Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Freshdesk
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Freshdesk (a product of Freshworks Inc.) is a customer service solution with enterprise capability. Freshdesk unifies channels, conversations, AI capabilities, customer insights, and advanced ticketing into the Freshdesk Command Center so agents are ready to resolve. With Freddy, People-first AI, customer service teams can take AI agents live in minutes to fully resolve complex and simple queries, get response and resolution assistance from AI copilot, and stay ahead with AI insights.…
$18
per month per user
Microsoft Project
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.
$120
per year per user
Zoho Projects
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Project is online project management and planning software that provides project teams with a web-based collaborative environment. Zoho Projects can also include a bug tracking module specifically design to support software development project. It is integrated with other Zoho products including Zoho CRM.
$5
per month per user
Pricing
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Editions & Modules
Growth
$18
per month per agent
Pro
$59
per month per agent
Enterprise
$95
per month per agent
Project Server
$0
Planner Plan 1
$10
per month per user
Planner and Project Plan 3
$30
per month per user
Planner and Project Plan 5
$55
per month per user
Project Standard 2024
$679.99
one-time fee per installation
Project Professional 2024
$1,129.99
one-time fee per installation
Free
$0
Premium
$5
per month per user
Enterprise
$10
per month per user
Project Plus
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Free Trial
YesYesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsPlans are billed annually.Discount offered for annual billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Considered Multiple Products
Freshdesk
Chose Freshdesk
Freshdesk's biggest advantage over some other service desk solutions is that it is completely web-based, so that helps to eliminate the need for a Systems Administrator having to install/set up/manage this on a server. This includes managing a database for the helpdesk …
Microsoft Project
Chose Microsoft Project
Zoho Projects is indeed cheap, but its a cloud base management; you can't do anything with slow internet. Zoho Projects also has login issues, but Microsoft Projects don't have any problems like that.
Microsoft Project also has a tremendous and dedicated support team and has a …
Chose Microsoft Project
These other products are much simplified and easier to use due to not having all of the advanced features that Microsoft Project has built-in. However, they have all the necessary functionality to meet the needs if you're not trying to use all of the extra advanced features.
Chose Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project was selected because it integrates well with other Microsoft products and has better tracking and visualization tools that can be used with different projects.
Chose Microsoft Project
We chose Microsoft Projects as we have an ongoing relationship with Microsoft and we use their other tools. Most people in our office are familiar with Microsoft Projects and our customers are use Microsoft Projects too. It integrates well with other tools we use in our office. …
Chose Microsoft Project
In all cases where I didn't use Project, i used an application given by Excel freely as a template, when you open Excel 2013 or higher. It is basically a Gantt chart, with several capabilities built in. All what is necessary for you to do in order to quickly get a basic Gantt …
Zoho Projects
Chose Zoho Projects
MSP - Windows based. Not collaborative. Complex UI. Cannot be shared with people outside the organization easily. Cannot set security levels for users to access projects based on the rights granted to them.
