Buffer vs. Zoho Desk

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buffer
Score 8.2 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Buffer is a social sharing tool. When browsing content, clicking on the Buffer icon automatically stores the content and schedules posts to social media channels throughout the day.
$15
per month
Zoho Desk
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Support is a Saas help desk / ticketing system aimed at SMBs. I competes most often with Zendesk, and Desk.com.
$0
Pricing
BufferZoho Desk
Editions & Modules
Publish Pro
$15
per month
Analyze Pro
$35
per month
Analyze Premium
$50
per month
Publish Premium
$65
per month
Publish Business
$99
per month
Free
$0
Standard
$14
per user
Professional
$23
per user
Enterprise
$40
per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BufferZoho Desk
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsHere are the prices of our various plans: Pro: $15/month Small Business: $99/month Medium Business: $199/month Large Business: $399/month Enterprise: Feel free to get in touch with us at onboarding@buffer.com. All plans can be paid on either a monthly or yearly basis. If you choose to pay yearly, you would receive a 15% discount, which works out to be approximately two months free per year.
More Pricing Information
Features
BufferZoho Desk
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.6
64 Ratings
5% below category average
Zoho Desk
-
Ratings
Content planning and scheduling9.364 Ratings00 Ratings
Content optimization6.457 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.053 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.8
59 Ratings
1% below category average
Zoho Desk
-
Ratings
Campaign success analytics7.859 Ratings00 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.4
61 Ratings
3% above category average
Zoho Desk
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions & privileges7.649 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile access9.259 Ratings00 Ratings
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Zoho Desk
8.0
2 Ratings
1% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Expert directory00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Zoho Desk
7.0
2 Ratings
10% below category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Zoho Desk
8.0
2 Ratings
4% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BufferZoho Desk
Small Businesses
Publer
Publer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
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User Ratings
BufferZoho Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(84 ratings)
7.5
(21 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(23 ratings)
9.4
(12 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.3
(23 ratings)
8.7
(12 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BufferZoho Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer
It helps me save hours by devoting only half an hour in a month's worth of posting, in addition to that it is quite simple to use. Buffer for scheduling social posts well in advance, but I have begun using it instead of posting natively on the social apps themselves because it makes it super easy to post the same messages to more than one platform.
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Zoho
The user friendly android and IOS applications are one of the best features of Zoho Desk although if you are expecting a Desktop application then you will be disappointed and will have to access it from your browser which can be slow sometimes, depending on your internet connection. The work flow of tickets submission either manually through the dashboard or mobile application, and tickets assignment to other agents along with tracking tickets and agents' performance is very easily executed with no issues being faced.
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Pros
Buffer
  • I can plan and publish content on social channels.
  • Buffer's interface is quite tidy and generates the necessary facilities to save us time in publishing consistent content.
  • It has a special price; it is pretty affordable.
  • It has the possibility of integrating with other tools to improve its functions.
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Zoho
  • Report features give the all insights of the customer team and customer support which enables us to make changes according to it.
  • The best thing about Zoho Desk is that it has a very beautiful and fully designed dashboard.
  • I have been using this software for a very long time in my organization, it is very easy to use with having the interface created on a very advanced module.
  • It is completely a feature rich platform.
Read full review
Cons
Buffer
  • Expensive Analytics: The upgrade you need to access your analytics is quite expensive, and I have come across other tools that provide the same or even more for a lesser priced plan.
  • No Media Library: The one feature I have found on another social media planning tool that I wish Buffer had is a media library. This allows you to upload photos you aren't using right away to have them readily available when you do decide to use them. This is not a feature in Buffer.
Read full review
Zoho
  • When utilizing as a ticketing system, it would be nice to have a better way to monitor when something is due. It's just a little cumbersome.
  • Search Functionality - The search functionality could use a tweak or two. Too many times I am unable to find tickets. This would also be very helpful for the "Recycle Bin" when you just need to find that ticket you accidentally deleted (we are all human!). :)
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Likelihood to Renew
Buffer
I am giving buffer this rating because of a couple issues that it has compared to other platforms. It does not always post to instagram and you will need to go in an manually post. Also, one of the biggest qualms that we have with buffer is the price it costs to have robust analytics
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Zoho
No answers on this topic
Usability
Buffer
