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Discourse VS Zendesk

Compare Discourse VS Zendesk and see what are their differences

EcholoN
Holistic service management: service, support + customer care. From Ticketing to Helpdesk, Service Desk, ITSM to Enterprise Service Management, Service Technician and Field Service Management (FSM)... featured
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Contents:
  1. Ā» Base Details
  2. Ā» Videos
  3. Ā» Reviews
  4. Ā» Alternatives

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.

Zendesk logo Zendesk

Zendesk is a beautiful, lightweight help-desk solution.
Visit Website
  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13
  • Zendesk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-05-06

Discourse features and specs

  • Modern Interface
    Discourse provides a clean, intuitive, and responsive user interface that works well on both desktops and mobile devices.
  • Open Source
    Discourse is open source software, allowing for customization, self-hosting, and community contributions, which can reduce costs and increase flexibility.
  • Rich Features
    The platform includes a variety of built-in features such as threaded replies, real-time notifications, and community moderation tools.
  • Scalability
    Discourse is designed to handle small communities as well as large, active forums, making it suitable for a variety of use cases.
  • Security
    Regular updates and a dedicated security team help keep the software secure against vulnerabilities.
  • Integration and APIs
    Discourse offers extensive APIs and integrates well with various other services and plugins, facilitating seamless extensions and automation.

Possible disadvantages of Discourse

  • Resource Intensive
    Discourse can be resource-heavy, which may require significant server capacity and maintenance, especially for large communities.
  • Hosting Costs
    While you can self-host Discourse, the server and maintenance costs can be high. Managed hosting plans provided by Discourse can also be expensive.
  • Complex Setup
    Installing and configuring Discourse can be complex, particularly for those without technical expertise in server management and Ruby on Rails.
  • Learning Curve
    Users and administrators might face a steeper learning curve compared to more traditional forum software due to its modern interface and extensive features.
  • Limited Built-in Themes
    The default theme options are somewhat limited, and extensive customization requires knowledge of front-end development.
  • Dependency on PostgreSQL and Redis
    Discourse relies on PostgreSQL for its database and Redis for caching, which might complicate setup and maintenance compared to solutions that use simpler database architectures.

Zendesk features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Zendesk offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible for users of varying technical expertise. This reduces the learning curve and increases efficiency.
  • Multi-Channel Support
    Zendesk supports various customer interaction channels, including email, chat, phone, and social media. This allows businesses to provide consistent support across multiple platforms.
  • Customizability
    The platform is highly customizable with options to create custom workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and integrate with a wide range of third-party applications.
  • Robust Reporting and Analytics
    Zendesk offers powerful reporting and analytics tools, enabling businesses to track key performance metrics, analyze customer interactions, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Scalability
    The platform is designed to grow with your business, offering various tiers of service and options that cater to both small businesses and large enterprises.

Discourse videos

+ Add

Why We Chose The Discourse Platform For Our Forums

More videos:

  • Review - Why Discourse is the Best Forum Software Out There (No, Really) | Location Rebel
  • Review - A Grammar Review for Discourse Analysis

Zendesk videos

+ Add

Zendesk Overview Demo

More videos:

  • Review - Introduction to Zendesk Support (for beginners)
  • Review - Zendesk Review
  • Review - ZenDesk vs FreshDesk - Which One Is Better?
  • Review - Zendesk Review: Customer Service Made Easier
  • Review - Zendesk Review
  • Review - Ultimate Zendesk Review 2024 | What Does It Do? [1/10]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Discourse and Zendesk)

Discourse

Zendesk

Forums And Forum Software
100 100%
Forums And Forum Software
0% 0
Customer Support
0 0%
Customer Support
100% 100
Forums
100 100%
Forums
0% 0
Help Desk
0 0%
Help Desk
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Discourse and Zendesk. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Discourse and Zendesk

Discourse Reviews

20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Discourse is a basic forum function that could be an alternative to Telegram if you want to stick to text discussions. It's pretty analog, missing both video and livestreaming tools. Instead, Discourse is a basic community that lets you organize discussions--it feels a bit like having your own reddit or Quora.
Source: www.mightynetworks.com
18 Best Discord Alternatives 2020 | Expert Reviews
Discourse comes in a couple of flavours. You can self-host it yourself in which case the software is free, and you simply need to sign up for server space, or you can pay Discourse for a hosted-for-you option, though self-hosting is a lot cheaper the premium option takes care of the technical side.
Source: solutionsuggest.com
IndieHackers: Best forum software
I used Flarum when trying to get a community set up for my product (ended up abandoning it to revisit when we have a larger customer base). It worked fairly well and I enjoyed it but it's definitely beta and unless you're fairly tech savvy it's not quite worth the setup / maintenance. Lots of config changes, crashes, huge issues with plugins, and some features missing. I'd...
Source: www.indiehackers.com

Zendesk Reviews

  1. stu14
    Clunky & awful customer service

    Would give them 0/5 if I could!

