Freshdesk vs Zendesk: Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons

Modern customer service software fully transforms the way businesses interact with their customers. Many solutions have been created for this purpose, but Zendesk and Freshdesk have become truly respectful names that provide exclusive platforms for exceptional customer support. Here is the most up-to-date Freshdesk vs Zendesk comparison to help users understand what option is best for them.

Comprehensive сomparison: Freshdesk vs Zendesk

Top-notch customer service is a must in the digital era. It is like a battlefield for businesses where they either win customer loyalty or lose them forever. Customers seek flawless support that resolves their issues quickly and hassle-free. Traditional customer support methods turned out to be weak and insufficient to meet the demands of a rapidly growing digital marketplace. Realizing this need, developers started to create various customer service software. In the early 2000s, Zendesk and Freshdesk emerged and, just in two decades, won millions of users worldwide.

These platforms have become synonymous with innovation, reliability, and efficiency in customer support. Both Zendesk and Freshdesk offer powerful customer service tools, an intuitive onboarding process, and affordable pricing plans. However, which of them is more appropriate for your business? This article is devoted to the Freshdesk vs Zendesk comparison. It explores the features, functionalities, and capabilities of the software, helping you make the right choice. Learn the pros and cons of both platforms!

Zendesk or Freshdesk – General Information

Before we delve into technical details, let’s discover how and when Zendesk and Freshdesk appeared.
Zendesk was launched in Denmark in 2007 by three friends who decided to bring some Zen to the chaos of customer service. It is a powerful cloud-based platform that enables businesses to manage customer requests across various channels. Currently, the company is headquartered in San Francisco and its client base has reached 100,000, including Uber, Airbnb, Shopify, and others.

Freshdesk, a part of the Freshworks suite, is cloud-based help desk software created by Girish Mathrubootham in 2010. It was first introduced to India’s SaaS market as a robust customer service solution. Today, its user base exceeds 60,000 businesses of all sizes. Honda, UNICEF, and Cisco are among its clients.

Zendesk vs Freshdesk – Features Comparison

Zendesk and Freshdesk are undoubtedly the key players in customer service software. Choosing between them is like a never-ending rivalry story—they offer similar features. Let’s review Zendesk and Freshdesk features at a deeper level to see how the platforms differ exactly.

Ticketing system

The ticketing system is the heart of any helpdesk solution, and both Freshdesk and Zendesk offer a great platform to manage customer interactions. Both solutions have common features:

• Ticket creation. Both platforms allow for easy ticket creation with customer information, issue descriptions, and attachments.
• Assigning and collaboration. Agents can be assigned tickets based on skills, workload, or availability.
• Prioritization. You can prioritize tickets based on urgency, importance, or customer impact.
• Tracking and status updates. Track the progress of tickets through various stages with clear status updates for both agents and customers.

Things to consider:

Zendesk’s ticket management is more advanced. It offers features like dynamic contextual workspaces that adapt to the ticket’s context, a guided mode to arrange tickets for agents and side conversations for collaboration. Additionally, it uses AI to suggest new macros to admins based on popular agent responses. If you have complex workflows or need to add specific data during ticket creation, Zendesk’s custom ticket forms might be more suitable.

Customer support channels

Both Freshdesk and Zendesk offer a variety of channels for seamless customer interactions. Here is what both solutions support:

• Email. Both platforms offer robust email ticketing systems, allowing customers to submit inquiries and track responses.
• Phone. Zendesk provides phone support through integration with third-party voice-over-IP (VoIP) systems like Talkdesk and Twilio. Freshdesk offers built-in phone support functionality with call routing, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), and call recording.
• Live chat. Zendesk supports live chat capabilities through Zendesk Chat in real time. Freshdesk Includes live chat functionality as a separate add-on.
• Social media integration. Both solutions allow to manage customer inquiries and comments directly on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook through integrations. This also includes messengers. Zendesk offers a solution known as Telegramio: a secure and effective Zendesk Support integration that enables message & attachment exchange via Telegram.

Things to consider:

Freshdesk might have a slight edge with a strong mobile app, allowing agents to manage support interactions on the go. Zendesk offers more advanced options like call routing and voicemail management for phone support, while Freshdesk might have simpler phone integration capabilities. Also note that Freshchat needs to be additionally purchased. Zendesk has a built-in live chat.

Reporting and analytics: Zendesk vs Freshdesk

Both Zendesk and Freshdesk offer robust tools to track key metrics and analyze customer service performance. Here are some details:

• Ticket volume and resolution time. You can track the number of tickets received, categorize them by type, and analyze average resolution times to identify areas for improvement.
• Agent performance. Monitoring individual and team performance metrics like ticket resolution rate, first response time, and customer satisfaction ratings is possible.
• Channel breakdown. The platforms analyze customer interactions across different channels like email, chat, and social media to understand preferred communication methods.
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT). The platforms can track customer satisfaction through surveys and feedback mechanisms to evaluate overall service quality.
• Real-time dashboards. Key metrics are available in real-time dashboards.

