Are you on the lookout for Zendesk options on your small enterprise’s buyer assist?
You’re not alone. Whereas Zendesk is a well-liked alternative, many customers have complained about its excessive prices, complicated interface, and restricted assist. These components are vital for small companies, the place each penny and minute counts.
Right here at WPBeginner, we perceive these challenges firsthand. We’ve examined many various customer support instruments to optimize our personal operations and helped thousands and thousands of customers with their initiatives.
On this information, we are going to stroll you thru the most effective Zendesk options for small companies.
The Greatest Zendesk Alternate options: A Abstract
Why Belief WPBeginner?
The WPBeginner editorial workforce has over 16 years of expertise in WordPress, digital advertising and marketing, and eCommerce. We’ve tried and examined varied plugins and software program on actual web sites to search out probably the most appropriate ones for our readers’ particular wants.
Wish to study extra? Simply take a look at our editorial course of.
How We Discovered and Examined the Greatest Zendesk Alternate options
To assessment the most effective Zendesk options, we centered on one key query: why are individuals shifting away from Zendesk within the first place?
Our analysis discovered 3 key issues:
Tough to make use of –The newest Zendesk UI (consumer interface) has a better studying curve than the earlier model and takes extra time to navigate.
Costly – Zendesk’s most inexpensive plan is $55/agent per thirty days. If in case you have a minimum of a workforce of 5 brokers, you will want to pay $3300 per 12 months to make use of the platform. That’s a major expense for a small enterprise.
Restricted assist – Zendesk’s 24/7 on-line assist is barely out there by way of an add-on. In the meantime, there are various different customer support platforms on the market that supply that characteristic out of the field.
From there, we determined to concentrate on discovering the most effective Zendesk options with the next standards: ease of use, worth for cash, and nice assist.
Some choices on the listing simply occur to be merchandise we already use on our WordPress web sites, so we’re assured in recommending them. Those we don’t use are fashionable platforms that we examined ourselves.
We’re trustworthy with our critiques and can let if there are any drawbacks it’s best to think about. We’d not advocate a product that we personally wouldn’t use.
Right here’s some extra recommendation on tips on how to decide buyer assist software program for your online business:
“To choose the proper platform, establish the communication channels that resonate greatest together with your prospects and decide the answer primarily based on your online business wants. From there, slim down merchandise primarily based on value, important options, consumer critiques, and your expertise throughout a free trial or demo.”
Jess Pingrey from Match Small Enterprise
1. Groove (Greatest Total Zendesk Different)
Out of all of the customer support software program we’ve examined, Groove is the most effective Zendesk various by far. We’ve been utilizing Groove to handle each assist and advertising and marketing emails throughout our initiatives, and it’s been a easy expertise from day one.
What really units Groove aside is its easy-to-use interface. Even in case you are a small enterprise proprietor with no prior expertise with assist desk software program, you’ll be up and operating very quickly. The design is clear and clutter-free, with easy language that makes each button and gear clear.
Right here’s the most effective half: Groove affords a strong omnichannel buyer assist platform for a fraction of the worth of Zendesk’s primary plan. With Groove, you’ll be able to create a shared inbox, add stay chat performance, handle social media messaging, and construct a data base – all beneath one roof.
Groove additionally has distinctive buyer assist. They provide onboarding help to get you began shortly, and their 24/7 assist is obtainable to all customers, no matter their plan.
Execs of Groove:
Easy ticket administration – Groove makes managing tickets simple with automation capabilities like routing guidelines and automated escalation for complicated buyer interactions.
Enhanced ticketing system – Groove boasts options like collision detection to stop duplicate communication, inside notes for workforce collaboration, and agent availability to assist with workload distribution.
True omnichannel assist – Irrespective of your plan, you’ll get a shared inbox, stay chat, social media messaging integrations, and a self-service data base, multi function place.
Actionable insights – Acquire priceless intel with Groove’s reporting metrics, together with first response occasions, buyer satisfaction stories, and common decision occasions.
In depth API and integrations – Groove seamlessly integrates with fashionable instruments you already use, like Zapier, Slack, and Jira.
Cons of Groove:
Restricted AI-powered options – These instruments are solely out there on higher-tier plans.
Pricing: Begins at $16/consumer per thirty days, with a 7-day free trial. Their highest plan prices $56/consumer per thirty days and unlocks superior options like superior rule automation, team-specific reporting, and cargo balancing for optimized dialog assignments.
Why we selected Groove: It’s merely the most effective Zendesk various for anybody looking for a user-friendly and inexpensive buyer software program resolution. The user-friendly interface, highly effective options, and distinctive buyer assist make Groove a robust competitor.
