Alternatives To Intercom: 8 Customer Communication Platforms CCM solutions

Zendesk chat provides a personal connection with customers who need support. Intercom features phone support, online support, and a knowledge base. One of these differences is the ability for agents to connect to customers through their own apps versus using a collaboration feature. Here, we’ve outlined the support options that Intercom and Zendesk provide to companies using their platforms. Zendesk for Sales offers three plans, ranging from $19 to $99 monthly per user, with free trials available for each plan.

• The third factor is the type of customer service you provide which can influence your choice of the best CCM solutions.
• These add-ons can be quite expensive and may not always be necessary, so it’s important to consider this when deciding which plan is right for you.
• Zendesk Overview is one such tool that can help take your customer support to the next level.
• Suite Team is more affordable than Intercom’s $79/month tier; Suite Professional is more expensive.
• You have events, you have user attributes, you identify users, and so on.
• Whether you’ve just started searching for a customer support tool or have been using one for a while, chances are you know about both Zendesk and Intercom.

The more data you have, the longer it will take to transfer it from Zendesk to Intercom. This is because Zendesk has rate limits on how many metadialog.com records can be accessed or transferred per minute or hour. The rate limits also depend on what type of licensing plan you have with Zendesk.

Key features:

Since both tools don’t provide full disclosure on their pricing plans, it’s hard to decide which one may be more affordable; therefore, there’s no winner in this case. Intercom also offers similar integration options just like Drift offers. With Intercom, you can connect your tech stack with different apps for support, marketing, and sales. Intercom’s resolution bot is responsible for conversational engagement and understanding customer intent.

Still, for either of these platforms to have some email marketing or other email functionality is common sense. Intercom has a very robust advanced chatbot set of tools for your business needs. There is a conversation routing bot, an operator bot, a lead qualification bot, and an article-suggesting bot, among others. It is also not too difficult to program your own bot rules using Intercon’s system. Zendesk can also save key customer information in their platform, which helps reps get a faster idea of who they are dealing with as well as any historical data that might assist in the support.

Hubspot Service Hub

On the other hand, prices can sometimes be confusing as there are different purchases. It is known for its CRM programs, and also has help desk software. This helpdesk has many features such as shared inbox, phone integration, and multi-channel chat.

However, Hubspot does not provide a proper ticketing interface, instead, it is a very good live chat provider. Ss if you are looking for a proper ticketing experience in your platform you should go with other alternatives here. Qpien’s LiveChat offers businesses solutions for e-commerce sites.

Intercom or Zendesk: Chatbot features

Skyvia offers a number of benefits for import Intercom data to Zendesk or vice versa. With Skyvia import you can use data filtering, perform data transformations, and many more. Besides, Skyvia supports the UPSERT operation — inserting new records and updating records already existing in the target.

• Intercom, on the other hand, was built for business messaging, so communication is one of their strong suits.
• They do provide also different functionality and some serves more niche needs, but maybe in your case it is a better match.
• Zendesk and Intercom each have their own marketplace/app store where users can find all the integrations for each platform.
• Intercom and Drift have made a name for themselves as some of the practical and efficient live chat and customer support solutions on the market.
• As a freelancer, I don’t need all the integrations and support that Intercom provides.
• HubSpot and Salesforce are also available when support needs to work with marketing and sales teams.

However, Intercom can create a personalized pricing plan based on your specific business needs. Zendesk Chat starts at $19 per agent per month for support-only plans and ranges up to $99 per agent per month for pro plans. If you want to deliver better customer service, live chat is the key. However, live chat can also take up a lot of time and resources, which you may not have. It is one of the alternatives to intercom and can be selected as your CCM solution.

Integrate your Zendesk Chat and Intercom data today

Whereas, most alternatives such as Gist have these features included at no extra cost to their users. The customer service industry is constantly evolving, and businesses need to stay on top of the latest trends and tools in order to provide exceptional service. Zendesk Overview is one such tool that can help take your customer support to the next level. With Overview, you can gain a comprehensive view of all your customer interactions across multiple channels. If you’re looking for an automated help desk solution that’s easy to use and affordable, look no further than Jitbit.

