Zendesk Vs. HubSpot (2024 Comparison) – Forbes Advisor – Technologist

This table gives an overview of how Zendesk and HubSpot CRM compare in terms of their offerings.

Contact and Lead Management

Zendesk’s email sequence feature makes automating emails through each customer’s journey easy. They’ll get an introductory welcome email, followed by more, as they move from one stage to another until they reach the conversation stage, where a sales rep speaks with them. For HubSpot users, agents can view daily to-dos and engage with them apart from automating the movement of leads through the pipeline. You’ll also identify those that need attention, receive reminders about when and how to interact with them and update meeting outcomes. However, note that HubSpot contact scoring is only available on higher-tier plans.

Zendesk and HubSpot made it to our list of the best marketing CRM software and they both automate email creation and personalization, but besides capturing data via website forms for marketing purposes, HubSpot allows users to embed videos across their websites and social media channels. Its no-code email automation features also make it beginner friendly, and these features are available for free. You can also connect your HubSpot account to email providers such as Gmail and Microsoft 365. However, remember HubSpot’s email send limits, which can hamper high-volume campaigns.

Reporting and Analytics

Both CRM tools are suitable for identifying trends and gathering insights into the success of your operations to guide your interaction with customers better. However, Zendesk users get a more comprehensive range of metrics, and you can customize reports. You’ll access customer insights across multiple channels and real-time historical data, alongside the ability to customize dashboards and charts and share them with relevant team members. However, Zendesk reporting can take time to set up and be complex. Also, Zendesk CRM Analytics is only available for higher-plan subscribers.

HubSpot’s reporting and analytics tools are basic, with only five service analytics reports and dashboards available. Also, you can hardly customize them. However, they are available even to free users, with HubSpot’s free plan offering three dashboards and 10 reports per dashboard. HubSpot CRM’s paid plans provide 10 to 50 dashboards that allow 10 to 30 reports each. Its Professional and Enterprise plans offer users 100 to 500 custom reports, respectively. You’ll also find asset comparison reporting and behavioral triggers included in the reports.

Third-Party Integrations

Both Zendesk Support and HubSpot Service Hub enable smooth integration with third parties. Developers can also use API to build custom integrations for unavailable apps. However, HubSpot enables pre-built integrations with more apps and has a more extensive Application Programming Interface (API). But note that there are a few complaints about HubSpot not displaying integrated apps, requiring users to leave the hub to access them.

Zendesk Sell integrates with popular applications, including HubSpot. However, compared to HubSpot, Zendesk Marketplace offers fewer integrations.

Customer Service Efficiency

Zendesk offers a comprehensive service suite with features such as a ticketing system and workflow configuration available to desktop and mobile device users. Its customer portal also helps businesses track customer interactions and provides a self-service portal, community forums and knowledge base for your customers. Zendesk’s ticketing system is fully integrated, enabling multiple and conditional ticket forms across several channels.

Through its service hub, HubSpot enhances your business’s customer service with its automation, omnichannel messaging, SLA (service-level agreement) management and a customer portal available to desktop and mobile users. However, HubSpot’s customer portal is open only on HubSpot’s Professional and Enterprise plans.

Ease of Use and Support

Overall, Zendesk is easy to use, with its easy account setup and intuitive interface. Also, Zendesk Sell provides uniform support for its subscribers. However, we didn’t get much help from its chatbot, and some customers shared their frustration concerning its lack of in-person help. Also, a few users complained that data synchronization can be glitchy, especially for email integrations.

Despite its comprehensive features, HubSpot CRM retains a navigable interface. However, it’s challenging managing multiple conversations simultaneously. Also, while HubSpot offers more support options than Zendesk, its support varies across plans. The free plan lacks live support; email and in-app chat support are available only to paid plan subscribers, and those not on the Professional or Enterprise plan won’t get phone support.