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Vanilla Forums VS Zendesk

Compare Vanilla Forums VS Zendesk and see what are their differences

BoldDesk
Premium Customer Service Software to manage your customer support. Manage support email, publish self-help articles, and automate repetitive tasks. featured
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Vanilla Forums logo Vanilla Forums

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

Zendesk logo Zendesk

Zendesk is a beautiful, lightweight help-desk solution.
  • Vanilla Forums Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-03

  www.vanillaforums.comSoftware by Vanilla Forums

  • Zendesk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-05-06

Vanilla Forums features and specs

  • Customizability
    Vanilla Forums offers extensive customization options, allowing users to tailor the forum to their specific needs with themes, plugins, and rich APIs.
  • User Interface
    The platform features a modern and clean user interface, enhancing the user experience and making navigation straightforward.
  • Scalability
    Vanilla Forums is designed to scale, making it suitable for small communities as well as large enterprises, with options for cloud hosting to manage scaling.
  • Integrations
    Offers numerous integration options with other software and platforms, including CRM, ERP, and Single Sign-On (SSO) systems.
  • Support and Community
    Provides robust support and a strong community of users that can give advice, share customizations, and contribute to the forum's knowledge base.
  • SEO-friendly
    Designed to be SEO-friendly, thus improving the chances of higher search engine rankings and better discoverability of forum content.

Possible disadvantages of Vanilla Forums

  • Cost
    The hosted version of Vanilla Forums can be expensive, particularly for larger communities or when requiring advanced features.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive customization capabilities, there may be a steep learning curve for non-technical users to make the most out of the platform.
  • Dependency on Plugins
    Many advanced features require plugins, which can lead to compatibility issues and increased maintenance efforts.
  • Limited Built-in Features
    Compared to some competitors, Vanilla Forums' out-of-the-box features are relatively limited, necessitating the installation of additional plugins for full functionality.
  • Technical Requirements
    Self-hosted versions may require significant technical expertise to set up, maintain, and customize, which can be challenging for less tech-savvy users.

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.

Analysis of Vanilla Forums

Overall verdict

  • Vanilla Forums is generally considered a good choice for businesses and communities that need a scalable and customizable forum solution. Its array of features and flexibility make it well-suited for various applications, though it can require some technical expertise to get the most out of its capabilities.

Why this product is good

  • Vanilla Forums offers a robust and flexible community platform that's known for its user-friendly interface and strong customization options. It supports various features such as embedding, single sign-on, and integration with third-party services. Furthermore, its open-source nature allows for a high level of customization and adaptation to specific needs.

Recommended for

    Vanilla Forums is recommended for businesses, online communities, and organizations looking for a customizable and scalable platform to foster discussions, engage users, and build an active community. It is particularly suitable for those who have some technical expertise or access to developers who can leverage its open-source framework to customize the platform according to specific requirements.

Analysis of Zendesk

Overall verdict

  • Zendesk is generally regarded as a good choice for businesses seeking to improve their customer service operations. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools that cater to the needs of customer support teams, allowing for efficient and effective service delivery. However, as with any platform, it may have a learning curve and can be more costly compared to some basic options, so it's essential to assess its fit for your specific business needs.

Why this product is good

  • Zendesk is considered a strong customer support platform due to its robust features, including ticket management, automation capabilities, and integration options with various business applications. It provides a user-friendly interface, scalability for growing businesses, and performance analytics that help improve customer service efficiency. Additionally, it offers tools for self-service, live chat, and a comprehensive help center, making it a versatile solution for businesses of varying sizes.

Recommended for

    Zendesk is recommended for small to large businesses that need a scalable and comprehensive customer support solution. It is especially beneficial for organizations looking to integrate customer support with existing systems, those needing detailed reporting and analytics, and companies seeking to provide multi-channel support including email, live chat, and social media interactions.

Vanilla Forums videos

+ Add

Vanilla Forums

More videos:

  • Review - Vanilla Forums: Moderation Queues
  • Review - Using Announcements in Vanilla Forums

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 Vanilla Forums and Zendesk)

Vanilla Forums

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

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Reviews

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

Vanilla Forums Reviews

We have no reviews of Vanilla Forums yet.
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Zendesk Reviews

  1. stu14
    Clunky & awful customer service

    Would give them 0/5 if I could!

    🏁 Competitors: HubSpot, Freshdesk
    👎 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, Zendesk should be more popular than Vanilla Forums. It has been mentiond 7 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.

Vanilla Forums mentions (3)

  • The (grim?) future of Daoist forums
    I used to use phpBB back in the day. Vanilla forums has seemed interesting to me for a while (https://vanillaforums.com/), I used HostGator back in the day (https://www.hostgator.com/). Source: about 3 years ago
  • 1password is considering a self-hosted option to store vaults
    That one seems to be built with Vanilla Forums: https://vanillaforums.com/en/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
  • Boards.ie hamster has fallen off his wheel
    They're blaming their service provider for not working on the weekend, even though they should have been well aware of that when considering them as a service provider and should have planned their migration schedule accordingly. Source: almost 4 years ago

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. I’d emphasize a straightforward, fuss-free angle instead. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

XenForo - Intuitive. Social. Engaging. Fast. XenForo brings a fresh outlook to forum software.

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

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.

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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