Sage CRM vs. Zendesk Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Sage CRM
Score 8.5 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Sage CRM is an SMB-oriented CRM platform offered in both SaaS and on-premise editions. Unlike the Sage SalesLogix product, the SaaS version is a true multi-tenant offering. The platform offers excellent integration with Sage ERP and accounting products. It is also a good global solution and is available in many languages and is used by over 12,000 customers worldwide, with many customers in Europe.
$33
per month
Zendesk Suite
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Zendesk is a customer support solution with built-in ticketing, conversational messaging, and live chat, designed to help businesses of all sizes and industries deliver personalized service at scale. Zendesk's AI agents are trained in CX to help Service teams resolve customer issues faster and more accurately while still providing a human-centered experience. Zendesk ultimately aims to help businesses improve time to value, reduce effort per ticket, and keep costs low.
$69
per month per agent
Pricing
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Editions & Modules
Sage CRM (cloud)
$45
Per User per Month
Sage CRM (on premise)
Lifetime License per Seat
Suite Team
$69
per month per agent
Suite Growth
$115
per month per agent
Suite Professional
$149
per month per agent
Suite Enterprise
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsTiered pricing is available for multiple users.20% discount available with annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Considered Both Products
Sage CRM
Chose Sage CRM
I have looked at and used both Salesforce and Maximizer in the past. Salesforce offer similar functionality to Sage CRM at much higher price typically. Maximer has less funtionality and because of its on premise background lacks the advanced web interface of Sage CRM.
Zendesk Suite

