Zendesk vs Intercom: Which is best for e-commerce?

Zendesk - a quick overview

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Founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Alexander Aghassipour, and Morten Primdahl, Zendesk is a global leader in customer service software. Zendesk empowers businesses to deliver seamless support experiences through its AI-powered help desk solutions and omnichannel communication tools. The platform serves over 160,000 companies worldwide—ranging from startups to large enterprises—across industries like technology, retail, and information services.

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Zendesk’s core features include ticket management, live chat, CRM integrations, analytics dashboards, automation workflows, and robust API access. Its intuitive interface makes it a favorite among customer support teams aiming to improve efficiency and satisfaction. In the following section, we’ll break down Zendesk’s features, pros and cons, pricing structure, and user reviews compared to Intercom and Ringly.io.

Zendesk's features

• Omnichannel Ticketing System: Zendesk centralizes customer support across email, chat, phone, and social media in a single dashboard. This unified approach streamlines agent workflows and ensures no inquiry is missed. Unlike Intercom’s conversational focus or Ringly.io’s AI-driven phone automation, Zendesk excels at managing high ticket volumes for large teams but can feel complex for smaller businesses.
• Knowledge Base & Self-Service: The built-in knowledge base lets companies create help centers so customers can find answers themselves 24/7. This reduces repetitive tickets and empowers users—similar to Intercom’s articles feature. However, Ringly.io takes this further by instantly updating its AI agent with your latest content daily, ensuring real-time accuracy without manual upkeep.
• Live Chat & Messaging: Zendesk offers live chat tools that let agents engage visitors in real time on websites or apps. While effective for immediate support like Intercom’s Messenger widget, it lacks the proactive outbound calling and SMS capabilities found in Ringly.io that drive sales recovery and instant follow-ups.
• Integrated Voice Support: With native call center functionality (Zendesk Talk), agents handle inbound/outbound calls directly from the platform—logging calls as tickets automatically. This suits traditional support teams but doesn’t match the fully automated AI voice workflows of Ringly.io that resolve common issues without human intervention.
• Automation & Macros: Agents use macros to automate replies to frequent questions and set up rules for routing or prioritizing tickets based on triggers (like keywords or channel). While powerful for scaling operations similar to Intercom’s bots/workflows, these automations are mostly text-based; they don’t offer end-to-end phone call automations like those available with Ringly.io.
• Reporting & Analytics: Robust dashboards track ticket volume, response times, CSAT scores, agent performance metrics—and more—for data-driven decision making. These analytics are comprehensive but often require manual interpretation; by contrast, Ringly.io provides AI-powered call analysis with mood detection and actionable suggestions out-of-the-box.
• App Marketplace & Integrations: Zendesk connects with thousands of third-party tools (CRMs like Salesforce/HubSpot) via its marketplace—enabling custom workflows through integrations much like Intercom does. However, integrating advanced actions during live customer interactions (such as sending texts or updating CRMs mid-call) is not as seamless as what you get natively within Ringly.io.
• Scalability for Large Teams: Designed to serve enterprises handling massive ticket loads across multiple brands/languages/departments—with granular permissions and roles management—Zendesk is ideal when you need robust structure at scale. For leaner e-commerce teams seeking rapid setup with less overhead or technical lift though, solutions like Ringly.io provide faster deployment tailored specifically to online stores.

In summary: while Zendesk remains a leader in omnichannel ticketing for established organizations needing deep customization and reporting across many channels, it lacks the instant knowledge syncs and hands-off automation found in modern platforms purpose-built for e-commerce growth such as ours.

Zendesk Pros and Cons

We studied dozens of reviews from real Zendesk users from platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Then we identified commonalities and summarized the main pros and cons of Zendesk based on real user feedback for you here:

Pros

• Omnichannel support – Users consistently praise Zendesk’s ability to bring together email, chat, social media messages, calls, and more into a single platform for streamlined customer interactions.
• Strong automation & workflow tools – Many reviewers highlight the powerful automation features that help teams save time by automating ticket routing, responses, triggers, alerts, and more.
• Scalability for growing businesses – Businesses appreciate how well Zendesk scales as their needs grow; it’s seen as reliable even with high ticket volumes or multiple brands/departments.
• Robust integrations – Users value the wide range of integrations (100+) with other business tools such as CRMs or e-commerce platforms.
• Comprehensive reporting & analytics – The platform offers flexible reporting options that help teams track performance metrics and improve service quality over time.

