The ideal customer relationship management (CRM) software should be able to let teams manage sales pipelines, create customizable dashboards and streamline customer interactions within one intuitive platform. There are dozens of CRMs that promise these capabilities but, for this article, we’ll compare Zendesk and Salesforce.
Zendesk vs. Salesforce: At a Glance
Zendesk is an industry-leading CRM trusted by more than 200,000 customers worldwide. The tool offers artificial intelligence (AI)-powered automations and dynamic workspaces that improve team productivity and efficiency. It also comes with analytics tools, custom dashboards, support for third-party integrations and a document library. It also has a variety of plans for businesses of all sizes, such as Zendesk Sell Teams, Zendesk Sell Professional and Zendesk Sell Enterprise.
Salesforce is an established CRM that can also be known as a direct competitor to Zendesk. As with Zendesk, it offers customizable sales pipelines, document storage of up to 2GB per user, prebuilt sales dashboards and a mobile app. Since Salesforce is also packed with complex and advanced features, its basic plan is more expensive compared to Zendesk.
Both Zendesk and Salesforce are designed for large organizations that need advanced features and integrations. Zendesk is easy to learn and it is user-friendly. However, Salesforce has more complex features that make it difficult to use
Zendesk Sell
Starting price
$19
per user, per month
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
$19
per user, per month
Yes
Yes
Zendesk Sell is a modern sales CRM where users can manage their leads, contacts and account information in one centralized platform.
The reporting and analytics features allow you to monitor and predict sales performance through accurate forecasting pipeline analysis and advanced analytics. You can also access drag-and-drop widgets to keep tabs on your performance goals, tasks and deal activity. The basic Team plan—priced at $19 per user, per month—includes customizable sales pipelines, document storage, email and calendar integration as well as a mobile app.
- Gain complete visibility on customer interactions
- Cheaper starter plan compared to Salesforce
- Native integration with Zendesk Support to improve customer communication
- No free plan
- Customizable sales pipeline limited up to two for Team plan
- Limited document storage of up to 2GB per user
Salesforce
Starting price
$25
per user, per month
Pipeline management
Yes
Integrations
Yes
$25
per user, per month
Yes
Yes
Salesforce is a popular solution for businesses of all sizes but is best suited for large organizations and enterprises.
The tool is packed with account, lead, opportunity and pipeline management features, to enable users to sell smarter and faster. As with Zendesk, it also comes with a dedicated mobile app and forecasting features as well as customizable reports and dashboards. The Essentials plan—priced at $25 per user, per month—is significantly more expensive than Zendesk’s basic plan.
- Extensive customization options
- Supports 3,000-plus integrations, which is 3x more than Zendesk’s 1,300-plus integrations
- Powerful reporting capabilities
- More expensive compared to Zendesk
- More difficult to use
- Time-consuming to set up and maintain
How Zendesk and Salesforce Stack Up
| Zendesk | Salesforce | |
|---|---|---|
|
Starting Price
|
$19 per user, per month
|
$25 per user, per month
|
|
Free Trial
|
14 days
|
30 days
|
|
Ease of Use
|
Easy
|
Difficult
|
|
Contact Management
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Lead Management
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Email Tracking
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Sales Forecasting
|
Available on higher-tier plans
|
Available on higher-tier plans
|
|
Built-in Automation
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Reporting
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Third-party Integrations
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Customization
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Analytics
|
Available on higher-tier plans
|
Available on higher-tier plans
|
|
Customer Support
|
Email, demo, webinar, phone and 24/7 chat support (In-app)
|
Live chat, phone, help center and online community
|
|
Learn More
|
||
|
Read Reviews
|
Both Zendesk and Salesforce offer crucial sales features, such as contact management, lead management, email tracking—and most of the basics that your sales team will need. However, there are a few key differences.
Salesforce’s starting plan is $25 per user, per month, which is significantly more expensive than Zendesk’s $19 per user, per month. While Salesforce has advanced features that give a complete overview of your customers and leads, it’s more difficult to use compared to its competitor.
Pipeline Management
Zendesk Sell and Salesforce are both equipped with features for pipeline management.
Zendesk Sell has a sales pipeline that lets you manage deals from active stages to closed stages. Users can add their own stages and modify the default stages to fit their existing sales processes. If you need additional pipelines, the second-highest Sell plan lets you make one additional pipeline. Meanwhile, the highest plan lets you generate unlimited pipelines.
Salesforce’s pipeline offers a visual representation of the location of prospects within your sales funnel. It also comes with customizable tools for alerts, dashboards and reports for pipeline management.
Featured Partners
1
monday sales CRM
Free; $9 per user per month for basic features
14 days
Yes
2
Salesforce
$25 per month per user for basic features
30 days
Yes
3
HubSpot
Free; $15 per user per month (billed annually)
14 days
Yes
4
Creatio
$25 per user per month
14 days
Yes
5
Pipedrive
$14 per user per month (billed annually)
14 days
Yes
Third-party Integrations
Both Zendesk and Salesforce support hundreds of third-party integrations. Salesforce boasts of more than 3,000 app integrations, while Zendesk can connect with more than 1,300 apps. From sales activities to team collaboration to analytics, you’ll be able to connect both solutions to the tools essential to running your business.
Mobile App
The Zendesk Sell and Salesforce mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android users.
Zendesk Sell’s mobile app has everything you need to boost mobile sales while on the go. The all-in-one solution includes sales pipelines, customer management, sales trackers and a task manager. Field sales team reps will be able to find nearby prospects and log visits as well as set up meetings with potential leads.
Meanwhile, the Salesforce mobile app gives users quick access to their data across Salesforce clouds. Custom push notifications let businesses receive updates tailored to their workflows and protect their information through enterprise-grade app security. In addition, Einstein Voice Assistant lets you work smarter and make better decisions with AI.
Bottom Line
Zendesk Sell and Salesforce are both feature-rich CRM software systems, but your pick should ultimately depend on your budget and priorities.
Salesforce is much more complicated to use but it has advanced features for companies and large organizations. Meanwhile, Zendesk Sell’s CRM is intuitive and very easy to use, which makes it easy to onboard sales teams and save time converting prospects across the sales funnel. Both CRMs have plans for businesses of all sizes, but Zendesk Sell is much cheaper compared to its competitor.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who is the top competitor of Zendesk?
The top competitor of Zendesk is Freshdesk. As the top tools in the support ticketing spaces, both solutions allow businesses to get a high-quality and consistent customer experience. For more information, check out our review on Freshdesk vs. Zendesk.
What is the difference between Zendesk and Salesforce?
Zendesk Sell’s CRM is user-friendly, which makes it easy to onboard sales teams and get prospects along the sales funnel. Meanwhile, Salesforce is much more difficult to use because it has a lot of advanced features. Zendesk Sell is also more expensive than Salesforce.
Can Salesforce be used as a CRM?
Salesforce has many products, but its primary offering is a CRM that is used by many businesses. If you can customize it, then Salesforce can be a potential CRM fit for your business, regardless of size.
Can Zendesk be used as a CRM?
The Zendesk Sell CRM enables data-driven sales teams to get full pipeline visibility. It’s also packed with features, such as pipeline management, analytics, custom dashboards and support for third-party integrations, among others. For more information, check out our review on Zendesk Sell.