We use Buffer for certain website content that should be shared on social networks, having this tool helps us to do it faster and easier since we can send the publications from the internet browser and the stack of scheduled messages. It is really fast and easy for all team members who share access to the account, so at the same time that we analyze the information that we can share, the message stack is prepared
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Zoho
At times Zoho [Desk] can be a bit glitchy. It does not auto refresh on the ticketing system, and even f it tells you there is a new ticket clicking it does nothing and you need to refresh the page for it to work. We have found at times that is can become unresponsive, although this usually doesn't last for longer than 15-30 mins.
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Reliability and Availability
Buffer
Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
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Zoho
No answers on this topic
Performance
Buffer
Buffer performs well on both desktop and mobile platforms. The one area as I have stated before is that it does not always want to automatically push to Instagram and the user will have to go do it manually. Buffer works very well pushing to other platforms. The instagram issue is the only reason buffer does not get a 10 on this section
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Zoho
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Buffer
  1. It really helped to my business to grow online.
  2. I was able to take actions mindfully as the analytics are damn good.
  3. Also used for managing clients social media accounts and it proved to be a best resource.
  4. Clients were really happy as they got high demand and growth on internet and the secret is Buffer.
  5. The user interface is really easy to understand and manage. Support is 24/7 available to help.
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Zoho
Zoho Desk has a technical team of professionals, who are well informed, and they know how to share the knowledge with the other players. Besides, they are competent in dealing with all kinds of customers, from divergent locations, and adopt their differences. Lastly, when called upon to solve an issue, they are quickly responsive.
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Implementation Rating
Buffer
We were very satisfied with the implementation of Buffer. We had no issues switching from the platform that we were using over to buffer. Our staff did not even miss a beat when it came to posting content. It was an easy transition and I feel that is something that buffer has really done well. They have an "out of the box" usability platform
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Zoho
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Buffer
I also used Combin which is easy and free to use. However, Combin only posts when the computer is active and connected to the internet. So, posting while you are not actively using your computer at that moment is not possible, therefore Buffer is much more efficient as you can even post while being on vacation without working.
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Zoho
We selected Zoho Desk as we needed a platform that was going to allow the business to grow through both usage and staffing numbers. We wanted something cost-effective but still offered standard features in an effective cloud-delivered solution but would still allow customization by our internal dev team, to derive better value from the service where it natively didn't do what we needed it to. FreeAgent was okay for a while, but Zoho Desk has allowed a vast improvement in our service offering to end customers.
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Scalability
Buffer
Buffer does what it say on tin as they say! you can always count on Buffer. Buffer can be scale to 25 social account with 2,000 scheduled post which is enough for most agencies or businesses
Read full review
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Buffer
  • It has saved money by allowing us to automate our social using one person
  • It allows us to connect one channel at a time instead of wasting money on larger account management tools
  • We are making money, because it has already delivered several clients
Read full review
Zoho
  • Zoho Desk has created an organised sytem of support which alows me to help my customers more efficiently.
  • By saving resolutions as articles, Zoho Desk has provided a training resource for current customers and support staff as part of solving problems.
  • All new customers become part of a database of customers who continue to receive support and education from forums created by the articles and customer questions.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Buffer Screenshots

Screenshot of The Buffer dashboardScreenshot of Customizable posting scheduleScreenshot of Tailored PostsScreenshot of List or calendar view of scheduled postsScreenshot of Browser extensionScreenshot of Social media analytics

Zoho Desk Screenshots

Screenshot of Log and monitor phone conversations, convert them into new tickets, or attach them to existing ones. Convert social media interactions and live chat into tickets at the click of a button.Screenshot of Bring a Help Center directly into a website to strengthen self-service. Chat with Zia, an AI-powered conversation assistant. Customers can chat with Zia right from a mobile app or website. Zia processes their questions and suggests appropriate solutions from the Knowledge Base.Screenshot of With advanced process automation, internal processes can be setup within the help desk, implement them automatically, and make sure that all processes are followed precisely.Screenshot of Instant responses for instant happiness. Respond to customers the minute they reach out with Zoho Desk's embeddable chat widget. Customers can get in touch with agents instantly, right from the Help Center, so agents can respond and help them find answers faster.Screenshot of Monitor a team's performance, customize and schedule reports. Custom dashboards can be created.Screenshot of Zia brings together predictions across anomalies, sentiment, trending ticket tags, and more into a common dashboard for decision-makers to consume. They can drill down further into the details from the same dashboard to investigate further.