Providing exceptional customer service is crucial for business success in today‘s highly competitive markets. With so many options to choose from, selecting the right customer service software can be a challenge.
In this comprehensive guide, we compare two of the top contenders – Zendesk and Zoho Desk. Both are powerful platforms loaded with features to streamline customer support operations.
By evaluating the pros and cons of each solution across key categories, you’ll be equipped to determine which is the best fit for your company’s unique needs and budget.
A Brief Background
The global customer relationship management (CRM) software market is enormous and growing rapidly. Research predicts it will balloon to a staggering $86.3 billion by 2030.
Within this sector, customer service software plays an integral role by facilitating smooth interactions between businesses and their customers across multiple channels.
Zendesk and Zoho firmly stand out from the crowd as two of the most widely used platforms:
- Zendesk is forecast to account for 2.9% global CRM software market share by 2030
- Zoho Desk expected to hold 3.8% by 2030
Clearly, they warrant consideration by any business seeking to optimize their customer support capabilities.
But with differing features, interfaces, integrations, and pricing – how do you decide between them?
By covering these key areas in-depth, this guide will equip you to make the right call based on your unique requirements.
Zendesk: A Full Overview
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service and engagement platform designed for enterprises large and small. Its intuitive interface unites various customer communication channels into a single view for efficient ticketing, tracking and issue resolution.
Key Capabilities and Features
- Omnichannel Support – Seamlessly incorporate email, phone, chat, messaging and an array of social media platforms
- Ticketing System – Flexible workflow automation for improved assignment and prioritization
- Interaction History – Complete chronology of all previous customer engagements across channels
- Knowledge Base – User-friendly help center with searchable articles, community forum and self-service options
- Reporting and Analytics – Track performance metrics like satisfaction scores, average response times and more
An artificial intelligence assistant further boosts team productivity by suggesting relevant help articles and automatically proposing responses. This frees up personnel to focus on higher value, complex issues.
Benefits of Zendesk
- Easy cloud delivery model – no need for local software installation
- AI assistant augments human agents for faster service
- Robust API connections with external apps and sister products like Zendesk Sell
- 14-day free trial allows thorough testing before buying
- Mature platform with decade-plus track record of reliable results
Use Cases
Enterprises across industries leverage Zendesk to achieve key objectives like:
- Providing always-on, omni-channel customer service
- Quickly scaling operations to manage higher contact volumes
- Identifying upsell/cross-sell opportunities during support interactions
- Publishing and maintaining extensive knowledge bases
- Gaining actionable insights from support analytics
Who Uses Zendesk?
With 150,000+ paying customer accounts globally, Zendesk is utilized by leading brands across sectors:
- Technology – Pinterest, EA, Grab, Credit Karma
- Retail & Ecommerce – Groupon, Delivery Hero, Farfetch
- Finance – Santander Bank, Lufax, SoFi, Robinhood
- Transportation – Lyft, Norwegian Airlines, Cabify
- Hospitality – AccorHotels, SeatGeek
The depth of Zendesk’s client roster across diverse verticals offers compelling proof of its versatile abilities to serve major enterprises with complex needs – while also meeting the needs of smaller businesses.
Zoho Desk: A Full Overview
Zoho Desk is customer support software within the broader Zoho ecosystem of business apps. It unifies customer communication channels into single intuitive platform for managing inquiries, engaging customers and resolving issues.
Key Features
- Ticketing System – Robust workflow automation for ticket assignment and resolution tracking
- Knowledge Base – User-friendly help center with searchable support articles
- Multi-Channel Support – Email, live chat, social media, phone support and more in one view
- Portal Customization – Tailor online help portal with images, videos and branding
- Reporting – Monitor performance with dashboards and custom reports
- Zia AI – Virtual assistant provides automated recommendations to boost productivity
Seamless integration with other Zoho CRM, marketing and collaboration tools allows creating unified customer experiences.
