ServiceNow vs Freshdesk

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Our analysts compared ServiceNow vs Freshdesk based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Help Desk Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

ServiceNow Software Tool

Product Basics

ServiceNow's Help Desk Software streamlines customer service processes, providing a centralized platform for issue tracking, incident management, and knowledge management. It's ideal for businesses seeking to improve their help desk efficiency and customer satisfaction. Key benefits include automated workflows, customizable dashboards, and self-service portals. Popular features encompass ticket assignment, SLA management, and knowledge base creation.

In comparison to similar products, ServiceNow excels in its comprehensive functionality and scalability. User experiences highlight its intuitive interface, ease of customization, and robust reporting capabilities. Pricing considerations include a subscription-based model with flexible payment options, allowing businesses to tailor their investment to their specific needs.

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Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service solution that ensures increased satisfaction and engagement. It simplifies ticketing with customization options for agent roles, ticket forms, portals and more. Users can manage identity and information access for improved data security.

It offers field service modules that include omnichannel customer engagement, quick query resolution, automatic appointment management and a map view that lets users track dispatches in real time. Android and iOS support allow field employees to plan, monitor and track appointments, updates and customer communication conveniently. Its other offerings include widget customization, scheduled and customized reports, intelligent ticket assignment and more.

  • Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Scalable for large teams
  • Automation capabilities
  • Reporting & Analytics
  • Mobile app available
  • Cons
  • Limited free plan
  • Customization options
  • Reporting can be complex
  • Higher pricing for some plans
  • Limited multilingual support
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$4,500/User, Annually
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$15/User, Monthly
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Enhanced Productivity: Streamlined workflows and automation tools reduce manual tasks, allowing agents to focus on higher-value activities.
  • Improved Customer Satisfaction: Centralized knowledge base, intuitive self-service portal, and personalized communication channels elevate customer experiences.
  • Increased Efficiency: Automated ticket routing, escalation rules, and proactive notifications optimize ticket management, minimizing resolution times.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Integrated communication channels and real-time collaboration tools foster seamless teamwork between agents and other departments.
  • Data-Driven Insights: Comprehensive reporting and analytics provide valuable insights into performance metrics, enabling data-informed decision-making.
  • Improved IT Service Management: Integration with IT infrastructure and monitoring tools provides a comprehensive view of IT service delivery, streamlining incident management.
  • Enhanced Employee Experience: Self-service capabilities, knowledge sharing forums, and personalized dashboards empower employees to resolve issues efficiently.
  • Reduced Costs: Automation and process optimization reduce operational expenses and minimize the need for additional staffing.
  • Improved Compliance: Adherence to industry regulations and standards through automated compliance checks and reporting capabilities.
  • Scalability and Flexibility: Modular design and cloud-based architecture enable ServiceNow to adapt to changing business needs and scale as required.
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  • Improved Productivity:  Assign tickets automatically to agents and groups based on various details, including their workloads and skills. Also, auto-assign emails, calls and chats to agents based on keywords and available bandwidth for better productivity. 
  • Better Efficiency: Schedule regular reports to analyze and improve agent performance using different help desk metrics. Measure customer satisfaction based on their satisfaction reports to improve services. 
  • Stronger Teamwork: Facilitate better collaboration between different departments for quicker resolution of customer issues, with linked tickets to keep track of vast issues and team huddle for discussions with experts. 
  • Data Security: Secure confidential data and customer information with state-of-the-art data security. Whitelist IP ranges, restrict login access and set up single sign on script for credentials authentication. 
  • AI Support: Enable faster resolution of customer issues with AI supported chatbots that provide instantaneous answers. 
  • Accessibility: Allow agents exclusive access to login on the go. Conveniently access solutions via website, mobile app and chatbot. 
  • Save Time: Automate mundane tasks so that agents can focus better on resolving customer issues. 
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  • Customer Service Management: Enable the back, middle and front offices to address customer issues and automate common requests prudently. Get access to robust tools such as dashboards, cross-portal search and activity feed to enhance the customer experience and improve the team’s productivity. 
    • Communities: Connect customers with peers to solve problems, share ideas, solutions and experiences and find answers via online forums. 
    • Gamification: Encourage engagement through elements like levels, points and badges. 
    • Case Integration: Escalate unanswered questions or issues into cases manually or automatically. 
    • Harvest Knowledge: Allow moderators to turn solutions into knowledge articles.
  • Knowledge Management: Offer a customer-grade search experience to users with contextual knowledge powered by AI capabilities and machine learning. Monitor timelines, knowledge use, aging, gaps and feedback via dashboards and analytics to fine-tune processes and content. 
  • Microsoft Word Authoring: Offer a familiar writing experience to users with a Microsoft Word online integration. Create reusable knowledge articles to reduce repetition and redundancy 
  • Feedback Management: Manage feedback with exceptional automatic closed-loop processes. 
  • Performance Analytics: Solve customer issues with better insights into real-time trends and patterns. Improve team productivity and decrease repetitions and failures with dashboards, analytics hub, spotlights and KPI signals. 
  • Subscription: Allow users to subscribe to a knowledge base, articles and to receive automatic notifications about any new content. 
  • Virtual Agent: Help customers resolve issues instantly via an AI-powered chatbot. Transfer conversation history to the most appropriate agent who can resolve issues quickly through live-agent hand-off. Use a built-in NLU engine to connect Microsoft LUIS and IBM Watson Assistant to identify map entities and intents. 
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  • Ticketing Management: Deliver higher quality customer service with collaborative ticketing. Convert customer issues from different channels into resolvable tickets. Offers: 
    •  Team inbox to prioritize and assign tickets based on keywords. 
    •  AI-supported ticketing to improve agents’ efficiency and save time. 
    •  SLA management to measure agents’ performance and set customer expectations for response times. 
  • Omnichannel: Consolidate various support-related communications channels like email, phone, chat, website, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter to ensure a seamless customer experience as well as faster query resolution. 
  • Service Management: Create service tasks and field technician groups for tickets on the basis of location, priority and other aspects. To manage field operations, it also includes: 
    •  Scheduling dashboard to keep track of appointments, tasks and field team workloads. 
    •  Mobile field service to keep technicians updated on the fly. 
    •  Automated time-tracking to monitor billable hours. 
    •  Single swipe attachment of customer signatures to the service tasks via the mobile app. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Schedule reports at regular intervals and customize them according to various requirements. Access actionable insights using data in different chart styles and visualizations. 
  • Customization: Customize workflows, customer portal and agents for optimum productivity based on specific business requirements. Its customization can be leveraged in the following ways: 
    •  Customized ticket forms. 
    •  Custom URL for smooth customer experience. 
    •  Building and integration of customized apps. 
    •  Custom segmentation of customers for personalized support. 
  • Automation: Automate notifications to agents and customers for any updates in their tickets. Automatically execute maintenance activities and implement actions on tickets based on the time lapsed since an event. 
  • Identity and Access Management: Allow and restrict agents as well as customers to log in to their accounts using single sign on script from anywhere using IP whitelisting and a VPN. 
  • Customer Self-Service: Enable efficient customer self-service with automated suggestion pop ups, knowledge base articles and by converting critical issues in the community into resolvable tickets. 
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Product Ranking

