Zendesk vs Intercom: Which Is Right For Your Business in 2023?

I’ll dive into their chatbots more later, but their bot automation features are also stronger. With industry-leading AI that infuses intelligence into every interaction, robust integrations, and exceptional data security and compliance, it’s no wonder why Zendesk is a trusted leader in CX. Zendesk is popular due to its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, scalability, multichannel support, robust analytics, and seamless integration capabilities. These features make it suitable for businesses of all sizes, helping them streamline their support operations and enhance the overall customer experience.

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. Zendesk offers so much more than you can get from free CRMs or less robust options, including sales triggers to automate workflows. For example, you can set a sales trigger to automatically change the owner of a deal based on the specific conditions you select. That way, your sales team won’t have to worry about manually updating these changes as they work through a deal. Pipedrive offers access to app integrations built by Pipedrive and third-party vendors, including Zendesk.

Zendesk vs Intercom – A Detailed Comparison

If compared to Intercom’s chatbot, Zendesk offers a relatively latest platform that makes support automation possible. So far, the chatbot can transfer chats to agents or resolve less complex queries in seconds. That means all you have to do is add the code to your website and enable it right away. Welcome to another blog post that helps you gauge which live chat solution is compatible with your customer support needs. And in this post, we will analyze two popular names in the SaaS industry – Intercom & Zendesk. Today, Zendesk is used by over 200,000 businesses worldwide, including Airbnb, Uber, and Slack.

Intercom, of course, allows its customer support team to collaborate and communicate too, but overall, Zendesk wins this group. Compared to Zendesk and Intercom, Helpwise offers competitive and transparent pricing plans. 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. Intercom’s AI has the transformative power to enhance customer service by offering multilingual support and contextual responses.

Zendesk excels with its powerful ticketing and customer support capabilities, making it ideal for streamlining service operations. Zendesk offers your agents a unified workspace to collaborate on support tickets. This single window allows your team members to combine several channels for better efficiency and improved customer experience.

• In contrast, while Zendesk does offer some automation capabilities, it may not be as robust and customizable as Intercom.
• It also offers a Proactive Support Plus as an Add-on with push notifications, a series campaign builder, news items, and more.
• It makes sure that you don’t miss a single inquiry by queuing tickets for agent handling.
• Intercom offers an easy way to nurture your qualified leads (prospects) into customers with Intercom Series.

With its CRM, you have the ability to place your clients in your sales funnels and follow through with them until conversion. There are many powerful integrations included, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Slack, and Zapier. Easily track your service team’s performance and unlock coaching opportunities with AI-powered insights. While both Zendesk and Intercom offer ways to track your sales pipeline, each platform handles the process a bit differently.

You could say something similar for Zendesk’s standard service offering, so it’s at least good to know they have Zendesk Sell, a capable CRM option to supplement it. You can use Zendesk Sell to track tasks, streamline workflows, improve engagement, nurture leads, and much more. Customerly’s CRM is designed to help businesses build stronger relationships by keeping customer data organized and actionable. While clutter-free and straightforward, it does lack some of the more advanced features and capabilities that Zendesk has.

In this guide, I compare Zendesk and Intercom – on pricing and features – to help you make an informed decision. Visit either of their app marketplaces and look up the Intercom Zendesk integration. Like with many other apps, Zapier seems to be the best and most simple way to connect Intercom to Zendesk. 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.

However, Intercom’s real strength lies in generating insights into areas like customer journey mapping, product performance, and retention. Furthermore, Intercom offers advanced automation features such as custom inbox rules, targeted messaging, and dynamic triggers based on customer segments. Zendesk’s automation is centered around streamlining ticket management by bringing together customer inquiries from various sources—email, phone, web, chat, and social media—into a single platform. Use ticketing systems to efficiently manage high ticket volume, deliver timely customer support, and boost agent productivity.