Benefits of Zoho
- Affordable pricing structures make scalable for businesses of any size
- Intuitive interface enables getting started quickly without extensive training
- Omnichannel visibility unites interactions from all channels into one view
- Customizable online help center powers exceptional self-service experiences
- Zia AI assistant automates repetitive tasks to reduce human workload
- Mobile access allows managing tickets remotely on-the-go
Use Cases
Common scenarios where businesses leverage Zoho Desk include:
- Operating centralized support desk for external customer inquiries
- Managing internal IT help desk requests company-wide
- Creating online knowledge bases for self-service
- Automating support processes with AI and macros
- Providing always-on multi-channel assistance via chat/phone/email/mobile
Who Uses Zoho Desk?
With 200,000 business users worldwide, Zoho Desk supports customers globally across industries:
- Software & Technology – Zimbra, Filestage, Flock
- Business Services – GoDaddy, TaxAct, VPN.ac
- Education – Laureate University, Shaw Academy, University of New England
- Retail – Macy’s, OfficeMax, Halfords
- Manufacturing – Yamaha, Mitsubishi, Kohler
The breadth of Zoho Desk users validates its versatility to support enterprises and SMBs alike.
Zendesk vs. Zoho Desk Feature Comparison
While Zendesk and Zoho Desk share several common capabilities, there are marked differences when comparing them head-to-head:
| Features | Zendesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| UI Design | Slightly more complex | Intuitive and organized |
| Solution Integrations | Integrates with 100+ apps via marketplace | Seamlessly integrates with other Zoho products |
| Omnichannel Support | Supports 10+ channels via native + third-party apps | Supports 10+ channels natively |
| Ticketing Management | Robust with assignee tracking and SLA | Powerful with workflow automation |
| Knowledge Base | Powerful with community forums option | Comprehensive with multi-lingual articles |
| Reporting Dashboards | Custom + standard reports | Custom + standard reports |
| AI Assistant | Limited functionality focused on predictions | Zia provides broad recommendations and automation |
| Mobile Access | iOS + Android apps included | iOS + Android apps with full functionality |
| Security | 256-bit encryption, SOC 2 compliance | 256-bit encryption, ISO 27001 certified |
When considering secondary aspects like implementation, admin controls and support – Zendesk typically requires more investments in onboarding/training whereas Zoho Desk enables getting started swiftly without complications.
While core features are well matched, Zoho Desk’s native integration capabilities and intuitive UI streamline cross-team workflows – while Zendesk requires stitching together support stacks using APIs and third-party apps.
Comparing Implementation & Ease of Use
Under-the-hood differences noticeably impact customer experiences during evaluation, onboarding and daily use between the two platforms.
Zendesk Implementation
- Typically lengthy 6+ week deployment cycles
- Multi-step configuration using admin portal is complex
- Steeper learning curve across agent and admin functions
- Reliance on App Marketplace drives up app stacks costs
- Partner integrations often require developer assistance
- Ongoing admin oversight needed to manage platform dependencies
Result: Challenging implementations with larger investments in employee ramp-up and technical resources.
Zoho Implementation
- Swift completions in under 2 weeks
- Wizard-based onboarding simplifies configurations
- Intuitive UX enables agent adoption within 1 day
- No ancillary costs as native features minimize app stacks
- Integrates out-of-box with other Zoho solutions
- Low-touch management lightens admin burdens
Result: Smooth deployments with faster user adoption and independence from IT support.
Ease-of-use and speed-to-deploy advantages make Zoho Desk the preferable option for most small-medium businesses. Zendesk offers greater configurability – but demands more extensive resources.
Zendesk vs. Zoho Desk Pricing
Cost and budget allocation considerations also influence which platform is more accessible for a given organization.
| Pricing Factor | Zendesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Base Price Per Agent | $19/month for Support $49/month for Sell add-on |
$10 per agent/month |
| Volume Discounts | 20% discount @ 100+ agents 30% discount @ 300+ agents |
33% discount @ 100-249 agents 50% discount @ 250+ agents |
| Bundled Plans | Multiple contracts across products | CRM and sales bundled optionally |
| Typical 3 Year Cost | Around $2475 per agent | Approximately $1000 per agent |
Zendesk pricing is relatively transparent but requires managing separate contracts across Support, Chat, Talk products.
