Zendesk vs Help Scout

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Our analysts compared Zendesk vs Help Scout based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Help Desk Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Zendesk For Service is a scalable platform offering streamlined customer and sales support. Agents can resolve problems efficiently, and track and prioritize support tickets. Omnichannel support allows users to centralize customer interactions across phone, chat, email and more. Its built-in intelligent routing reduces resolution time by automating ticketing queues and ensuring an appropriate customer-to-agent fit.

Customizable, shareable and pre-built dashboards help users gain actionable insights through real-time data. Teams can leverage the integrated knowledge base management tools to empower customers to resolve issues by themselves. AI-powered bots optimize engagement by providing 24/7 support, answering FAQs, collecting information, delivering chat transcripts and auto-filling ticket fields. Its other offerings include a self-service portal, reporting and analytics, an IT service desk and more.

To explore other popular solutions offered by Zendesk, visit our Zendesk company page.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Scalable
  • Multi-channel
  • Integrations
  • Customization
Cons
  • Costly
  • Limited reporting
  • Learning curve
  • Collaboration limitations
  • Integrations limitations
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Help Scout's help desk software offers a streamlined solution for businesses seeking to enhance their customer support capabilities. It's particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized teams that prioritize efficient and personalized communication. Help Scout centralizes all customer interactions, including email, live chat, and social media, into a unified inbox, enabling teams to respond promptly and effectively.

Key benefits of Help Scout include its intuitive interface, customizable automation, and reporting features. Popular features encompass shared inboxes for collaborative support, pre-built templates for faster responses, and detailed analytics for performance monitoring. Compared to other help desk software, Help Scout is known for its user-friendliness and excellent customer support. Its pricing ranges from $20 to $65 per user per month, billed annually.

