Zendesk vs ServiceNow

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Our analysts compared Zendesk vs ServiceNow 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

Zendesk For Service is a scalable platform offering streamlined customer and sales support. Agents can resolve problems efficiently, and track and prioritize support tickets. Omnichannel support allows users to centralize customer interactions across phone, chat, email and more. Its built-in intelligent routing reduces resolution time by automating ticketing queues and ensuring an appropriate customer-to-agent fit.

Customizable, shareable and pre-built dashboards help users gain actionable insights through real-time data. Teams can leverage the integrated knowledge base management tools to empower customers to resolve issues by themselves. AI-powered bots optimize engagement by providing 24/7 support, answering FAQs, collecting information, delivering chat transcripts and auto-filling ticket fields. Its other offerings include a self-service portal, reporting and analytics, an IT service desk and more.

To explore other popular solutions offered by Zendesk, visit our Zendesk company page.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Scalable
  • Multi-channel
  • Integrations
  • Customization
Cons
  • Costly
  • Limited reporting
  • Learning curve
  • Collaboration limitations
  • Integrations limitations
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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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$55/User, Monthly
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$4,500/User, Annually
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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

  • Unified Workspace: Get a coherent workspace experience with a digital contextual interface. Get benefits when agents work in shifts. Pass around tickets and work orders get passed around within the team. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Bridge support and service teams with customers across multiple modules. Get omnichannel support embedded in the product’s context-preserving workspace. Continue conversations with customers regardless of the channel and resolve issues without losing context. 
  • Better Support From Anywhere: Offer 24/7 support with AI-powered chatbots that help customers answer common queries without agent intervention. 
  • Enhanced Agent Productivity: Route tickets according to agent availability, capacity, priority and skill to ensure better resolution times. Rank agents based on performance and gamify work to further encourage productivity 
  • Better Reporting: Custom dashboards enable better data visualization and performance tracking. Track a range of different KPIs through custom and pre-built reports. Schedule automated reports at regular intervals to keep track of KPIs.
  • Improved Security and Compliance: Encrypt communication data between customers and support agents using industry best practices. GDPR compliance, HTTPS security and Transport Layer Security (TLS) keep private data secure.
  • Streamlined Workflows: Leverage AI to automate and enhance operations through tools like AI-based ticket routing, ticket sentiment analysis and automated response suggestions. 
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  • 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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  • Ticketing System: Offer high-quality customer support across various channels with pre-built dashboards, automation, customer ticket fields and dynamic forms. Avoid misplacing tickets, produce faster resolution and boost the bandwidth via robust tools such as CSAT ratings, routing, service-level agreements and time tracking. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Offer quick and seamless customer support through multiple channels including email, phone, chat, customized chatbots, a website, WhatsApp, messaging, Facebook and Twitter to ensure faster resolutions 
  • Messaging and Live Chat: Engage in long-term, personalized conversations with customers to deliver instant support without any repetitions. Help customers get instant answers via bots and integrated programs with the ability to turn to a live agent whenever needed. 
  • Help Center: Give customers access to knowledge base articles and automated suggestion pop-ups to enable a streamlined and efficient self-service. Convert essential issues in the community into resolvable tickets and update reusable content from help centers and articles through content blocks. 
  • Voice Support: Deliver instant support to customers with a cloud-based voice solution, plug into 90+ telephone providers. Extend voice capabilities with services including redaction, quality assurance and advanced call transcriptions. 
  • Community Forums: Create a platform for customers to collaborate, provide feedback, review the product, and answer other user’s questions. Help them reach out for the most relevant services. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Analyze how customers use websites, products, services and various support channels. Determine ways to improve the experience by getting instant access to insights and identifying problem areas via customizable, pre-built dashboards. 
  • Knowledge Base: Help customers get to know the services and products better by creating easy-to-read articles with rich formatting and translations to 40+ languages for a localized customer experience. 
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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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Product Ranking

#3

among all
Help Desk Software

#4

among all
Help Desk Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

91
80
92
83
87
56
100
92
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Dashboards and Reporting
Platform Security
Integrations and Extensibility
Ticket Management
Platform Capabilities
Dashboards and Reporting
Platform Security
Platform Capabilities
Team Collaboration

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Zendesk
ServiceNow
+ 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 92 87 100 92 74 81 93 85 95 83 56 92 76 79 50 88 88 75 0 25 50 75 100
83%
0%
17%
83%
0%
17%
83%
0%
17%
0%
58%
42%
100%
0%
0%
83%
0%
17%
86%
0%
14%
71%
0%
29%
73%
0%
27%
73%
0%
27%
80%
0%
20%
40%
0%
60%
83%
8%
9%
83%
4%
13%
67%
0%
33%
83%
0%
17%
88%
6%
6%
71%
6%
23%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

95%
0%
5%
68%
0%
32%
100%
0%
0%
78%
11%
11%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 5221 reviews
Great User Sentiment 572 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Zendesk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 5221 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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.

5.0 (32)
n/a
4.2 (2286)
4.0 (248)
4.4 (2528)
n/a
n/a
4.3 (50)
4.3 (51)
4.4 (82)
3.9 (324)
4.1 (192)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Zendesk and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Help Desk Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Dashboards and Reporting and Platform Security.

Analysts' Pick Award
Dashboards and Reporting Award
Platform Security Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ticket Management: 83% of users who talked about Zendesk’s ticket management features had a positive experience and praised the platform.
Ease of Use: 64% of users who talked about their onboarding and general experience using the platform said Zendesk was easy to use and learn.
Integrations: 57% of reviewers who mentioned integrations were happy with the range and variety of integrations available.
Knowledge Management: 83% of users who mentioned using the knowledge management and help center tools said they had a positive experience.
Collaboration: 92% of users who talked about Zendesk’s collaboration tools said that the platform made external and internal collaboration and communication easier.
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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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Reporting: 55% of users who talked about the platform’s reporting and analytics tools complained about the lack of advanced reporting tools, especially on cheaper plans.
Customer Support: 70% of users who talked about contacting Zendesk customer service expressed dissatisfaction with their experience.
Cost: 100% of users who talked about pricing said that the cost of the platform was quite high for small businesses and businesses in developing countries.
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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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Zendesk For Service offers streamlined tools for businesses of all sizes. It excels in features like ticket management, collaboration and knowledge management. Its interface is easy to use and understand, and there are plenty of onboarding resources for new users. The platform also offers numerous integrations with programs like CRM systems, project management tools and collaboration tools like Slack.While users praised the comprehensive features and level of customization offered by the platform, they also said that this can make the learning curve steeper. Some customers were also disappointed by the lack of advanced reporting tools, the unresponsiveness of customer support and high cost for small businesses. All in all, Zendesk is a scalable and feature-rich solution for businesses looking for an efficient ticketing and support tool.

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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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