But advertised rates often understate realistic expenses over multi-year deployments once factoring volume discounts, additional apps/integrations, and contracted professional service fees.
Meanwhile Zoho Desk bundles essential capabilities into a single, straightforward user-based price-point. Its app ecosystem avoids driving ancillary subscription costs.
For a 250-seat deployment over 3 years, Zendesk nets out around 2.5x more costly than Zoho Desk.
Savvy buyers should calculate total ownership costs spanning software, services and internal labor to accurately compare ROI.
Customer Examples
Drilling into real-world examples, both platforms showcase proven results across customer types and verticals.
Zendesk Wins
Mailchimp provides email marketing automation solutions to millions of small business users. By leveraging Zendesk Support and Guide products, Mailchimp unified numerous customer-facing channels into a centralized knowledge base for Always-On self-service. Benefits included:
- 50% reduction in phone support requests
- 90% of customer issues resolved without agent assistance
- $1 million savings annually from deflected support costs
Fortune 500 hospitality leader Wyndham Hotels & Resorts manages over 9000 properties globally. Seeking to boost Net Promoter Scores (NPS), Wyndham integrated Zendesk Support with SurveyMonkey platform to automatically gather customer feedback. Initiatives yielded:
- 30% higher response rates to feedback surveys
- 15% improvement in NPS year-over-year
- Millions in estimated revenue increases attributed to rising NPS scores
As evidenced by major brands Mailchimp and Wyndham, Zendesk enables both B2B and B2C enterprises to transform customer experiences – ultimately driving growth and efficiency.
Zoho Desk Wins
Leading online learning platform Shaw Academy experienced surging demand as distance learning boomed but relied on limited email support capabilities. By implementing Zoho Desk, Shaw Academy centralized support communications into a cloud-based helpdesk system. The move unlocked:
- 360-degree customer history via unified inbox
- Automated ticket routing with rule-based workflows
- 50% faster response times as agent efficiency improved
Global semiconductor manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric sought to digitally transform internal IT support from manual paper tickets. By deploying Zoho Desk service management modules combined with automation, Mitsubishi gained:
- 30% productivity gains supported by AI recommendations
- 40% increase in first-contact resolutions
- Enhanced reporting with customer satisfaction scoring
With bluechip B2B and B2C success cases covering Shaw Academy and Mitsubishi Electric – Zoho Desk demonstrates the ability to scale from SMBs up to large multinational corporations.
Summary: Key Considerations
When evaluating Zendesk versus Zoho Desk, and determining which solution best aligns to your needs – several key factors bubble to the top:
Company Size & Maturity
- Zendesk suits larger enterprises needing extensive configuration capabilities
- Zoho Desk streamlines customer service for SMBs/startups
Brand Trust & Longevity
- Zendesk founded in 2007; longer history reassuring major brands
- Zoho launched in 2005 with broader business solutions portfolio beyond support
Implementation Time & Complexity
- Zendesk deployments are lengthier with specialized configurations
- Quick launches within days highlight Zoho Desk simplicity
Omnichannel & Integrations
- Zoho Desk natively consolidated channels minimize integration costs
- Zendesk app marketplace offers abundant add-ons at added expenses
Product Bundling
- Zoho Desk combines support, sales and marketing tools
- Zendesk offerings are fragmented across separate products
For fast-growing startups and SMBs focused on minimizing costs – Zoho Desk provides an intuitive yet powerful help desk. Training times and launch speeds are unmatched.
In contrast, large enterprises with specialized needs may benefit from greater customization capabilities and third-party integrations available within Zendesk.
Comparing these two category leaders along key vectors related to deployment ease, feature-sets and total cost of ownership helps guide prudent decisions. Of course every business use case is unique – so thoughtfully evaluating where each solution excels is crucial before simply defaulting to the most prominent brand.