For extra particulars, you’ll be able to learn our full Groove assessment.
2. Heroic Inbox (Greatest for Ticket Administration in WordPress)
If you happen to use WordPress to handle your web site, then Heroic Inbox is a good various to Zendesk for dealing with buyer assist emails. We’ve talked extensively about this assist desk plugin in different critiques, and that’s for a superb cause.
With Heroix Inbox, you’ll be able to handle all of your emails from Gmail or Outlook in a single place, proper inside your WordPress dashboard. Plus, you’ll be able to have limitless inboxes for not simply your buyer assist groups but in addition different departments like advertising and marketing or gross sales.
Heroic Inbox integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, so you’ll be able to see the client’s buy historical past instantly throughout the ticketing system. This allows you to present extra focused and useful assist. Plus, you’ve gotten entry to an entire historical past of all of your assist tickets for simple reference.
One other advantage of Heroic Inbox is that it helps a number of languages proper out of the field, which is useful you probably have prospects all over the world. This can be a main benefit over Zendesk, the place you want a higher-tier plan to supply multilingual assist.
Execs of Heroic Inbox:
Limitless energy – Handle an infinite variety of tickets and customers with out worrying about month-to-month charges.
Time-saving options – Save valuable time with options like saved replies and auto-responders for often requested questions (FAQs).
Seamless teamwork – Arrange environment friendly collaboration with options like workforce notes, draft replies, and collision detection to keep away from duplicate efforts.
Enhanced communication – Enable each prospects and brokers to supply richer context inside messages by attaching information on to tickets.
Cons of Heroix Inbox:
Restricted consumer roles – Heroic Inbox affords solely two consumer roles: Mailbox Consumer and Administrator.
No stay chat – You’ll have to put in a distinct plugin to reply to buyer queries instantly.
Pricing: Heroic Inbox’s pricing construction is predicated on web site licensing. It begins from $199.50 per 12 months for a single web site.
For the most effective worth, think about the Heroic Bundle Important for $299.50 per 12 months. This bundle consists of each Heroic Inbox and Heroic KB, so you’ll be able to create a data base for purchasers to assist themselves and cut back your assist tickets.
Why we selected Heroic Inbox: This assist desk resolution stands out as a Zendesk competitor for WordPress. Whereas it doesn’t embody a built-in stay chat characteristic, you’ll be able to simply add that performance with one other plugin if wanted.
You’ll be able to study extra about Heroic Inbox in our HeroThemes assessment.
3. Nextiva (Greatest for Name Facilities)
Whereas chat and data bases are fashionable, some prospects nonetheless want speaking on to brokers. That’s why we wished to indicate you a Zendesk various that may fulfill this want.
Meet Nextiva, the top-rated enterprise telephone service. This platform affords complete customer support instruments, together with name middle, voicemail, SMS, stay chat, video, and social media assist.
Enjoyable reality: we use Nextiva at WPBeginner for our name middle. It lets our groups simply deal with buyer calls from anyplace on this planet with out utilizing their very own private cellphone numbers.
Nextiva makes name dealing with a breeze. You’ll be able to direct calls primarily based on precedence and abilities, with simple transfers between brokers. Plus, you’ll be able to supply callback request choices, letting prospects select when to obtain a name for higher comfort.
Execs of Nextiva:
Enhanced name expertise – See caller particulars on-screen to organize for conversations and enhance your brokers’ service.
Good routing – Use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to direct calls to the proper brokers primarily based on their enterprise hours, abilities, precedence, and extra.
Name recording – You’ll be able to report, pause, and playback buyer interactions anytime for future reference.
Dependable service – Take pleasure in an industry-leading 99.999% uptime assure, which suggests you gained’t have to fret about shedding connection in the midst of a dialog.
Cons of Nextiva:
Restricted limitless calling – Nextiva’s limitless plan is at present solely out there within the US and Canada.
Pricing: The Enterprise Communication plans begin from $23.95/consumer per thirty days for a workforce of 1-4 individuals. In addition to telephone assist options, these plans embody workforce communication instruments like video conferencing. Costs can get decrease as your workforce grows.
If you happen to simply wish to use the telephone service to assist your prospects, then you’ll be able to contact the Nextiva workforce to get a quote on their Contact Middle plans.
You can even use our Nextiva coupon to get 21% off of your first buy.
Why we selected Nextiva: It’s an awesome Zendesk various if telephone assist is vital to your online business. Its complete name middle options allow you to help prospects simply over the telephone.