Cons

• High cost for advanced features – A frequent complaint is that many valuable features are locked behind higher-tier plans; this makes Zendesk expensive—especially for small businesses or those needing premium capabilities. Ringly.io may offer a simpler pricing structure without hidden costs.
• Steep learning curve & complexity – New users often find the interface overwhelming due to its many features. Training is required to use advanced functions effectively; some describe the UI as non-intuitive or outdated in places.
• Customization limitations on lower plans – While customization exists at higher tiers, smaller customers report limited flexibility unless they upgrade or involve technical resources—making it harder to tailor workflows without extra investment.
• Slow customer support response times (on standard plans) – Multiple users mention slow replies from Zendesk’s own support team unless you’re on a premium plan. Some also note confusing processes when trying to get help via email or chat only channels instead of phone support.
• Reporting can be cumbersome/complex – Although reporting is robust overall, several reviewers say certain analytics modules (like Explore) are difficult to navigate without submitting tickets themselves—a frustrating experience if you need quick insights regularly.

While these drawbacks are common among large-scale legacy solutions like Zendesk—such as cost complexity or slow standard-tier support—it’s worth noting that newer platforms like Ringly.io aim to address these pain points by offering transparent pricing models and more responsive customer care out-of-the-box.

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Intercom - a quick overview

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Founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2011 by Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor, David Barrett, and Ciaran Lee, Intercom is a customer communications platform that helps businesses connect with their users through live chat, messaging bots, and AI-powered support. Their core mission is to make internet business personal—helping companies build real relationships with customers at every stage of the journey.

Today, Intercom serves over 140,000 companies worldwide—from small startups to global brands like Adobe and Starbucks—and is especially popular among ecommerce teams and SaaS businesses looking for smarter ways to onboard users and deliver standout customer experiences. In the next section we’ll dive into Intercom’s features like chatbots and automation tools; compare its pros/cons with Zendesk; look at pricing options; and share what real users are saying about how it stacks up against Ringly.io.

Intercom's features

• Conversational Support – Intercom’s core strength is real-time, personalized messaging across web, mobile, and email. Its live chat and in-app messaging let businesses proactively engage users based on behavior or lifecycle stage. This is more dynamic than Zendesk’s traditional ticketing but less specialized for phone-based or transactional support like Ringly.io, which automates voice calls for order status and cart recovery.
• AI Chatbot (Fin AI Agent) – The Fin AI Agent handles common customer queries using natural language processing. It can suggest help articles and route conversations to the right team member automatically. While this offers more proactive engagement than Zendesk’s Answer Bot, it still relies heavily on a static knowledge base and struggles with complex or nuanced questions—unlike Ringly.io’s agent that updates daily from your actual website content for always-current answers.
• Automation & Workflows – Intercom provides robust automation tools out of the box: bots can triage conversations, trigger follow-ups, segment users by behavior, and automate repetitive tasks. This gives it an edge over Zendesk in sales-driven environments but doesn’t match the end-to-end phone call automation workflows available with Ringly.io.
• Multi-channel Messaging – Businesses can reach customers via email campaigns, push notifications, SMS (with add-ons), and in-app messages—all managed from one dashboard. While this covers most digital channels well (and better than Zendesk for marketing outreach), it lacks native advanced voice capabilities; unlike Ringly.io which specializes in automated phone support with integrated SMS during calls.
• Help Center & Knowledge Base – Intercom allows you to build branded self-service portals where customers find answers themselves. Content creation is easy but not as customizable as Zendesk’s knowledge base tools—and unlike Ringly.io’s instant knowledge integration feature that requires no manual training or setup.
• CRM Capabilities – Basic CRM functions are built-in: track user profiles, segment audiences by custom attributes or behaviors, and personalize communication flows accordingly. This makes Intercom more flexible than Zendesk without needing external CRMs—but still less action-oriented compared to Ringly.io's ability to trigger custom actions like creating tickets or updating CRMs directly during live calls.
• Reporting & Analytics – Standard analytics cover conversation volume trends and basic performance metrics; however reporting isn’t as deep or customizable as what you get with Zendesk Explore—or the actionable call analysis provided by Ringly.io that breaks down why calls succeed/fail along with mood detection insights.

