Why do you need a Zendesk Service Alternative?

Zendesk is a communications solution designed to enhance your customer service operations and increase your productivity. It is a cloud-based customer service platform that allows you to track and manage customer inquiries across various channels like email, phone calls, social media, and web forms all within a united platform.

Businesses of all sizes constantly rely on Zendesk to streamline their sales processes and drive revenue growth. However, while Zendesk offers a comprehensive suite of tools, it may not be the perfect fit for every organization.

The interface itself is complex and difficult to navigate. Additionally, interacting with customer service isn't as smooth or helpful as it could be. Customers complain about a lack of clear instructions on how to manage auto-renewal settings, which can lead to unwanted charges and frustration.

Whether it's the cost, complexity, or specific needs of your business, exploring alternatives to Zendesk can lead to unexpected benefits and efficiencies.

In this guide, we cover some factors to consider while choosing the right Zendesk alternative and detailed information on those alternatives.

What should you look for in a Zendesk Service Alternative?

• Features: First things first, think about what features are essential for your business. Do you need advanced call routing, CRM integration, or maybe call recording? Make a list of must-haves to guide your search.
• Ease of use: You want a platform that's user-friendly for everyone on your team, so it should be easy to use.
• Integration station: Ensure that the platform plays nicely with your existing tools. Whether it's your CRM, helpdesk software, or project management system, seamless integration is key to keeping your workflow smooth.
• Flexibility and scalability: You have plans to see your business grow, therefore, you need a solution that can grow with you. Look for a platform that's flexible enough to adapt to your changing needs and scalable to accommodate your expanding team.
• Pricing: Budget is always important, so make sure that the platform you’re going for has pricing options aligned with your budget.
• User feedback: Lastly, don't forget to check out reviews and testimonials from other users. Their experiences will offer valuable insights into what the platform is really like and help you to make better decisions.

An Overview of the 5 Zendesk Service Alternatives

CRM	Product Summary	Pricing	Unique Features
Distrobird	Distrobird helps you manage your entire sales process, with sequences, cloud call center, shared inbox, form tracking, and more, on a single platform.	Free plan for the Voice, Sequences, and Shared Inbox products. Startup plan for Shared Inbox: $8/month. Startup, Growth & Enterprise plans for both the Sequences and Voice products: $25, $50, & $75/month respectively.	Contact management Caller verification and lead detail capture Form tracking Cloud call center Block list Shared inbox Campaign exclusions
Freshdesk	Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service platform that helps businesses improve their customer experience. It offers various tools to streamline communication and support interactions.	Offers a free plan. Growth plan: $15/month. Professional plan: $49/month. Enterprise plan: $79/month.	Reporting and analytics Knowledge base creation Integrates with other business tools to provide a comprehensive customer service experience
HelpScout	Help Scout is a customer communication platform designed to streamline communication between businesses and their customers across multiple channels.	Standard plan: $20/month. Plus plan: $40/month. Professional plan: $65/month.	Shared Inbox for email management Live Chat for real-time support Customer satisfaction tracking Detailed reporting and analytics App integrations for increased functionality
Zoho	Zoho offers a well-known suite of cloud-based business tools to help companies of all sizes manage sales, marketing, and customer support.	Standard plan: $14/month. Professional plan: $23/month. Enterprise plan: $40/month. Ultimate plan: $52/month. Flex plan: $14/month (annually). Plus plan: $57/month (annually).	Automates repetitive tasks Streamlines the sales process Gain insights into sales performance Create automated workflows to improve efficiency
Intercom	Intercom is an AI customer service platform that allows you to connect with customers through various channels like chat, email, and phone (with add-ons). It provides an AI chatbot for instant answers to customer questions 24/7.	Essential plan: $39/month. Advanced plan: $99/month. Expert plan: $139/month.	Customer interactions are streamlined into a single platform for agents Provides Help Center for customers to find answers Offers add-ons for automated meeting scheduling

A deep dive into the 5 Zendesk Service Alternatives

Zendesk software has many use cases, but some options may provide better results for the same function. We have compiled these 5 Alternatives to help you choose the right alternative or replacement.

