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Quick question, what would be a good alternative to Zendesk? We've initially chosen it because it seemed pretty standard, but it looks designed for much larger

Quick question, what would be a good alternative to Zendesk? We've initially chosen it because it seemed pretty standard, but it looks designed for much larger companies. We avoid using it (!) because the UI is confusing, and it's very pricey for what it does (especially that some basic features are locked in the higher-priced tiers). This article doesn't help either.

benrict 10y ago
We switched from Zendesk to Helpscout, at that time because their documentation portal feature didn't fit what we wanted (markdown edition and other things I forgot). The migration has been painless (all zendesk issues are imported to helpscout). Apart from the documentation system, I personally prefer their UI (it feels more "modern"), the fact that a support conversation looks exactly like a very classic email conversation to your customers (no issue number in the email's subject, no specific signature or structure in the content etc), and Helpscout's team have always been helpful and nice so far. The API is pretty complete as well. We're using it only for support conversations nowadays, so I can't comment on the knowledge base features etc.
haikuginger 10y ago
We're very happy with Helpscout. Like the other poster mentioned, their API is pretty thorough, and the interface does a good job of getting out of your way. We really like the documentation features as well; again, very thorough. The one thing we really wish was there is custom field support on customer records, but Helpscout does workaround this by letting you set up a webhook it'll hit to present more information inline.
wonder_er 10y ago
The team I'm on uses Helpscout. I've used Zendesk in the past, and hated the unnecessary formatting added to every message. Helpscout is invisible to the customer, but more than adequate for our needs. Our only pain point is it's got bad trello integrations, so we're building our own.
tzaman 10y ago
Intercom, hands down. We switched what now seems a long time ago, and the pricing is like 3x of what we paid for Zendesk, but the UX feels so much more natural and UI unobstructive that we gladly pay $600/mo for it. Plus the additional features make it a non brainer (true, it also lacks some that Zendesk has)
- haikuginger 10y ago
  We used Intercom for a while and found it didn't fit our use-case; our tickets tend to be longer and more technically in-depth, and the Intercom UI/API didn't perform very well in those constraints. Additionally, the chat-based interface gave our customers the expectation that they'd always get an immediate response, which just wasn't always possible. We still have it and use it for some features like usage analytics, but it's not our primary support tool.
- govindpatel 10y ago
  consider using Freshdesk. They have a so much and are much better than zendesk and Intercom. If you have a mobile app then use Hotline (https://hotline.io/ https://hotline.io/) they have an integration with freshdesk. This two product go hand in hand and also have a good support team.
braum 10y ago
about 3 years ago we switched to desk.com and have been very happy with it. there are a few things we would like them to fix/upgrade but mostly it gets the job done and doesn't cost us a lot.
franciscop 10y ago
I've been following https://www.groovehq.com/ https://www.groovehq.com/ startup blog for some time and it's quite interesting.
codezero 10y ago
How big is your team? For smaller teams, I love Front. In looking for things that will likely work better for larger teams (10-15+) Help Scout and Groove are both pretty appealing. Desk.com is like Zendesk in that it tries to "do everything." I haven't evaluated it fully, but a lot of people love Intercom as well if you want to do in-app/on-site support.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  Would you please link directly to "Front"? I tried the Google, but apparently "StayInFront", "Soffront", and "Infront" have different legal philosophies with respect to trademark than do the assholes at Zendesk. TIL customer confusion is actually a real thing!
  - codezero 10y ago
    Yep, sorry about that: https://frontapp.com/ https://frontapp.com/
theblueprint 10y ago
Also consider Freshdesk (https://freshdesk.com https://freshdesk.com)
toomuchtodo 10y ago
Helpscout has been awesome and is responsive to feature and support requests.

benrict 10y ago

We switched from Zendesk to Helpscout, at that time because their documentation portal feature didn't fit what we wanted (markdown edition and other things I forgot). The migration has been painless (all zendesk issues are imported to helpscout). Apart from the documentation system, I personally prefer their UI (it feels more "modern"), the fact that a support conversation looks exactly like a very classic email conversation to your customers (no issue number in the email's subject, no specific signature or structure in the content etc), and Helpscout's team have always been helpful and nice so far. The API is pretty complete as well. We're using it only for support conversations nowadays, so I can't comment on the knowledge base features etc.

haikuginger 10y ago

We're very happy with Helpscout. Like the other poster mentioned, their API is pretty thorough, and the interface does a good job of getting out of your way. We really like the documentation features as well; again, very thorough. The one thing we really wish was there is custom field support on customer records, but Helpscout does workaround this by letting you set up a webhook it'll hit to present more information inline.

wonder_er 10y ago

The team I'm on uses Helpscout. I've used Zendesk in the past, and hated the unnecessary formatting added to every message. Helpscout is invisible to the customer, but more than adequate for our needs. Our only pain point is it's got bad trello integrations, so we're building our own.

tzaman 10y ago

Intercom, hands down. We switched what now seems a long time ago, and the pricing is like 3x of what we paid for Zendesk, but the UX feels so much more natural and UI unobstructive that we gladly pay $600/mo for it. Plus the additional features make it a non brainer (true, it also lacks some that Zendesk has)

haikuginger 10y ago
We used Intercom for a while and found it didn't fit our use-case; our tickets tend to be longer and more technically in-depth, and the Intercom UI/API didn't perform very well in those constraints. Additionally, the chat-based interface gave our customers the expectation that they'd always get an immediate response, which just wasn't always possible. We still have it and use it for some features like usage analytics, but it's not our primary support tool.
govindpatel 10y ago
consider using Freshdesk. They have a so much and are much better than zendesk and Intercom. If you have a mobile app then use Hotline (https://hotline.io/ https://hotline.io/) they have an integration with freshdesk. This two product go hand in hand and also have a good support team.

braum 10y ago

about 3 years ago we switched to desk.com and have been very happy with it. there are a few things we would like them to fix/upgrade but mostly it gets the job done and doesn't cost us a lot.

franciscop 10y ago

I've been following https://www.groovehq.com/ https://www.groovehq.com/ startup blog for some time and it's quite interesting.

codezero 10y ago

How big is your team? For smaller teams, I love Front. In looking for things that will likely work better for larger teams (10-15+) Help Scout and Groove are both pretty appealing. Desk.com is like Zendesk in that it tries to "do everything." I haven't evaluated it fully, but a lot of people love Intercom as well if you want to do in-app/on-site support.

jessaustin 10y ago
Would you please link directly to "Front"? I tried the Google, but apparently "StayInFront", "Soffront", and "Infront" have different legal philosophies with respect to trademark than do the assholes at Zendesk. TIL customer confusion is actually a real thing!
- codezero 10y ago
  Yep, sorry about that: https://frontapp.com/ https://frontapp.com/

theblueprint 10y ago

Also consider Freshdesk (https://freshdesk.com https://freshdesk.com)

toomuchtodo 10y ago

Helpscout has been awesome and is responsive to feature and support requests.