Freshworks vs. Zendesk comparison (and how Pipedrive stacks up)

Freshworks and Zendesk both help you track tickets and manage support queries, but they serve different types of teams and workflows.

Choosing the right platform means balancing the features you need with ease of use, so your team spends more time helping customers and less time on admin work.

Below, you’ll find a detailed Freshworks vs. Zendesk comparison including core features, pricing, integrations and reviews. You’ll also see how Pipedrive’s dedicated sales CRM stacks up against both, helping you decide if you need a support tool or all-in-one CRM.

Key takeaways from Freshworks vs. Zendesk

• Choose Freshworks if you need a budget-friendly solution that combines support and sales features for small to mid-sized teams.

• Choose Zendesk if you’re a large enterprise and need a customizable ticketing system to handle high support volumes across multiple channels.

• Choose Pipedrive if your priority is driving revenue and managing customer relationships in a sales-first CRM, with light support handled directly in your pipeline rather than a separate ticketing system.

• Try Pipedrive free for 14 days to see how a focused sales CRM helps you grow your business and keep customers happy.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk at a glance

Freshworks’ Freshdesk solution and Zendesk both help support teams manage customer tickets.

The main difference lies in scale: Freshdesk offers a quick setup for fast-moving and small teams, while Zendesk suits enterprises with serious routing needs and multiple brands.

Here’s how these two customer service software solutions compare at a glance:

Freshdesk has a low barrier to entry. It lets small to medium-sized businesses manage support across email, social media, chat and phone without needing a dedicated IT department to maintain it.

Zendesk’s primary strength is its power and scalability. While it’s more difficult to learn, it allows larger organizations to build a support environment capable of handling thousands of queries every day.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: core features compared

Freshworks’ Freshdesk and Zendesk offer different toolkits for managing customer interactions.

Freshdesk focuses on clearing the queue quickly. Zendesk focuses on workflows in which many teams need to touch each ticket.

Here’s a closer look at the key features each solution offers.

Freshdesk: automated ticketing for high-volume queues

Freshdesk has a suite of features that brings all your communication channels into one place and automates routine tasks.

It pulls all interactions into a single list, so your team can burn through tickets without switching tabs.

The main features include:

Freshdesk’s features help agents type less and resolve issues faster. It’s useful for teams that receive the same standard queries, such as returns, password resets or shipping inquiries.

Zendesk: connected tools for customer service workflows

Zendesk for Service helps businesses get more context and route work based on each agent’s skills.

It connects data from other parts of your business, such as your shipping provider or invoicing software, so that you can close complex tickets more effectively.

Here are its main features:

Zendesk gives your agents the full picture so that they don’t have to ask a customer the same question multiple times. It’s most useful for companies where solving a problem involves other departments.

Pipedrive: a unified workspace for sales and service

For high-touch small businesses, like agencies or consultancies, a standalone ticketing system might be overkill.

Combining customer service management and sales tools is a cost-effective way to reduce overhead while increasing customer satisfaction. It ensures all customer information, whether it’s a sales opportunity or a service request, lives in one place.

You can use Pipedrive to manage these support scenarios from your sales hub.

• Web Forms: Create simple forms for clients to submit issues. These land in your pipeline as activities or deals, ensuring the account manager sees them immediately.

• Contact management: View every email and interaction on a single timeline and easily check the status of a request before you call a client.

• Activities and timeline: Track support issues as activities or notes linked to deals, without using a separate ticket queue.

If your support volume grows and you do need a full ticketing system, Pipedrive integrates with both Zendesk and Freshworks. More on this later.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: which is easier to use?

Freshworks is the easier platform to learn and set up, while Zendesk has a steeper learning curve.

Here’s how the user experience compares.

Freshworks: the straightforward ticketing platform

Freshdesk helps non-technical teams start handling support immediately.

It has the appearance of a standard email inbox, with tickets, contacts and reports in the left-hand navigation bar.

