In today’s world, where everyone knows everything about everyone, the question is no longer which software is better than the other in every department. Rather, people are now interested in identifying their business’ specific needs and then seeing which software best caters to them. And, as the business grows or the world around it changes, so do the business’s needs. Therefore, while looking at which software best suits its needs in the present, businesses also need to be cognizant of whether the software will continue to serve them in the future as well.
Owing to all these ever-shifting factors, it can become a task (especially for small business owners) to determine which software may be the best fit for them. Today, there are so many different software offering a variety of features that it has become almost impossible to definitively say that yes, that is the software that holds the key to all our customer relationship management woes.
In this blog, while understanding that there is no perfect answer, we will be offering an in-depth comparison of Freshservice and Zendesk. This blog hopes to lay out both services’ features clearly in front of you so that you – someone who knows the exact needs of your business – is able to then make an informed decision of which service to opt for.
Read more: Freshdesk vs Zendesk: A Comprehensive Comparison
What is Freshservice?
Freshservice is a cloud-based IT service management software designed by Freshworks to help businesses with customer support by way of handling questions and queries. It has a user-friendly interface and multiple pricing options for businesses of all sizes, which we will be exploring in detail in this blog and will also compare with Zendesk.
What is Zendesk?
Zendesk is similar to Freshservice, in that it too offers tools for customer support such as creating tickets that efficiently record customer queries, and then allows for your business’ support team to resolve these ticketed issues through features of live chat and self-service. However, what makes Zendesk different from Freshservice is that it also offers a host of other features that cater to even small businesses of a lot more industries, and it offers more integrations with third-party apps—all of which will be covered in detail in the section on the software’s differences.
-
Pricing
When comparing Freshservice vs. Zendesk Support suites, it becomes obvious that, owing to its status as a relative newcomer when compared to Zendesk, Freshservice offers greater incentives for small businesses in general. First off, this can be seen in terms of Freshservice’s offering of greater pricing flexibility.
Freshservice has more economic pricing options for its clients that does give it an edge over Zendesk in terms of luring small businesses. However, since this only applies to one of Freshservice’s pricing plans its other three pricing plans are all priced similarly to Zendesk’s, therefore Freshservice’s edge in pricing is only minimal and should not be a make-or-break consideration for you to give a lot of importance to.
-
Integration:
Again, as Zendesk is more established and caters to a wider variety of clients, it naturally also offers integration with a wider group of third-party applications that make it especially useful for those small businesses that, as a result of the nature of their business, have to integrate with a multiplicity of third party apps. These can range from payment gateways to even Zendesk’s own applications, such as Zendesk for service, Zendesk for sales, Sunshine Platform and Marketplace.
The greater ease and wide variety of integration that Zendesk offers its users naturally makes it more suitable for those small businesses that absolutely cannot do without these many integrations. However, if yours is a business that would not require as many integrations with third-party applications, then you are most likely not going to miss the difference between Zendesk and Freshservice.
-
Interface:
For a lot of software, it is often the interface that ends up being the make-or-break factor. This happens especially in those cases where businesses are making a shift from clunky legacy. Often, their technical resources do not have the required levels of tech-savviness to operate the interface with full ease. In this regard, Freshservice gets the edge over Zendesk because its relative lack of features here ends up being a boon to its user interface. By not offering as many services to small businesses as Zendesk, Freshservice is able to provide a less clunky, easy-to-navigate, and clean user interface as compared to Zendesk.
As opposed to Freshservice’s simpler interface (above), Zendesk’s interface (down) is actually significantly clunkier and more crowded. It may not be as much of an issue to that technical personnel who are savvy enough to customize Zendesk’s dashboard to only include those features that they need, or it may even be desirable for small businesses who actually want all those features in one place, yet for small businesses that do not fall within this category, it may be a hurdle to overcome the steeper learning curve of navigating Zendesk with ease.
-
Customization:
Building on the aforementioned points on integration and ease of use, Zendesk offers greater customization so that its users are able to navigate its sea of features as they see it fit. Doing this gives a massive boost to tech-savvy small businesses that wish to capitalize on Zendesk’s plethora of features and integrations.
Freshservice, on the other hand, does not offer as much customization as it is generally built as software with more or less the same features for all its customers. Therefore, in terms of customization, Zendesk has a significant advantage over Freshservice since the former is able to cater to all kinds of businesses, irrespective of their needs, whereas Freshservice is seriously hampered when it comes to catering to businesses with a need for more complicated features.
Read more: HubSpot v Zendesk: Which CRM Comes Out on Top?
Conclusion
One thing that has become clear in this Freshservice vs Zendesk Suite – 2023 comparison is that both are powerful customer support software solutions that cater to businesses of all sizes. While Freshservice offers competitive pricing and a user-friendly interface, Zendesk stands out with its extensive integrations and customization options. The decision between the two ultimately depends on the specific needs and preferences of your business. Considering factors like budget, the level of technical expertise, and the need for third-party app integrations will help you make an informed choice. The consultants at Techloyce, who are experts in both Zendesk and Freshservice, can help you make this decision.
