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NICE CXone vs Zendesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 17, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
NICE CXone users cited over $200,000 ROI in the first year, praising AWS management for reduced infrastructure handling.
Sentiment score
7.3
Zendesk offers cost efficiency and improved productivity, with ROI influenced by alignment with operational needs and process integration.
NICE CXone saves time and resources due to its cloud-based nature, where infrastructure management is handled by AWS, reducing the need for me to manage it.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.0
NICE CXone support is friendly and responsive, excelling in quick issue resolution despite occasional delays and time zone challenges.
Sentiment score
7.0
Zendesk receives praise for responsiveness and ease of use, but some users desire better chat features and human interaction.
When I faced an issue with reaching a Poland DID that was ported to NICE CXone, their support team resolved the problem immediately.
The technical support provided by Zendesk has been very satisfactory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
NICE CXone is praised for scalability, smooth performance, easy configuration, and handling large user numbers effectively, with minimal concerns.
Sentiment score
7.5
Zendesk is praised for scalability and customization, although some face initial setup challenges and structural integration issues.
I have migrated approximately 500 people to the system, and it can certainly support more users beyond this number.
Zendesk can scale from very small companies to very large ones.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
NICE CXone is stable and reliable, with occasional minor issues, effectively resolved without impacting user productivity.
Sentiment score
7.9
Zendesk is stable with minimal downtimes, reliable performance, occasional minor issues, and high reliability ratings, especially for smaller businesses.
While the system often operates without issues, there have been instances of reports involving VM resource congestion, WFM issues, and RT problems.
The stability has been quite reliable.
 

Room For Improvement

NICE CXone needs interface improvements, better reporting, integration, customization, system stability, and enhanced training for user satisfaction.
Zendesk faces challenges with data management, flexibility, integration, user-friendliness, and customer communication, while users are dissatisfied with support and pricing.
The audio quality in NICE CXone has room for improvement, as I experience issues like diffused calls and crackling audio.
There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier.
 

Setup Cost

NICE CXone's pricing varies by contract, requiring careful cost evaluation and challenging content extraction for data migration.
Enterprise buyers find Zendesk's pricing high but valuable, with costs varying by agent count and business needs for tailored solutions.
It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
 

Valuable Features

NICE CXone enhances communication with WYSIWYG editing, omnichannel experience, real-time data, call routing, and customizable analytics.
Zendesk offers user-friendly ticket management, seamless integrations, multi-channel support, and robust security for efficient and productive customer service.
The switch from using Avaya, which required connecting to a hard or soft phone, to using WebRTC via a web browser has significantly improved customer service efficiency.
It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
 

Categories and Ranking

NICE CXone
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Workforce Engagement Management (3rd), IVR Systems (2nd), Live Chat (3rd), Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) (6th)
Zendesk
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (7th), CRM (20th), Help Desk Software (9th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (7th), Sales Force Automation (7th), Reporting (13th), Community Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Knowledge Management Software category, the mindshare of NICE CXone is 5.2%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 12.8%, down from 19.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Knowledge Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

James Arvidson - PeerSpot reviewer
A software that enables centers to operate more efficiently, increase the quality of every customer interaction, create new pathways to profit, and ensure ongoing customer-centric business improvemen
One of the best aspects of CXone is its omnichannel experience. It treats all contacts, whether phone, chat, email, or SMS, through the same system, allowing for consistent reporting and a true omnichannel experience. The platform is very flexible. You can customize it to do almost anything as long as it's based on logic, which has been incredibly valuable. In terms of analytics, CXone offers consistent, accessible data across all channels. In the past, different systems like Avaya for phones or separate platforms for chat and email made it hard to compare performance across channels. With CXone, you get the same data points across all interactions, making decision-making much easier. It also allows for deeper reporting, like IVR reporting, where you can see what options people choose and create custom KPIs for better insight.
JohanSkibdahl - PeerSpot reviewer
Automating customer support with advanced AI capabilities and seamless communication
Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls. It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. This intelligent tool can manage complex queries before users even realize they are interacting with a non-human. Additionally, we have integrated Zendesk with Datto and Klaviyo ( /products/klaviyo-reviews ), enhancing our workflows.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
24%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with NICE CXone?
One area where CXone could improve is in creating a more streamlined, user-friendly interface. While the interfaces are good, they can get a bit dated over time, though NICE is usually good about u...
What is your primary use case for NICE CXone?
I chose NICE CXone because it had the best return on investment and could scale effectively. After setting it up, I was so impressed that I went to work for NICE for three years, implementing their...
What advice do you have for others considering NICE CXone?
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
What do you like most about Zendesk Support?
I found the user experience with vendors on Zendesk to be straightforward, especially when it comes to understanding and searching for specific tickets. The search and navigation tools are easy to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zendesk Support?
I am not currently aware of the exact pricing, but since we are still using Zendesk, it appears to be at a reasonable price point.
What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?
Report generation is still slightly tricky and not very customizable as per my inquiries. It would be advantageous to have an AI layer that can analyze incoming requests and generate summaries, as ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

NICE inContact, NICE CXone Workforce Optimization Pro, NICE CXOne WFO Pro, CXone Workforce Optimization, inContact Workforce Optimization, CallCopy, Discover, VPI Empower, Brand Embassy, goMoxie
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MoneyGram, Honeywell, Radisson Hotel Group, AAA, New Balance, MattressFIRM, Teleflora, Best Buy
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about NICE CXone vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.