Jira Software vs. Zendesk Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Jira Software
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
JIRA Software is an application lifecycle management solution for software development teams. It allows users to create, prioritize and track the progress of tasks across multiple team members, and offers a wide range of integrations. It is offered via the cloud and local servers.
$10
per month
Zendesk Suite
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
The Zendesk Support suite is a cloud-based customer support software built for better customer relationships. Designed to improve customer satisfaction and to support customers on any channel: text SMS, web, mobile app, phone, email, social media. The vendor states more than 200,000 companies such as Uber, Groupon, Box, Airbnb, and Slack are using Zendesk to lower their support costs, raise productivity, and increase customer satisfaction. Zendesk offers a full suite of products to meet customer…
$55
per month agent
Pricing
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Editions & Modules
Standard
$7
Per User Per Month
Premium
$14
Per User Per Month
Free
Free
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Support Team (Foundational Support Only)
$19
per month agent
Suite Team
$55
per month agent
Support Professional
$55
per month agent
Suite Growth
$89
per month agent
Suite Professional
$115
per month agent
Support Enterprise
$115
per month agent
Suite Enterprise
$169
per month agent
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Considered Both Products
Jira Software
Chose Jira Software
Jira Software is like Backlog on steroids, but that has [drawbacks] such as slower responsiveness, a cluttered interface, and features smaller teams may not need, but still have to pay for them. [The] backlog doesn't have as much expansion or customizability nor does it allow …
Chose Jira Software
Among the solutions to develop projects, Jira stands out because it is a very solid tool for project management, problems can be tracked throughout the development life cycle. It can be integrated with other common tools, which adds an additional benefit of this.
Chose Jira Software
JIRA is the ultimate in project management software. Nothing else out there comes close to a complete solution that is customization the way you want, and integrates with almost every other application out there.
You can write custom reports, you can set up workflows the way you …
Chose Jira Software
I've only ever used JIRA, so I can't speak to the competitors.
Chose Jira Software
In the past I have used a variety of engineering ticketing systems and project management systems but this one is undoubtedly one of the most flexible and fastest to get going on.
Zendesk Suite
Chose Zendesk Suite
We used Kayako and it was pretty basic in terms of workflows and ticket management. It wasn't multichannel and it didn't have a mobile app. Ticket categorization wasn't as robust and effective, but it was easy to learn. JIRA is as robust as Zendesk, but it is also not easy to …
Chose Zendesk Suite
At Onshape we have used this from the start but personally I have used a number of tools that were much more a part of the CRM packages like Sage and Zoho CRM and both are lacking in the API, User interface customization and tools that you can integrate. Other systems like …
Chose Zendesk Suite
In comparison of tracking tickets, I found Jira to be more confusing than Zendesk. I have not used Jira in many years and I know that others in our organization use Jira in addition to Zendesk. Of all the support platforms, I think Zendesk is the best and most used, which is …
Chose Zendesk Suite
I prefer Zendesk, though I find engineers are often in Jira. Zendesk is, in my opinion, far easier to navigate, but that might just be my personal preference and comfort with the application. Both maintain a history/record of who and what, but I think Zendesk is more intuitive, …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is the industry leader in terms of the number of other platforms you can connect it with (CRM's, Customer Success Tools, Billing Tools, etc)—this makes it extremely sticky and a core part of your workflow. Zendesk also offers a variety of channels all in the one …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Overall, the ease of system admin that is done within the Support team, the reasonable license cost for multi-channel support and ability to create custom brand dashboards and needed reports, along with the helpful client support we get- made it an easy decision to purchase and …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Salesforce is far more established but the price tag was too high for our small team. I would be surprised if we didn’t migrate to Salesforce when our team reaches a certain size
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk has been easy to implement and evolve over time. They have launched more online Client learning sessions and occasionally offer in-person local client group sessions to aid in our learning. They offer their training modules for free. The key is we can create the needed …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk support is your one-stop shop for managing customers via the customer support portal that has a slew of products available for use via several channels, depending on your particular need may it be email messaging, chat messaging, or voice, and it is quite superior …
Chose Zendesk Suite
We used Zendesk Support Suite for adding Customer Community to increase customer engagement and decrease company support costs by decreasing customer support executives. Zendesk is a great platform for community development and information circulation. It offers a lot of …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk has a more simple and modern look and feel while ServiceNow seems less intuitive and more antiquated. Zendesk has a better UI and sleeker design. Zendesk fits our company's needs, serving both the external and internal customer.