Trello and Asana - Expensive subscription plan. Limited …
Chose Zoho Projects
  • Easy to deploy
  • Clear design and a good mobile app
  • Very good document and chat management
Features
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Freshdesk
8.4
202 Ratings
2% above category average
Microsoft Project
-
Ratings
Zoho Projects
-
Ratings
Organize and prioritize service tickets9.2197 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Expert directory8.1134 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications7.06 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation7.67 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission9.3198 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket response8.9198 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Freshdesk
8.4
179 Ratings
5% above category average
Microsoft Project
-
Ratings
Zoho Projects
-
Ratings
External knowledge base8.4162 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledge base8.4167 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Freshdesk
8.8
189 Ratings
10% above category average
Microsoft Project
-
Ratings
Zoho Projects
-
Ratings
Customer portal8.7160 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
IVR9.159 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Social integration8.5102 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Email support9.0188 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration8.5119 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Freshdesk
-
Ratings
Microsoft Project
8.0
111 Ratings
3% above category average
Zoho Projects
8.3
21 Ratings
7% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings8.2110 Ratings8.621 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings7.7107 Ratings8.520 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings9.0107 Ratings8.318 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings8.4109 Ratings8.819 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings10.083 Ratings9.415 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings7.398 Ratings9.321 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings4.883 Ratings6.35 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings7.783 Ratings8.812 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings9.077 Ratings8.217 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings5.082 Ratings8.217 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings10.067 Ratings8.419 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings10.073 Ratings8.620 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings7.764 Ratings6.96 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings7.686 Ratings7.715 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Freshdesk
-
Ratings
Microsoft Project
8.8
79 Ratings
13% above category average
Zoho Projects
6.9
14 Ratings
12% below category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings7.755 Ratings5.55 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings10.045 Ratings8.413 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings7.476 Ratings6.55 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings10.050 Ratings7.414 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Small Businesses
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
SysAid
SysAid
Score 8.9 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(260 ratings)
8.1
(111 ratings)
6.5
(24 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(25 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
9.9
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(42 ratings)
8.7
(9 ratings)
5.6
(4 ratings)
Availability
7.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(41 ratings)
8.2
(34 ratings)
7.4
(9 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.1
(192 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
6.1
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.2
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.8
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.6
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
8.4
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.4
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.5
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshdeskMicrosoft ProjectZoho Projects
Likelihood to Recommend
Freshworks Inc
I believe Freshdesk is well-suited for companies that manage multiple accounts, such as those in the Business Process Outsourcing industry. It has all the necessary capabilities, such as ticket management that uses omnichannel to receive ticket requests from service requests (managed internally) in the system, emails, etc. There are also several workflow automations that can be built within the platform/system. What is lacking is the API documentation, which limits the possibilities for further automations. Overall, it is a highly recommended tool for managing employee productivity and timeliness.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Project Online is suited to Turnkey Projects where more Collaboration is required in Project Progress monitoring, risk assessment and conveying, issue recording and tracking. It is less appropriate when ERP Suites other than MS Dynamics are used, i.e when Enterprises need to integrate Finance / Accounting with It and having straight project management workflow
Read full review
Zoho
My work involves projects of 5-15 people with numerous projects running simultaneously. Prior to Zoho, I did not have a central location from which to view all project statuses at once. Zoho looks to provide this and also looks like it will deliver. I am anxious to see how our organization's use of it develops. At this time, I feel I am likely to recommend Zoho Projects because my organization has made great software decisions in the past so I have a level of trust already that the research has been done that Zoho is the best solution for our line of work.
Read full review
Pros
Freshworks Inc
  • No prior experience with similar platforms is required to use Freshdesk. I found its interface to be quite intuitive, at least for the end user.
  • It's easy to connect with other platforms, so you can sync and manage data from other platforms because the integrations work correctly.
  • Freshdesk's technical support is quite responsive, with short and effective response times. They have easily handled my questions and issues.
  • It has tools for customizing automated chats, answering frequently asked questions before transferring to an agent. Its configuration is extensive and highly customizable.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data. by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • The alert system for the fulfillment and delay of assignments is perfect. Microsoft Project allows me to configure the task system, I can assign the necessary tasks to fulfill the project, and the software alerts me immediately if the managers are fulfilling the assignments.
Read full review
Zoho
  • We use it to manage our sales orders as there are lots of moving parts which are necessary to get client orders done properly.
  • I use it anytime I have a new idea I want to put into motion. As I can create a list for brainstorming, feedback, specific actions necessary in order to test and or implement the idea.
  • Unrelated to business, it's a great way to plan travel in order to make sure you don't forget those important things like passport, flight arrangement, client meeting confirmation, and meeting prep as far as what specific documents or things do you need to bring with you.
  • And since everyone is on the go and expected to keep up with work, the mobile/tablet app makes it a breeze to keep up, work on, and create new projects.
Read full review
Cons
Freshworks Inc
  • Freshdesk is buggy, full stop. I don't know how many support tickets I submitted related to user login.
  • There can be a language barrier with support and sales.
