Help Scout vs. Zoho Desk

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Help Scout
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Help Scout is help desk software. The vendor’s value proposition is that that their solution reduces time spent on training users because Help Scout is simple to use and set up and scales like any enterprise product. This solution includes multiple mailboxes to support as many email addresses as needed in order to work collaboratively across teams, and manage several products or brands from one account. Reports on conversation trends, team performance, productivity, and customer happiness are…
$30
per month starts with 100 contacts
Zoho Desk
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Support is a Saas help desk / ticketing system aimed at SMBs. I competes most often with Zendesk, and Desk.com.
$0
Pricing
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Editions & Modules
Standard
$30
per month starts with 100 contacts
Plus
$90
per month starts with 200 contacts
Company
Contact sales team
Free
$0
Express
$9
per month per user
Standard
$20
per month per user
Professional
$35
per month per user
Enterprise
$50
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsA discount is offered for yearly billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Considered Both Products
Help Scout
Chose Help Scout
Help Scout is better for emails while Intercom is better for chats from what we found
Chose Help Scout
I also have used Zendesk previously, which is much more complicated; however, it can offer much more possibilities for customizing.
Chose Help Scout
Only have minimal experience with G-Suite for a much smaller company. This worked well for that organization but did not have similar specialization functions that suite our larger organization very well. Help Scout's pricing makes sense, and continues to service our needs …
Chose Help Scout
We primarily chose HelpScout because they were an affordable, moderately robust, HIPAA compliant solution. All the other options (e.g. Zendesk, Freshdesk, Kayako, etc.) were out of our price range or did not provide the necessary features that our team has come to rely on.
Chose Help Scout
Help Scout is a way better looking product. In the last two years they have stepped up their game. I hope to use their live chat soon. Zendesk is clunky and the user interface is terrible.
Chose Help Scout
This is tricky because there's helpdesk apps and chat apps (now Help Scout offers both).