Intercom excels at conversational engagement through chatbots and multi-channel messaging—ideal if your focus is digital-first sales automation rather than comprehensive omnichannel support or advanced voice/phone workflows where solutions like ours offer unique advantages.

Next, let's look at Intercom's pros and cons. We studied dozens of reviews from real Intercom users from platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Then we identified commonalities and summarized the main pros and cons of Intercom based on real user feedback for you here:

Pros

• User-friendly interface – Many users praise Intercom’s intuitive design, which makes onboarding new team members quick and navigation easy for both agents and customers.
• Powerful live chat & messaging tools – Real-time communication features are highlighted as a major benefit for improving customer engagement and support efficiency.
• Automation & AI capabilities – Users appreciate automation features like custom bots, workflows, macros, auto-replies, as well as the AI assistant that helps reduce manual tasks while providing fast responses to customers.
• Wide range of integrations – Seamless integration with various third-party tools allows teams to customize their workflows without friction or heavy development work. Ringly.io also offers robust integrations but with simpler setup—so you can connect your stack without the same learning curve.
• Saves time for support teams – Features such as ticket routing, shared inboxes with AI assistance, canned responses (macros), and in-app help centers streamline repetitive tasks so agents can focus on higher-value conversations.
• Bilingual/translation support (AI Inbox Translation) – The ability to automatically translate conversations in real time is seen as a game-changer by global teams supporting multiple languages. Not all platforms offer this level of built-in translation.
• A modern approach to customer experience management – Combining tickets/conversations into one platform gives companies a unified view of customer interactions across channels. This is especially useful if your team wants everything in one place.

Cons

• Pricing is expensive & add-ons add up quickly – Many reviewers mention that costs rise steeply—especially when adding advanced features or scaling up seats—which can be prohibitive for startups or smaller businesses. With Ringly.io’s transparent pricing model there are no hidden fees or surprise charges.
• Lack of depth in traditional ticketing systems – Some users feel that while Intercom covers basic ticketing needs well enough for most cases, it lacks more advanced ticket management options found in dedicated help desk solutions (like complex SLAs or reporting). If deep-ticketing functionality matters most to your workflow, this could be limiting.
• Difficulties customizing flows & automations – Several reviews note challenges when trying to set up custom workflows tailored by user segment; some automations aren’t flexible enough out-of-the-box without developer involvement. Ringly.io was designed so non-technical users can build custom flows visually—no code required.
• Learning curve on advanced features – While basic use is straightforward, more complex configurations (like multi-path workflows) have a steeper learning curve. Some find documentation lacking when setting up nuanced processes beyond standard chatbots or FAQs.
• Reporting limitations – Users report that analytics dashboards sometimes lack granularity; certain metrics (e.g., conversation volume averages over specific periods) aren’t easily accessible out-of-the-box. For data-driven teams needing detailed insights, this may require extra effort. Ringly.io provides customizable reports tailored specifically around what matters most—no extra modules needed.
• Customer support responsiveness issues – A recurring complaint is slow response times from Intercom’s own support team, sometimes taking hours or days, with tickets being passed between agents. If rapid vendor support matters, consider how alternative providers prioritize direct access.
• Manual intervention still required at times – Despite automation strengths, some scenarios still need human oversight—especially during long or complex interactions where context gets lost.
• Additional fees for key onboarding tools – Product tours/checklists aren’t included by default; they cost an extra $99/month per plan. For companies prioritizing guided onboarding experiences, these incremental charges should be factored into total cost.

Pricing - Zendesk vs Intercom

Note: The pricing information below is accurate at the time of writing and may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date pricing, please visit each company's pricing page.

Zendesk pricing

• Contract Length: All plans are available monthly or annually. Annual billing offers a discount over monthly rates.
• Cancellation Fees: If you cancel before your term ends (especially on annual contracts), you must pay the remaining balance for the subscription period. There are no partial refunds if you downgrade or cancel early except in rare cases of Zendesk’s material breach.
• Refund Policies: No standard refunds or money-back guarantees for voluntary cancellations. Refunds only apply if Zendesk materially breaches the agreement and does not cure it after notice—then prepaid fees for unused time may be refunded.
• Some advanced AI features and add-ons may incur extra charges beyond base plan prices.
• Prices above reflect annual billing per user/agent. Monthly billing is typically higher.
• All users on an account must be on the same plan tier.