#4

among all
Help Desk Software

#7

among all
Help Desk Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

80
86
83
83
56
55
92
93
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Dashboards and Reporting
Platform Security
Platform Capabilities
Team Collaboration
Integrations and Extensibility
Platform Security
Platform Capabilities
Ticket Management
Team Collaboration

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

ServiceNow
Freshdesk
+ Add Product + Add Product
Agent Productivity Call Center Management Dashboards And Reporting Email Management Live Chat Management Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Team Collaboration Ticket Management 83 56 92 76 79 50 88 88 75 83 55 93 92 39 58 97 95 97 0 25 50 75 100
83%
0%
17%
83%
0%
17%
0%
58%
42%
0%
92%
8%
83%
0%
17%
83%
17%
0%
71%
0%
29%
86%
0%
14%
73%
0%
27%
0%
45%
55%
40%
0%
60%
60%
0%
40%
83%
4%
13%
92%
4%
4%
83%
0%
17%
83%
17%
0%
71%
6%
23%
94%
0%
6%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

68%
0%
32%
100%
0%
0%
78%
11%
11%
100%
0%
0%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 572 reviews
Great User Sentiment 4697 reviews
82%
of users recommend this product

ServiceNow has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 82% when considering 572 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

89%
of users recommend this product

Freshdesk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 4697 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

n/a
5.0 (22)
4.0 (248)
4.4 (2352)
n/a
4.63 (8)
n/a
4.5 (2229)
4.3 (50)
n/a
4.4 (82)
n/a
4.1 (192)
4.3 (86)

Awards

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SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Freshdesk and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Ticket Management and Integrations and Extensibility.

