Intercom vs. Zendesk Chat

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Intercom
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Intercom creates modern Customer Service software that aims to redefine how businesses support their customers. The platform connects businesses directly to customers using powerful messaging and automation. According to the vendor, Intercom enables teams to scale support without investing more resources - leading to happier customers and more efficient support teams.
$39
per month per seat
Zendesk Chat
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is a live chat tool developed by the Singaporean company also called Zopim, acquired by Zendesk in April 2014.
$11.20
per month
Pricing
IntercomZendesk Chat
Editions & Modules
Essential
$39
per month per seat
Advanced
$99
per month per seat
Expert
$139
per month per seat
The Early Stage program
From $65 for 5 support seats
per month
Proactive Support Plus add-on
from $99
per month
Lite
$0
per user
Basic
$14
per user
Advanced
$25
per user
Premium
$55
per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IntercomZendesk Chat
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsAI customer service features included in every plan. Intercom integrates Help desk, AI Chat bot, and Proactive support.The pricing above is price per user per month. You will get a discount when you opt for annual payment.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IntercomZendesk Chat
Considered Both Products
Intercom
Chose Intercom
I have used Zendesk Chat and LiveChat with my previous company and I tried to compare them with Intercom but with all the features it can provide, I can say that Intercom is much more advance and dependable. With the line of work that we have, a reliable tool is needed and this …
Chose Intercom
Intercom is a little more user friendly than Zendesk. Also, the ability to have all tickets flow to one channel as opposed to having to have Zendesk Chat & Zendesk Support was a big factor.
Chose Intercom
Zendesk Chat provides live chat functionality and is part of the larger Zendesk suite, which includes customer support and ticketing solutions. However, we chose Intercom after careful consideration of our specific needs, budget, and the level of integration with our existing …
Chose Intercom
Intercom is a lot smoother and has more integration ability. It's macro features are a lot easier to navigate and control as well. The help center is also a huge bonus and the way it integrates into the chat is a lot less stressful to put together and utilize. Intercom makes …
Chose Intercom
Beats them all in my opinion, Intercom's ease of use and intuitive design cannot be beat compared to others. We had a look at both Zendesk and Freshchat in the past and we saw very quickly that we're already using the best tool for the job. My only "complaint" would be the cost …
Chose Intercom
Since I have first-hand experience with Intercom, this is what I suggested with our director and highlight the uniqueness of Intercom from others
Chose Intercom
I didn't make the call. It was my manager or leadership who decided that, so this one does not apply to me, unfortunately. However, as I've mentioned, it should've been for ease of use and efficiency. The exact reasons are not disclosed to me. Great job Intercom you're doing it …
Chose Intercom
Zendesk was very slow and clunky to operate.
The system often bugged out and the assigning of emails was poor at best, once assigned it would be very hard to find that ticket again unless it was assigned to you directly.
The search function and live chat function of Zendesk were …
Chose Intercom
Better on all fronts. Crisp is buggy. Drift is fine. Zendesk is horrific.
Chose Intercom
Intercom is known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, designed to facilitate easy communication and collaboration. It offers a modern and visually appealing experience for both agents and customers. Zendesk, on the other hand, provides a robust and comprehensive …
Chose Intercom
Intercom, although significantly more expensive than Zendesk, is just simpler and easier to use. The startup easing in for me was an absolute necessity also. In a technical sense, I feel that api access via intercom is such a necessity also, and will be more so as we evolve, …
Chose Intercom
Intercom is more convenient for the online help articles we can publish.
Chose Intercom
Intercom missing the merging option, it's way easier but the merging is very important. However, Zendesk is little bit old fashion and not modern like Intercom
Chose Intercom
Intercom has a way better UI and ease of access for both internal and external users. Intercom is also a much better program for customer engagement whereas Zendesk is suited to more traditional customer support. However, the business model of customer support is evolving and …
Chose Intercom
Intercom has more features and is way easier to use and setup.
Chose Intercom
The intercom interface is really smooth and easy to use! The support is available, and always really happy to help.
Zendesk Chat