You’ll be able to study extra in regards to the service in our full Nextiva assessment.
4. HubSpot (Greatest for Assist + CRM)
Do you wish to handle buyer assist and buyer relationship administration (CRM) on the identical platform? If you happen to use Zendesk and desire a easier resolution, then think about HubSpot. It’s recognized for its CRM and affords a buyer assist resolution known as HubSpot Service Hub.
HubSpot combines assist and CRM in a single platform, so that you don’t want separate instruments. To entry each, you may get the Buyer Platform plan, which incorporates Service Hub, Gross sales Hub, Content material Hub, Operations Hub, and Commerce Hub.
Service Hub affords extra than simply ticketing. It has options like conversational bots to reply easy queries, e mail well being reporting to trace the effectiveness of your e mail outreach and a cellular app for managing buyer interactions on the go.
Execs of HubSpot:
Highly effective free plan – Consists of options like canned snippets for sooner responses and Slack integration for real-time notifications.
Unified platform – Integrates seamlessly with its different HubSpot merchandise for advertising and marketing and gross sales. This fashion, all of your knowledge and interactions are accessible inside a single platform.
Automation instruments – Streamline your workflow with automated dialog routing, automated to-do lists, and triggers to ship buyer emails routinely.
Cons of HubSpot:
Pricing leap – There’s a giant hole from the Starter plan to the Skilled plan ($15/consumer per thirty days to $1080/month), which is likely to be quite a bit for some. This generally is a hurdle when you want particular options like WhatsApp integration, which is barely out there in larger tiers.
Pricing: A free plan is obtainable for companies with as much as 5 brokers. Paid Buyer Platform plans begin at $15/consumer per thirty days.
Why we selected HubSpot: It’s an awesome all-in-one resolution for companies. It covers assist, CRM, advertising and marketing, and extra. If you happen to like issues easy and wish all of your buyer communications in a single place, HubSpot is a stable alternative as an alternative of Zendesk.
For extra data, take a look at our full HubSpot assessment.
5. HelpDesk (Superior Ticketing System)
HelpDesk is a superb Zendesk various in case you are on the lookout for a strong ticketing software program resolution.
Like Zendesk, HelpDesk helps you to create a number of {custom} types for various functions, akin to technical assist requests or gross sales inquiries. There’s no restrict to the variety of types you’ll be able to create, supplying you with the flexibleness to tailor the consumption course of to your particular wants.
HelpDesk additionally simplifies the method of managing complicated points. If a buyer submits a number of tickets associated to the identical downside, then you’ll be able to simply merge them right into a single thread for a clearer overview.
Moreover, HelpDesk affords a shared ticket view characteristic much like Zendesk’s ticket-sharing performance. This lets a number of workforce members collaborate on the identical ticket concurrently, permitting them to resolve an advanced concern collectively.
Execs of HelpDesk:
Superior ticketing options – You’ll be able to merge tickets, enable workforce members to view the identical ticket, and allow customers to observe tickets which may be related to their groups.
Electronic mail supply monitoring – Observe the deliverability of your assist emails to make sure they attain your prospects.
Constructed-in AI options – All plans embody AI-powered options like ticket summaries and textual content enhancements to enhance your buyer communication.
Multi-channel assist – HelpDesk affords 24/7 assist by way of chat, e mail, and telephone so that you could get help each time wanted.
Cons of HelpDesk:
Restricted pricing – HelpDesk affords just one plan. If your online business outgrows this plan, then you definitely’ll must improve to a custom-priced Enterprise plan.
Pricing: The Staff plan prices $29/agent per thirty days and consists of limitless contact types, a number of mailboxes, limitless workflows to automate duties, and 5 e mail templates to reply to buyer inquiries. A 14-day free trial is obtainable.
Why we selected HelpDesk: This assist desk platform generally is a nice possibility if you need a Zendesk various with a sturdy ticketing system. The only plan’s key options are sufficient for many small companies, as long as you don’t create greater than 5 e mail templates.
6. LiveChat (Greatest for Reside Chat Assist)
LiveChat is a helpful instrument made by the identical of us who created HelpDesk. We’ve used it for a lot of of our eCommerce initiatives to reply pre-sales questions.
Getting began with LiveChat is tremendous easy. Once we did it, all we needed to do was simply enroll, add the LiveChat plugin to the WordPress web site, and log in by way of the plugin web page. The chat widget would then pop up on the positioning, prepared to attach with prospects.
However LiveChat isn’t only a primary chat instrument. It’s additionally filled with cool options like real-time chat monitoring, automated prompts to gather customer emails when no brokers are round, and routing chats to the proper specialists for difficult questions.