  • There were a couple of hours-long outages that significantly impacted my company's customer experience.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Seems overly complicated for users sometimes in using Project and its functionalities
  • Hard to share files for those folks who do not have MS Project, and then have to print out for them
  • Can be confusing since it looks and feels like MS Excel
Read full review
Zoho
  • There is no ability to add custom fields in the "Bugs" module - for example, if we want to add fields such as Version Number.
  • Reporting is not integrated - its a fairly expensive add-on.
  • There is no easy way to track actual and completed dates for tasks - so historical variance analysis is not easy.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Freshworks Inc
New support agents can learn the system quickly, minimizing training time and maximizing productivity from day one. Agents are more willing to use a system that is simple, reducing resistance to change and ensuring all interactions are logged (a common problem with complex systems). The platform is known for being easy to set up and customize, allowing teams (especially smaller ones) to get started with minimal technical expertise.The platform makes it easy to set and monitor Service Level Agreements (SLAs), ensuring customers get timely responses and helping managers enforce performance standards.
Read full review
Microsoft
I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule
Read full review
Zoho
I've reviewed about 8 other project management solutions and Zoho Projects is the best I've seen without being overly complicated. Zoho Projects keeps getting better! Recent new enhancements makes it even easier to navigate. There are new keyboard shortcuts that cut my time way down. The tools are very easy to use.
Read full review
Usability
Freshworks Inc
Freshdesk is extremely easy to use as implemented it on our own with average technical skills. A lot of the options are straightforward and Freshdesk provides easy-to-understand explanations for some of the more complex-sounding ones. We recently onboarded new specialists and they were able to learn Freshdesk with minimal training.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft
Project is easy to operate because data could be inserted, changed and
deleted like you are in an Excel timesheet. Besides, it provides a great
level of automation beween his fields allowing few data changes. Also, its
funcionalities are well defined and grouped in upper menus, so you can find a
funcionality quickly
Read full review
Zoho
Zoho Project has been very user-friendly. As a small business, we have a diverse group of people with varying skill sets. This platform has been easy for our team to learn, implement, and succeed with. The mobile version is also very handy for our team.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Freshworks Inc
I have encountered a lot of errors in the Freshdesk, however, they tend to resolve it on priority or at least they will share the timeline by when this can be resolved. Most of the time the issue has been from the other partner's end. They take time to resolve their vendor issues and they don't have any timelines in case of developed app errors.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
Has not been down to my knowledge.
Read full review
Performance
Freshworks Inc
The reports take a lot of time to download if the time period is large. Also, the tickets take their sweet time to open and load. It is not fast as Zendesk. Only 30 tickets are visible in a single go and there isn't any option to select all. If we need to change the pages and dashboards it takes a lot of time to open.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
Speed meets my expectations.
Read full review
Support Rating
Freshworks Inc
Because I never worked with a company that responds so quickly to their customer! They are always fast at responding and very open to new ideas and quickly turning them around to include them in future releases. They walk us through when we need assistance and are very good at communicating. Overall top notch support
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft in recent years has transformed itself and gives a positive feeling when one interacts with the company. The company is focusing on its customers and willing to go extra mile to make customers happy.The company continues to invest in its products and bringing new features from time to time. Overall it is a positive feeling to be associated with such an iconic company.
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Zoho
Although it might lack intuitiveness, once you get a hang of how Zoho Projects works, you can do a LOT. The impact good project management has on profitability is huge, and it has helped not only improve communication and coordination when working on a project, but more importantly have adequate tracking of time, due dates and potential bottle necks
Read full review
In-Person Training
Freshworks Inc
In-person training is provided to all the agents and it is very easy to learn the basics of the Freshdesk interface. Solving tickets via dashboards, replying to the guest queries in bulk via Freshdesk. The training which is a bit hard is creating the logic according to the ticket flow and intergeration.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Freshworks Inc
This tool is no doubt easy to learn but in-person training is a lot better than online training. It takes time to grasp things in the online training, however, in pandemic we have done all the training online. Apart from a bit more time we haven't faced any issues with online training.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Freshworks Inc
Was a fairly quick implementation for us. However, we are only doing email integration and not some of the more complex integrations that are possible. One clarification on an earlier question. I selected that Freshdesk doesn't have a given feature, but this is not true. I selected this because there wasn't a selection for I don't use the feature. This is a weakness in the survey.