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IntercomZendesk Chat
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
8.1
111 Ratings
3% above category average
Zendesk Chat
-
Ratings
Organize and prioritize service tickets8.4101 Ratings00 Ratings
Expert directory8.068 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications7.767 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation8.275 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission8.3104 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket response7.8109 Ratings00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
7.3
115 Ratings
6% below category average
Zendesk Chat
-
Ratings
External knowledge base7.4114 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledge base7.299 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
8.2
111 Ratings
7% above category average
Zendesk Chat
-
Ratings
Customer portal8.589 Ratings00 Ratings
IVR7.736 Ratings00 Ratings
Social integration7.569 Ratings00 Ratings
Email support8.8105 Ratings00 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration8.580 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IntercomZendesk Chat
Small Businesses
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Gist
Gist
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IntercomZendesk Chat
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(260 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(19 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(168 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(10 ratings)
8.4
(3 ratings)
Online Training
8.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IntercomZendesk Chat
Likelihood to Recommend
Intercom
Well suited for real time customer support needs - that's where it really shines. Well suited for proactive outreach and the ability to gather feedback from customers + surveys. Less appropriate for a non techie company to set it up, basically any sort of changes in integration have to be done by an engineer.
Read full review
Zendesk
Zendesk Chat is suited for all the support teams that provide real-time assistance. Like if someone wants to block the debit/credit card, it is a high-priority case that needs real-time assistance. Whereas issues like close my account, and invoice request doesn't need real-time assistance, where Zendesk tickets support will be perfect.
Read full review
Pros
Intercom
  • Intercom's ability to centralize customer communication is a game-changer.
  • Intercom's automation features have saved us time and streamlined workflows.
  • Help desk for users.
  • Intercom seamlessly integrates with a variety of other tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality and making it a central part of our tech stack.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • Extremely fluid chat interface allows for easy communication.
  • It can be used directly on a website page or as a widget.
  • Allows the end user to translate the chat into their own native language.
  • Notifies you with pending chats via on-screen notifications and sound effects.
Read full review
Cons
Intercom
  • The AI tools should have a make shorter option
  • The research is difficult compared to other platforms such as Zendesk where it is easier to find stuff (accounts, emails, messages...)
  • I know that you could integrate better AI tools! The chatbot is amazing, so I'm just missing more AI tools to increase productivity
Read full review
Zendesk
  • Linking with a telephone, so the agent is only working on 1 channel at a time
  • More simplified way to create and use templates
  • Link users who may have provided us a new/different email from what we have on file for them
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Intercom
We have been and will be continuing our journey with Intercom and nothing too concerning has happened that I have experienced or heard of that has us on the edge yet. If it ever happens it will be something along the lines of "Outgrowing" the use of need of the platform.
Read full review
Zendesk
Due to staffing issues, we have temporarily stopped offering chat as an available channel. We're also interested in the best ways to integrate chat with our FAQs and AI to provide quick responses, either during off-hours or prior to speaking with a live agent. I've also found that reporting is rather limited where some of the interesting and useful data made available and visible during the chat cannot be pulled post-chat; it would be great to pull a high-level report so we can analyze this data.
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Usability
Intercom
Everything is very straightforward and easy to see, explore, and use. Intercom provides walkthroughs and helps guides in case something is not apparent to the user and has their agents available to help. I always feel confident when exploring new features or making changes that I can have it accomplished due to the service they provide.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Intercom
always there
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intercom
works perfect
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Intercom
Intercom is the premier customer support/engagement model and it definitely has one of the top tier customer support teams as well. I don't think I have ever waited more than 5 minutes to get the information I need or get help with an issue. They are incredible and I aim to model our customer service department after them.
Read full review
Zendesk
Getting assistance and/or troubleshooting anything with Zendesk can be quite frustrating. In my years of experience with Zednesk, I have almost never found the answer to my question without going through multiple articles, ultimately getting frustrated and reaching out to our contact for more assistance. So for a consumer, the support is not as relieving as Zendesk Chat is to our customers in getting the questions answered by us.
Read full review
Online Training
Intercom
Easy to know the learning path
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Intercom
The implementation was surprisingly easy but we are having to adapt from our old process to work well with Intercom.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Intercom
We've used both Drift and Salesforce chat at Owl Labs in the past, and I didn't find them to meet our needs or customer needs the way Intercom has been able to. Intercom ranks higher for us regarding Integrations offered, customization, AI functionality, and user-friendliness. In the past, if chat visitors would click around our website, they'd have to start their chat over again from the start and lose their communication history with us. We also found that Salesforce chat did not have enough customization that we needed. One small example is that in Intercom, you can see when another teammate is looking at a chat and tag them in notes to collaborate. We didn't have access to anything like that when using Salesforce chat. Intercom has made it easy to work alongside one another to be more efficient.
Read full review
Zendesk
I prefer Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) over Talkdesk, as it provides customers with written proof of their conversation and customers are able to rate the conversation once it is done. Also, it's easier to find a previous conversation in Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) than in Talkdesk.
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Return on Investment
Intercom
  • I like how easy it is to spot the user data needed to assist our members.
  • Love how easy it is to link articles on the chat that will help both us and the customers.
  • I like that the sales force or the tickets is already connected on the chat
Read full review
Zendesk
  • Positive impact - Compared to our old system, this newly updated system provides features and functionality that has increased our agent productivity and provided customer insight like we've never had before. This has resulted in fewer hold times and higher customer satisfaction.
  • Negative impact - Our reporting team still struggles with obtaining the right information from time to time with the chats. This leads to loss of productivity and more resources dedicated to reporting.
  • Positive impact - Due to Zopim's embed, we are able to more successfully place them on the appropriate self-service portals and pages, reaching a larger audience, and being more readily available to answer our client's questions. This has resulted in an increase in our self-service portal usage, driving down the phone and email support channels, which in turn reduces support costs.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Intercom Screenshots

Screenshot of Support Bots: Intercom brings upleveled support automation that scales support teams by resolving 33% of common questions.Screenshot of Shared Inbox: From quick to complex questions, the Intercom Inbox workflows helps resolve issues in real time and improve team efficiency—without sacrificing CSAT.Screenshot of Product Tours: Connect the dots from sign-up to success with Intercom' interactive product tours.Screenshot of Campaign Builder: Series, Intercom's visual campaign builder, lets users send cohesive messages across channels—inside the app and out.Screenshot of Intercom Surveys: In-context customer surveys, Intercom Surveys connects users to valuable customer insights—and then helps to turn those insights into action, automatically.Screenshot of The Intercom Messenger

Zendesk Chat Screenshots

Screenshot of How Zopim Chat Widget looks on the website.Screenshot of This is how the chat window looks like to your visitorsScreenshot of This is a screenshot of the visitor list.Screenshot of