• Distrobird
• Freshdesk
• HelpScout
• Zoho
• Intercom

1. Distrobird

Distrobird is a cloud-based customer and sales engagement platform, designed to streamline sales and manage customer interactions. It is an all-in-one platform managing phone calls, SMS communications, and emails, along with product features like web chats, shared team inbox, and automated campaigns.

It also integrates seamlessly with various popular CRM and business tools, notably HubSpot, Gmail, Stripe, Microsoft Outlook, Twilio, Zapier, Clearbit, Zoho, Telnyx, Salesforce and NGP VAN.

• Features: The features of Distrobird include data enrichment, contact management, cloud call center, form tracking, block list, shared inbox, Office 365, Gmail, and custom SMTP inbox sync, campaign exclusions, and scheduled campaigns.
• Pricing: There is a free plan for the Voice, Sequences, and Shared Inbox products. The startup plan for the Shared Inbox is $8/month. Startup, Growth & Enterprise plans for both the Sequences and Voice products are $25, $50, and $75/month respectively.

2. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service platform that helps businesses improve their customer experience. It offers a variety of tools to streamline communication and support interactions.

Freshdesk allows you to manage customer inquiries from various channels like email, phone, chat, social media, and even messaging apps, providing a unified view for your support agents.

Features:

Reporting and analytics. Knowledge base creation. Integrates with various other business tools to provide a comprehensive customer service experience.

Pricing:

It offers a free plan. The growth plan goes for $15. The professional plan is $49. The enterprise plan is $79.

3. HelpScout

Help Scout is a customer communication platform designed to streamline communication between businesses and customers across multiple channels. It is a central hub that empowers you to provide efficient and personalized customer support

Beyond email, Help Scout offers live chat functionality enabling you to provide real-time support to your customers

Features:

Shared Inbox for email management. Live Chat for Real-time support. Customer satisfaction tracking. Detailed reporting and Analytics. App integrations for increased functionality.

Pricing:

The standard plan is billed at $20 per month, the plus plan goes for $40 while the professional plan goes for $65.

4. Zoho

Zoho offers a well-known suite of cloud-based business tools. The solution helps companies of all sizes manage sales, marketing, and customer support. It can store contact data, improve customer satisfaction, and automate tasks.

Zoho CRM can also combine with companies’ other tools to share CRM data and improve business intelligence.

Features:

Zoho can automate repetitive tasks and streamline the sales process. Gain insights into sales performance and trends with analytics and reporting. Create automated workflows to improve efficiency and also access CRM features through mobile apps.

Pricing:

The Zoho standard pricing is $14 per user/month. The professional plan is $23 per user/month. The enterprise plan is $40 per user/month. The ultimate plan is $52 per user/month. There is also the flex plan which is $14 per user/month. And the plus plan which is $57 per user/month which is billed annually.

5. Intercom

Intercom is an AI customer service platform that allows you to connect with customers through various channels like chat, email, and even phone (with an add-on). It provides an AI chatbot that provides instant answers to customer questions 24/7.

It provides data-driven insights to help customer service leaders optimize their teams.

Features

Customer interactions are streamlined into a single platform for agents. Help Center ****for customers to find answers. Offers add-ons for automated meeting scheduling.

Pricing:

The Essential plan goes for $39. Advanced plan is $99 and the expert plan is $139.

Which Zendesk Service Alternative Is Right For You?

Finding the right Zendesk alternative for customer support depends on your specific needs and budget.

The best thing to do is make a list of your must-haves and compare the possible tools to select the right software for your team.

While searching for the right solution, ensure to consider the total cost of ownership—accounting for all costs associated with the product—so there are no surprises down the line. You’ll also want an agile software that can adapt to your company’s needs quickly.

If you are looking for a comprehensive and affordable solution with a free plan, Distrobird is a great option. It offers all the essential features you need to manage your sales & customer engagement tech stack in one place - multi-channel sequences and campaigns, web messenger, outbound dialer, inbound call center software, shared team inbox, and conversation analytics - in a single solution. Distrobird is also easy to use and integrates with a variety of popular apps.

Whether you're a startup or an established business, Distrobird's scalable pricing plans make it a cost-effective choice. Create your free Distrobird account and see how it can transform your customer interactions!