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Customer service representatives always prefer user-friendly software that enables them to engage smoothly with consumers while providing fast and efficient support from anywhere.
Comparing Intercom vs Zendesk can be challenging, as both platforms are widely popular and offer distinct features and capabilities.
Ultimately, the best choice depends on your company’s goals, size, budget, and specific business needs.
According to Softwarepath, 29.46% of companies reported that their primary objective in implementing software is to enhance efficiency. This reason leads by nearly 10% compared to other objectives.
But how do you determine which platform is right for your organization?
In this article, we’ll compare these two online customer service platforms to help you decide which one best aligns with your business needs.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Overall overview
Intercom is an AI-driven customer messaging platform that enables businesses to connect with their clients in real-time, via personalized messages.
It offers live chat, email marketing, and customer engagement tracking features.
Businesses can use the Intercom platform that integrates with other tools, such as CRM, for better customer interaction and quick support.
Zendesk is a customer service software that assists businesses in managing customer interactions.
It offers a ticketing system to manage all customer requests from multiple communication channels within a centralized platform.
Zendesk also offers analytics and reporting tools that allow businesses to track customer inquiries, measure customer satisfaction, and identify trends or improvement areas.
Its integration with other business applications makes it an adaptable solution for customer service teams.
Comparison table of Zendesk vs Intercom
Here is a comparative table of Intercom vs Zendesk, focusing on several critical aspects of each platform.
| Aspects | Intercom | Zendesk |
| Primary use case | Focuses on customer engagement, in-app messaging, and support | Focuses on customer support and ticketing system |
| User interface | Modern chat-based interface | Traditional ticketing system layout |
| Automation | Workflow automation, macros, conditional triggers | Automation with triggers and macros for ticket handling |
| Omnichannel | Phone support, email, social, and chat | In-app messaging, live chat, push notifications and email |
| Integration | Integrates with modern tech stacks, particularly SaaS tools | Integrations include legacy systems and broad enterprise software suites |
| Live chat support | Modern proactive messages and real-time communication options | Traditional user interface with live chat, chatbots, real-time responses, and integrations |
| AI Agents | Fin AI Agent excels in natural, conversational support for complex queries and intuitive interactions | Zendesk AI Agent is ideal for scalable, enterprise-grade support offering enhanced customization, analytics, and workflow automation |
| Ticketing system | Limited ticketing functionality for managing conversations and chats | Designed for managing customer inquiries, including multi-channel support and automation features |
| Knowledge base | Customizable help centers with search functionality and article recommendations | Dedicated help center, which allows for FAQs, articles, and community features |
| Report and analytics | Analytics on user behavior and conversation monitoring | Clear customer service KPI and tailored reporting |
| Pricing | Categorized pricing based on features, with additional costs for add-ons | Expensive per-agent pricing model with additional features in higher tiers |
| Free plan | Not available | Available (Startups get Zendesk free for 6 months) |
| Free trial | 14 Days | 14 Days |
Compare Intercom and Zendesk: A detailed feature breakdown
Although both platforms aim to improve customer service, Intercom and Zendesk take distinctly different approaches to achieving that goal. Let’s explore how they compare in detail.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Interface
One of the first things users notice when interacting with customer service software is the user interface (UI). Here’s how the UI of Intercom and Zendesk compare in terms of user experience.
Intercom’s interface is easy to navigate because of its clean layout and clear labels. Companies can customize this interface to fit their specific needs and branding.
Zendesk’s user interface prioritizes productivity on ticket management while offering practical and effective solutions. The UI allows businesses to smoothly change between conversations helping them handle various interactions at once.
Final verdict: Intercom > Zendesk.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Feature analysis
There are notable differences between the overall features of Intercom and Zendesk.
Intercom focuses more on functionalities related to customer messaging and engagement. It includes features like live chat, ticket, a help center, report and analytics, and automation.
Their AI-driven chatbot can analyze previous exchanges and spot trends that it might utilize to enhance communication in the future.
Conversely, Zendesk offers a wider range of features for managing customer support operations. It includes ticketing systems, live chat, and report and analytics.
The Zendesk chatbot may forward conversations to agents or answer simpler inquiries when needed.
Final verdict: Intercom = Zendesk.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Knowledge base
When comparing Intercom vs Zendesk, it’s clear that both customer service platforms offer varying features in their knowledge base software.
Intercom knowledge base offers basic help center articles with features like multilingual support, search engine indexing, customization options, and analytics.
Zendesk knowledge base offers self-help solutions that are easily accessible. It includes features like advanced search, article management, and integration with other tools.
Its generative search AI offers users instant answers to search queries on its help center.
Zendesk also has the options to provide support content in multiple languages ensuring accessibility for native language speakers worldwide.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Automation
Zendesk vs Intercom both offer automated help desk features, but their approaches differ.
Intercom automation uses bots to automatically respond to customer inquiries, suggest relevant help articles, route issues to the respective support teams, and trigger follow-up actions.
Zendesk provides help desk automation capabilities, in workflows, ticket assignments, rule-based triggers, and chatbot integration.
