Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Zendesk VS FreeScout

Compare Zendesk VS FreeScout and see what are their differences

Zendesk logo Zendesk

Zendesk is a beautiful, lightweight help-desk solution.
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FreeScout logo FreeScout

Free open source Zendesk & Help Scout alternative: help desk, shared mailbox, email management...
  • Zendesk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-05-06
  • FreeScout Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-21

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.

FreeScout features and specs

  • Open Source
    FreeScout is open source, which allows users to inspect the code, contribute to its development, and customize it according to their needs.
  • Cost-Effective
    Since FreeScout is a free software solution, it can significantly reduce the costs associated with customer support management, especially for startups and small businesses.
  • Self-Hosted
    Users can host FreeScout on their own servers, giving them complete control over their data and privacy, which is ideal for organizations with strict data governance policies.
  • Modular and Extensible
    FreeScout offers a variety of modules and integrations, allowing businesses to extend its functionality based on their specific requirements.
  • Easy to Use
    The platform has a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it easy for support teams to adopt and utilize effectively.

Possible disadvantages of FreeScout

  • Limited Official Support
    As an open-source project, official customer support might be limited, and users often rely on community forums and documentation for assistance.
  • Hosting Required
    Being self-hosted means that the user needs to set up and maintain their own server infrastructure, which may require technical expertise and resources.
  • Potential for Complexity
    While modular, setting up and configuring FreeScout with custom modules and integrations can become complex and time-consuming for those without sufficient technical knowledge.
  • Performance Depends on Hosting
    The performance of FreeScout is dependent on the quality of the hosting environment, which means users need to ensure their server meets the necessary requirements for optimal operation.

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.

Zendesk videos

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]

FreeScout videos

No FreeScout videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Zendesk and FreeScout)
Customer Support
95 95%
5% 5
Help Desk
94 94%
6% 6
Customer Service
92 92%
8% 8
Help Desk And Ticketing

User comments

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Reviews

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

Zendesk Reviews

  1. Clunky & awful customer service

    Would give them 0/5 if I could!

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: HubSpot, Freshdesk
    ๐Ÿ‘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.
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.
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

FreeScout Reviews

We have no reviews of FreeScout yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FreeScout should be more popular than Zendesk. It has been mentiond 13 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.

Zendesk mentions (7)

  • The Ultimate Guide to Building Internal Tools in 2024
    Popular solutions ****include Zendesk and Help Scout. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years 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: about 3 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: about 3 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. Iโ€™d emphasize a straightforward, fuss-free angle instead. Source: over 3 years ago
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FreeScout mentions (13)

  • Show HN: Libredesk โ€“ open-source customer support desk. Single binary app
    Surprised no one has mentioned FreeScout. It's a solid open-source helpdesk: https://freescout.net/. They have cheap, one-time purchase plugins. Happy to pay a bit to keep the project sustainable. I'd love to see an open-source Trello alternative that as well. There are a few out there, but nothing that seems actively maintained. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Yet another hepdesk ticket post...
    I think FreeScout is going to be something to consider. Source: over 2 years ago
  • IT Pro Tuesday #251 - Git UI, Fiber Training, Infosec News & More
    FreeScout is an open-source, self-hosted version of HelpScout that offers complete privacy and control through a PHP/MySQL application that's easy to deploy. This powerful-yet-lightweight help desk and shared inbox can serve as a nice free alternative to Zendesk/HelpScout for providing efficient customer support. Troubleshootmertr recommends it "for ticketing.". Source: over 2 years ago
  • Best IT ticketing management system out there
    I know this gets some hate for not being "pure" open source, but I'm a massive fan of FreeScout (https://freescout.net/). The core is open source, with add-ons you can purchase (one-time purchase per domain). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Self-hosting Standard Notes on a Synology NAS for end-to-end encrypted notes and files
    For a good open source/self hosted software project, please see https://freescout.net/. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

osTicket - osTicket is a widely-used open source support ticket system.

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

LiveAgent - LiveAgent is a fully-featured live chat and help desk software with AI functions. 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!

Zammad - The Zammad - Help Desk and Ticket System - Community Page

HelpScout - Help Scout is a simple, straightforward way to provide excellent support