We first used just an email inbox (of course not scalable but we were very small), then we turned to Freshdesk, which was painful to use. It had some cool features but in general it was …
Chose Help Scout
Help Scout easily plugs into Gmail and allows us to create reports based on our tagging. We found its price point for us as a nonprofit was a good fit. Customer service was also supportive. It also allows us to have an external help desk for our common questions from clients.
Chose Help Scout
We liked Help Scout better because of the help center integration and ability to split out multiple inboxes.
Chose Help Scout
They all had their positives and negatives. For us, it came down to signing a BAA (Zendesk wanted $28,000 to sign one). We enjoy working with vendors who can support healthcare initiates such as we are building.
Chose Help Scout
I've tried almost every single other live chat support tool. Most of them are easy to plug and play into the HTML page layout, but in terms of usefulness and cost, a smaller startup will always choose Help Scout no matter what. It's easily the best option for a bootstrapped …
Chose Help Scout
We did test out several other support desk tools before finally deciding to go with Help Scout. The main tipping point was the fact that Help Scout almost appeared invisible to the end user (our customer). To them, it just feels as if they are reaching someone via email, not …
Chose Help Scout
It has been an ongong debate about whether or not we should switch to Zendesk. They are all about prioritizing customers, delaying response time, and treating the customer like cattle. I'm sure we will switch someday because key heads in the company used to use it, but the …
Chose Help Scout
My team used Zendesk for years and then we switched to a lighter solution.
Chose Help Scout
DevRev, Fin by Intercom and HelpCrunch
Zoho Desk
Chose Zoho Desk
We used HubSpot before, and it didn’t work very well for our needs. Zoho Desk is part of a much larger Zoho implementation. We’d like to have everything in one place, and Zoho provides that ability.
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho provides more bells and whistles comparted to the other platforms I have tried. The setup was easier and the transition was smoother. The support was much better as well. Whenever we would get stuck on something, support was a chat away and we always got the solution we …
Chose Zoho Desk
I have used Asana and Zoho desk and decided to go with Zoho due to the ease of intergration into other applications and platforms, the more affordable costing, a faster mobile application and for the slightly better automation capabilities. Asana is nice but the cost and …
Chose Zoho Desk
We selected Zoho Desk as we needed a platform that was going to allow the business to grow through both usage and staffing numbers. We wanted something cost-effective but still offered standard features in an effective cloud-delivered solution but would still allow …
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is easily a winner for trouble ticket handling as Bitrix24 was not offering any dedicated trouble ticketing tool and we had no option but to use the Tasks section of Bitrix24 to handle our existing customers. Also Bitrix24 neither did have any dedicated mobile …
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is always good at building different platforms for automation, so this one is also the best help desk platform available in the market. I can easily add the feedback with a report to easily convey the message accordingly. It can easily integrate with your existing …
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk has an interface that is extremely simple and practical to use, for even clients who are not skilled. Again, Zoho Desk has no lead time, when customers air their views or complaints. Finally, Zoho Desk works/integrates effectively with several other products for …
Chose Zoho Desk
Over the years I have used a few different support software applications. One being Remedy software. That was pretty nice, but they lacked an isp version. I am currently a user of Atlassian Jira and am not a big fan at this point. It is very cumbersome to use.
Chose Zoho Desk
After trialing and using Zoho Desk, we decided to move onto another product. Zoho has many features that make it a great product, but ease and intuitiveness of use was lacking for us.
Chose Zoho Desk
We evaluated products that were not free, but due to budget reasons we could not justify a purchase. So this free solution stacks up among the best in my opinion for no cost.
Chose Zoho Desk
The quality of support provided by Zoho Desk is brilliant. Ease of setup is a very easy process. Also it meets all the requirements that can be expected from such kind of software. Zoho Desk is a company that can be easy to do business with. It is really headed in the right …
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho [Desk] has much more quality of the information we required for our business than FreshDesk.
It was also easy to work with Zohos different modules albeit based on department specific products than it was when we used Freshdesk.
The Project management module was a …
Chose Zoho Desk
• In the acquisition of Zoho Desk I did not have the final decision but I have contributed as my analysis in the implementation. We decided to switch services since this tool is much more complete in terms of functionalities that help us to easily resolve and follow up on our …
Chose Zoho Desk
Value for money simply beats the rest. Also, as part of the Zoho Suite, integrations are wonderful, for example to CRM or consolidating Reporting with other apps such as Zoho Projects. Integration to advanced Analytics is also very helpful. In terms of features, they are pretty …
Chose Zoho Desk
Atera had a lot of features. You could install an agent to monitor updates, and you could deploy AV. Zoho Desk was easier to go through tickets and replies. It felt like Atera had more features, so it was slower. At times you would want to search for an old ticket in Atera, and …
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is easy to set up for small business needs, and its dashboard is well-suited for our organization's needs. We are on a social network, which also helps us to get users' and applicants' queries through the social platform.
Another factor to start with it is its trial …
Chose Zoho Desk
Desk.com was too complicated and was cost prohibitive. We had switched from Desk by Salesforce to Zoho Desk
Chose Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk comes at a better price, and it offers integration with other Zoho applications so you can keep your information in a single place. Their support is good and will guide you through many things. Also their API is similar to other Zoho platforms, so employees can …
Features
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Help Scout
8.8
Ratings
9% above category average
Zoho Desk
8.6
Ratings
7% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets9.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications10.00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission8.10 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Ticket response8.10 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Expert directory00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Help Scout
8.5
Ratings
8% above category average
Zoho Desk
8.9
Ratings
13% above category average
External knowledge base9.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Internal knowledge base8.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Help Scout
8.0
Ratings
3% above category average
Zoho Desk
7.4
Ratings
5% below category average
Email support8.00 Ratings6.60 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration8.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Customer portal00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Small Businesses
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SysAid
SysAid
Score 9.1 out of 10
SysAid
SysAid
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
7.1
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Help ScoutZoho Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
Small businesses that want a conversational type of customer support experience. Nothing wrong with support tickets, but it does make you feel like a number. Also, we needed to get up and running quickly so the "inbox" feel of the dashboard was already familiar with the team so they could adopt the new software quickly.
Read full review
Zoho Desk is a great customer service tool. It is very easy to track the ability to receive tickets and send responses in Zoho Desk. There are lots of options for customization. The knowledge base feature is very extensive and powerful. It makes creating internal and external FAQs easy.
Read full review
Pros
  • Extremely simple to use and understand as a user - treats communications like human beings and provides a much more personal feel to communication (as opposed to making people feel like numbers).
  • The email newsletter.
  • They are super responsive. They are pretty rad and transparent: if something goes wrong on their end they are not afraid of admitting fault. Which leads me to trust them because I can believe them. I know that tells you very little about the product, but as leadership, that's something that I really need
  • Help Scout does exactly what it needs to (facilitate organized, efficient conversations between customers and support people) without getting in the way.
Read full review
  • Report features give the all insights of the customer team and customer support which enables us to make changes according to it.
  • The best thing about Zoho Desk is that it has a very beautiful and fully designed dashboard.
  • I have been using this software for a very long time in my organization, it is very easy to use with having the interface created on a very advanced module.
  • It is completely a feature rich platform.
Read full review
Cons
  • It is a bit slow sometimes, but not very often.
  • I've noticed more network errors with their server in the past year.
  • Small annoyance - they use a lot of lightbox popups and if you click outside the box all of your work is lost.
Read full review
  • When utilizing as a ticketing system, it would be nice to have a better way to monitor when something is due. It's just a little cumbersome.
  • Search Functionality - The search functionality could use a tweak or two. Too many times I am unable to find tickets. This would also be very helpful for the "Recycle Bin" when you just need to find that ticket you accidentally deleted (we are all human!). :)
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Likelihood to Renew
We are receiving feedback from the organizational level that they may want us to transition to a different solution to provide consistency across the company.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
Help Scout is a great solution for support teams. There are many articles and webinars to help you learn how to use Help Scout. There are also many features to help make your workflows easier and more efficient. I would readily recommend Help Scout to any small or medium-growing support teams.
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Zoho Desk on operational capacity is the most effective help desk we have come across, as it is suitable for businesses of all forms and shapes, from large to small. Again, Zoho Desk captures the attention of all clients, and on time, offers solutions to their demands without failing. Lastly, Zoho Desk requires no extra skill to execute the program.
Read full review
Support Rating
No answers on this topic
Their support is excellent. They are always available to answer all your queries and doubts. Be it a call or email or even live chat. You will always get a prompt response from their customer support executives. They are very much familiar with the product and all its functionality. Sometimes you get stuck and don’t know what to do. They are always there for your questions
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
This is tricky because there's helpdesk apps and chat apps (now Help Scout offers both). We first used just an email inbox (of course not scalable but we were very small), then we turned to Freshdesk, which was painful to use. It had some cool features but in general it was ugly, slow, using the interface was very non-intuitive and the prioritization was hard. I have to say this was more than a year ago, so probably they have changed, but anyway. Zendesk is very expensive considering the features are almost the same AND the chat app needs to be paid separately. As chat we used Tawk.to, it was functional but metrics were not that good and it was buggy at times. Comparing Help Scout with their competitors, at least for us, made it a no-brainer to hire them. The price was very attractive considering the amount of features, the great support and the quality of the app. I don't regret my decision at all because Help Scout, unlike other helpdesk companies, tries to have their app "smart" and not a big, corporate thing piled with features. It does what it needs, it's easy to use and helps you achieve your goals regarding support for your customers.
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Zoho Desk is easily a winner for trouble ticket handling as Bitrix24 was not offering any dedicated trouble ticketing tool and we had no option but to use the Tasks section of Bitrix24 to handle our existing customers. Also Bitrix24 neither did have any dedicated mobile application for on the go usage which Zoho Desk has easily handled with applications for both Android and IOS devices.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • We are able to retain our customer base due to the outstanding customer service our Customer Experience department provides. Without an organized tool like Help Scout, this would not be possible. We pride ourselves in quick response times to customers and are able to do so by effectively routing tickets to the right agents.
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  • By running reports based on ticket, we can see how much time is spent on each customer and can manage these customers better based on what we see are there issues
  • We can also run reports based on the types of queries customers are coming in with which allows us to develop our product based on actual customers needs as a whole.
  • Automatic reporting once set up saves many man hours as new customers can be added automatically if required, and it saves having to build these reports monthly or possibly weekly
Read full review
ScreenShots