Its sales CRM software starts at $19 per month per user, but you’ll have to pay $49 to get Zapier integrations and $99 for Hubspot integrations. Finally, you can pay $199 per month per user for unlimited sales pipelines and advanced reporting along with other features. Intercom offers an easy way to nurture your qualified leads (prospects) into customers with https://chat.openai.com/ Intercom Series. Because Intercom started as a live chat service, its messenger functionality is very robust. It feels very modern, and Intercom offers some advanced messenger features that Zendesk does not. It offers a feature called “Mobile Push”  which are essentially push notifications that allow businesses to reach customers on their mobile apps.

You can even improve efficiency and transparency by setting up task sequences, defining sales triggers, and strategizing with advanced forecasting and reporting tools. Starting at $19 per user per month, it’s also on the cheaper end of the spectrum compared to high-end CRMs like ActiveCampaign and HubSpot. Broken down into custom, resolution, and task bots, these can go a long way in taking repetitive tasks off agents’ plates. You need a complete customer service platform that’s seamlessly integrated and AI-enhanced.

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. 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. Both products are so full-featured that they both take quite a while to learn. As expected, the right choice between Zendesk and Intercom will depend on your budget, your company, and your needs.

Intercom vs Zendesk: Key Differences & Best Choice for 2024

Both Zendesk and Intercom offer a range of channels for businesses to interact with their customers. While Fin AI Copilot – is included in all paid Intercom plans, you only get to use it for only ten conversations per agent each month. If your team needs Fin to help with more than that, you’ll need to pay an extra $35 per agent per month for unlimited use. Essentially, Fin AI Copilot acts as a personal assistant for every support staff, helping them resolve customer issues faster and more efficiently. Whereas, Fin AI Agent is an actual chatbot that responds on its own to customers’ questions. Intercom, on the other hand, focuses on automating tasks that help improve customer engagement.

Aura AI transcends the limits of traditional chatbots that typically struggle with anything but the simplest user queries. Instead, Aura AI continuously learns from your knowledge base and canned responses, growing and learning — just like a real-life agent. You can then intercom vs. zendesk add features like advanced AI agents, workforce management, and QA. 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.

With over 160,000 customers across all industries and regions, Zendesk has the CX expertise to provide you with best practices and thought leadership to increase your overall value. But don’t just take our word for it—listen to what customers say about why they picked Zendesk. This is not a huge difference; however, it does indicate that customers are generally more satisfied with Intercom’s offerings than Zendesk’s. Zendesk is a much larger company than Intercom; it has over 170,000 customers, while Intercom has over 25,000.

Intercom generally receives positive feedback for its customer support, with users appreciating the comprehensive features and team-oriented tools. However, there are occasional criticisms regarding the effectiveness of its AI chatbot and some interface navigation challenges. Intercom bills itself first and foremost as a platform to make the business of customer service more personalized, among other things.

Intercom’s dashboards may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Zendesk’s, but they still allow users to navigate their tools with few distractions. As for Intercom’s general pricing structure, there are three plans, but you’ll have to contact them to get exact prices. While Zendesk features are plenty, someone using it for the first time can find it overwhelming.

This feature helps businesses anticipate and address potential issues before they escalate. You can use the dashboards to understand customer journeys in-depth and identify areas of improvement. While it helps track some basic support metrics, Intercom’s strength lies in helping companies understand user behavior, product usage, and friction points along the journey. Both the platforms offer valuable automation features, and the optimal choice depends on your business’s specific needs. As mentioned before, the bot builder is a visual drag-and-drop system that requires no coding knowledge; this is also how other basic workflows are designed. The more expensive Intercom plans offer AI-powered content cues, triage, and conversation insights.

Triggers should prove especially useful for agents, allowing them to do things like automate notifications for actions like ticket assignments, ticket closing/reopening, or new ticket creation. Their template triggers are fairly limited with only seven options, but they do enable users to create new custom triggers, which can be a game-changer for agents with more complex workflows. You can access detailed customer data at a glance while chatting, enabling you to make informed decisions in real time.