Final verdict: Intercom = Zendesk.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Omnichannel support
Intercom offers an omnichannel customer service that allows integration of multiple communication channels like live chat, email, and social media platforms within a single inbox.
Zendesk provides strong multichannel options with features like live chat, social channels, email, SMS, and business channels.
Final verdict: Intercom > Zendesk.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Live chat support
Intercom live chat software offers an intuitive and user-friendly instant help solution with features that allows real-time interactions with clients.
Zendesk live chat provides a more reliable real-time support solution with features like advanced routing, customization options, and integrations with other tools.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Intercom vs Zendesk: Ticketing system
Intercom ticketing system offers basic features like ticket creation and assignment.
Zendesk help desk ticketing system provides features like advanced routing, customization options, and integrations with other tools.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Intercom vs. Zendesk: Reports and analytics
Intercom reporting and analytics suite offers features like customer engagement metrics and conversation history.
Zendesk reporting and analytics suite provides features like advanced reporting, customization options, and integrations with other tools.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Intercom vs Zendesk: AI Agents
Intercom Fin AI agent focuses on conversational support, using machine learning to automate replies, triage tickets, and suggest help articles.
Zendesk AI agent provides more advanced AI capabilities, including intelligent triage, sentiment analysis, and contextual routing. Its AI agent can handle complex queries, escalate issues appropriately, and integrate with broader enterprise systems.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Intercom vs. Zendesk: Integration
When comparing Zendesk against Intercom, both offer integrations with other tools and software.
Intercom provides a variety of integrations with popular tools and platforms, including CRM systems, marketing automation tools, and e-commerce platforms.
Zendesk has a larger ecosystem of integrations to improve customer data management and to streamline workflows.
Final verdict: Zendesk > Intercom.
Zendesk vs Intercom: Pricing
Both customer service tools have a 14-day free trial, but you can choose between Intercom vs Zendesk subscriptions according to your business requirements.
Intercom pricing plans
Intercom provides a range of pricing plans tailored to different feature sets.
Here is a summary of the starting prices for each plan:
- Essential: $29 per seat/month
- Advanced: $85 per seat/month
- Expert: $132 per seat/month
It is difficult to predict the final costs of subscribing to Intercom as they also charge for feature usage and add-ons.
Zendesk pricing plans
Zendesk has various pricing plans to suit different business needs.
The basic options have limited options, and as you move up through higher tiers, additional features are included, which can make the overall plans quite expensive.
Below is a breakdown of Zendesk pricing(billed annually).
- Support Team: $19 per agent/month
- Suite Team: Starts at $55 per agent/month
- Suite Professional: Starts at $115 per agent/month
- Suite Enterprise: Starts at $169 per agent/month
Final verdict: Intercom = Zendesk. (Both are quite expensive for small businesses with additional costs).
Intercom versus Zendesk: Support quality
Both Intercom and Zendesk offer excellent customer support in their own way.
Intercom has a reputation for excellent customer service. Its dedicated team providing timely and accurate solutions in a professional way, through features such as an extensive knowledge base, live chat, and automated canned responses.
Zendesk is known for its 24/7 support team, which is always available to help with any issues that may arise.
While it may not have the same emphasis on building customer relations as Intercom, Zendesk’s focus on efficiency for businesses with complex needs.
Final verdict: Intercom = Zendesk.
Intercom vs. Zendesk: User reviews
User reviews for Zendesk vs Intercom are generally positive, with users praising both platforms’ ease of use and effectiveness.
Intercom reviews
Capterra: Intercom help desk software has an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5.
Users commended the system as a great product. It constantly releases new features, provides excellent training materials, and offers great support.
However, it once had terrible customer service for a week and no fast reply. They don’t have many features, and the ones available are very expensive.
G2: The software has a rating of 4.5 out of 5.
Its user-friendly and straightforward design is simple to explore and manage several discussions simultaneously.
In addition, the tool is dependable and effective, almost never experiencing problems or downtime.
The reliable search feature helps users locate past chats quickly.
However, its chatbot usually fails to assign conversations to any of the available team members, leaving the conversation unassigned and unnoticed.
Zendesk reviews
Capterra: Zendesk help desk has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5.
Users praised its excellent method of centralizing all customer support interactions in one space.
It also has a strong ability to integrate with other apps and tools.
However, there are sometimes issues with exporting and uploading data. Occasionally, data disappears or is erased without explanation.
G2: It has a rating of 4.3 out of 5.
Moreover, you can handle email-based customer inquiries, guaranteeing that each client receives a response and maintaining a standard of service.
Additionally, monitoring the support team’s performance and identifying improvement areas is simple.
However, the timing of the breached tickets is sometimes displayed incorrectly. The email “Not sent; please try again” occasionally appears after sending.
Final verdict: Intercom = Zendesk.
Final verdict: Which is the best solution for your business?
In the end, the choice between Intercom versus Zendesk depends on your business’s specific needs.
Intercom help desk is a modern customer messaging platform that provides live chat support for companies to communicate with customers in real-time through their website or app.
For businesses looking for a traditional customer support platform that focuses on ticketing systems and analytics, Zendesk help desk may be the better option.
