Zendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub are two of the strongest customer service solutions, renowned for their intuitive and powerful tools for facilitating support operations. To help you make an informed decision for your business needs, we’ll walk you through a comparison of these help desks.
Functionality
Zendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub both have a complete range of shared features that enable businesses to offer effective, high-quality customer service:
- Ticket automation
- Live chat
- Chatbots
- Surveys
- Knowledge base
- SLA (Service Level Agreement)
- Inbound calling
- Reporting
- Analytics
Zendesk allows agents to manage conversations across all Zendesk channels from a single, unified ticket interface, ensuring a seamless and efficient support experience.
Zendesk Automatic Redaction is a pre-installed security feature that assists businesses in safeguarding their customers' personal information. It will redact personally identifiable information (PII) like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive information from tickets and conversations automatically.
However, Zendesk lacks:
- Playbooks
- Forecasting
- Conversation intelligence
- Goals
HubSpot Service Hub allows define custom ticket properties that align with your specific business needs and status, priority, or channel. This helps agents to stay organized and reply faster since conversations take place in real time. Teams can also share views so that they stay in sync.
HubSpot Service Hub lacks:
- CSAT or follow-up survey
- Audit logs
- Refresh rate
HubSpot has omnichannel capabilities but is missing support for key platforms like Line and Apple Messages for Business, as well as SMS. It has no unified view in its workspace, meaning slower resolution. Reporting is simple with a few default dashboards.
User Interface
Zendesk is designed for efficiency, with a unified Agent Workspace that displays all open tickets in one place. Agents can easily sort, filter, and search tickets by status, priority, assignee, or custom fields. Full conversation history, customer context, and channel information through email, chat, and social media. Zendesk simplifies ticket closing yet keeps it within reach and neatly organized.
At the right corner of the Zendesk platform, agents can access key tools. These consist of search ticket or content utilities, control over conversations, live chat availability, viewing notifications, Zendesk products, and settings.
HubSpot's user interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to use, allowing teams to flow effortlessly and work together with customer interactions. The layout is organized with clearly labeled menus, drag-and-drop functionality, and customizable dashboards that adapt to different roles, from sales and marketing to service.
Agents have tickets, conversations, and customer information all in one, although the workspace is not entirely omnichannel—conversations across multiple platforms will show up in individual threads. Nevertheless, the interface makes it easy to switch over to core tools like automation, reporting, and CRM data, so teams can remain productive.
Pricing
Let’s look at the Starter plans of HubSpot Service Hub vs Zendesk, each priced for 20 agents.
- HubSpot Service Hub costs $450 per month and includes basic ticketing features, meeting scheduling and Slack integration.
- Zendesk, on the other hand, is priced at $380 per month and also offers basic ticketing features, supports communication channels like Facebook and Twitter.
However, Zendesk offers a 14-day free trial of the Zendesk Suite, not a free plan.
For Professional plans supporting 20 agents, the cost comparison between HubSpot and Zendesk is significant:
- HubSpot Service Hub: $1,440 per month
- Zendesk: $980 per month
The professional plans for both Zendesk and HubSpot include enhanced features such as SLA management, custom surveys, and advanced ticket automation, providing more control and efficiency for support teams. Zendesk’s plan also includes automatic redaction, and HubSpot’s plan, on the other hand, provides forecasting tools, as well as channel switching.
For Enterprise plans covering 20 agents, HubSpot vs Zendesk offer advanced tools tailored for large or scaling support teams, but there are key differences in pricing and feature focus:
- HubSpot is priced at $2,400 per month and includes a sandbox environment, advanced security, forecasting, record customization, and tools designed to help manage scaling teams.
- Zendesk costs $1,980 per month and also offers a sandbox environment, advanced security, and robust customization options to tailor workflows, automations, and integrations.
While both plans support enterprise-grade operations, HubSpot emphasizes planning and scaling features like forecasting and record-level control, whereas Zendesk delivers similar capabilities with a focus on flexibility and cost-efficiency.
Integrations
When it comes to integration, HubSpot focuses on integration within its own system - integrating the tools such as CRM, Marketing Hub, and Sales Hub for a smooth internal experience.
Zendesk continues to add third-party app integrations. With a wider list of apps and extensions, Zendesk provides more options for businesses that need to integrate with external tools in categories such as e-commerce, project management, analytics, etc.
Pros & Cons
With Zendesk a centralized workspace with a rich set of features and robust customization options, making it a strong choice for businesses seeking to deliver seamless, multi-channel support.
Zendesk’s advantages:
- A rich feature set
- Customization options
- A centralized hub
While Zendesk is excellent at flexibility, feature depth, and centralization, there are some disadvantages. Automation setup can be daunting, routing of tickets can be delayed at times, and the Enterprise option costs more.
HubSpot Service Hub is a user-friendly support platform that integrates seamlessly with the broader HubSpot ecosystem.
HubSpot Service Hub advantages:
- A free version
- Ticket filtering
- Surveys
Disadvantages:
- You can’t reopen a closed ticket
- Team inbox is confusing
Despite these drawbacks, HubSpot remains a strong option for businesses looking for a straightforward, all-in-one support solution.
Now, let’s take a look at what industries and companies use Zendesk vs HubSpot Service Hub:
1. E-commerce & Retail
Shopify (uses Zendesk)
Shopify uses Zendesk to manage high volumes of customer inquiries across multiple channels, taking advantage of Zendesk’s robust ticketing, automation, and analytics features to maintain fast, consistent support.
2. SaaS & Technology
Canva (uses HubSpot Service Hub)
To streamline customer onboarding, support, and retention, leveraging its CRM integration and scalable service tools to support millions of users globally.
3. Financial Services
PayPal (uses Zendesk)
To handle secure customer support interactions, benefiting from its enterprise-grade security, customizable workflows, and integration with other systems like fraud detection tools.
Your decision should be based on your business needs, the complexity of support requirements, and the degree of control you require over your processes. Switching platforms is simple, secure, and hassle-free with Help Desk Migration, ensuring a smooth transition no matter which solution you choose.