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Microsoft
I wasn't part of it so I don't know
Read full review
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Freshworks Inc
Compared to Crisp, Freshdesk offers much more organization and is just much more helpful when it comes to having more than one region/team. Not that Crisp is bad, but with Freshdesk, internal communication and collaboration are much easier, which was quite important for our team to grow.
Read full review
Microsoft
While many of the above tools are extremely well-versed, Microsoft Project's largest advantage comes from it being related to the largest business productivity company in the world. Project does have its sharing limitations - but regardless, offers one of the most robust tools in the market today. Microsoft Project is built with large-scale projects in mind but is more than up to the task for smaller projects as well. However, there are options available (especially cloud-based options) that may be more fitting for higher-level projects that do not require going into the weeds.
Read full review
Zoho
Zoho Projects provides a more limited set of functionality and customization options than other task/bug trackers on the market, but what it lacks in functionality it makes up for in ease of use. It probably has 80-90% of the features of its competitors but takes about a third of the time to get up and running and realizing value.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Freshworks Inc
I was not very involved with the purchase/contract (my company purchased Fresjdesk before I was brought on), but I will say that pricing per agent made it difficult to grow our support team. Additionally, we were kind of disappointed after our upgrade because it didn't solve our pain points as much as we expected.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Freshworks Inc
My company had Freshdesk agents from support and success. It's generally difficult to customize permissions for different agent "roles." We were a fully distributed company, so "multiple sites" doesn't apply to us. We found Freshdesk features lacking as we grew our customer base, and adding agents wasn't easy because price steeply increases with number of agents.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Freshworks Inc
- good customer support
- personal contact
- usage limited to basic product features, individually designed solutions seem unlikely
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoho
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Freshworks Inc
  • Increased response times - Client Success maintains at 98% SLA for resolution
  • Categorization of feedback and issues - custom ticket fields make it easier for us to review why clients contact us on a high level
  • Standardization of internal procedures via templates, canned responses and automations
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Project saved me, as the project manager, countless hours of digging through tickets and schedules to plan everything out. It also saved me time in adjusting the project triangle as needed, since it does so much automatically.
  • It is costly, and since it requires extensive training to master, it's not just the high licensing cost that you need to take into account.
  • The reporting features - even just printing out Gantt charts - makes it far easier to communicate with stakeholders. That means less time for PMs doing all of this manually, and it means less follow-up questions and delays moving forward.
Read full review
Zoho
  • We needed a system to organize our growing business, so anything was better than what we had, which was nothing.
  • Recording time spend is a huge reason for using project software. It has made me aware of the tasks that are taking too long and where we are not being profitable as a company.
  • It has kept our team accountable for what needs to get completed and when projects are not in motion or completed timely. It's helpful to know in order to get billing out faster.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Zoho Projects Screenshots

Screenshot of Task Automation with Blueprint - Map out your entire workflow with no code as flowcharts. Automate your tasks and notifications and set approval criteria with blueprint.Screenshot of Intuitive Gantt Charts - Say what, say who, say when. And done. Zoho Projects' Gantt chart comes feature loaded with advanced operations such as Critical path and Baseline.Screenshot of Inbuilt Issue Tracker - You can log, organize, track, and fix any problems. Features such as status and workflow, can be customized to suit the exact needs of your project.Screenshot of Drag, Drop and Done - A view of your tasks as cards placed along columns. Helps you identify bottlenecks and reorganize quickly using drag and drop.Screenshot of A quick pulse of all your work - The Portfolio dashboard, is a compact overview of all the work that's been happening across projects with widgets that address the project level timeline, status, ownership, budget health, and clients.Screenshot of Looks that matter - A refreshing UI that supports multiple themes, including an eye-catching dark mode.