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$55/User, Monthly
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$20 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Medium 
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Large 
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Small 
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Medium 
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Large 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Unified Workspace: Get a coherent workspace experience with a digital contextual interface. Get benefits when agents work in shifts. Pass around tickets and work orders get passed around within the team. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Bridge support and service teams with customers across multiple modules. Get omnichannel support embedded in the product’s context-preserving workspace. Continue conversations with customers regardless of the channel and resolve issues without losing context. 
  • Better Support From Anywhere: Offer 24/7 support with AI-powered chatbots that help customers answer common queries without agent intervention. 
  • Enhanced Agent Productivity: Route tickets according to agent availability, capacity, priority and skill to ensure better resolution times. Rank agents based on performance and gamify work to further encourage productivity 
  • Better Reporting: Custom dashboards enable better data visualization and performance tracking. Track a range of different KPIs through custom and pre-built reports. Schedule automated reports at regular intervals to keep track of KPIs.
  • Improved Security and Compliance: Encrypt communication data between customers and support agents using industry best practices. GDPR compliance, HTTPS security and Transport Layer Security (TLS) keep private data secure.
  • Streamlined Workflows: Leverage AI to automate and enhance operations through tools like AI-based ticket routing, ticket sentiment analysis and automated response suggestions. 
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  • Easy Collaboration: Send private notes to teammates and discuss problems to find solutions together before replying to customers. Create a searchable library of frequently asked questions and insert them into replies in two clicks.  
  • Deliver Instant Answers: Allow customers to access knowledge base articles from anywhere on the website with Beacon (virtual agent). Embed the knowledge base content on any web page, so customers don’t waste time searching. 
  • All Time Availability: Work on any device including, desktop, mobile or tablet. Include SSL support on every site for free and offer peace of mind to customers. Allow customers to take advantage of configurable options and auto-generated sitemap for each article in knowledge base software. 
  • Easy Escalation: Allow customers to start a live chat from where they accessed the knowledge base. Direct customer support request to email queue when live chat isn’t available. Offer choice to reach out from any mode of communication that works best for them.  
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  • Ticketing System: Offer high-quality customer support across various channels with pre-built dashboards, automation, customer ticket fields and dynamic forms. Avoid misplacing tickets, produce faster resolution and boost the bandwidth via robust tools such as CSAT ratings, routing, service-level agreements and time tracking. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Offer quick and seamless customer support through multiple channels including email, phone, chat, customized chatbots, a website, WhatsApp, messaging, Facebook and Twitter to ensure faster resolutions 
  • Messaging and Live Chat: Engage in long-term, personalized conversations with customers to deliver instant support without any repetitions. Help customers get instant answers via bots and integrated programs with the ability to turn to a live agent whenever needed. 
  • Help Center: Give customers access to knowledge base articles and automated suggestion pop-ups to enable a streamlined and efficient self-service. Convert essential issues in the community into resolvable tickets and update reusable content from help centers and articles through content blocks. 
  • Voice Support: Deliver instant support to customers with a cloud-based voice solution, plug into 90+ telephone providers. Extend voice capabilities with services including redaction, quality assurance and advanced call transcriptions. 
  • Community Forums: Create a platform for customers to collaborate, provide feedback, review the product, and answer other user’s questions. Help them reach out for the most relevant services. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Analyze how customers use websites, products, services and various support channels. Determine ways to improve the experience by getting instant access to insights and identifying problem areas via customizable, pre-built dashboards. 
  • Knowledge Base: Help customers get to know the services and products better by creating easy-to-read articles with rich formatting and translations to 40+ languages for a localized customer experience. 
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  • Collision Detection: See who replies or views comments in real time. Allow users to collaborate internally via notes and @mentions. Use tagging to trigger automation and categorize conversations. Use saved answers for most common queries through two-click access. Automate all actions, create custom folders and send bulk replies.  
  • Reports and Analytics: Measure team performance, monitor customer satisfaction rates and identify issues clearly to prevent complexities and issues without opening an Excel spreadsheet. Integrate the help desk platform with services such as Snap Engage and Olarkto. Store every chat automatically in the customer's profile.  
  • Shared Inbox: Manage all support requests in a shared inbox. Get all the collaboration features such as multichannel support, notification, advanced search, mobile apps, satisfaction ratings and developer tools to stay productive and deliver world-class support. 
  • Knowledge Base: Reduce support volume by 20% and encourage fewer conversations and happier customers with easy-to-add text, hyperlinks, images, tables, and videos to articles. Customize SEO details by selecting categories and adding related units.  
  • Messages: Offer proactive support, engage leads and onboard new customers with trigger-based messages. Send SMS from any blog, website, store, or Beacon-installed app. 
  • Customer Management: List customer data, app activity and previous conversations alongside every request to deliver more personalized and faster support.  
  • Live Chat: Help customers find help center content or chat with agents easily from the same tool. Recommend resources depending on the pages clients view, so they don't waste time looking for answers. 
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Product Ranking

#3

among all
Help Desk Software

#20

among all
Help Desk Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

91
75
92
62
87
50
100
75
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Dashboards and Reporting
Platform Security
Integrations and Extensibility
Ticket Management
Platform Capabilities
Integrations and Extensibility
Platform Security
Team Collaboration

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Zendesk
Help Scout
+ Add Product + Add Product
Agent Productivity Call Center Management Dashboards And Reporting Email Management Live Chat Management Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Team Collaboration Ticket Management 92 87 100 92 74 81 93 85 95 62 50 75 66 74 83 73 85 63 0 25 50 75 100
83%
0%
17%
50%
17%
33%
83%
0%
17%
0%
0%
100%
100%
0%
0%
67%
0%
33%
86%
0%
14%
71%
0%
29%
73%
0%
27%
64%
0%
36%
80%
0%
20%
80%
0%
20%
83%
8%
9%
71%
0%
29%
67%
0%
33%
67%
0%
33%
88%
6%
6%
53%
6%
41%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

95%
0%
5%
100%
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
89%
0%
11%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 5221 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 654 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Zendesk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 5221 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

90%
of users recommend this product

Help Scout has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 654 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (32)
n/a
4.2 (2286)
4.3 (260)
n/a
4.67 (183)
4.4 (2528)
n/a
n/a
4.7 (168)
4.3 (51)
n/a
3.9 (324)
4.0 (43)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Zendesk and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Help Desk Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Dashboards and Reporting and Platform Security.

