7 Best Zendesk Alternatives and Competitors (2023)

Here are our top Zendesk alternatives.

If you subscribe to a service from a link on this page, Reeves and Sons Limited may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Zendesk is one of the market leading providers of helpdesk, service, and customer support solutions. One of the biggest brands in the world for helpdesk technology, Zendesk holds around 72% of the current market, as well as 15% of the live chat market too.

A company dedicated to bridging the gap between customers and the companies they purchase from, Zendesk is a huge contributor to the digital landscape.

With customers like Vimeo, Airbnb, Squarespace, and more to boast about, it’s easy to see why people fall in love with Zendesk. However, this solution won’t be the right option for everyone.

If you’ve been thinking of spreading your wings and exploring some alternative helpdesk software, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re going to be looking at some of the market leading solutions for customer support and help desk software.

What are the Best Zendesk Alternatives for 2023?

1. HubSpot

hubspot - best zendesk alternatives

Zendesk is s full helpdesk and live chat solution designed to help companies manage better customer service. There are various alternatives out there, some offer simply an alternative to live chat, while others cover all aspects of customer service. HubSpot is a solution that delivers one of the most comprehensive service, marketing, and sales solutions on the market.

HubSpot’s most significant “alternative” for Zendesk is in the HubSpot Service Hub, which is the segment of the HubSpot suite dedicated to customer care. The HubSpot offering provides a full CRM, like Zendesk, where you can manage all aspects of sales and service. You’ll have access to a comprehensive list of back-end features for managing interactions and providing support.

Features include everything from conversational bots and reporting to customer goals, live chat functionality, automatic routing, conversation managements, knowledgebase access and more. If you want to check out the full feature set, you can take advantage of the free trial plan the vendor offers.

Pricing 💰

HubSpot offers a range of pricing packages so you can build the service that’s right for you. There are collaboration and performance tracking features available, analytics, team email, and insight tools, and many of the features available are part of the live plan function. You can access the Starter Growth kit for just $42 per month to begin with, raising to $126 per month which includes access to the HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub, Sales, and Service.

Pros 👍

  • Comprehensive feature set
  • Excellent range of marketing and sales products
  • Conversational bots
  • Fantastic free option
  • Excellent CRM functionality

Cons 👎

  • Quite expensive with extra features
  • Extra costs for better service
  • No screen casting function

Who is this best for ✅

HubSpot is best suited to companies that want access to all of their functionality for sales, service, and marketing in the same place. If you’re looking for a comprehensive CRM and service solution, then HubSpot definitely has you covered.

2. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

brevo formerly sendinblue review homepage

Sendinblue isn’t a full replacement for Zendesk for some companies because it can’t handle all the features you might get with a help desk software solution. However, you do get email marketing with aspects of CRM functionality built in. A popular alternative for Zendesk for smaller companies, Sendinblue launched in 2012, and offers everything you need to connect with your customers.

There are email marketing templates, transactional emails, SMS marketing solutions, and even a live chat function, similar to that available from Zendesk. There’s a built-in CRM service included so you can track your contacts and build better relationships with them over time. The free service comes with access to the CRM, but you do get more exciting features when you’re willing to pay more.

Sendinblue has the added benefits of being GDPR compliant, so you don’t have to worry about compliance or security issues as your company expands.

Pricing 💰

Sendinblue has a free version available to get you started, so you can test some of the features before you start splashing your cash. There’s also a Lite version for $25 per month, which gives you support for up to 100,000 emails a day. You can also upgrade to Premium for $65 per month if you prefer. Marketing automation, up to 1 million emails and other extras come as part of the premium kit.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent customer support
  • Easy segmentation
  • Range of SMS and email integrations
  • Landing page and form support
  • A/B testing functionality

Cons 👎

  • Steep learning curve
  • Email editing functionality is limited

Who is this best for ✅

When it comes to Zendesk alternatives, SendinBlue might not be a full helpdesk solution, but it does give you the tools you need to make your customer service strategy stand out. If you want an email marketing solution that doubles up as a service for CRM needs, this is the product for you.