Intercom pricing

Ringly.io pricing

Ringly.io has simple, usage-based pricing with no hidden fees or long-term commitments. Test drive it risk-free for 14 days, then scale up or down on month-to-month terms—or book a demo for fully tailored enterprise support.

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Online customer reviews: Zendesk vs Intercom

What users are saying about Zendesk:

Total reviews and average rating:
- G2: Nearly 6,000 reviews, 4.3-star average rating.
- G2 (Support Suite comparison): Robust ticket creation experience with a user score of 8.8/10.

"Improved agent experience" – Christopher Douglas, Regional Director of Member Experience
Zendesk has improved the agent experience by leaps and bounds... workflows are easier and more intuitive, so agents can quickly view member interactions across multiple channels and personalize every conversation...

"Problems in almost all areas" – Anonymous Reviewer
We've found that problems in almost all areas of the product have repeatedly forced us to back off our planned usage... began to roll it out and found that a series of issues would force us to reconsider...

What users are saying about Intercom:

Total reviews and average rating:
- G2 (Support Suite comparison): User score for ticket creation is 8.7/10.
- No specific total review count or star rating from G2 or Capterra was found in the search results; users should be careful when interpreting overall sentiment.

"Easy to configure and implement" – Intercom Customer Testimonial
Intercom was easy to configure and implement while offering the ability to provide conversational support...

"Difficulty managing email histories" – Anonymous Reviewer
Difficulty in managing email histories and tracking message threads... inconsistent linking of previous customer queries causing confusion...

Both platforms receive praise for their core strengths—Zendesk for its robust helpdesk features, scalability, advanced reporting tools, and workflow efficiency; Intercom for its user-friendly interface, quick setup process, conversational support tools, proactive engagement features like product tours/onboarding—but each also faces criticism: Zendesk can feel cumbersome or limited for some use cases; Intercom may struggle with complex ticketing needs or detailed historical tracking.

What users are saying about Ringly.io:

Ringly.io is known for its simplicity, and a focus on e-commerce, with features like abandoned cart recovery and order status lookups. It has a 4.8 star rating from 12 reviews on Product Hunt and other platforms.

"it stands out significantly ahead" - Bertrand, Director. We are at the initial stage of testing and have made only a few calls so far. Consequently, I have rated the product with four stars for now. However, I must express that the product has shown significant promise. When compared to competitors, it stands out significantly ahead.

"This is such a great product" - Jim Miranda, Founder. This is such a great product. I have been with you for less than a week and already closed 3 deals with it."

"It really sounds like a human" - Laix, Founder. Tried Ringly.io today and the quality of the phone calls surprises me! It really sounds like a human, and it reacts really fast. Will need to deploy it in action to see the full capabilities.

"How to automate customer service? -> Ringly.io" - Sidra Husnain, Founder.

Zendesk vs Intercom: Which is best for you?

Who Zendesk is best for…

• Large and growing companies – If you handle tons of support tickets across multiple channels (like email, phone, chat, and social media) and need a platform that can scale as you grow, Zendesk is a strong choice.
• Teams needing detailed reporting and analytics – If your team depends on deep reports, dashboards, and custom metrics to guide decisions and spot trends, Zendesk stands out here.
• Businesses with complex support structures – If you need granular permissions, work in different languages, or support multiple brands from one place, Zendesk is built for you.
• Companies that rely on heavy customization and integrations – Zendesk connects with thousands of third-party tools, so it’s great if you already use lots of business apps and need to stitch everything together.

Who Intercom is best for…

• Fast-moving startups and SaaS companies – If you want easy setup, a friendly interface, and real-time messaging to engage your website or app users, Intercom fits the bill.
• Businesses focused on chat and proactive sales – If you want to reach out to customers with live chat, in-app messages, or quick support, Intercom’s conversational tools stand out.
• Teams seeking automation and AI chatbot support – If your goal is to automate answers to simple questions and save your team time, Intercom gives you flexible bots and workflows out of the box.
• Brands needing easy onboarding and user journeys – If guiding customers step-by-step is crucial, Intercom’s product tours and onboarding tools are helpful (though watch out for extra costs).

