Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam.
Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam.
Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam.
Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam.
In our last post, we shared our four favorite Help Scout features. This week we’re looking at the things we found more challenging when we were setting up our test environment. Keep in mind that we’re most familiar with the Plus and Company tiers of Help Scout, both of which have the entire feature set. If you’re using the Standard tier, you’ll find that it doesn’t include Custom Fields, Teams, or Salesforce (and other features). See the Help Scout website for a full list of the features available in each tier.
If you’re new to the TestBox blog, we’ve been sharing features we love and those we’ve found more challenging in popular customer support platforms — and offering some workarounds to overcome their limitations. You can find some of the other posts in this series here:
Let’s get back to Help Scout and the things we struggled with.
In this article:
The first thing to note is that Help Scout has no built-in SLA feature — something we consider to be a necessity in any customer service organization. Instead, Help Scout suggests tracking the aging of conversations using a combination of different features to create an SLA-like experience.
We added tags to track conversations that had nearly reached an SLA threshold or had already crossed one so that we could easily identify them. This required setting up workflows for SLAs and setting the workflows to run in the appropriate order. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect solution, because workflows can only run once per conversation.
“Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.”
While Help Scout’s automation system is quite versatile and can be used for many use cases, it quickly becomes difficult to manage for a large organization. Automatic workflows only run once per conversation (not per thread). This is a serious drawback when you consider that conversations can be revived by customers at any time.
“Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.”
Who it's best for:
A YouTuber, a blogger or a podcaster.
In our last post, we shared our four favorite Help Scout features. This week we’re looking at the things we found more challenging when we were setting up our test environment. Keep in mind that we’re most familiar with the Plus and Company tiers of Help Scout, both of which have the entire feature set. If you’re using the Standard tier, you’ll find that it doesn’t include Custom Fields, Teams, or Salesforce (and other features). See the Help Scout website for a full list of the features available in each tier.
If you’re new to the TestBox blog, we’ve been sharing features we love and those we’ve found more challenging in popular customer support platforms — and offering some workarounds to overcome their limitations. You can find some of the other posts in this series here:
Let’s get back to Help Scout and the things we struggled with.
The first thing to note is that Help Scout has no built-in SLA feature — something we consider to be a necessity in any customer service organization. Instead, Help Scout suggests tracking the aging of conversations using a combination of different features to create an SLA-like experience.
We added tags to track conversations that had nearly reached an SLA threshold or had already crossed one so that we could easily identify them. This required setting up workflows for SLAs and setting the workflows to run in the appropriate order. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect solution, because workflows can only run once per conversation.
“Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.”
While Help Scout’s automation system is quite versatile and can be used for many use cases, it quickly becomes difficult to manage for a large organization. Automatic workflows only run once per conversation (not per thread). This is a serious drawback when you consider that conversations can be revived by customers at any time.
“Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet. . Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.”
Zendesk is one of the most robust customer support solutions on the market. Loaded with features and over 1,000 integrations, it’s the platform of choice for companies like Instacart, Mailchimp, Vimeo, Uber, and Pinterest. But is bigger always better?
That depends.
Extensive functionality doesn’t always translate into a seamless customer experience, and selecting a tool that doesn’t work well with your team (or your tech stack) can have serious repercussions. According to Salesforce, 80% of customers believe a company’s customer service is just as important as its products or services. Additionally, it takes an average of 12 positive customer experiences to make up for a single negative one.
If you’re not sure Zendesk is the right fit, don’t sweat—there are plenty of other options out there to consider. However, finding the best customer support software for your team is often easier said than done. That’s why we’ve rounded up five of our favorite, top-rated Zendesk alternatives—including core features, popular integrations, pricing, and verified customer reviews—to help guide your search.
Let’s take a quick look at Zendesk first, before we dive into the alternatives.
Zendesk is a massive customer support solution. It’s been around for over a decade, and has more than 170,000 customers—from SMBs to enterprise organizations.
But why is Zendesk so popular?
The platform combines several advanced tools for customer support teams, like multi-channel ticketing, chat bots, a central knowledge base, and live chat It’s also equipped to handle complex interactions across multiple regions, products, brands, channels, and business rules.