From handling multiple questions to avoiding dreaded customer-stuck loops, Aura AI is the Swiss Army Knife of customer service chatbots. If you want to get to the nitty-gritty of your customer service team’s performance, Zendesk is the way to go. It’s built for function over form — the layout is highly organized and clearly designed around ticket management. You get an immediate overview of key metrics, such as ticket volume and agent performance as well as a summary of key customer data points. If you’re here, it’s safe to assume that you’re looking for a new customer service solution to support your teams and delight your audience.

• However, some users have reported issues with the platform’s customer support and pricing.
• It is quite the all-rounder as it even has a help center and ticketing system that completes its omnichannel support cycle.
• Customers won’t need to leave your app or website to find the help they need.Zendesk, on the other hand, will redirect the customer to a new web page.
• Zendesk would be a perfect option for businesses that are searching for a well-integrated support system.
• Intelligence has become key to delivering the kinds of experiences customers expect at a lower operational cost.
• Discover how to awe shoppers with stellar customer service during peak season.

Zendesk offers a free 30-day trial, after which customers will need to upgrade to one of their paid plans. One of the things that sets Zendesk apart from other customer service software providers is its focus on design. The company’s products are built with an emphasis on simplicity and usability.

Although Intercom offers an omnichannel messaging dashboard, it has slightly less functionality than Zendesk. Some aspects give an edge or create differentiation in the operations of both software, which users may oversee while making a choice. We will discuss these differentiating factors to help you make the right choice for your business and help it excel in offering extraordinary customer service. Considering that Zendesk and Intercom are leading the market for customer service software, it becomes difficult for businesses to choose the right tool. Sometimes, businesses do not even realize the importance of various aspects you must consider while making this choice. Zendesk fully utilizes AI tools to enhance user experiences at every stage of the customer journey.

This helps companies resolve common customer queries without any human intervention. Since Intercom’s focus is on driving customer engagement, the interface prominently displays important features like in-app messaging and chatbots. The dashboard also provides insights into user behavior and engagement metrics. Choosing the right customer service platform is critical for any business. It enables you to streamline all incoming customer queries, and ensure your support team is equipped to provide prompt, efficient solutions. Intercom’s app store has popular integrations for things like WhatsApp, Stripe, Instagram, and Slack.

Install the Intercom App

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. You can also add apps to your Intercom Messenger home to help users and visitors get what they need, without having to start a conversation.

In comparison, Intercom’s confusing pricing structure that features multiple add-ons may be unsuitable for small businesses. Zendesk’s user face is quite intuitive and easy to use, allowing customers to quickly find what they are looking for. Additionally, the platform allows users to customize their experience by setting up automation workflows, creating ticket rules, and utilizing analytics. Intercom also has a mobile app available for both Android and iOS, which makes it easy to stay connected with customers even when away from the computer. The app includes features like automated messages and conversation routing — so businesses can manage customer conversations more efficiently.

Reporting

They charge not only for customer service representative seats but also for feature usage and offer tons of features as custom add-ons at additional cost. 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 regarding innovative and out-of-the-box features. Missouri Star Quilt Company is one of the world’s largest online retailers of fabric and quilting supplies, shipping thousands of orders a day. After struggling with different customer service solutions, Missouri Star Quilt Company turned to Zendesk for service and sales. Connecting Zendesk Support and Zendesk Sell allows its customer service and sales-oriented wholesale team to work together effortlessly.

And, Zendesk is nothing if not geared for helping agents deal with large ticket volumes efficiently. If you prioritize seamless, personalized customer interactions, it’s arguably the better option of the two. That being said, it sometimes lacks the advanced customization and automation offered by other AI-powered chatbots, like Intercom’s. Zendesk’s Answer Bot is capable of helping customers with common queries by providing canned responses and links to relevant help articles. It relies on fairly basic automation while routing more complex issues to live agents. As the more recent of the two, offering a modern look-and-feel and frictionless experience is a key magnet for 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. On the other hand, Intercom is more focused on conversational customer support, and has more help desk features suited for live chat and messaging. Both Zendesk and Intercom are customer support management solutions that offer features like ticket management, live chat and messaging, automation workflows, knowledge centers, and analytics.

