Gorgias vs Zendesk: Battle of the Helpdesk Titans

Gorgias vs Zendesk: Battle of the Helpdesk Titans

Updated : Apr 24, 2024
12 Mins Read
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Today, every single consumer seeks prompt resolutions and comfortable and helpful interactions. So, companies that don’t offer good support experiences fail in the long run, as it directly hurts online reputation and ROI for businesses

If you’re seeking a high-end and feature-rich platform to match the diverse and quickly evolving requirements of chat support, then there are high chances you’ve come across platforms like Gorgias and Zendesk. 

Both of these are major players in the chat support world, due to which it becomes highly difficult for a common buyer to compare both of these services. Both of these comprise intricate machinery that doesn’t just just drive customer engagement but increases a sense of loyalty too. 

Today, customers are more discerning than ever, which makes it exceptionally tough to meet their demands. Keep in mind, that your online business won’t be able to shape the access trajectory without a perfect support solution. Hence, read till the end!

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Gorgias vs zendesk: battle of the helpdesk titans -

Key Takeaway :

In the battle of the helpdesk titans, Gorgias and Zendesk offer unique features tailored to different business needs, with Gorgias focusing on e-commerce support and Zendesk excelling in SaaS customer service. E-commerce merchants, especially those using Shopify, may prefer Zendesk for its powerful knowledge management solution, while Gorgias provides deep integrations with e-commerce platforms and unique benefits for businesses in the e-commerce sector. Both platforms offer free trials, allowing businesses to assess their suitability before making a decision.

Gorgias

Gorgias vs zendesk
Gorgias

Gorgias, a highly appreciable customer service platform strives to help Shopify merchants from various angles. The main motto is to help these merchants turn visitors into buyers and increase conversions by offering personalized shopping experience. With Gorgias, it doesn’t even seem like your support ticket is opened by some bot – it feels more like a human instead. Very less of Zendesk competitors offer that convenience. Intercom is another one of them. You can check the comparison here.

With Gorgias, you get a collision detection feature, which ensures chances don’t occur when two agents reply  to the same conversation. Besides that, it permits reminders to help you team in terms of tracking customer information for future reference or follow-up.

Replying to customer inquiries via live chat, text, social media, email, and even ads. The agent is present on one chat window, which reduces customer confusion. It helps meet customers wherever they are. This helps in boosting sales too. 

You can even create automated responses to some of the common customer questions such as – “How do I exchange my item?” or  “When will my order arrive?” Due to this, your chat agents save a lot of time, and they can channel their time and efforts to solve more demanding issues.

Zendesk

Zendesk 2
Zendesk

If you compare Zendesk to Gorgias, you’ll find that most of the ecommerce support features are the same. So, in either case, you enjoy easy automation and collaboration. But keep in mind, both of these are SaaS products, which means slight differences are always going to be there in terms of features and user interface. 

If your business seeks more feature-rich chat software solutions, Zendesk will suit more. The out-of-the-box tools for agents highly impress, and setup is never going to pull the nerves of your brain.

Cross team collaboration among agents without creating any mess like agent-doubling or ticket abandonment is actually a breeze. You can integrate “side conversations’ ‘ feature  with various other apps like Slack, which is again a great luxury.

Building and integrating your own community forum for helping customers seek answers themselves is possible. Steering customers in the right direction by offering instant replies is not a hassle at all. This shifts workload from agents’ heads. However, there are several negative too, about which you can read here.

Desku as an Alternative:

In the world of customer support, huge companies like Zendesk and ServiceNow always come to mind as the top choices for ecommerce. Unlike Zendesk, Desku helpdesk is very adaptive, and adjusts easily for special needs of businesses. Desku and Zendesk are both engaged in a cold war and the main aim of both is to provide best services to the customer.

If a customer wants satisfaction then Desku is a good option. Servicenow is a superhero which is also providing good service. If we want to consider the budget then Desku is the best option. 

The unique feature of Desku is that customers feel easy and comfortable by using this software. Desku is not only a tool but it’s a friendly guide to get in touch with the customers. 

In short we can say that Desku is the best option in comparison with servicenow and Zendesk which offer customization, budget friendly options, and a fantastic experience for a business who is providing services to the customers. It’s like Desku saying “Hey I am here for you to make your business shine”. Check out Desku’s features & pricing.

Gorgias pros and cons

Gorgias pros and cons 1
Gorgias: pros and cons

Choosing between Gorgias and Zendesk will become easy for you after cherishing the following pros and cons of either help desk software.

What are the advantages of Gorgias?

  • Customization of workflows: Views are easy to customize based on priority, ticket status or different criteria. So support agents can do prioritization and ticket management more efficiently. 
  • Faster responses: creation of macros (templated responses) allows support agents to pull in required customer data to provide quick personalized replies.
  • Unified Inbox Interface:Gorgias combines multiple channels such as social Media, Emails, Live Chat and more so businesses can manage them from a single unified Interface.
  • E-commerce integration: Gorgias is tailored to easily Integrate with e-commerce platforms like Woocommerce, Magento and Shopify so support agents can access customer data, order details and other required information quickly.
  • AI-powered automation: Gorgias is equipped with AI capabilities to automatically answer common customer queries without intervention from support agents for Quick and Efficient Operations.