Help Scout Screenshots

Screenshot of Build better relationships with your customers, and work together better as a teamScreenshot of Tools designed specifically for team collaboration on customer supportScreenshot of Docs Knowledge Base provides self-service that sets your customers up for successScreenshot of The conversation report can change the conversation with your customers from problems to praise by pinpointing what they write in about and when.Screenshot of Productivity Reports track your team's customer-helping velocity and identify sticking points to push through with even greater momentum.Screenshot of Happiness Reports are the closest you can get to your customer's true feelings without hiring a telepath.

Zoho Desk Screenshots

Screenshot of Log and monitor phone conversations, convert them into new tickets, or attach them to existing ones. Convert social media interactions and live chat into tickets at the click of a button.Screenshot of Bring a Help Center directly into a website to strengthen self-service. Chat with Zia, an AI-powered conversation assistant. Customers can chat with Zia right from a mobile app or website. Zia processes their questions and suggests appropriate solutions from the Knowledge Base.Screenshot of With advanced process automation, internal processes can be setup within the help desk, implement them automatically, and make sure that all processes are followed precisely.Screenshot of Instant responses for instant happiness. Respond to customers the minute they reach out with Zoho Desk's embeddable chat widget. Customers can get in touch with agents instantly, right from the Help Center, so agents can respond and help them find answers faster.Screenshot of Monitor a team's performance, customize and schedule reports. Custom dashboards can be created.Screenshot of Zia brings together predictions across anomalies, sentiment, trending ticket tags, and more into a common dashboard for decision-makers to consume. They can drill down further into the details from the same dashboard to investigate further.