Things to consider:

Zendesk’s reporting is much wider as it touches on more metrics. It is accompanied by understandable visualization layouts that allow users to customize reports. Freshdesk is focused on core metrics only – the platform uses user-friendly reports and basic visual layouts only.

Zendesk vs Freshdesk: AI-powered tools

Both helpdesk solutions have AI-powered tools that are aimed at boosting their efficiency. Here are the features common for both platforms:

• Chatbots. Both Zendesk and Freshdesk offer AI-based chatbots. Their task is to handle routine customer inquiries, provide instant responses, and contact human agents in case of complex issues.
• Automated ticketing. Ticket creation and tracking processes are powered by AI in both Zendesk and Freshdesk.
• Knowledge base help. AI is implemented to help users resolve issues faster and reduce support ticket volume.

However, each software boasts unique features:

Zendesk

• Answer bot. Using machine learning it suggests relevant articles from the knowledge base to customers upon their inquiries. It significantly reduces the need for human participation.

Freshdesk

• Freddy AI. This AI assistant can provide responses, craft summaries and articles, and even suggest ways to optimize processes and create scalable practices.

Things to consider:

Zendesk integrated chatbots across all plans, and Freshdesk offers it as a separately paid app. If you need extensive AI functionalities across ticket routing, agent assist, proactive customer service, Zendesk is a more optimal choice.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk Integrations Comparison

No helpdesk solution can operate in isolation. Seamless integration with other crucial business tools is a must for streamlined workflows. Both Zendesk and Freshdesk offer convenient integration capabilities:

• Pre-built integrations. The platforms offer pre-built integrations for popular applications like CRM systems, marketing automation tools, e-commerce platforms, and productivity apps.
• API access. Both Zendesk and Freshdesk provide API access, allowing developers to build custom integrations with virtually any business tool. It is excellent for businesses with unique needs or complex workflows that require specific data exchanges that exceed pre-built options.
• Real-time data sync. All data are easily shared between a helpdesk platform and integrated tools in real-time. It keeps information consistent and up-to-date across platforms.

Things to consider:

Both platforms offer 1,000+ options for integration. There is not much difference between the two; however, Zendesk’s powerful API offers greater flexibility for businesses that need customization.

Zendesk vs Freshdesk: Customization

Both Freshdesk and Zendesk offer enough tools for customization. It allows users to incorporate their brand’s logo and experiment with interface colors. Moreover, both platforms allow customization of agent-facing UI elements and workflows. This includes customizing tickets with personalized ticket fields, adjusting ticket views in the agents’ workspace, defining agent roles and statuses, creating customized reports and dashboards, and setting up event-based automation.

Things to consider:

For a high degree of control over ticket forms, workflows, reporting, and integrations, Zendesk’s powerful customization capabilities are a strong choice. If you need basic ticket form and workflow customization, Freshdesk might be sufficient.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk Pricing Comparison

Budget often becomes a decisive factor when choosing between Zendesk and Freshdesk. Here’s a simplified comparison of current pricing plans.

Zendesk

Freshdesk

Things to consider:

Both platforms offer various add-ons, like AI-powered assistants, chatbots, and more at an additional cost. Overall, Freshdesk is a more affordable solution and may be more appropriate for small businesses on a budget. However, Zendesk offers a more powerful support solution, especially if you opt for a high-tier plan. Zendesk has no free plan, but you may test the platform in a 14-day trial.

Freshdesk or Zendesk: Pros and Cons

Freshdesk and Zendesk share lots of similar features, yet they also have distinct differences. To simplify your choice, here are some basic aspects to take into account:

Conclusion: Making the Right Choice

Choosing between these two popular help desk platforms might feel difficult, but it is easier when you look at the important factors. Freshdesk gives you a lot for what you pay, while Zendesk is great for bigger companies as it has strong ticketing features you will not find anywhere else. Of course, the best choice depends on your specific needs, budget, and team size. The factors mentioned above may help you make an informed decision and select the optimal helpdesk software.

The final call is yours to make. If you’re still wavering and seek reassurance about your decision, our team is here to lend a helping hand.

At Cloudfresh, we’re dedicated to creating top-tier customer experiences while ensuring compliance support (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.) across the entire range of Zendesk products: Support, Sell, Sunshine Platform, and integrations.

Get started on your Zendesk journey with Zendesk Professional Services, which include implementation, audit and consulting, integrations development, essentials setup, and training sessions. Additionally, we provide AI-powered customer support and chatbot solutions.

We know all the nuances of the platform to help you move your working processes to this new helpdesk environment with no complications.

Contact us to discover more.