Execs of LiveChat:
Reside chat focus – Chat-specific options like monitoring visitors, letting prospects price brokers, and directing chats to the proper individuals.
Nice for on-line shops – It integrates with eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce. Plus, you’ll be able to monitor chats that result in gross sales.
Chat window editor – You’ll be able to customise the chat characteristic to fit your branding and use pre-made themes.
Quick loading time – The chat window opens sooner than many different stay chat suppliers and works throughout each machine.
Cons of LiveChat:
Primary analytics within the lowest-priced plan – The Starter plan solely offers you easy stats like every day and weekly summaries. You’ll must improve for extra detailed insights into how your brokers are doing.
Pricing: Begins from $20/agent per thirty days. With the Starter plan, you’ll be able to monitor as much as 100 guests and get entry to your chat historical past from the previous 60 days. A 14-day free trial is obtainable, and you need to use our LiveChat coupon to get 30% off your first buy.
Why we selected LiveChat: We use LiveChat often on our web sites, and we predict it’s a best choice for companies on the lookout for an easy-to-use stay chat resolution.
Simply keep in mind, LiveChat focuses solely on stay chat. If you happen to additionally want a ticketing system and a data base, then you’ll have to pay for HelpDesk, too.
You’ll be able to study extra in regards to the software program in our LiveChat assessment.
7. ChatBot (Greatest for AI Chatbot Assist)
Managing buyer assist for a small enterprise will be powerful, particularly when you can’t afford a giant workforce. If that’s the case, ChatBot generally is a nice Zendesk various.
ChatBot is a cloud-based AI assistant on your web site. It could actually deal with buyer questions in actual time like stay chat, however you don’t want a human agent to run it. Even when you have already got a assist workforce, ChatBot can deal with primary inquiries to liberate your workforce’s time for extra complicated points.
Earlier than launching your ChatBot, you’ll be able to practice it utilizing varied sources like FAQs, web site content material, articles, and even your current data base. ChatBot may study from unanswered questions to enhance its response accuracy over time.
We use ChatBot in our SaaS companies to deal with questions earlier than a sale and cross on the powerful queries to our stay assist workforce.
Execs of ChatBot:
Teachable AI – ChatBot helps you to educate and enhance your AI helper so it will get higher at giving useful solutions.
Efficiency insights – Get helpful stats about how your bot is doing, like what number of messages it handles, when it’s busiest, and the way engaged customers are.
Knowledge safety – ChatBot works independently and isn’t affiliated with massive AI firms like OpenAI, so your knowledge stays secure inside your system.
Dynamic responses – ChatBot can use photographs, product playing cards, and carousels to create participating and informative conversations.
Cons of ChatBot:
Overage chat charges – If you happen to go over your month-to-month restrict, you’ll pay a small charge for every further chat ($0.03 every).
Pricing: Begins at $52 per thirty days billed yearly, which incorporates as much as 1,000 month-to-month chats. In addition they supply a 14-day free trial.
Why we selected ChatBot: For small companies, ChatBot is a budget-friendly strategy to deal with buyer questions with out hiring any employees. Plus, it integrates with LiveChat and HelpDesk, so you’ll be able to construct a full assist system that covers all of your bases.
To study extra, you’ll be able to learn our complete ChatBot assessment.
8. Assist Scout (Easy Zendesk Competitor)
Zendesk affords a strong suite of buyer assist instruments. However for small enterprise homeowners, it will probably really feel overwhelming. If that sounds such as you, then Assist Scout is likely to be an ideal match.
Assist Scout is a well-liked buyer assist software program recognized for its user-friendly interface. Whereas it’s barely costlier than Groove at $20/consumer per thirty days, Assist Scout supplies all of the important performance it is advisable to handle buyer conversations successfully.
One other key benefit we found is that their Enterprise Hours characteristic is obtainable in all plans, not like Zendesk the place it’s restricted to larger tiers. This characteristic helps you to activate auto-replies primarily based in your working hours.
Execs of Assist Scout:
Customizable knowledge monitoring – Observe particular knowledge factors on every buyer interplay to achieve priceless insights into buyer engagement.
White-labeling – You’ll be able to customise Assist Scout’s buyer portal interface to match your model and create a seamless buyer expertise.
In-site or in-app surveys – Use these to shortly accumulate Internet Promoter Scores (NPS) or achieve buyer suggestions in your web site’s consumer expertise.
Good content material strategies – Assist Scout can advocate related assist content material to prospects primarily based on the webpage they’re visiting, lowering the burden in your assist workforce.