However, if you are looking for a high-quality, modern, chat-based system that focuses on both ticketing systems, reports and customer engagement, BoldDesk is the right choice.
Why BoldDesk is a better alternative to Zendesk and Intercom for customer support
Looking for an alternative to Intercom vs. Zendesk? BoldDesk® provides a user-friendly customer support platform with various features to streamline communication.
Below are the key advantages of BoldDesk over Intercom and Zendesk.
- Powerful help desk ticketing system: BoldDesk allows businesses to create, categorize, prioritize, assign, and track tickets to efficiently manage support requests.
- Robust AI Agent: You can handle routine inquiries and external API calls using AI agents and free your support team to focus on complex cases.
- Reliable AI Copilot: BoldDesk AI Copilot assists agents to draft on-brand replies, summarize threads, translate tickets, and suggest the exact KB snippet to insert in specific contexts.
- Adaptive AI Actions: With BoldDesk’s AI Actions, agents can execute complex workflows like refunds, data updates, and license checks directly from the conversation, with AI-powered automation.
- Real-time live chat: Offers instant live chat engagement, fast responses, streamlined workflows, and support through your website or apps.
- Omnichannel support: Enables support agents to seamlessly handle all customer issues across various channels in a single unified inbox
- Comprehensive knowledge base software: Enables teams to create effective self-service resources for proactive customer service, empowering users to solve issues independently and reducing the volume of support requests.
- Efficient task management: Break down customer service procedures into smaller tasks to resolve tickets easily and improve team productivity.
- AI-powered automation: Customizes your workflow by automating repetitive tasks such as ticket tagging, routing, and sending SLA notifications.
- Insightful reporting and analytics tools: Helps businesses track critical metrics, like team performance and response rate, to continuously improve support
- Seamless integrations: The help desk allows smooth integration with other business tools and third-party apps to provide a full view of customer interactions across multiple platforms.
- User-friendly interface: It is simple, intuitive, and easy to navigate for all users.
- Affordable pricing plans: BoldDesk offers different plans to accommodate various business sizes, from SMBs to enterprises. It also provides a free startup plan and a free trial plan.
BoldDesk reviews
Boldesk reviews highlight it as a strong Intercom alternative and a superior choice compared to Zendesk, boasting an impressive overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 on G2.
Its users praise its comprehensive ticket management features and affordable pricing plans.
Moreover, BoldDesk offers a customizable interface and exceptional rule management, empowering teams to deliver seamless, personalized support that consistently delights customers.
BoldDesk pricing plans
Empower your support team with BoldDesk’s hybrid model, which is cost-effective, high-performing, and scalable.
The flexible agent-based pricing model and AI integrations (AI agent and Copilot) let you reduce expenses while delivering top-tier service.
| Plan | Price per Human Agent | AI Agent Resolution Cost | AI Agent Access | AI Copilot Access |
| Scale | $12/agent/month | Not available | ❌ | ❌ |
| Momentum | $25/agent/month | $0.75/resolution | ✅ | ✅ |
| Enterprise | $39/agent/month | $0.75/resolution | ✅ | ✅ |
Note: AI agents are only available in Momentum and Enterprise tiers, billed per successful resolution.
On the other hand, AI Copilot is an optional $20/month enhancement for human agents.
The hybrid pricing model ensures scalable support with minimal overhead costs, giving you more for less.
Looking to grow your team? Let’s build a custom plan together — chat with our experts now!
Free trial duration: 15 days
Choose the best Intercom vs Zendesk alternative for your business
When comparing Intercom vs Zendesk for building customer engagement, you must base your selection on your needs and requirements. Both Intercom and Zendesk are very effective customer support solutions, each with benefits and drawbacks of its own.
If you’re looking for the best alternative support platform to Intercom versus Zendesk, BoldDesk has everything you need in one platform.
The system offers the best user-friendly interface, which is modern and easy to navigate. As a result, it reduces the learning curve for new users and ensures a smoother onboarding process.
With affordable pricing plans, try BoldDesk’s 15-day free trial now and experience the best customer experience like never before!
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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Intercom is a customer communication platform known for its intuitive, user-friendly interface. It emphasizes building strong client relationships through real-time messaging and proactive customer service, often powered by automated bots.
Zendesk, on the other hand, is a scalable customer support solution designed to manage complex service workflows. It excels in scalability and is ideal for businesses looking to streamline and optimize customer interactions across multiple channels.
While both Intercom and Zendesk platforms provide great features, Zendesk stands out with its comprehensive insights into ticket volume, resolution times, agent performance, and SLA adherence.
If you compare the basic plans of Intercom vs. Zendesk, Intercom is cheaper. However, adding advanced features can make it way costlier than Zendesk.
If you’re a small business with a limited budget, BoldDesk might be a more suitable option. It offers essential helpdesk features without the high price tag of Zendesk or Intercom.
BoldDesk stands out as a strong alternative to Intercom. It’s a help desk-centric customer service platform known for its seamless integration with multiple communication channels. BoldDesk offers a more affordable, scalable, and user-friendly solution, making it a better alternative for businesses of all sizes.
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