Ticket Management Award
Integrations and Extensibility Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Robust Ticket Management: Efficiently manage and track tickets from submission to resolution, with customizable workflows and automated notifications.
Seamless Integrations: Effortlessly connect with other business systems, such as CRM, ERP, and HR, for a unified view of customer interactions.
Comprehensive Knowledge Base: Empower users with self-service options by creating and managing a searchable knowledge base of FAQs and solutions.
Automated Workflows: Streamline processes by automating repetitive tasks, such as ticket assignment, escalation, and status updates.
Real-Time Analytics: Gain valuable insights into performance metrics, customer trends, and areas for improvement through customizable dashboards and reports.
Mobile Accessibility: Provide remote teams and users with access to the help desk platform anytime, anywhere, through mobile applications.
Enhanced Collaboration: Foster teamwork and knowledge sharing among support agents through integrated chat, forums, and collaboration tools.
Scalability and Flexibility: Easily adapt the platform to changing business needs, with the ability to handle large volumes of tickets and integrate with new systems as required.
Excellent Customer Support: Receive dedicated support from ServiceNow's team of experts to ensure smooth implementation and ongoing assistance.
Proven Track Record: Leverage a platform trusted by leading organizations worldwide, with a proven track record of delivering exceptional help desk solutions.
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User-Friendly Interface: Freshdesk is praised for its intuitive design and straightforward navigation. This minimizes onboarding time for new agents and reduces the learning curve, allowing them to become productive more quickly. Think of it as a user-friendly smartphone app compared to a clunky, feature-laden desktop program. This ease of use translates into faster issue resolution and improved overall efficiency.
Scalability & Customization: Freshdesk caters to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. Its flexible plans and customization options allow businesses to tailor the platform to their specific needs. For instance, a small team might prioritize a simple ticketing system, while a larger organization can leverage features like custom automations or in-depth reporting for more complex workflows.
Mobile Accessibility: Freshdesk offers mobile apps for agents and customers, enabling them to access the platform and manage inquiries on the go. This is particularly valuable for remote teams or situations where agents need to be available outside the office. Imagine a field technician using the mobile app to update a customer ticket while on-site, improving responsiveness and streamlining the resolution process.
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Steep Learning Curve: Navigating ServiceNow's complex interface and functionality requires significant training and experience, leading to slow adoption and productivity challenges.
Customization Limitations: While ServiceNow offers customization options, they can be restrictive and time-consuming, hindering organizations from tailoring the platform to their specific needs.
Costly Implementation: Implementing ServiceNow can be expensive, involving licensing fees, professional services, and ongoing maintenance costs, which may not align with all budgets.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: ServiceNow's built-in reporting features may fall short of providing comprehensive insights and analytics, requiring additional third-party tools or custom development.
Slow Performance: Users have reported instances of slow performance and responsiveness within ServiceNow, particularly during peak usage times, affecting productivity and user satisfaction.
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Limited Free Plan Functionality: While Freshdesk offers a free plan, it can be restrictive for businesses with growing needs. Features like custom automations, advanced reporting, and integrations are often reserved for paid plans. This can limit its usefulness for businesses seeking a comprehensive help desk solution without upfront investment.
Reporting Complexity: Freshdesk's reporting capabilities, particularly in lower-tier plans, can be cumbersome to navigate and require some technical expertise to generate insightful data. Some users report that creating custom reports or filtering data can be time-consuming, hindering efforts to effectively track key performance indicators (KPIs) and measure support team effectiveness. Imagine sifting through an overflowing email inbox to find a specific message compared to having a well-organized filing system with clear labels.
Limited Multilingual Support: Freshdesk's interface and support resources are primarily available in English. This can be a drawback for businesses operating in international markets or with a multilingual customer base. While some basic translations are available, they might be limited or not comprehensive, potentially hindering effective communication with non-English speaking customers and agents.
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ServiceNow's Help Desk Software receives consistent praise for its intuitive interface, robust automation capabilities, and comprehensive reporting features. Users appreciate its ability to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and provide real-time visibility into support operations. However, some reviewers note that its complex configuration and customization options can be daunting for small teams or those with limited technical expertise. Compared to similar products, ServiceNow stands out for its scalability, enterprise-grade security, and extensive integration options. Its ability to handle large volumes of support requests and integrate seamlessly with other business systems makes it a popular choice for large organizations. However, its higher cost and steep learning curve may not be suitable for smaller businesses or those with less demanding support needs. Overall, ServiceNow's Help Desk Software is best suited for large organizations seeking a comprehensive and scalable solution. Its strengths in automation, reporting, and integration make it a valuable tool for streamlining support operations and improving customer satisfaction.

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Freshdesk garners praise for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design, which minimizes training time for new agents and gets them up to speed faster. This is particularly important for businesses with high agent turnover or seasonal spikes in support requests. When compared to competitors offering a steeper learning curve, Freshdesk allows teams to become productive quicker, leading to faster issue resolution and improved customer satisfaction. However, Freshdesk's free plan, while suitable for small teams or those starting out, can be limiting for businesses requiring advanced features. Features like custom automations, powerful reporting, and integrations are often reserved for paid plans. This can be a dealbreaker for businesses seeking a comprehensive help desk solution without a significant upfront investment. Here, competitors offering more robust functionalities in their free tiers might be more suitable. Overall, Freshdesk shines for its user-friendliness, scalability, and mobile accessibility. The ability to customize the platform to fit specific workflows and the availability of mobile apps for agents and customers are valuable assets. However, its limited free plan functionality and potentially complex reporting can be drawbacks. Freshdesk is best suited for small and medium-sized businesses seeking an easy-to-use and scalable help desk solution, particularly those with limited technical expertise or a mobile workforce. For larger enterprises with complex workflows or multilingual customer bases, competitors offering more powerful reporting capabilities or broader language support might be a better fit.

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Screenshots

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