What are the disadvantages of Gorgias?

  • Steeper learning curve: If a user is transitioning from a basic or different type of support platform then they may find Gorgias Difficult to learn during starting periods.
  • Lack of advanced reporting features: Businesses who require in-depth analytics or customizable reporting features may not find reporting features of Gorgias satisfactory.
  • Integration limitations for non-e-commerce: Gorgias supports integrations with many key e-commerce platforms but it lacks those features in the non e-commerce domain.
  • Limitations of non-e-commerce features: Due to its e-commerce-centered features, businesses that aren’t in the e-commerce space find it less relevant to  their needs.
  • Cost: Some smaller businesses may perceive gorgias as expensive, more so when scaling with more support agents.

Zendesk pros and cons

Zendesk pros and cons 4
Zendesk: pros and cons

 Zendesk advantages

  • Customizable interface: Zendesk’s interface can be customized to meet demands of specific businesses.
  • Unified Inbox: Zendesk provides Multichannel support for Live chat, Call, Social media and Email for a more unified experience.
  • Advanced reporting: Zendesk provides in-depth analytics and customizable reporting options for businesses to  monitor key performance, make improvements and create better decisions.
  • Extensive integration capabilities: There are a lot of different apps and integrations available in the zendesk marketplace which allows businesses to connect zendesk with other software tools.
  • Knowledge base: Zendesk gives an extensive knowledge base, so businesses can create self-service portals for customers where they can find answers to frequently asked questions. Which results in a lesser volume of support tickets.
  • Zendesk customer service: If you believe in saving time, Zendesk caters to you with quick help answer service. That’s what makes it the leader in the customer support domain.

Zendesk disadvantages 

  • Learning curve: Due to extensive features provided by Zendesk it can take some time to master all of the aspects, especially for those who have never used a customer support software before. Even SpiceWork gets a better score in this department.
  • Occasional performance issues: In spite of zendesk managing to provide a good level of up time and reliability there are some users who have reported occasional slowdowns and outages.
  • Complexity: Although Zendesk UI is appreciable, comprehensive features can be overwhelming sometimes for new users and small teams which may not even need to use those advanced features. However, integration with Shopify is easy. Competitors like ServiceNow and Kayako are better in this case.
  • Cost: Some people find zendesk expensive because additional add-ons and premium features require additional purchases.
  • Lack of Integration with third party tools: Zendesk marketplace offers many integrations and tools but not all third party tools work effortlessly with Zendesk. So sometimes it becomes difficult to integrate a specific tool if a requirement arises.

Concerning scalability also, Zendesk doesn’t satisfy much. So, our experts have narrated a dedicated guide highlighting the same. Also, if you focus more on scalability, Jira is another cool alternative.

Features comparison

Features comparison 1
Features comparison

Integration Capabilities

Integrations allow businesses to create a more unified  and streamlined ecosystem for more efficient flow of data.

In terms of integration capabilities both Gorgias and Zendesk perform impressively well, they can seamlessly connect to various platforms for increasing functionality.

Nevertheless, Zendesk is a winner in this category because of Extensive number of apps and integrations that effortlessly connect to provide effortless customer support operations for a wide variety of businesses. For eg. Zendesk integrates well with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Magento as well as widely used CRM softwares such as Hubspot and Salesforce.

While Gorgias also offers many integrations it’s more focused on e-commerce needs. So it is not a preferred choice for some businesses focused around non-ecommerce space. 

Request Handling

In terms of handling customer requests and Efficiency of responding, Gorgias come out on top because of features of prioritization and ticket management that increase response times significantly and offer effective collaboration among team members.

While Zendesk also provides automation capabilities and a good ticketing system, it does not match Georgia’s which is centered around providing customer support operations for e-commerce platforms. So, when handling customer requests with lower response times are required Gorgias is a preferred choice.

 Reporting and Analytics

In terms of reporting and analytics, Zendesk outperforms by a considerable margin. Zendesk provides sophisticated reporting facilities, enabling businesses to understand the intricate details of how they conduct their customer support.

Reporting capabilities in Zendesk include number of tickets, time taken for responses, percentage of closed tickets, customer satisfaction, agent statistics among others 

For instance, companies can follow up on how tickets have spread over time, reveal the busiest hours for client support, and view individual employee statistics so that they rely on facts in improving the client support effectiveness and standards. 

Similarly, although Gorgias gives some support analytics, they are not exhaustive or inclusive like that offered by Zendesk.

