaction with customer support agents. They can be already integrated in a customer service software or can be utilized individually. These tools include: 

• Automated responses
• Knowledge base articles
• Customer forums
• Chatbots
• Self service portal

The main advantage of these tools is that they can offer immediate assistance.

For more on customer service

• Top 10 Customer Service Software
• Top 7 Contact Center Software Tools 
• Top 10 Tools for Contact Center Automation
• Top 8 Customer Feedback Tools

Transparency Statement

AIMultiple works with numerous software vendors such as Salesforce.

If you need help in finding vendors, we can help:

External Links

• 1. “Zendesk Support Suite Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 2. “Zendesk Suite Pricing, Alternatives & More 2023.” Capterra. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 3. “Zendesk Support Suite Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 4. “Zendesk Support Suite Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 5. “Salesforce Service Cloud Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 6. “Salesforce Service Cloud Pricing, Alternatives & More 2023.” Capterra. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 7. “Salesforce Service Cloud Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 8. “Intercom Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 9. “Intercom Pricing, Alternatives & More 2023.” Capterra. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 10. “Intercom Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 11. “Intercom Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 12. “Hubspot Service Hub Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 13. “Hubspot Service Hub Pricing, Alternatives & More 2023.” Capterra. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 14. “Hubspot Service Hub Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 15. “Hubspot Service Hub Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 16. “Zoho SalesIQ Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 17. “Zoho SalesIQ Pricing, Alternatives & More 2023.” Capterra. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 18. “Zoho SalesIQ Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.
• 19. “Zoho SalesIQ Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features.” G2. Accessed 12 September 2023.