Chose Zendesk Suite
I have used a lot of very old ticketing systems which aren't on here. Zendesk being cloud-based gives us automatic updates and keeps us with the newest features. It is super simple to configure and has a lot of customizable features. It is also very easy to put your own …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is a customer support tool that offers the best features, is intuitive, dynamic and easy to use. Allows the use of macros to optimize messages to customers. This platform makes it possible to optimize and organize the services we offer to our customers, which are …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is far superior because it can cater to any size company. Also, regardless of which package you purchase, you get to set up a multi-channel and extensive self-service support, which was very beneficial for us. Finally, the self-service portal hosts a rich knowledge base …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is currently on par with both of these services in that they are great ticketing software programs but are light in Contact/Sales management. The autoresponder with Zendesk is much easier to implement and customize compared to the other options. The option of the mobile …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk was a lot more user-friendly than Service Cloud or Desk.com. We ultimately chose Zendesk for that reason. We felt like all of the platforms we were considering were going to be able to help us accomplish our main goal of handling inbound support tickets, but we felt …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is much cleaner, simpler, and the support staff is faster to respond with actual solutions than the larger solutions. It is also a lot cheaper, both in license cost and in cost to implement. There are also a number of additional support channels (which I am not …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Salesforce is a more robust tool with back-end SQL reporting functionality and numerous plugins, but with this comes cost. Most startup organizations do not want the expense, at least not at the beginning of the product life cycle.
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zoho does have a ticketing system, however, the user-interface is not as logically laid out as Zendesk's. Zoho is also based in India, which can make receiving customer support difficult. Zendesk also has a proprietary voice system, while Zoho relies on integration with RingCent…
Chose Zendesk Suite
In my searches I have come across a lot of alternatives and I try to keep and open mind on each of them, here are a few of the tools I heard and saw a lot of chatter about while reviewing a looking for Helpdesk tools.

SpiceWorks -
This was a freeware program that i had used in …
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk, Desk.com, Jira
Chose Zendesk Suite
Mojo HelpDesk, Zoho... I picked Zendesk because it felt the most intuitive, powerful and seemed more polished.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Jira Software
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
8.1
109 Ratings
3% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings8.4108 Ratings
Expert directory00 Ratings7.268 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings7.374 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings7.970 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.1109 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings8.8108 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Jira Software
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
7.9
97 Ratings
2% above category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings7.893 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings8.088 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Jira Software
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
7.9
107 Ratings
3% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings7.484 Ratings
IVR00 Ratings7.835 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings7.366 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings8.5105 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.579 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Small Businesses
Polarion ALM
Polarion ALM
Score 9.2 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Polarion ALM
Polarion ALM
Score 9.2 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Polarion ALM
Polarion ALM
Score 9.2 out of 10
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(187 ratings)
8.3
(147 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(35 ratings)
10.0
(40 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(28 ratings)
6.9
(20 ratings)
Availability
5.3
(3 ratings)
8.6
(13 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(23 ratings)
9.0
(29 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.9
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.7
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Jira SoftwareZendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
Atlassian
The Jira software works well for managing scrum boards and allocating resources to a task. When your Epics and Issues are set up properly, it can give you a good idea of where your team stands and the trajectory of your project. It is not the ideal solution if you need to provide documentation and support to people outside of your product teams or organization. It would benefit from having a public documentation or repository feature.
Read full review
Zendesk
The ability to Merge tickets is a good to have feature. Navigation is easy from one ticket to another ticket without having to go back to the list. Admin options should be more clear, internal menu navigation is complex and creates more confusion while arranging the sections and articles. Channel Management is good but Forum management can be brought in with more flexibility. More Apps integration or flexibility in APIs so that a newbie can also integrate the application into the software. A redundant software that brings in 360-degree communication of support/service concepts into practicality however if the option to compile texting with platforms like ringcentral, Twilio or Dialpad will be an awesome thing to share ticket updates with custom templates.
Read full review
Pros
Atlassian
  • Running sprints and tracking progress of roadmap, epics, story, task and subtask
  • The user interface is great. It allows tables inside details, have common shortcuts and clean design.
  • Can create custom dashboards and can view data in multiple ways
  • Advanced access rights based on role
Read full review
Zendesk
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Ease of Agent Training and Use
  • Able to add multiple brands with related custom reports and dashboards
  • Adding a new brand and basic help center is easy to do without the need of an expert or web team
  • Ability of agents and supervisors to see customer history across multiple channels
Read full review
Cons
Atlassian
  • Management of the software is very difficult at times, although has improved.
  • Ability to manage resources is really non-existent, there are some plugins but they are ALL buggy (I've tested them all).
  • Better integration with Trello, would love to see this happen. Right now it's very clumsy.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • I think the Graphical User Interface could use a facelift. It not the most aesthetically pleasing platform in my experience.
  • Particular things like where the default is when you click on each and every dropdown menu.