We’ve already shared some of our favorite Zendesk features, but this time around, we decided to hit the reviews and find out what their actual customers think of the platform. Zendesk earned mostly positive feedback for:
Zendesk certainly has a lot to offer, but it isn’t perfect. In some cases, it might even be overkill. We’ve detailed some of our biggest challenges with Zendesk, including:
$49-$215 per agent per month (billed annually)
Before diving in, we’ll share how we came up with these Zendesk alternatives, including:
Let’s dive in!
Similar to Zendesk, Freshdesk functions as a one-stop-shop for customer support teams. The cloud-based platform features a multi-channel help desk, knowledge base, chatbots, and a ticketing system, all wrapped up in a clean and simple interface. Freshdesk also gets rave reviews for regular feature updates based on customer feedback.
👉 Already using Freshdesk? Check out the top Freshdesk alternatives.
👉 Test drive Freshdesk in TestBox and compare it with Zendesk and other leading help desk software. No demos, no pitch decks. Evaluate software on your terms.
$15-$69 per user per month (billed annually). FreshDesk also offers a “free forever” basic plan.
👉 See Freshdesk vs. Zendesk pricing.
⭐ 4.4/5 Based on 2,600+ verified customer reviews on G2.
Another behemoth, Zoho boasts 45+ products and more than 75 million users worldwide. Zoho Desk, however, isn’t just another one of the bunch, but a standout customer support solution in its own right. This web-based platform includes a feature-rich helpdesk and ticketing system, “self-service” knowledge center, and an AI-enabled chatbot with advanced functionality.
👉 Test drive Zoho in TestBox and compare it with Zendesk and other leading help desk software. No demos, no pitch decks. Evaluate software on your terms.
$14-$40 per agent per month (billed annually)
⭐ 4.4/5 Based on 3,800+ verified customer reviews on G2.
If you’re a fan of HubSpot’s popular CRM, their cloud-based customer support platform Service Hub is definitely worth looking into. Beyond seamless integration with other HubSpot products, Service Hub combines the essentials for seamless customer support—like a shared multichannel inbox—with some more unique features, such as kanban-style ticket management and screen recording responses.
👉 Test drive HubSpot Service Hub in TestBox and compare it with Zendesk and other leading help desk software. No demos, no pitch decks. Evaluate software on your terms.
$45-$1,200 per month. HubSpot Service Hub also offers a free plan.
👉 See HubSpot vs. Zendesk pricing.
⭐ 4.4/5 Based on 1,200+ verified customer reviews on G2.
Gorgias isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” customer support solution—and they don’t pretend to be. This platform was designed specifically for e-commerce brands, providing easy integrations with Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, plus some highly targeted features you won’t find elsewhere.
👉 Test drive Gorgias in TestBox and compare it with Zendesk and other leading help desk software. No demos, no pitch decks. Evaluate software on your terms.
$50 per month for up to 300 tickets to $750 per month for up to 5,000 tickets (billed annually). Gorgias also offers custom enterprise pricing.
⭐ 4.6 out of 5 based on 340+ verified customer reviews on G2.
Help Scout’s approach to more personal customer support isn’t just evident in the features, but the way their entire product was built. Tickets, for instance, are referred to as “Conversations”, while relationship data is captured and organized in accessible customer profiles. Help Scout also emphasizes useability, with an unfussy, intuitive interface.
👉 Already using Help Scout? Check out the top Help Scout alternatives.
$20-$60 per user per month (billed annually)
👉 See Help Scout vs. Zendesk pricing.
⭐ 4.4/5 Based on 350+ verified customer reviews on G2
👉 Test drive Help Scout in TestBox and compare it with Zendesk and other leading help desk software. No demos, no pitch decks. Evaluate software on your terms.
A dedicated customer support solution is crucial for keeping up with customer demands. Finding the right fit for your team, however, can be a daunting ordeal. There are dozens of Zendesk alternatives out there to consider, and the process of buying software is rarely fun. Endless demos, gated products, non-stop phone calls. And after all that, there’s no guarantee that you’ll feel confident in your decision. It’s not a great use of your time.
However, testing and comparing different tools side-by-side will help you evaluate software faster, and in the end, you’ll be more confident with your choice.TestBox allows you to test and compare the top customer support software solution side-by-side—for free. Start testing software now!
