Zendesk vs HubSpot (2025 Update)

Deciding between Zendesk and HubSpot? Learn how to match each platform’s strengths to your customer support, marketing, and sales needs.

Zendesk is known for its set of functionalities, including an email ticketing system, live chat, phone support, and an extensive knowledge base. The platform’s strength lies in its adaptability, supported by numerous integrations with different applications.

HubSpot, although not as extensive in some features as Zendesk, it has some specialized customer service capabilities. It offers tools like ticketing, automation, customer feedback surveys, and a customer portal, all aimed at improving the efficiency of customer service operations. It offers a more focused set of features, emphasizing personalization in customer service and self-service options.

What is Zendesk?

Zendesk is a CRM tool that focuses on meeting the needs of sales teams. It is a cloud-based platform that integrates easily with other Zendesk products. Zendesk Sell is also an ideal software for businesses looking to align their sales and customer service teams.

Customer behavior can also be analyzed and tracked using Zendesk's solutions for managing customer interaction information. Additionally, it enables you to make customized templates for customer service responses, call alerts, and task automation.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a cloud-based customer platform that can help scaling businesses grow better with their sales, service, marketing, and content management software.

Service Hub is a seamless component of HubSpot’s AI-powered Smart CRM, providing businesses with a streamlined way to resolve customer issues, and a complete view of their customer interactions and data from every aspect of the flywheel.

Zendesk vs HubSpot Comparison Table

Features Zendesk HubSpot
Live chat Yes Yes
Knowledge base Yes Yes
Access to mobile device Yes Yes
Email Integration Yes Yes
API access Yes Yes
Subscription Yes Yes

Zendesk vs HubSpot Feature Comparison

Key Features of Zendesk

  • User-friendly interface
  • Integration with social media platforms
  • Flexible customization
  • Optimization of work

Key Features of HubSpot

  • Automatic syncing with Google Calendar and Office 365
  • Round-robin and group meeting link options
  • Shareable scheduling links that can be emailed or embedded on your website
  • CRM integrations
  • Automated admin work
  • Scheduled appointment with multiple people

Zendesk vs HubSpot: Pros and Cons

Zendesk Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Easy to use interface
  • Tagging of tickets
  • Outbound phone calls
  • Chatbot

Cons

  • Allowing secondary emails to receive ticket status updates
  • More status updates and report on them
  • Native Integrations with more eCommerce platforms

Hubspot Pros and Cons

Pros

  • All-in-one solution
  • Free CRM
  • Customization options
  • Real-time lead behavior notifications
  • Personalized email sequences

Cons

  • Expensive per-user plans
  • Mixed opinions on the ease of use
  • Occasional glitches
  • Limited email capabilities

Zendesk vs HubSpot Pricing

Zendesk Pricing

  • Suite Team: costs $49 per user per month, billed annually.
  • Suite Growth: costs $79 per user per month, billed annually.
  • Suite Professional: costs $99 per user per month, billed annually.
  • Suite Enterprise: costs $150 per user per month, billed annually.

HubSpot Pricing

Basic: Free

Starter: Starts at $20 per month per seat, billed monthly

Professional: Starts at $890 per month, billed monthly

Entreprise: Starts at $3600 per month, billed monthly

Choosing between Zendesk and HubSpot

When deciding between Zendesk and HubSpot, it’s essential to evaluate each platform’s core strengths and alignment with your business needs. Zendesk excels in customer support and service management, making it ideal for teams focused on providing top-tier customer assistance and efficient ticketing workflows.

On the other hand, HubSpot shines with its all-in-one marketing, sales, and CRM tools, providing a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to grow their audience, generate leads, and manage the entire customer journey.

Ultimately, the choice will depend on whether your priorities lean more toward customer service and support or a broader approach to marketing and sales automation.

Both platforms offer robust capabilities—choosing the right fit can significantly impact your team's productivity and your business’s success.

What is Distrobird?

Distrobird helps you manage your entire sales process, with sequences, cloud call center, shared inbox, form tracking and more on a single platform. Seamlessly run cold email & SMS sequences, inbound and outbound calling, unified inbox, form tracking, lead routing, and more in one place.

  • Features: Distrobird features include data enrichment, contact management, cloud call centre, form tracking, block list, shared inbox, Office 365, Gmail, and custom SMTP inbox sync, campaign exclusions, and scheduled campaigns.
  • Integrations: HubSpot, Gmail, Stripe, Microsoft Outlook, Twilio, Zapier, Clearbit, Zoho, Telnyx, Salesforce and NGP VAN.
  • Pricing: There is a free plan for the Voice, Sequences, and Shared Inbox products. Startup plan for the Shared Inbox is $8/month. Startup, Growth & Enterprise plans for both the Sequences and Voice products are $25, $50, and $75 respectively.

What sets Distrobird Apart?

Distrobird stands out from HubSpot and Zendesk in several key areas, making it a compelling choice for businesses seeking a streamlined approach to sales and customer engagement:

  1. Simplicity and User Experience: Distrobird focuses on delivering a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and manage communications. This simplicity can reduce the learning curve compared to the more complex features often found in HubSpot and Zendesk.
  2. Integrated Communication Tools: Distrobird combines various communication channels—such as voice, email, and chat—into a single platform, allowing teams to engage with customers seamlessly. While HubSpot and Zendesk offer robust features for their respective functions, Distrobird’s unified approach simplifies interaction management.
  3. Tailored Sales Features: Distrobird is specifically designed for sales teams, offering features that enhance lead tracking, follow-up automation, and pipeline management. While HubSpot provides CRM functionality, it covers a broader range of marketing and inbound strategies, which may not always align with the immediate needs of sales teams.
  4. Affordability: Distrobird aims to provide competitive pricing structures, making it an attractive option for small to medium-sized businesses. In contrast, HubSpot’s pricing can escalate quickly as additional features and tools are added, and Zendesk’s tiered plans may also become costly as businesses scale.
  5. Focus on Sales Engagement: Distrobird emphasizes features that directly support sales engagement, such as personalized outreach sequences and real-time analytics. While HubSpot and Zendesk have strong customer service and marketing automation capabilities, Distrobird’s core focus on sales processes may better suit teams looking to optimize their outreach efforts.
  6. Customization and Flexibility: Distrobird offers customizable workflows that adapt to unique sales processes, allowing teams to tailor the platform to their specific needs. While both HubSpot and Zendesk provide customization options, Distrobird’s flexibility is specifically geared toward enhancing sales efficiency.

In summary, Distrobird sets itself apart by providing a straightforward, sales-focused solution that integrates communication tools, prioritizes user experience, and offers competitive pricing, making it an ideal choice for teams looking to enhance their sales engagement without the complexities of more extensive platforms like HubSpot and Zendesk.

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