    šŸ Competitors: HubSpot, Freshdesk
    šŸ‘Ž Cons:    Customer support|Ux/ui|Limited features
10 Best Freshdesk Alternatives for Businesses in 2024
Zendesk is a robust customer support software suitable for enterprise companies. It is a customer service and engagement platform that provides various tools and software solutions to help businesses manage customer support, interactions, and relationships.
Source: www.bolddesk.com
Top 11 Freshdesk Alternatives for 2024 (Ranked & Rated)
Zendesk is a great customer satisfaction software for enterprise, but there could be better options for small businesses. If you have a small business or want something a bit more personal, then our breakdown of the best Zendesk alternatives can help you find the right software for you.
Source: www.helpscout.com
9 Best ManyChat Alternatives & Competitors in 2024
Zendesk is the second-largest live chat technology company by market share. This ManyChat competitor offers one of the most diverse ranges of features and one of the largest selections of languages to choose from. It also provides integrations with Salesforce and Microsoft Teams for easier connectivity between software if your company is already using these systems.
Source: www.tidio.com
Top 13 Freshdesk alternatives and competitors for 2024
Companies choose Zendesk over Freshdesk because Zendesk is a trusted solution and an authority in customer service software. Our software is CX-centered and we understand what it takes to deliver an exceptional and personalized customer experience. Our Zendesk vs. Freshdesk page provides deeper information about how they compare.
Source: www.zendesk.com
Best 25 Software Documentation Tools 2023
Zendesk is a cloud-based knowledge management and self-service help center software that allows teams to create, organize, and share documentation and knowledge base articles for customer support.
Source: www.uphint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Discourse should be more popular than Zendesk. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Discourse mentions (23)

  • Qilin: A Starter Project Template For Every Open Source Project
    GitHub Discussions can also be a great place for support as long as these are regularly monitored. Another option along the same lines is Discourse and the Open Source Matrix which is used by quite a few Open Source and community-based projects. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: How to run an old-school mailing list?
    A lot of communities use [Discourse ](https://discourse.org). [LPSF](https://forum lpsf.org) migrated to it when Yahoo Groups was discontinued. Some of the advantages are that it's open source, self-hostable, and can be configured to work as both a traditional mailing list and modern forum. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • My Fediverse use ā€“ I'm hosting everything myself ā€“ PeerTube, Mastodon and Lemmy
    More like https://discourse.org/. You can run it yourself, but I can also just have them ding a credit card every month and not think about it again (I do this for a community). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge
    Discourse perhaps? I've seen it in use in a few places; it has a modern look and feel to it at least. https://discourse.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • So Long, Twitter and Reddit
    I fully agree with you see my comment here[0] -- I think you may have misread my comment, it says "Discourse" (as in the forum software[1]), not Discord. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37245220. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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Zendesk mentions (7)

  • The Ultimate Guide to Building Internal Tools in 2024
    Popular solutions ****include Zendesk and Help Scout. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • is this scam
    That's not a reddit a url. zendesk.com is the url, whatever the hell that is. Source: over 2 years ago
  • [HELP] Can't log in to upload SSL due to expired SSL
    Had my new SSL delivered at around the same time as my old one expired and now I can't log in due to it having expired. Is there an alternative URL I can get to, to log in? I've tried zendesk.com and hoped for a backend route through there but no cigar. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Special trick to get support for battery replacement ?
    Seven hours later and I have still not received a new email from "BOOXHelp help@boox.com via zendesk.com" (or other boox/onyx email). The last human-generated email I got from there was two days ago (Wed, Aug 31, 3:15 PM). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Here's how I'd figure out the go-to-market for a Customer Support SaaS
    My way of doing marketing starts with figuring out what my overall project will (or will not) be. In this case, I looked at the vendors like Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, or Help Scout. They all have whizbang features such as live-chat, collaboration stuffs, automations and workflows. They bill per contact and addons. Iā€™d emphasize a straightforward, fuss-free angle instead. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Discourse and Zendesk, you can also consider the following products

Flarum - Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun. It's simple, fast, and free.

Freshdesk - Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software that lets you support customers through traditional channels like phone and email, social channels like Facebook and Twitter, and your own branded community

phpBB - Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap, credit-card sized computer. The official website uses phpBB for their discussion forums. phpBB is not affiliated with nor responsible for any of the sites listed on the showcase.

Intercom - Intercom is a customer relationship management and messaging tool for web businesses. Build relationships with users to create loyal customers.

Vanilla Forums - Build an engaging community forum using Vanilla's modern cloud forum software.

LiveAgent - LiveAgent is a fully-featured web-based live chat and help desk software. It harnesses the power of a universal inbox, real-time live chat, built-in call center, and a robust customer service portal. Start your free 1 month trial today!

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