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Salesforce Service Cloud vs Zendesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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
7.5
Salesforce Service Cloud offers high ROI with improved service efficiency, though success varies by company size and careful planning is needed.
Sentiment score
7.3
Zendesk offers cost efficiency and improved productivity, with ROI influenced by alignment with operational needs and process integration.
Salesforce Service Cloud requires significant maintenance effort to see ROI.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Salesforce Service Cloud offers responsive support, though some recommend premium options due to occasional delays and level one frustrations.
Sentiment score
7.0
Zendesk receives praise for responsiveness and ease of use, but some users desire better chat features and human interaction.
Unless you have premium support, assistance is restricted.
The technical support provided by Zendesk has been very satisfactory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Salesforce Service Cloud excels in scalability, integration, and customization, appealing to businesses of various sizes despite governor limits.
Sentiment score
7.5
Zendesk is praised for scalability and customization, although some face initial setup challenges and structural integration issues.
Nobody can compete with Salesforce Service Cloud's scalability.
Zendesk can scale from very small companies to very large ones.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Salesforce Service Cloud is highly stable and reliable, with swift issue resolution and minimal integration challenges, supporting customizations effectively.
Sentiment score
7.9
Zendesk is stable with minimal downtimes, reliable performance, occasional minor issues, and high reliability ratings, especially for smaller businesses.
We rarely encounter stability issues with Salesforce Service Cloud, although when they occur, they cause significant disruption.
The stability has been quite reliable.
 

Room For Improvement

Salesforce Service Cloud users seek enhancements in email integration, UI speed, AI features, pricing, and system integration.
Zendesk faces challenges with data management, flexibility, integration, user-friendliness, and customer communication, while users are dissatisfied with support and pricing.
Salesforce Service Cloud should focus on simplification.
The pricing of Salesforce Service Cloud is expensive compared to other solutions like our current SAP CRM, which is much cheaper.
There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier.
 

Setup Cost

Salesforce Service Cloud offers flexible pricing that can be expensive; negotiation can help optimize costs for enterprises.
Enterprise buyers find Zendesk's pricing high but valuable, with costs varying by agent count and business needs for tailored solutions.
Salesforce Service Cloud is expensive.
The approximate licensing costs for Salesforce Service Cloud are around three hundred dollars a year per user.
It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
 

Valuable Features

Salesforce Service Cloud excels in integration, automation, and customization, enhancing efficiency and user experience with robust features.
Zendesk offers user-friendly ticket management, seamless integrations, multi-channel support, and robust security for efficient and productive customer service.
Salesforce Service Cloud improved our organization with its mobile capabilities.
Salesforce Service Cloud offers pre-built packages that are best in class.
It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
 

Categories and Ranking

Salesforce Service Cloud
Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers
2nd
Ranking in Help Desk Software
5th
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
IT Alerting and Incident Management (6th)
Zendesk
Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers
7th
Ranking in Help Desk Software
9th
Ranking in Knowledge Management Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
CRM (20th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (7th), Sales Force Automation (7th), Reporting (13th), Community Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category, the mindshare of Salesforce Service Cloud is 19.6%, up from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 5.4%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
CRM Customer Engagement Centers
 

Featured Reviews

ChanchalSaxena - PeerSpot reviewer
High scalability with good plugins and excellent customer visibility
The solution should improve: 1. Reports & dashboard - The product should be capable of delivering complex reports as per company requirements without the need for a Tableau license. 2. Einstein has limited capabilities, and it suggests the analysis by predefined algorithms - but in a practical scenario, businesses need to ask real-time questions, and AI products should be capable of delivering the exact answers. Generic answers may not be effective.
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.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which CRM Customer Engagement Centers solutions are best for your needs.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
23%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Service Cloud?
The approximate licensing costs for Salesforce Service Cloud are around three hundred dollars a year per user.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Service Cloud?
The pricing of Salesforce Service Cloud is expensive compared to other solutions like our current SAP CRM ( /products/sap-crm-reviews ), which is much cheaper.
What is your primary use case for Salesforce Service Cloud?
I used Salesforce Service Cloud ( /products/salesforce-service-cloud-reviews ) for our sales agents to track visits, gather feedback from customers, and capture orders.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Service Cloud
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Stanley Black & Decker, Coca-Cola, Activision, Wells Fargo, Spotify, Aldo, Philips, The Red Cross, Blue Shield of California, Sprouts Farmers Market, Direct Energy Solar, Inspirato, Kiva
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce Service Cloud vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.