There is a huge market when it comes to customer support software. Many new tools appear almost every day and the competition is fierce, to say the least. Yet, with all this, businesses still need a viable solution that would push their business efforts. It is becoming increasingly difficult to pinpoint the definitive service desk.
This is why we’ve decided that it’s prime time we look at Help Scout vs Zendesk. As the rivalry between these two continues, picking a clear winner can be a challenge. Each of them has a set of great features that help them separate from the competition. Yet, which one is the best? Which tool will help your business the most? All this and more we’ll be covering today.
From design to extensibility and outright to pricing. We’ll be touching upon everything. So, grab a pen, sit tight as we dissect each component in this extensive review. Let’s get started!
Design
Truth to be told, both tools are really good in terms of design. All features, options, menus are well positioned and can be accessed easily. Yet, when looking at the two side-by-side, we can only say that it’s up to you to decide which one is better. What we can say, however, is that they are different in terms of key design ideas.
For instance, Help Scout offers an email like user interface. It’s pretty self-explanatory as you get a bunch of mailboxes, tons of filtering options, and a number of automation options all neatly positioned. Another focal point of Help Scout is that the creator did a user interface in a minimalistic manner which is great for people can distract easily.
As for Zendesk, you get a pretty traditional experience as far as help desks are concerned. Back in August 2016, Zendesk rolled out the updated design. The changes covered both frontend and backend, whereas the main idea was to provide a stylish, clean, and modern design throughout the whole system. But the company didn’t end there as they implemented themes that you as a user can create. This allows for more customizability, as well as advanced branding.
Features
When it comes to features, right from the start you’ll notice that both tools are a world apart. But in all seriousness, they might seem super different, they all aim to do the same thing. To help you build a loyal customer base and create a brand. In this section, we’ll be covering a number of things and will compare both Help Scout vs Zendesk to see how each of them perform.
Zendesk
So, looking at Zendesk, you can see that aside from traditional functionality, you have access to a few neat little functions. One such feature is the Help Center. The idea behind this tool is to enable self-support through ever-expanding knowledge bases. With these bases, users can find frequently asked questions, solve intricate issues, and tackle sophisticated puzzles when it comes to products. And the last part of this feature is that your agents, both new and experienced can participate in these communities as they are delivered in multiple languages.
Another important feature of Zendesk is that it has a very robust analytics system that can be integrated into many different tools (more on that later). So, through the admin panel, both agents and managers can look at how they perform on a per-issue case. The number of charts supported can be mind-bending, and the fact that you can filter unwanted data makes it one of the best analytics tools we’ve seen to date. But it doesn’t end there as you can quantify and qualify tickets in your analytics dashboard. This will provide you an insight into how the company works as a whole, as well as with it, you would be able to address bottlenecks head on.
Moving on, we have the ticketing system. What's so special about this feature is that it is very scalable and flexible. From tracking individual cases to rerouting to other agents, everything was seamless and not even once we got an error. It’s very reliable and adaptive. Speaking of adaptiveness, when you assign a ticket, you get a detailed overview of how many tasks the current agent has, as well as what is his capacity. Another key advantage is that you can schedule tickets so when an agent finishes his work, he’ll instantly get a notification. After using their ticketing system, it's pretty hard to go back to something else.
Finally, you can opt for Zendesk Professional Services to help you deliver a differentiated customer experience. The list of available services includes launching a new instance, reconfiguring all features, and moving your customer from another help desk. Starting at $8K per 1 channel, the price for Professional Services can reach $25K. And that’s quite a king’s ransom if you just require a secure and quick data import.
Then again, you can go for Help Desk Migration to export customer data from another ticketing system. You can even combine Zendesk instances or consolidate any other help desk solution. And you just need to pay for the migrated records, starting from $39.
Help Scout
Most desk solutions focus only on tickets and reports, scout integrates a mailbox system. This might seem confusing but it’s actually very functional and very fast at what it’s designed to do. For starters, with it, you can manage tickets, communicate across a number of channels, and even set office hours. But the key takeaway is that you can support multiple brands at the same time. You can set up multiple mailboxes for each agent, as well as set up the permissions.
The second cool feature Help Scout brings to the table is Docs. While simple in execution, with it, you can extend your knowledge base, filter stuff that isn’t relevant, and even save replies that can later be used a solution. It’s very lightweight and works like a dream. Everything has synchronization with the database and in case you need to, you can store it locally. A very underrated feature that deserves a lot more attention.
Last but certainly not least, we have the report tool. The main advantage of this tool is that it allows you to schedule and prioritize reports. To put this into perspective, when a predetermined milestone happens, you will get a prompt that a report is ready. Another key thing about this tool is that it is capable of tracking customer satisfaction. You will have a clear idea of what your consumers don’t like, as well as you will know how to address these issues.
Extensibility
When it comes to expansions, both tools sport an impressive number of integration options. There’s genuinely a tie between Scout vs Zendesk in terms of the number of integrations. Although, if we compare Help Scout to Zendesk in terms of options, you’ll notice that the selection of apps is quite different. So breaking down the two service desk, you get these results:
Zendesk
Also as a side note, Zendesk has an open API that you can use to attach it to basically anything you like or need. Although, generally speaking, out of the box you can connect it to the following resources:
- WordPress
- SalesForce
- ZenCart
- JIRA
- Magento
- PlanBox
Help Scout
If we compare Help Scout to Zendesk in terms of connection, we get pretty much the same, aside from a few options, namely:
- Slack
- TalkDesk
- MailChimp
- Shopify
- Freshbooks
- Pipeline Deals
- Smooch
Keep in mind that we omitted Google, X, Facebook, and other popular social media as they are available in every other service desk, including in Help Scout and Zendesk.
Flexibility
And the final part of our review is flexibility. This is a very important aspect of any help desk system and our Help Scout vs Zendesk comparison wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t include this part. So, essentially, having multiple ways to access the service desk system is not only convenient but promotes a higher level of productivity.
Looking at Zendesk flexibility options, it has a mobile application. The company went the extra mile and created basically the real deal. You get everything you might ever need and all this at the palm of your hand. Another key point of the app is that it was built with different devices in mind. Basically, if you have an iOS or Android device, this app will work great, regardless of the specific platform.
As for Help Scout, the company also offers a mobile version of their app but it’s not as feature packed as the one Zendesk has. Although as limiting as it might sound, it’s actually pretty good. It’s simple, it’s fast, and gets the job done. The company understands that their mobile app isn’t as robust as their competitors, that’s why they have a well-documented API which mitigates the issue.
Conclusion
So that concludes our Help Scout vs Zendesk comparison. Each tool is great in their respective fields and no matter which one you choose, you’ll be amazed by the amount of productivity it brings to the table. They were designed to help you reach new heights and it’s clearly reflected in their functionality.
If you’ve been meaning to migrate to one of these, then we say go for it. And if by any chance you have difficulties moving your data to the new place, you can always use our tool. With it, all your tickets, agents, and other data will find a new home just in few clicks. The best part of it is that you don’t have to believe us. Sign up for a free trial and see for yourself.