3. Freshdesk

freshdesk - best zendesk alternatives

Another innovative solution for those in search of helpdesk technology, Freshdesk is a solution that makes it easy to create a knowledgebase of vital information for your business consumers. Freshdesk is essentially an easy-to-use online helpdesk system, packed full of technology to make your customer’s lives easier. This easy-to-use system comes with a free service that’s great for small businesses who are just getting started.

Features of Freshdesk range all the way from comprehensive knowledgebase articles to helpdesk ticketing functionality, a comprehensive automation strategy, reports, and insights for your team. You can also implement gamification elements for your service and sales strategy if you want too. Another major benefit of Freshdesk is how flexible the pricing system is. There seems to be a solution for every budget here.

Pricing 💰

Freshdesk starts with a free package called “Sprout”, which gives you access to standard phone support, email support, a knowledgebase, and support for email ticketing tools. Beyond that, you’ll need to upgrade to packages like Blossom, for $25 per agent per month, which comes with social satisfaction surveys, custom domain mapping, huddle spaces, and time tracking. Garden is $44 per month with help desk multilingual functionality, ticket templates, forums, report scheduling, and live chat.

The second most expensive option is Estate, at $49 per user per month, with multiple product support, portal customization, shared ownership, agent role customization, and enterprise reports. Finally, for $99 per agent per month, you get IP whitelisting, custom email servers, and EU data center and skill-based routing.

Pros 👍

  • Fun gamification features for your teams
  • Excellent range of pricing options to choose from
  • Free version to get you started
  • Excellent selection of capabilities for service
  • Good customer service and support

Cons 👎

  • Reporting tools aren’t the best
  • Key features are only available when you pay more

Who is this best for ✅

If you’re looking for a flexible and scalable solution that can grow with your business, then Freshdesk might be the perfect option for you. There’s plenty of functionality available here for businesses of all sizes, as well as excellent customer service and support. However, you may need to pay more to get the best features.

4. Help Scout

help scout - best zendesk alternatives

If you’re looking for an alternative to Zendesk that focuses on excellent customer service and support in real-time, Help Scout could be the tool for you. There’s in-app messaging to provide a social media-type experience for your customers, and a shared inbox for team collaboration. You get state-of-the-art customer management tools, and a range of features that help you to track the workflows in your ticketing system.

Help Scout already supports a range of market leading companies like Litmus and Reddit. The customer-service platform puts the needs of the clients first, and there are even self-service portals available if you want to help your customers to solve problems for themselves. He

Pricing 💰

Considering the wide range of features you get, from real-time reporting to live chat, it’s impressive that Help Scout pricing starts so low, at around $20 per user, per month. The great news for non-profits and startups just launching their business for the first time, is that you can build your support team with a range of discounts.

Pros 👍

  • Quick and easy messaging for all your team members
  • Multiple channels support for customer service
  • Collaboration system for your teams
  • Excellent for tracking incoming emails and tickets
  • Easy to use customer service software that keeps improving

Cons 👎

  • Regular problems with downtime
  • No free version available to get you started

Who is this best for ✅

If you want to provide a consistent customer support experience where every customer gets the best possible service, this could be the product for you, Help Scout is great for delivering a human and intimate level of support.

5. Intercom

intercom - best zendesk alternatives

Intercom is one of the younger companies to arrive in the helpdesk environment. This younger Zendesk alternative comes with a variety of features to explore for support, marketing, and sales, similar to the HubSpot suite. Intended for companies that want to go beyond CRM and support, Intercom offers access to a range of features like custom bots and targeted product tours.

You can unlock advanced email marketing functionality, account-based marketing, and more. There aren’t a lot of tools on the market that can offer the same degree of innovation provided by Intercom. However, it’s not easy for every business to manage Intercom’s pricing.

To unlock the full range of features available from Intercom, companies may spend thousands of dollars. It’s also worth noting that Intercom can be a little harder to come to terms with than some of the other service desk solutions mentioned here.

Pricing 💰

Intercom has a range of pricing options to choose from. If you want access to things like custom bots, you’ll need to spend around $499 per month at a minimum. For Product tours, you’ll be spending at least $199 per month. There are other slightly cheaper options available, like the basic live chat function for $49 per month, but this doesn’t come with any knowledgebase functionality or email marketing. You can also get the Live chat, knowledgebase and email offering for $99 per month.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent range of comprehensive features
  • All-in-one solution for marketing, sales, and service
  • Fantastic innovative features
  • Wide range of extra tools, like custom bots
  • Product tours and targeted marketing

Cons 👎

  • Quite expensive for some of the best features
  • Can have a high learning curve

Who is this best for ✅

If you want to be on the cutting edge of the customer service, marketing, and sales environment, then Intercom can help you to get there. This solution is one of the most impressive on the market in terms of new features and innovations. However, you need to make sure that you have the support and the budget to handle it.