Analysts' Pick Award
Dashboards and Reporting Award
Platform Security Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Help Scout and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Integrations and Extensibility. Help Scout stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Integrations and Extensibility Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ticket Management: 83% of users who talked about Zendesk’s ticket management features had a positive experience and praised the platform.
Ease of Use: 64% of users who talked about their onboarding and general experience using the platform said Zendesk was easy to use and learn.
Integrations: 57% of reviewers who mentioned integrations were happy with the range and variety of integrations available.
Knowledge Management: 83% of users who mentioned using the knowledge management and help center tools said they had a positive experience.
Collaboration: 92% of users who talked about Zendesk’s collaboration tools said that the platform made external and internal collaboration and communication easier.
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Intuitive Interface: User-friendly design simplifies navigation and ticket management, making it easy for support teams to get up to speed quickly.
Shared Inbox: Collaborative workspace allows multiple agents to manage tickets efficiently, ensuring seamless handoffs and faster resolution times.
Automated Workflows: Customizable automation rules streamline repetitive tasks, freeing up agents' time for more complex issues.
Powerful Search: Robust search capabilities make it easy to find specific tickets, customer information, and knowledge base articles, reducing time spent on manual searches.
Excellent Customer Support: Responsive and knowledgeable support team provides prompt assistance, ensuring a positive user experience.
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Reporting: 55% of users who talked about the platform’s reporting and analytics tools complained about the lack of advanced reporting tools, especially on cheaper plans.
Customer Support: 70% of users who talked about contacting Zendesk customer service expressed dissatisfaction with their experience.
Cost: 100% of users who talked about pricing said that the cost of the platform was quite high for small businesses and businesses in developing countries.
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Limited Customization: Help Scout offers limited customization options, which can restrict businesses from tailoring the software to their specific needs and branding.
Lack of Automation: Compared to other Help Desk Software, Help Scout lacks robust automation features, such as automated ticket assignment and escalation rules, which can hinder efficiency.
Pricing Structure: Help Scout's pricing plans can be perceived as expensive for businesses with a large number of agents or high ticket volume.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: Some users have reported that Help Scout's reporting capabilities are not as comprehensive as they would like, making it challenging to extract valuable insights and track performance.
Mobile App Limitations: The Help Scout mobile app has been criticized for its limited functionality compared to the desktop version, making it less convenient for remote or on-the-go support teams.
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Zendesk For Service offers streamlined tools for businesses of all sizes. It excels in features like ticket management, collaboration and knowledge management. Its interface is easy to use and understand, and there are plenty of onboarding resources for new users. The platform also offers numerous integrations with programs like CRM systems, project management tools and collaboration tools like Slack.While users praised the comprehensive features and level of customization offered by the platform, they also said that this can make the learning curve steeper. Some customers were also disappointed by the lack of advanced reporting tools, the unresponsiveness of customer support and high cost for small businesses. All in all, Zendesk is a scalable and feature-rich solution for businesses looking for an efficient ticketing and support tool.

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Help Scout, a popular help desk software, has received consistent praise from users in the last year. Many users emphasize its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy to set up and use, even for those new to help desk software. The software's intuitive design and customizable features allow users to tailor it to their specific needs, making it a versatile option for businesses of all sizes. When comparing Help Scout to similar products, users often highlight its superior customer support and documentation. Help Scout's dedicated support team is highly responsive and knowledgeable, providing valuable assistance to users. Additionally, the software's comprehensive documentation and tutorials make it easy for users to find answers to their questions and troubleshoot any issues they encounter. One of the key differentiating factors of Help Scout is its focus on email support. The software seamlessly integrates with email, allowing users to manage all their customer interactions from a single platform. This streamlines communication and improves efficiency, particularly for businesses that rely heavily on email support. Overall, Help Scout is highly recommended for businesses looking for a user-friendly, customizable, and reliable help desk software. Its strengths in customer support, email integration, and intuitive design make it an excellent choice for companies of all sizes that prioritize efficient and effective customer service.

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