Cons of Assist Scout:
Restricted integrations within the lowest-priced plan – The bottom plan doesn’t join with fashionable process administration instruments like Jira and has no AI options.
Restricted scalability – The core options are nice, however we discovered some bugs and limits when our initiatives began to develop. Our Groove announcement explains extra about why we determined to change away from Assist Scout.
Pricing: Begins from $20/consumer per thirty days with a 15-day free trial. The bottom plan has a cap of 25 customers. You will want to improve to the $40/consumer per thirty days plan for limitless customers.
Why we selected Assist Scout: This customer support platform prioritizes its core performance and user-friendliness over having numerous options. Due to that, Assist Scout is a good Zendesk various for small companies and startups.
9. Freshdesk (Freemium Zendesk Different)
Beginning a brand new enterprise will be costly, and each penny counts. If you’re on the lookout for a cheap strategy to handle buyer assist, Freshdesk is a good possibility to contemplate.
We discovered Freshdesk’s free plan to have a shocking quantity of performance for small companies simply getting began. It lets you handle buyer inquiries from e mail and social media with a workforce of as much as 10 brokers.
You can even create guidelines to routinely route tickets to probably the most certified workforce member. Because of this, your prospects obtain the absolute best care.
Freshdesk additionally supplies priceless insights into your assist efficiency with built-in ticket development stories. This lets you keep on high of your workload and establish areas for enchancment.
Execs of Freshdesk:
Free plan – The plan supplies a sturdy ticketing system with e mail and social media assist, good for startups on a finances.
Self-service portal – Empower prospects with a data base to reply frequent questions and troubleshoot points independently.
All year-round assist – Freshdesk affords 24/7 e mail assist within the free plan and 24/5 telephone assist in larger tiers.
Actionable analytics – The free plan affords primary ticket development stories. In the meantime, paid plans embody superior analytics like buyer journey monitoring, common dealing with occasions, and {custom} metrics to fit your particular wants.
Cons of Freshdesk:
Restricted communication channels – The free plan doesn’t embody stay chat or telephone assist. To entry these options, you’ll must buy further Freshworks add-ons or improve to the Buyer Service Suite.
Pricing: Free plan out there. Paid plans begin from $15/agent per thirty days. Upgrading unlocks further options like SLA administration, which helps guarantee your workforce persistently meets your organization’s service stage agreements.
Why we selected Freshdesk: If you happen to run a brand new enterprise, Freshdesk’s free plan generally is a lifesaver. You’ll be able to concentrate on progress whereas providing your buyer assist with out breaking the financial institution.
What Is the Greatest Zendesk Different for Small Companies?
The very best Zendesk various for small companies is Groove. It affords omnichannel assist, masking chat, e mail, data base, social media, and extra all at a fraction of Zendesk’s value.
For individuals utilizing WordPress, Heroic Inbox can be value contemplating. It helps you to handle tickets and your data base instantly from WordPress, saving you from switching between platforms too typically.
Alternatively, if your online business depends on telephone assist, then Nextiva is your most suitable option.
High Zendesk Opponents: FAQs
Let’s reply some generally requested questions on Zendesk options:
What are the disadvantages of Zendesk?
Regardless of its in depth options, Zendesk is just too expensive for some small companies, as its plans begin from $55/consumer per thirty days. Its UI can be harder to make use of in comparison with different platforms, and the assist will not be probably the most responsive.
Because of this, we advocate utilizing Groove, Heroic Inbox, or Nextiva as options.
Is Zendesk free?
No. Zendesk’s plans are all paid, although they’ve a 14-day free trial.If you happen to’re on the lookout for a free Zendesk various, then we advocate Freshdesk or HubSpot as each supply highly effective free plans.
How do you consider customer support software program?
The very first thing it’s essential to do is perceive your workforce’s necessities. It will allow you to keep away from going over finances and discover the most effective enterprise instrument that fits your actual wants.
We additionally advocate having a look at trusted assessment websites like WPBeginner Answer Middle and testing the software program your self to see how simple it’s to make use of.
Uncover Extra Buyer Assist Guides
We hope this text helped you uncover the most effective Zendesk options on your small enterprise. You might also wish to take a look at our listing of the most effective HubSpot options and our final information to rising your online business on-line with out some huge cash.
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Disclaimer: We additionally checked out different Zendesk opponents, akin to Gorgias, HappyFox, Kustomer, Salesforce Service Cloud, and Zoho Desk. Nevertheless, they didn’t meet our standards for the most effective choices for small companies.