Your agents will understand the workflow right away, without extensive training. Adding agents, connecting a support email (like ’[email protected]’) and creating basic rules is fast.

Reviewers on G2 and Capterra consistently note that Freshdesk is a plug-and-play option and teams go live quickly.

Zendesk: the multi-tasker

Zendesk’s interface is a tabbed workspace that looks like a web browser.

Agents can keep multiple tickets, user profiles and reporting dashboards open at the same time. This dense screen is good for multitasking, but it can be intimidating to learn

When configuring the back-end, Zendesk is more complex than Freshdesk. You need a decent understanding of routing rules and workflow logic to set it up correctly.

On G2 and Capterra, many users praise Zendesk’s flexibility, but warn that many companies end up hiring an administrator to manage it.

Pipedrive: an intuitive service CRM you can use anywhere

Pipedrive handles both sales and service workflows in one interface. Some key features that help you create a support system with Pipedrive include:

• Email sync. Pipedrive’s two-way email sync attaches emails to customer profiles. You can see a customer’s support history without digging through a shared inbox.

• Mobile app. Small business owners handle support themselves. Pipedrive’s mobile app lets you respond to urgent issues and update your CRM from the road.

With Pipedrive, you don’t need a separate ticketing system. Instead, you track support issues as activities linked to each client’s deal.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: which AI and automation is stronger?

Both Freshdesk and Zendesk offer artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze customer sentiment and reply to inquiries, but Zendesk’s AI capabilities are a little more advanced.

Here’s how they differ.

Freshworks: easy-to-use tools that speed up communication

Freshdesk includes Freddy AI, which helps agents work faster by suggesting replies and automating repetitive tasks.

Freddy analyzes past tickets and recommends answers agents can send with one click. It also summarizes long email threads so agents can quickly understand the issue without having to read every message.

When an agent opens a reply box, they see a Freddy icon. Clicking this functionality lets you rephrase or expand short emails or summarize long ticket threads for quick context.

The automation builder in Freshdesk uses a simple if-this-then-that format. You create rules that trigger when something happens, like assigning urgent tickets to senior agents or sending a follow-up email after closing a ticket.

Zendesk: powerful automations for higher-volume teams

Zendesk’s AI suite uses a feature called intelligent triage to scan tickets for intent and sentiment.

Similar to Freshworks, Zendesk offers generative tools in the ticket interface to help agents craft responses faster.

Zendesk’s AI agents can handle common inquiries end-to-end, resolving simple requests such as password resets or tracking updates without human intervention. The system learns from your historical ticket data to optimize its results over time.

When it comes to automation capabilities, Zendesk’s macro system lets you build multi-step customizable workflows.

If an agent sees a password reset request, they can apply a macro. A single click will send the template instruction email (using canned responses), add a tag and solve the ticket simultaneously.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: how do pricing and value differ?

Freshdesk offers an entry-level pricing plan for small teams, while Zendesk positions itself as more of a premium enterprise solution with higher costs.

Freshworks: lower price, but lacks features in the bottom tiers

Freshworks has a low entry price, but you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan to access crucial support features.

Freshworks offers four plans for Freshdesk:

Freshworks also offers a 14-day free trial for all paid plans on the Freshdesk platform.

Zendesk: higher prices, more enterprise features

Zendesk uses a tiered pricing model that separates its basic support tools from the full capabilities of its service suite.

The support-only plan is cheaper, but it lacks routing, voice and messaging support. To get the full experience, you’ll need to buy a suite plan.

Here’s what Zendesk includes in each plan:

Its AI features, such as the AI agent builder, reporting and integrations, require a separate purchase of the Advanced AI Agents add-on.

Zendesk doesn’t offer a free plan, but it provides a 14-day free trial for its suite plans.

Pipedrive: pay once, get everything you need

Small businesses switch to an all-rounder CRM like Pipedrive to avoid paying multiple subscriptions for different tools.

Here’s what you get at each pricing level:

• Essential ($14 per user/month): Includes visual pipelines, activity logging and email inbox management to track client requests.