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customers. Both Intercom and Zendesk provide you with their own Operator bot, which immediately suggests relevant material to clients via the chat widget. When it comes to creating an optimum knowledge base experience, both Intercom and Zendesk are excellent choices with similar capabilities for your needs.

Zendesk Pros and Cons

Moreover, it is one of the most powerful alternatives to Zendesk that fits all sizes of businesses. On the other hand, if your business requires a more holistic approach to customer experience, Intercom is the top choice. It excels in providing a seamless customer journey through live chat, email marketing, surveys, and bots.

With Groove, you can easily manage multiple channels such as email, live chat, and social media in one central hub. HubSpot Service Hub is a comprehensive customer service platform designed to help you provide exceptional customer experiences. It offers features such as automated ticketing, knowledge base management, and self-service portals which make it easy to respond quickly to customer inquiries. With HubSpot Service Hub, you can also customize the look and feel of your customer support page to match your brand for a professional touch. Salesforce is a software that provides all the tools you need to manage customer conversations from one place. With options for multichannel communication, you can easily integrate your service across platforms like email, SMS, and social media.

Intercom vs Zendesk for knowledgebase & learning

The admin and manager dashboard provides a zoomed-out view of all activity taking place in each inbox, for whole departments and individual agents. Intercom wins the reporting and analytics category due to its unique visualization and display formats for contact center and article data. Reporting and analytics provide metrics, trends, and key performance indicators (KPIs) that offer insights to agents and administrators.

• Stitch can replicate data from all your sources (including Zendesk Chat and Intercom) to a central warehouse.
• However, do take note that this comes with custom pricing, so you will need to contact them to learn more.
• LiveChat is a live chat tool for businesses that allows users to communicate with visitors in real-time.
• Zendesk for Service transforms customer queries and conversations from all channels–call, web chat, tweet, text, or email–into tickets in the Agent Workspace.
• Its omnichannel features allow businesses to manage communication channels.
• It also has features such as AI powered chatbots and pre-set answers and questions which are not available in other alternatives to Intercom.

Customer support is an important part of any business, and Zendesk’s customer support agents are no exception. Unfortunately, their customer service has been known to be less than stellar at times. Many customers find that the customer service representatives are slow to respond and don’t take the time to fully address their concerns. In addition, many customers have reported being directed towards a never-ending search through help articles rather than receiving direct assistance from a human representative. Gist is a powerful customer engagement platform that helps you engage with customers in meaningful ways. Whether it’s through automated conversations, one-on-one interactions, or multi-channel messaging, Gist has you covered.

– Optimize customer request management

Best Intercom alternative for large businesses who are already HubSpot users. Your knowledge base is easily customizable to ensure it matches your branding and overall website’s look and feel to create a cohesive experience. One important part of creating an amazing customer experience is remembering your customers, what they’ve bought from you, and any previous issues they’ve had. With an easy-to-use interface and a number of support-centric features that can help with all kinds of use cases, Help Scout is an affordable option that your growing team can quickly get up and running. We give the edge to Zendesk here, as it’s typically aimed for more complex environments.

If you’re looking for free Intercom alternatives, Tawk offers a free customer communication platform for communicating with website visitors. All the features, including their live chat feature, ticketing system, unlimited agent accounts, detailed reporting, and more—are free to use. With its intuitive design and comprehensive set of features, Help Scout makes it easy for your team to manage tickets, automate workflows, and provide better customer service in one place. Plus, its pricing plans are flexible and affordable so you can scale up or down as your needs change. Hubspot, of course, has quality in its products, the Service Hub is focused on the entire customer experience similar to how Intercom is but with slightly fewer feature sets. The price, similar to everything Hubspot is pretty high starting at $50/mo for 2 agents.

The customizable live chat tool also stands out with features such as auto-reply and canned replies. The platform, which stands out with its easy use, has been developed for businesses to professionally manage instant customer communications. Zendesk, one of the leading companies in the market, has many features such as CRM, messaging, marketing, and a ticket system. In addition, it also allows businesses to provide customer support through different channels.