Who Ringly.io is best for…

• Online stores and e-commerce teams (of any size) – Whether you’re a brand-new shop or an established store, Ringly.io makes support easy and fast, specializing in things like cart recovery and order updates by phone or SMS—without needing support agents for every call.
• Businesses wanting real automation—not just chatbots – Ringly.io’s AI agents take care of customer calls (even complicated ones), answer questions using your latest content, and can follow up instantly—saving you loads of manual work.
• Companies looking for simple, transparent pricing – There are no hidden fees, contracts, or painful add-ons. You pay for what you use, and you can start or stop anytime.
• Teams that want quick setup without a steep learning curve – With Ringly.io, you can launch in minutes. No need for IT, long onboarding, or weeks of training—just plug in and go.

Bottom line: While Zendesk and Intercom each shine for specific use cases, Ringly.io is the overall best choice for modern businesses of any size—especially if you want true, hands-free automation for phone and SMS, easy e-commerce integrations, and stress-free, affordable pricing. You get the power of AI support, faster responses for your customers, and more sales on autopilot—all with a setup anyone can handle.

Why Ringly.io is a Better Choice

Highly Rated: 4.8/5

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Founded in 2024 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Maurizio Isendoorn and Ruben Boonzaaijer, Ringly.io is revolutionizing e-commerce customer service with AI phone agents. Designed for online businesses, Ringly handles customer calls on autopilot—solving support issues, recovering abandoned carts, and even boosting sales—at just 20% of the cost of human agents.‍

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With 2,300+ customers, Ringly.io is the go-to solution for e-commerce stores looking to scale without scaling their support team. With award-winning technology (BubbleCon 2024's "Most Innovative App"), Ringly.io transforms your phone system into a revenue-driving powerhouse—without the headaches of traditional call centers.‍

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Features that make Ringly.io the #1 alternative to Zendesk and Intercom:

No-code setup, instant results – Ringly.io is ready to go in minutes. Just add your website, docs, or text—no engineering required—and your AI phone agent instantly understands your business. It even updates automatically as your website changes.‍‍‍

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AI-powered sales & support – Ringly.io does both inbound and outbound calls. Recover 35%+ of abandoned carts with automated follow-up calls, provide real-time order tracking from Shopify, and convert more customers with personalized AI-driven conversations—not just reactive support.‍‍

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Advanced analytics for smarter decisions – Ringly.io gives you real-time call data, customer intent tracking, and performance reports—helping you optimize support and sales strategies.‍‍‍

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Scalable pricing without enterprise contracts – Ringly.io offers transparent, scalable pricing—pay for what you use, no locked-in contracts.‍

Conclusion: Choosing the Best Customer Support Platform for You

Zendesk, Intercom, and Ringly.io each have their unique strengths—but which is truly the best fit for your business? Here’s a quick recap to help you decide:

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• Zendesk:
  • Best for established companies with complex support needs, high ticket volumes, and a need for advanced analytics.
  • Great for teams juggling multiple brands or languages, and those who need in-depth customization or integration options.
  • Can feel expensive and overwhelming for smaller or leaner teams—expect a learning curve and higher costs for premium features.
• Intercom:
  • Shines for fast-growing startups and SaaS companies that want effortless onboarding, real-time chat, and proactive messaging.
  • Excels at conversational support and automating simple, repetitive inquiries through bots and workflows.
  • Some limits with deeper ticketing complexity, occasional reporting gaps, and costs that add up with add-ons.
• Ringly.io:
  • Perfect for online stores and e-commerce brands wanting hands-free customer service through AI phone agents, cart recovery, and instant order updates.
  • Gives you true automation—your support and sales calls handled automatically, updated daily with your latest content, and setup in minutes with no-code simplicity.
  • Simple, transparent, usage-based pricing—with outstanding customer satisfaction, faster follow-up, and no technical headaches.

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If you’re a large enterprise with highly customized needs and a dedicated support staff, Zendesk may still be the go-to. If you’re looking to personalize every chat and automate digital outreach, Intercom is strong.

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But—if you want maximum automation, instant voice support, and a set-it-and-forget-it approach tailored to e-commerce (regardless of your size), Ringly.io quietly stands a step ahead. It enables your business to grow faster without growing your support team, offers modern AI power without the complexity, and makes every customer call an opportunity to boost sales—no manual work, no hidden fees.

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The future of customer support is hands-free—and with Ringly.io, you’re already there.

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