6. LiveAgent

live agent - best zendesk alternatives

LiveAgent is another solution for companies in search of customer support software. This easy-to-use omnichannel application gives you everything you need to handle phone calls, social media, live chat, and more. If you need a rich SaaS system for support tickets that’s easy enough for your support agents to use, then you’ll love the experience available from LiveAgent.

Surprisingly, although LiveAgent might not be as well-known as Zendesk, it’s a little older, so you know you’re getting a service with heritage. This also means that you might miss out on some of the more modern functionality offered by companies on the cutting edge of customer service and support.

LiveAgent’s core focus is the reliable help desk, where you can keep track of customer satisfaction, automate support tickets, and track responses. This customer service platform can connect to your call center through API technology, and ensure you never lose track of a crucial conversation.

Pricing 💰

With a wide range of tagging, automation, and customer satisfaction solutions, LiveAgent offers sensational ease of use for eCommerce companies, in a range of pricing tiers. There’s a free plan for basic ticket management, or you can upgrade to $15 per agent per month for advanced automation rules and more detailed reports.

If you really want to explore the broader range of self-service options and tools for your service team, you’ll need to upgrade to a plan costing at least $39 per month.

Pros 👍

  • Simple and intuitive range of features
  • More affordable than some self-service alternatives
  • Range of fantastic pricing options
  • Easy enough to use for all kinds of companies
  • Excellent heritage

Cons 👎

  • Slightly outdated interface
  • No email marketing functionality
  • Basic live chat support

Who is this best for ✅

If you’re looking for a standard service and ticketing system with plenty of ticket management features, then this could be the perfect tool to streamline customer service. LiveAgent is great for start-ups and companies in need of a reliable self-service portal.

7. LiveChat

livechat - best zendesk alternatives

If you’re still looking for the perfect Zendesk alternative, but you’re looking to focus on something with a little more of a chat focus, try LiveChat. This feature-rich solution gives you an alternative to the basic FAQ page, and allows your customer support teams to work with chat.

One of the most popular live-chat tools on the market, this solution feels just like talking to your customers over Slack. Your users can handle multiple chats at once and receive notifications when someone needs help. There are tags, archiving, file-sharing and so much more. You can even explore integrations and mobile apps to make your service more effective.

If you’ve always wanted to take advantage of channel support with chatbots and messaging, then LiveChat could be an ideal widget to improve your customer experience. Today’s customers are more excited by the idea of live chat than ever before. You could go beyond the standard channel support experience.

Pricing 💰

The customizable experience from LiveChat is pretty affordable. Prices start at around $16 per month and increase to around $149 per month depending on how much support you need.

Pros 👍

  • Good experiences through word of mouth:
  • Easy to use: The LiveChat solution comes with a simple interface so you can track your conversations without the complexity of tools like Zoho desk and Salesforce.
  • Decent pricing: Depending on the kind of service you want to provide, LiveChat can be very affordable.
  • Apps available: Keep track of customer service through iOS and Android apps for your customer support teams.
  • Earn more sales: LiveChat functionality may help you to earn more functionality

Cons 👎

  • Customers may need to repeat themselves due to missing integrations
  • Scripted responses aren’t good
  • Missing certain functions

Who is this best for ✅

LiveChat is the ideal tool if you already have a decent customer base and you want them to have a more efficient way to get in touch. Customers are starting to expect that all websites should come with a live chat function.

Finding Your Zendesk Alternative

Zendesk is among the most popular services out there for chat and customer management. However, it’s far from the only solution. From lesser-known solutions like HappyFox to market-leaders like Jira and Kayako, there’s something to suit every type of company.

The best way to decide which solution is best for you, is to think about your customer’s preferences. How do your clients like to interact with you? Use their needs as guidance to find the support solution with the right range of features.

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When she’s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

Comments 0 Responses

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rating *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.