Sugar Sell (SugarCRM) vs. Zendesk Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Sugar Sell from SugarCRM is a collaborative CRM, allowing users to track and monitor activities, map each customer’s journey and automate as many workflows as you need to. Sugar Sell is presented by the vendor as lean, fast and integratable with anything. Sugar Sell replaces former editions of the SugarCRM product, including the SugarCRM Community Edition, the open source edition, which is discontinued.
$147
per month 3 users
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
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$49
per month per user (3 user minimum, 5 user maximum)
Sugar Enterprise
$85
per month per user (billed annually)
Advanced
$85
per month per user (3 user minimum)
Sugar Enterprise+
$135
per month per user (billed annually)
Premier
$135
per month per user (10 user minimum)
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
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Considered Both Products
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)

No answer on this topic

Zendesk Suite
Chose Zendesk Suite
  • SugarCRM - limited functionality compared to Zendesk.
  • Salesforce - We also use this. Zendesk has less functionality and is not as easily customizable or flexible, but it is still a good value.
  • ServiceNow - Great for incident management, but just broke out into the CRM realm and …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.2
32 Ratings
7% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Customer data management / contact management8.831 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.927 Ratings00 Ratings
Territory management8.525 Ratings00 Ratings
Opportunity management8.225 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)9.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract management8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
Quote & order management7.823 Ratings00 Ratings
Interaction tracking7.129 Ratings00 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management7.924 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.2
23 Ratings
9% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Case management8.823 Ratings00 Ratings
Call center management8.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk management7.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
7.9
24 Ratings
5% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Lead management8.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Email marketing7.322 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.9
27 Ratings
16% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Task management8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management9.117 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting8.723 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.7
27 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Forecasting8.723 Ratings00 Ratings
Pipeline visualization8.724 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports8.726 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.8
28 Ratings
15% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Custom fields9.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom objects8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
Scripting environment8.718 Ratings00 Ratings
API for custom integration8.724 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.5
26 Ratings
2% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability9.120 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.925 Ratings00 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.2
18 Ratings
12% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Social data8.218 Ratings00 Ratings
Social engagement8.315 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.0
18 Ratings
11% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Marketing automation8.718 Ratings00 Ratings
Compensation management7.412 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
8.1
19 Ratings
8% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Mobile access8.119 Ratings00 Ratings
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
-
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
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
-
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
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)
-
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
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Small Businesses
Salesmate
Salesmate
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
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
7.2
(58 ratings)
8.3
(147 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(26 ratings)
10.0
(40 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(9 ratings)
6.9
(20 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.6
(13 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(12 ratings)
9.0
(29 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.9
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(3 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Sugar Sell (SugarCRM)Zendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
SugarCRM
The way Community Tax uses Sugar from a users point of view is, it can house a lot of information for either a company or individual with the option of adding additional sub cases . The down side is there are licenses issued per user and 1 per user is not enough because most of the time we are multitasking. Therefore a program/software would be more suitable instead of using a URL.
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
SugarCRM
  • Great way to keep myself organized. I do not miss appointments with clients since within the system I can input my appointment time and also send out a reminder to my clients.
  • It has a nice layout [that] does not seem to be cluttered. I find it to be very user friendly.
  • It has customizable dashboards which I find beneficial
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
SugarCRM
  • The back-end programming (logical hooks) for advanced customizations could benefit from a more user-friendly interface
  • General layout could be improved by the addition of modern templates to customize the standard look and feel
  • Support communities could be further improved with the addition of videos on how to do specific configuration, modules.
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
SugarCRM
Our organization will continue to use Sugar as long as it remains cost effective and it addresses the majority of our needs. I will, however, recommend looking into other options once our needs increase and there is additional budget for some bigger named and more robust platform options. I feel if the application was friendlier to end users we would get better productivity as well.
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.
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Usability
SugarCRM
There's a learning curve associated with Sugar. Right away, it's not as easy as an out-of-the-box CRM. Once you learn how to use Sugar, the system fits what your needs are. With any other CRM, you'd be trying to figure out how your company can best fit the CRM. You don't want to change your business cycle for your CRM, the CRM should fit your business cycle.
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
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Reliability and Availability
SugarCRM
SugarCRM has never been down for us.
Read full review
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
SugarCRM
No response time issues ever. Very productive due to its ease of use.
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.
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Support Rating
SugarCRM
The support overall at least for us has been phenomenal. Anytime that the system has any Issues at all IT gets in contact from someone from support to get the system back up and running. Have never gone more than 30 minutes with the system not working. So overall I will be definetely recommending this system in any other company that I may work for in the future.
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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.
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In-Person Training
SugarCRM
We feel clasroom training is essential to ensure user adoption and buy-in. Video and on-line training courses gave their place but being in a classroom setting enables the Team to make any potential CRM issues visble right up front.
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Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Online Training
SugarCRM
Only part of an implemementation as noted previously.
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.
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Implementation Rating
SugarCRM
Study, study, and study. Be prepared to train everyday until all processes are flowing nicely. The CRM is the elephant and figuring out where to take the first bite can be a challenge. But there is only one way to eat this elephant, one bite at a time. Systematic planning is very important.
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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
SugarCRM
Sugar Sell is the only product we found that met the needs of everyone involved in the evaluation process. It can be customized to accomplish just about anything you need, and trust me....we pushed the limits on that. It is a product that our users actually enjoy using which in itself contributes to productivity. We used other CRM tools in the past, and the discontent from our users resulted in consistently declining use and ultimately dropping those products.
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.
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Scalability
SugarCRM
Works from 2-300 Users in our experience.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
SugarCRM
  • Overall seems to be more expensive than other subscription based CRMs.
  • Has positively impact our sales team to make more efficient and accountability among sales teams. Also allows for high level aggregated reporting
  • Has been impactful for all teams, not only sales to track individual activity on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis
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
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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