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ConnectWise PSA 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ConnectWise PSA
Ranking in Help Desk Software
24th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Business Management Software (1st), Professional Services Automation (PSA) (4th)
Zendesk
Ranking in Help Desk Software
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (6th), CRM (18th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (7th), Sales Force Automation (8th), Reporting (14th), Knowledge Management Software (4th), Community Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of ConnectWise PSA is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 4.6%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zendesk4.6%
ConnectWise PSA2.1%
Other93.3%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

JonMcWilliams - PeerSpot reviewer
Very useful for ticketing and billing purposes
In this case, we have the ability to fire on tasks. An email can be sent, and it is being received into the Kaseya tool or Autotask. Autotask then can parse the email appropriately and route it based on the rules that we set up. In that sense, it's very dynamic, and I can immediately identify which client is making a support request. It can route it to the appropriate queue and then send out the appropriate notifications. As work is done on the ticket, you can also notify the person requesting support or other pre-designated contacts so that they're kept in the loop. ConnectWise PSA is making its updates, and its integration with Office 365 has been really good. I like the fact that the solution integrates with IT Glue. ConnectWise PSA is making improvements, and it's a little bit more dynamic. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
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, enhancing our workflows.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The initial setup isn't too difficult."
"It handles ticketing pretty well, and it's not something I have many critiques for."
"It's a pretty simple web interface. The rules engine was really easy to set up, and it ingests emails very well."
"The ease of reporting is valuable. We have a weekly management meeting, and we gather numbers from ConnectWise in preparation for that. It is helpful for measuring how we're doing in our performance."
"Contains every feature that a VAR or MSP would want."
"It's a nice ticketing system."
"The search function is really good. To have a single place where we have the account information stored is probably most valuable."
"I also like ConnectWise's ability to set up queries. I can set up all these different queries that look for specific things and end up with a list of results, like feedback from the client or the ticket status."
"Zendesk Support has a lot of good APIs."
"It's a very stable tool, very powerful."
"One of the most valuable features is that Zendesk gives you a lot of configurability, and a lot of leeway in terms of customizing the look and theme. Zendesk offers you the facility to design your own landing page, as well as the look and feel of the entire knowledge base. At the same time, they offer themes that you can simply purchase and implement. Either way, it can really be turned into the right look and feel of the knowledge base required by our company, which is very important—if you have a bland-looking page, most of the time, people will lose interest. Zendesk also allows you to test the customizations before you publish it. It gives you a sandbox location where you can test everything new that you're trying to create and publish, which is very interesting."
"The product offers very good management. It has a great ability to assign tickets based on content."
"It has good management, the ability to sign tickets based on content, the multi-channel support, the self service portal, the integration with Salesforce, the setup process, and the product features as we are currently using them."
"I love how the tickets would auto-populate very quickly in Zendesk, especially when a call comes in."
"The most valuable features of Zendesk Support are collaboration, reports, and a self-service portal. The customer and team can see all the information needed from the portal."
"It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"The tracking inventory or the way it tracks the products is not very good."
"ConnectWise Manage can improve third-party integrations and the UI. The UI is good but it could improve in the graphics."
"There should be some improvements to the interface. It is not completely intuitive. When you click in a blank area of a screen, you'll find some options."
"All other ticket systems can search previous tickets, whether they were homegrown in Oracle or something else. I'm talking about searching the actual contents of the discussions in the ticket. In ConnectWise, you can only search the summaries. It's ridiculous."
"The speed could be better, and the reporting could be a lot better."
"The technical support of ConnectWise PSA is not very good."
"Their reporting options aren't great. BrightGauge was something that we added on, and that enhanced the experience."
"The custom reporting needs to be improved."
"The price of the solution should be reduced."
"It wasn't easy to set up so we're only using a third of all of the features,"
"There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier."
"One of the drawbacks of Zendesk is that it doesn't provide a secure way for us to send data. So, we usually use a secure SharePoint folder link. We put that in the Zendesk ticket so that the requester has a secure way of getting to their data."
"I'm going to piggyback on what I said regarding Freshdesk concerning what could be better in Zendesk: incorporate more AI."
"I'm going to piggyback on what I said regarding Freshdesk concerning what could be better in Zendesk: incorporate more AI."
"As per me, there arent much significant issues or areas for improvement with Zendesk, as my usage of it is limited. I appreciate its ability to organize tickets effectively based on tags, allowing me to easily gather and analyze customer feedback and requests."
"The solution itself wasn't easy to set up."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We're paying $940 a month for 14 users."
"There are some different add-ons and benefits that are optional and come at an additional cost."
"The cost can be the main barrier. It's not a solution for a three person company. It just isn't going to be cost effective. Because ConnectWise Manage does have everything there, the licensing is a little bit restrictive as far as how they want to granularly assign licenses rather than having more of an all-inclusive package."
"I have one monthly license for all of the ConnectWise products I use, and it's $85 per user."
"The pricing is not based on my clients so much as it is on how many people I have accessing the system, and I think it's pretty good."
"The pricing of ConnectWise Manage is reasonable."
"You have to pay extra for better support. So it's not only the license that you pay for, but you have to pay extra for the support as well."
"There are different plans that are offered. We are using the entry-level plan. The overall price of the solution should be reduced. The price is too high."
"The price is very competitive."
"Zendesk's licensing is not cheap. For Enterprise, we are paying $200 per agent. It's a per-month cost, so it's pretty steep. There are some services you need to pay extra for. For example, with Zendesk Guide, we had to buy the most expensive offering in order to get Multibrand and everything. We also had to pay a lot of money for themes."
"From what I hear, Zendesk's pricing is a little expensive."
"We pay for the solution on a yearly basis and my understanding is that the cost is about $30,000. That's the cost for 24 to 25 agents."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
36%
Performing Arts
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
6%
University
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ConnectWise Manage?
In our case, the solution is priced out by the user we have in the system. The pricing is not based on my clients so much as it is on how many people I have accessing the system, and I think it's p...
What needs improvement with ConnectWise Manage?
The technical support of ConnectWise PSA is not very good.
What advice do you have for others considering ConnectWise Manage?
In this case, we have the ability to fire on tasks. An email can be sent, and it is being received into the Kaseya tool or Autotask. Autotask then can parse the email appropriately and route it bas...
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?
Zendesk's pricing is reasonable. It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?
I'm going to piggyback on what I said regarding Freshdesk concerning what could be better in Zendesk: incorporate more AI. I know many CRM tools are already on the way to do that.
 

Also Known As

ConnectWise Manage
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

IT Connexx, High Standards Technology Inc, Solvere One, MyIT, ConnectWise, Simpatico Systems, Fred IT Group, ECS, OneStop, K2 Technologies, Clark Integrated Technologies, Jmark, Geek on Wheels
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about ConnectWise PSA vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.