  • The macro integration could be a little more simplified.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Atlassian
This is because Jira Software generates a huge profit for an affordable price. Having a tool that makes team management transparent and effective is very valuable.
In addition, the renewal of Jira Software and all Atlassian tools is predictable and clear, as the prices are published on the Atlassian website and there is no pyramid of intermediaries.
Read full review
Zendesk
Zendesk is super easy to use and navigate. I really enjoy the sleek layout, the ability to tailor tickets, the macro option, and the quick key guide they have to make your use of time even more effective. My whole team loves working with Zendesk and rarely ever has problems.
Read full review
Usability
Atlassian
JIRA Software is a pretty complex tool. We have a project manager for JIRA who onboarded us, created our board, and taught us the basics. I think it would have been pretty overwhelming to learn without her. JIRA offers so much functionality that I'm not aware of -- I constantly need to Google or ask others about existing features. Also, although they are all under the Atlassian umbrella, I find it difficult to switch between JIRA Software and Confluence.
Read full review
Zendesk
As an agent it's very simple to use. As an admin it's also easy to use, but sometimes lacks some functionality that would be nice to have such as expanded native 2 way sync functionality for many major apps that are commonly used today like HubSpot and Salesforce. The ability to add followers to tickets to they get updates and are in the know without the customer seeing this agent cc'd is a nice touch. This ensures additional visibility and easily following the communication without having to appear as a CC to the customer, who could accidentally remove that person in a response, thus breaking the visibility
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Atlassian
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
In the past year, I'd say I have only noticed maybe two hours total of downtime in my own usage. Very minimal.
Read full review
Performance
Atlassian
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
There has been minor performance degradation on a very few days out of the two years I have been using the product.
Read full review
Support Rating
Atlassian
Our JIRA support is handled internally by members of our Product Support team. It is not supported by a 3rd party. Our internal support will always sent out notifications for downtime which is usually done on the weekend unless it is required to fix a bug/issue that is affecting the entire company. Downtime is typically 3-4 hours and then once the maintenance is complete, another broadcast email is sent out informing the user community that the system is now available for use.
Read full review
Zendesk
Every time I contacted them they were not only very responsive and knowledgable, but always seemed to have a positive upbeat attitude. It probably helps that we did not have significant service outages or sev 1 level issues, but even my lower severity issues were quickly answered. And the positive and upbeat attitude really made things feel comfortable.
Read full review
Online Training
Atlassian
One of their strong points i stheir documentation. Almost all of the basic set up needed within JIRA is available online through atlassian and its easy to find and very precise. The more critical issues need to be addressed as well and hence the rating of 8 instead of a 9.
Read full review
Zendesk
Zendesk has tons of available material for training - videos, webinars, articles, etc. The only reason this is not a 10 is because it can be hard to figure out how to navigate to these things and find what you are looking for.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Atlassian
Take your time implementing Jira. Make sure you understand how you want to handle your projects and workflows. Investing more time in the implementation can pay off in a long run. It basically took us 5 days to define and implement correctly, but that meant smooth sailing later on.
Read full review
Zendesk
I was very satisfied. They have a free trial for 30 days and I recommend you do that and use it. It is very easy to get started with the basics and the build on over time.

The only thing technically complex was single sign-on and integration to Salesforce.com required some tweaks – otherwise setting up system was very easy
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Atlassian
Jira Software has more integrations and has more features than many of its competitors. While some of its competitors do have better UI/UX than Jira Software, they have improved this greatly over time. Atlassian also acquired Trello years ago, so that adds better user interfaces to the system. They do also offer a pretty in-depth library of how to customize the platform that others don't.
Read full review
Zendesk
Although a bit pricey, it does the job well. We are happy with the results it provides; our team is also quite satisfied on how easy it is to use, login and start working. Compared to the other two we have tried, Zendesk takes the cake. It makes Customer Management much easier, more efficient, and more effective.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Atlassian
  • Jira has positively made our company's daily activities much better organized
  • With Jira we can track progress and follow up on tasks
  • Jira has great reporting tools which aggregate various data and give us a good overview of our teams capacity
Read full review
Zendesk
  • The positives weigh more than the negatives here, as it gives us a one-stop portal where we can tend to customer needs using one web app
  • It has also helped us identify areas of improvement based on the reporting feature
  • The value it provides outweighs any missing or lacking features that I'm sure will be available in the future
Read full review
ScreenShots

Zendesk Suite Screenshots

Screenshot of Zendesk Agent WorkspaceScreenshot of Omnichannel MessagingScreenshot of Zendesk TicketingScreenshot of Bots powered by Zendesk AIScreenshot of Tone shift with Zendesk AIScreenshot of Zendesk ticketing side conversations