Knowledge Base

Talking about three things – self-service capabilities, knowledge management, support team, and Customer experience Zendesk takes a great lead over Gorgias. Zendesk’s knowledge base feature is truly comprehensive, and you’ll hardly feel the need to hit the Help center. 

There’s a great wealth of articles, Frequently asked questions, and a lot more. This way, the customers rely less on customer support agents,and they get their answers themselves. The process of Shopify integration is also easy. 

In contrast, Gorgias offers some amount of automation in dealing with customers needs but is not equipped with a knowledge based structure like Zendesk. The lack of presence in this may cause customers’ experience of a poorer self-service. Therefore, in contexts where companies choose to allow customers to self-discover answers, Zendesk is the preferred option for eCommerce merchants (especially Shopify app owners) due to its powerful knowledge management solution. 

Automation and Workflow Capabilities

Talking about the automation and workflow optimization, Gorgias allows great help by offering some tremendous features  to help ecommerce business owners streamline their customer support operations. Zendesk is no way behind. 

Zendesk serves a range of automation features like it allows businesses to create predefined rules and workflows. You, as a business can easily route tickets to the most suitable support agents, just by setting up automatic rules. You can forward these tickets to specific departments based on criteria like issue type or customer location. So, your ecommerce customer service gets wings with this, and your CSAT rate shoots up!

You can even set automatic responses to address common queries in no time, shifting agent workload using Zendesk support. You can also expect issue escalation workflows and ensure critical matters receive attention on the spot.

Gorgias also offers features like Zendesk – custom rules and automated responses to help businesses use time in more critical tasks.  Let’s say, you can conveniently automotive responses to FAQs, like order, shipping or returns, delivery inquiries, etc to speed-up customer assistance. So, your Shopify store caters more customers with a lesser number of agents.

User-Friendliness

Comparing Zendesk and Gorgias in terms of ease of use, Zendesk is a winner. The interface is easy to use and can be understood by people with diverse tech know-how. In addition, it contains the key characteristics that allow you an easy navigation and, therefore, extremely user friendly. This is exemplified by establishing such things as ticketing systems and maintaining relationships with customers.

While Gorgias has a slight learning curve for new users that use certain functionalities extensively, it is relatively easier to use than what Zendesk offers. However, after it has been mastered, Gorgias provides numerous customizable options which are specifically tailored to suit the needs of a brand hence offering exceptional flexibility and control for the customer support operation. Overall, in Zendesk vs Gorgias battle considering user-friendliness, our vote goes to Zendesk.

Gorgias vs Zendesk: Pricing difference

Zendesk pricing 3
Zendesk pricing

Zendesk comes with a cost on a per-seat/agent basis. Most customer service agents you have, the more you pay. For example, Zendesk’s service platform subscription pricing starts from $19, moving to $55, or $155/agent per month, depending on the tier.

Gorgias pricing 1
Gorgias pricing

When you compare Gorgias, its pricing is based on ticket numbers.  For instance , its Starter plan costs $10/month for 50 tickets. The top-tier Advanced plan costs you $900/month for 5,000 tickets. A final point of difference in pricing plans to note is that while these platforms offer multi-channel support, Some channels differ.

 For example, if you’ve previously used Gorgias , you may know it offers live chat, Instagram, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook, but not Twitter (Now, X).

In comparison, Zendesk includes Twitter in its channels. So, businesses needing basic functionalities and responding to customer queries less frequently prefer Zendesk. Yes, It gets deeply integrated with Shopify. Their customer support team can help you set it.

 However, large e-commerce enterprises using platforms such as Shopify seek specialized features. They find Gorgias’ value justifies its cost. Evaluate both deeply considering specific requirements and budget.

Can Zendesk replace Gorgias?

Well, the answer to this question highly depends upon the business’ specific needs. Both are great customer support software for their own reasons, and both have slightly different possibilities. If you want a border suit of tools, don’t go with Gorgias. Zendesk covers multiple communication channels and it integrates with various business systems efficiently. However, if you want  deep integrations with your e-commerce platform, then yes, Gorgias is a better choice.  

Gorgias offers unique benefits to businesses that fall under the e-commerce sector. It won’t tackle varied customer support requirements like gorgias does. Yes, Gorgias is a good Zendesk alternative as a complete customer service software, but not as good as Desku.

Conclusion

Opting for the right customer support among Gorgias vs Zendesk isn’t tough if you already have a keen understanding of your business requirements. Ecommerce website owners can expect Gorgias to help out a better way, while for SaaS customer service, we recommend Zendesk. There are many differences between Gorgias and Zendesk, but a good similarity is that both offer free trials. 

If you’re planning to outsource your customer support to the U.S.-based agents to help answer tickets in Zendesk and Gorgias, then Desku is a decent choice. Desku proves to be a better helpdesk for your business than both as overall. Besides abundant features, it offers excellent customer support too.

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Gaurav Nagani
Gaurav Nagani is the Founder and CEO of Desku, an AI-powered customer service software platform.
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