When it comes to self-service portals for things like knowledgebases, Intercom has a useful set of resources. Intercom also has a community forum where users can help one another with questions and solutions. Here is a Zendesk vs. Intercom based on the customer support offered by these brands.

This feature enables timely alerts and updates to customers, even when they are on the go. Zendesk has many amazing team collaboration and communication features, like whisper mode, which lets multiple agents chime in to help each other without the customer knowing. There is also something called warm transfers, which let one rep add contextual notes to a ticket before transferring it to another rep. You also get a side conversation tool. In the category of customer support, Zendesk appears to be just slightly better than Intercom based on the availability of regular service and response times. However, it is possible Intercom’s support is superior at the premium level.

Integration Ecosystem:

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 also offers digital support during business hours, and their website has a chatbot. Premiere Zendesk plans have 24/7 proactive support with faster response times.

Zendesk’s integration with these tools allows businesses to track customer interactions, personalize messaging, and automate workflows. Intercom offers a wide range of integrations with various third-party tools, including CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and analytics tools. Intercom’s integration with these tools allows businesses to track customer interactions, personalize messaging, and automate workflows. One of the standout features of Intercom’s customer support is its chatbot functionality. The chatbot can help users with common support issues and answer frequently asked questions. This feature can reduce the workload of customer support teams and provide faster response times to users.

That’s because if there’s a glitch or a system outage, you want an immediate fix or clarity on the resolution. It’s characterized by a clear, organized Chat GPT layout with a strong focus on ticket management. The dashboard provides an overview of ticket volume, agent performance, and other key metrics.

By using its workforce management functionality, businesses can analyze employee performance, and implement strategies to improve them. Conversely, Intercom has a shared inbox tool that routes conversations from every channel, including live chat, email, SMS, and more, into one place. However, it offers a limited channel scope compared to Zendesk, and users will have to get paid add-ons for channels like WhatsApp. Powered by Explore, Zendesk’s reporting capabilities are pretty impressive. Right out of the gate, you’ve got dozens of pre-set report options on everything from satisfaction ratings and time in status to abandoned calls and Answer Bot resolutions.

Your typical Zendesk review will often praise the platform’s simplicity and affordability, as well as its constant updates and rolling out of new features, like Zendesk Sunshine. For example, you can read in many Zendesk Sell reviews how adding sales tools benefits Zendesk Support users. 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. 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.

Zendesk has traditionally been more focused on customer support management, while Intercom has been more focused on live support solutions like its chat solution. Intercom and Zendesk offer robust customer support options, including email, phone, and live chat support, comprehensive knowledge bases, and community forums. Intercom’s chatbot functionality is a standout feature, while Zendesk’s ticketing system can help resolve support issues on time. Intercom offers a range of customer support options, including email, phone, and live chat support. In addition, they provide a comprehensive knowledge base that includes articles, videos, and tutorials to help users get the most out of the platform. Both Zendesk and Intercom offer compelling features and capabilities aimed at improving customer service through efficient ticketing systems.

Using Zendesk, you can create community forums where customers can connect, comment, and collaborate, creating a way to harness customers’ expertise and promote feedback. Community managers can also escalate posts to support agents when one-on-one help is needed. If you’re exploring popular chat support tools Zendesk and Intercom, you may be trying to understand which solution is right for you. With the all-new Hiver mobile app, you can now empower your team to provide great customer service even they’re on-the-go….

It starts with as low as $19/user/month and can go up to $49/user/ month. This means, even when you choose a higher plan, you’ll be paying considerably less than what you would have to pay for Zendesk or intercom. That makes the design very familiar and user-friendly, for both customers and agents.

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