Zendesk vs Intercom: Choosing the best tool for your business

  • 01Zendesk vs Intercom: overview
  • 02What's the difference between Zendesk and Intercom?
  • 03Zendesk pros and cons
  • 04Intercom pros and cons
  • 05Zendesk compared to Intercom
  • 06Intercom compared to Zendesk
  • 07Features comparison
  • 08Zendesk vs Intercom: Which is the best for your business?
  • 09Promotions on Customer Experience software
  • 10Alternatives to Zendesk & Intercom

Zendesk vs Intercom: overview

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Zendesk
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Intercom
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Comments
Positive reviews
4.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Both receive many positive reviews. Some Zendesk users say its advanced features can be complex, while some Intercom reviewers comment on its high price.
Pricing plans
4.0 out of 5
3.0 out of 5
Both platforms offer free trials but no free version. Zendesk Suite’s paid plans cost between $55 - $115/agent/month, while Intercom’s start at $74/month.
Ease of use
4.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Both offer clean, user-friendly interfaces with easy-to-use navigation.
Channels
5.0 out of 5
5.0 out of 5
Both platforms offer features to manage a combination of ticketing, phone, email, social media, website live chat, messaging, and WhatsApp support options.
Reporting and analytics
4.0 out of 5
3.0 out of 5
Zendesk includes reports for customer insights across all channels and customizable analytics dashboards. Intercom has solid reporting features, including response time and email deliverability.
Customer support
4.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Zendesk offers customer service support during business hours, with 24/7 support as a paid add-on. Intercom plans include 24/7 chat and email support.
Knowledge base
5.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Both offer customizable knowledge bases, including AI-suggested helpful articles. However, Zendesk is more advanced and customizable.
Integrations
5.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Zendesk has 1530+ integrations with apps, including Jira, Harvest, and Slack. Intercom offers 350+ integrations for support, sales, and marketing teams, including Salesforce, Stripe, and Shopify.
AI features
4.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Zendesk’s AI tools include bot responses and response suggestions. Some AI features only available with an add-on. Intercom’s Fin AI-powered chatbot can solve customer service problems.
Ticketing
4.0 out of 5
4.0 out of 5
Both have robust ticketing features to manage workflows and collaborations. However, Intercom offers more ticketing automation.

What's the difference between Zendesk and Intercom?

Zendesk’s Interface for an Agent, with a Side Menu on the Left and Four Action Buttons including Widget, Visitors, Analytics, and Triggers
Zendesk’s Interface for an Agent, with a Side Menu on the Left and Four Action Buttons including Widget, Visitors, Analytics, and Triggers
Intercom’s AI Automation Builder Creating a Workflow for Live Chat including the Conditions and Responses
Intercom’s AI Automation Builder Creating a Workflow for Live Chat including the Conditions and Responses

Zendesk pros and cons

What are the advantages of Zendesk?

What are the disadvantages of Zendesk?

Compare Zendesk to other tools

Zendesk vs Jira
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Zendesk
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Jira
VS
Zoho vs Zendesk
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Zoho
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Zendesk
VS
Zendesk vs HubSpot
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Zendesk
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HubSpot
VS
Freshdesk vs Zendesk
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Freshdesk
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Zendesk
VS
Zoho Desk vs Zendesk
Prezi Logo
Zoho Desk
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Zendesk
VS
LiveChat vs Zendesk
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LiveChat
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Zendesk
VS

Intercom pros and cons

What are the advantages of Intercom?

What are the disadvantages of Intercom?

Compare Intercom to other tools

LiveChat vs Intercom
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LiveChat
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Intercom
VS
Intercom vs Front
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Intercom
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Front
VS
Help Scout vs Intercom
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Help Scout
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Intercom
VS
Freshchat vs Intercom
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Freshchat
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Intercom
VS
Gorgias vs Intercom
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Gorgias
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Intercom
VS

Zendesk compared to Intercom

Is Zendesk better than Intercom?

What is Zendesk best used for?

Can Zendesk replace Intercom?

Is Zendesk cheaper than Intercom?

Is there a better Customer Experience software than Zendesk?

Intercom compared to Zendesk

Is Intercom better than Zendesk?

What is Intercom best used for?

Can Intercom replace Zendesk?

Is Intercom cheaper than Zendesk?

Is there a better Collaboration software than Intercom?

Features comparison

Zendesk Excels in User-Friendliness Compared to Intercom

Zendesk's intuitive design caters to beginners and non-technical users, offering a seamless experience right from the start.
Zendesk's intuitive design caters to beginners and non-technical users, offering a seamless experience right from the start.

Zendesk Offers a More Robust Ticketing System than Intercom

 Zendesk's ticketing system is renowned for its highly organized approach, which empowers businesses to manage customer support requests with unparalleled efficiency.
Zendesk's ticketing system is renowned for its highly organized approach, which empowers businesses to manage customer support requests with unparalleled efficiency.

Intercom’s Customer Onboarding Feature is More Efficient than Zendesk’s Knowledge Base

Intercom takes a definitive lead with its distinctive feature – the ability to create interactive product tours
Intercom takes a definitive lead with its distinctive feature – the ability to create interactive product tours

Zendesk and Intercom are Equal in Terms of Multichannel Support

 Zendesk offers a versatile array of communication channels, including email, chat, social media, phone, and web forms.
Zendesk offers a versatile array of communication channels, including email, chat, social media, phone, and web forms.

Zendesk Leads in Integration Capabilities Over Intercom

Zendesk's comprehensive integration network ensures compatibility with a wide range of applications, offering businesses extensive flexibility.
Zendesk's comprehensive integration network ensures compatibility with a wide range of applications, offering businesses extensive flexibility.

Zendesk’s Automation and Workflow Proves More Advanced than Intercom’s

Zendesk allows for the creation of predefined rules and workflows that efficiently route tickets to the appropriate agents, ensuring swift and precise issue resolution.
Zendesk allows for the creation of predefined rules and workflows that efficiently route tickets to the appropriate agents, ensuring swift and precise issue resolution.

Intercom Excels at Real-Time Customer Engagement Compared to Zendesk

With Intercom, businesses can engage in real-time chats, schedule meetings, and strategically deploy chat boxes to specific customer segments
With Intercom, businesses can engage in real-time chats, schedule meetings, and strategically deploy chat boxes to specific customer segments

Zendesk vs Intercom: Which is the best for your business?

Zendesk is the best tool for you if:

  • You’re looking for a centralized platform to manage diverse customer support solutions, including ticket management, social media messaging, and phone support
  • You need a user-friendly customer support platform that caters to your sales and service team members with limited technical expertise
  • Access to a dedicated CRM that seamlessly integrates with support functions is essential to your business
  • You’re on the lookout for a tool with robust ticketing system management and knowledge base features that help reduce your support team’s workload
  • You aim to streamline and scale customer support efforts while maintaining quality customer service across all channels, ensuring no customer contact is overlooked

Intercom is the best tool for you if:

  • Your priority is interactive, personalized engagement with customers in real-time
  • Your customer base mainly consists of web or app users and you’re looking for a tool that focuses on chat support, like chatbot features, to deliver instant customer support
  • Access to 24/7 customer support for the software, even on lower-tier plans, is non-negotiable for your business
  • You’re seeking a customer support solution integrating marketing and sales features to grow your customer base through tailored, interactive communication and support
  • Your product or service requires customer onboarding and you need a tool to create interactive product tours and virtual guides

Alternatives to Zendesk & Intercom

Promotions on Customer Experience software