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.8
17 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Customer data management / contact management9.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management8.616 Ratings00 Ratings
Territory management8.517 Ratings00 Ratings
Opportunity management8.917 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract management8.614 Ratings00 Ratings
Quote & order management9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Interaction tracking9.216 Ratings00 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management8.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.1
16 Ratings
7% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Case management8.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Call center management8.215 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk management8.214 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.7
16 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Lead management8.816 Ratings00 Ratings
Email marketing8.715 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
9.0
17 Ratings
17% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Task management9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management9.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting9.113 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.6
17 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Forecasting8.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Pipeline visualization8.416 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports8.717 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.6
17 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Custom fields8.517 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom objects8.516 Ratings00 Ratings
Scripting environment9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
API for custom integration8.314 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
8.7
17 Ratings
5% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability8.717 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.813 Ratings00 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
9.4
13 Ratings
25% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Social data9.513 Ratings00 Ratings
Social engagement9.313 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
9.0
14 Ratings
21% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Marketing automation9.114 Ratings00 Ratings
Compensation management8.912 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
7.8
16 Ratings
5% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Mobile access7.816 Ratings00 Ratings
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
8.7
160 Ratings
8% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings9.1159 Ratings
Expert directory00 Ratings8.0108 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings8.3111 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings8.4110 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.3159 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings9.2158 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
8.5
145 Ratings
8% above category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings8.4139 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings8.5132 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Sage CRM
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
8.6
155 Ratings
9% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings8.8126 Ratings
IVR00 Ratings8.562 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings7.9102 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings9.2152 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.8117 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Small Businesses
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
SysAid
SysAid
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(28 ratings)
8.9
(198 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
5.1
(11 ratings)
10.0
(43 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(11 ratings)
8.7
(71 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(13 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(1 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(8 ratings)
6.1
(31 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Sage CRMZendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
Sage
as it is a very flexible software that can be adapted to any business model, other functions human resource management, manufacturing and supply chain planning, all these functions are housed in a highly technological interface. I liked this system because it made automating accounts payable so much easier.the control of the basic accounting of any type of company
Read full review
Zendesk
One specific thing I love about Zendesk Suite lately is the ability to use AI "Enhance writing" it allows me to freehand a response and then have it help me sound more formal or friendly, this is very useful, not only for those free handed ones, but also when you need to repeat the same information to a customer, it can help you make it sound slightly different. I don't like that when a ticket comes, even if you have the shortcut to toggle between chat and email, it doesn't actually toggle.
Read full review
Pros
Sage
  • When in client profile, it is very intuitive, allowing you to easily transcribe notes in the clients profile.
  • Sage allows 3rd party plugins, so if you utilize a particular phone services or would like to import something as simple as google drive, its compatible.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • UI/UX; mature macros and automations, slick and well thought out UI.
  • Reporting, reporting, reporting. With user, org, and ticket level tags, we can track every aspect of our ticket flow.
  • Extensibility; the app marketplace is a great resource for expanding functionality from the baseline offering.
Read full review
Cons
Sage
  • Reliance on Apache Tomcat causes a lot of headaches. There are common issues trying to start up the server, resulting from Apache Tomcat misconfigurations, or Java. Some forum posts on Sage City address common issues, but digging into server logs seems to be an often occurrence.
  • Support is somewhat lacking, less user install base means error messages are sometimes hard to find quick answers for. Most of the knowledge found on the internet is in the Sage City forum.
  • Integration with Microsoft 365 causes you to have to turn off some security features. This will result in your 365 tenants running lower security standards than recommended, it may put you at risk for targeted attacks.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • The development of messaging out of the earlier Chat module is clunky and still has limitations for multi language flows.
  • When creating queries in Explore, you can't search for 'or' conditions, only 'And', meaning you have to build multiple queries and manually add them.
  • You can't download the charts in the reports, they come down as tables and then you have to make your own charts.
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Likelihood to Renew
Sage
There are really no other words to say, it is a very easy to use application that is more straightforward and has provided better results with the bulk of features that appeal to a very broad amount of users. There may be other CRM platforms out there that are more prevalent, but I have found them to be much more clunky and less intuitive than Sage CRM.
Read full review
Zendesk
Zendesk is an amazing tool for communicating with your customers easily. The communication tickets from sellers to us or from us to sellers are stored, and there are statuses used to make communication easy. We have internal conversations between departments, linked with useful software such as Zingtree, Talkdesk, and Webs.
Read full review
Usability
Sage
Excellent integration with the most important social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) to get leads. The mobile app is quite useful for speeding up the tasks at hand and not relying on the computer or being in the office to get them done.
Read full review
Zendesk
Zendesk Suite is a straightforward solution that provides agents with everything they need on the same screen. Allowing an agent to navigate one tab, one screen and switch between features, pin favorite features while viewing the customer profile and details in 360degrees. A view like this empowers agents to support customers better and in a more composed state.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Sage
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
Sage
Sage works very quickly based on the network you are using it on. It is internet based so if your network is slow, it will perform slowly. Reports seem to run reasonably fast, if there is too much information it is trying to populate that could slow it down a little. When Sage CRM is integrated with a Sage ERP product it doesn't tend to slow down either system at all
Read full review
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
Sage
Support team is really slow and they need to work on this really. Sometimes it takes days to resolve a simple query and there is no way to get it expedited. Rest the product is is amazing but the team should look into the costumer support and get it working
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Zendesk
We rarely need to contact their support team, but when we do they are responsive. However there have been notable times when communication between myself and the support rep was challenging despite me providing clear explanation of the issue, screenshots, and a thorough explanation of the goal we hope to achieve. It took several back and forth attempt, on a few occasions, to get resolution on an otherwise simple request
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In-Person Training
Sage
Most training would come after a upgrade. Otherwise we would self teach new employees. Training was with a Sage Software partner SWK technologies.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Sage
No answers on this topic
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.
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Implementation Rating
Sage
The implementation and upgrades were rather quick and straight forward. Attempting to link Sage CRM with Sage 100 ERP however was a nightmare and will be avoided by us in the future due to numerous issues.
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
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Alternatives Considered
Sage
Whilst SAGE CRM was selected around 10 years ago and we became a partner, the main contenders would have been at the time Sales Logix and MS CRM 4.0. However, we had extensive experience of the mid-market CRM's and decided on SAGE CRM since it had a clean, easy to understand interface and importantly offered both workflow automation and Self Service capability, all of which across both the Case and Sales and Marketing functionality was seamless and saved time. As it was pure browser based, access was from anywhere we wanted. In my view, SAGE CRM still stacks up well against all the other mid-market CRM systems and offers good value for money, but more importantly, it is an easy to operate and customisable solution which user like. Again, we can teach administration users very quickly to support and customise themselves since the admin. function are clear as well.
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Zendesk
Zendesk Suite is exceptionally user friendly and highly customisable. Free training for all levels and roles of users which is easy to follow and engaging for users is particularly helpful along with the added support behind the scenes from Zendesk support and the Zendesk community is second to none.
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Return on Investment
Sage
  • It is very affordable in pricing, compared to competitors
  • Lead management and convertion into prospects is also a very easy process
  • Lead capture from web pages should be available, and better ways to capture leads from tradeshows by uploading directly from scanned business cards
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Zendesk
  • We have been able to deliver IT accurately and onetime
  • Our customers have been able to provide feedback on a given ticket and helped us build a better support structure
  • Zendesk Suite has allowed us to be more efficient in our every day operations
Read full review
ScreenShots

Zendesk Suite Screenshots

Screenshot of the 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