• Advanced ($34 per user/month): Adds email sync, workflow builders to automate support follow-ups and group emailing capabilities.

• Professional ($49 per user/month): Unlocks the AI email writer, smart document management and advanced reporting on team activity.

• Power ($64 per user/month): Adds project planning tools, phone support and granular team permissions.

Try a 14-day free trial and see how Pipedrive helps you manage sales and support without extra software bloat.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: integration options

Both platforms offer marketplaces with over 1,000 third-party apps and their own suites of business tools.

Below, you’ll learn the key differences between their ecosystems.

Freshworks: powerful within the Freshworks ecosystem

Freshdesk has over 1,000 integrations available in its ecosystem. If you use tools like Freshsales for CRM or Freshchat for messaging, they integrate natively with little configuration.

For external apps, the marketplace includes popular integrations like Microsoft Teams for collaboration, Slack for notifications, Jira for project management and SurveyMonkey for feedback collection.

You can also use automation tools like Zapier to build custom bridges between Freshdesk and apps that don’t have direct plugins.

Zendesk: plenty of native apps and easy to extend

Zendesk integrates with a broad range of tools for productivity, analytics and omnichannel support.

The marketplace focuses on CRM, e-commerce and collaboration software.

Popular integrations include Shopify to pull in customer order details directly into tickets, Slack for real-time ticket updates and actions and Notion for linking support teams to internal knowledge.

You set up these through the Zendesk Marketplace, with one-click installs that sync data automatically.

For more advanced setups, Zendesk offers robust API access to connect with custom or enterprise systems.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk: what do customers say?

Freshdesk earns high marks for being user-friendly and quick to implement.

On G2 (4.4/5) and Capterra (4.5/5), reviewers frequently mention its intuitive interface that simplifies ticket management and requires minimal training.

Pros include efficient organization of support queries, easy collaboration features and strong value for small teams.

Meanwhile, Zendesk receives solid ratings on G2 (4.3/5) and Capterra (4.4/5), with users appreciating its powerful features and ability to handle complex workflows.

Reviewers highlight the ease of syncing with internal tools and excellent help from the Zendesk support team.

However, many point to the steep learning curve and dense interface, which can overwhelm new users.

Why businesses switch to Pipedrive

Pipedrive stands out in reviews for its sales-focused simplicity and visual approach, earning 4.5/5 on G2 and similar high scores on Capterra.

Users mostly mention the intuitive drag-and-drop pipelines, easy customization and how it streamlines deal tracking without unnecessary complexity.

Compared to support-heavy tools like Freshdesk or Zendesk, Pipedrive avoids bloat by concentrating on revenue growth while still handling light support needs.

How to choose the right software for your business

The right software for you depends on whether you need speed and simplicity, enterprise-grade customization or a combined sales and support solution.

Choose Freshworks if you need a plug-and-play solution. It works best for small to mid-sized teams that need to start managing tickets without an IT specialist.

Choose Zendesk if you are a large organization with specific needs. It’s the better option if you manage multiple brands and need deep routing rules to handle a large volume of support queries.

If you want to drive sales and manage the customer experience more personally, Pipedrive is the best fit.

Startups and small businesses that want to handle support inquiries in their sales CRM get the best of both worlds – keep software overhead low while focusing fully on growing revenue.

Freshworks vs. Zendesk FAQs

Final thoughts

Freshworks and Zendesk are equally great customer support ticketing system options. The right choice depends on your current support volume, team size and whether your priority is sales or post-sale support.

Start with a free trial of each tool and test real workflows to see which service desk works best for your team – and whether it reduces complexity instead of adding to it.

For teams where sales and support are closely linked, Pipedrive offers a way to manage customer conversations, follow-ups and light support directly in a sales-first CRM, without maintaining a separate ticketing system. Try Pipedrive free for 14 days to see whether a simpler, sales-focused setup helps your team work more efficiently.