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Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs Zendesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Dynamics CRM enhances operations and efficiency, outweighing high costs with improved sales, automation, and data collection.
Sentiment score
6.0
Zendesk provides significant ROI with cost savings, productivity boosts, and improved efficiency through better ticket management and supportive sales team.
I recommend that those considering Microsoft Dynamics CRM conduct an ROI exercise to determine scalability and complex business needs because it is indeed a fantastic tool, especially if Microsoft can provide a better commercial model, which can significantly impact cost-effectiveness.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
I can tell you that we probably saved at least three employees full-time with the ticket management and the automation and the macros and the user follow-up being built in.
Consultant and Startup Founder at AimHi Enterprises
Time saved is definitely a benefit because it puts all of our tickets in one spot.
Technical Solutions Lead at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I feel that Zendesk helped us set up our platform for providing support way faster than other platforms due to its easy configuration.
Junior system analyst at Wevt clous
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
Microsoft Dynamics CRM service receives mixed reviews; praised for responsiveness but criticized for delays and varying technical expertise.
Sentiment score
6.2
Zendesk support is praised for responsiveness and availability but criticized for slow responses and lack of personal interaction.
I would rate customer support as ten out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
While the support operates within their standard SLA, it can be difficult to speak directly with someone over the phone.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Sometimes the technical support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not qualified enough, and in some situations, we know the tool better than they do.
Head Of Development at Aleman Software Group
There appears to be a lack of connection between the bot and the agents, making it feel scripted rather than helpful.
Technical Support Engineer/ QA at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
The technical support provided by Zendesk has been very satisfactory.
CEO at Etcetera Networks
Their support team from Zendesk is excellent, similar to what you have in Freshdesk.
Customer Success Manager at Mimshackworks Endeavors
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers strong scalability and adaptability, despite challenges with customization and costs, enhancing sales and marketing departments.
Sentiment score
7.2
Zendesk is adaptable and scalable for diverse organizations, handling growth well but posing challenges in cost and customization.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is highly scalable, rated at ten, even fifteen out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I would give it a ten out of ten for scalability.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is scalable; it's easy to scale, but when customizations become extensive, maintainability can become challenging.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
We have not hit a peak or a turn yet that Zendesk has not been able to go with us or been able to grow with us in the process, change or pivot that the company is making.
Project Manager III at City of Union City Government
Zendesk can scale from very small companies to very large ones.
CEO at Etcetera Networks
Zendesk's scalability is excellent.
Technical Support Engineer/ QA at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is stable and reliable, handling workloads well, with Azure integration enhancing resilience despite occasional peak load issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
Zendesk is reliable and stable, with minor issues and rare outages, communicated promptly via Twitter, ideal for small businesses.
I would rate it ten out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
There have been instances where issues with Microsoft Azure have affected Dynamics due to the infrastructure layer.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
They are always informing us with a status update and an ETA, and the turnaround time is usually within the same day with no extended downtime that would cause a detriment to our company.
Project Manager III at City of Union City Government
Zendesk is quite stable; we experience major outages only once or twice a year, making it very reliable.
Technical Support Engineer/ QA at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
The stability has been quite reliable.
CEO at Etcetera Networks
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs better integration, user-friendliness, expanded AI, customization, and cost-effective options for small business adaptability.
Zendesk users seek enhancements like efficient ticket merging, advanced reporting, better integrations, improved usability, and AI features.
More use-case-oriented material should be provided to help users and implementers learn how to do more, faster.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs improvement in simplifying the setup and configuration process, which can be relatively complex when we want all features to work properly.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Zendesk could actually support HTML on the tickets so we could format our text better than the current options such as size, bold, italic, or underscored, because the text processing is too simple.
Junior system analyst at Wevt clous
Zendesk is missing an AI aspect that could help provide quick answers based on the knowledge housed within the platform.
Technical Support Engineer/ QA at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Zendesk is amazing, and because they are always working on a new upgrade or a new integration, they are very forward-thinking from an engineering perspective.
Project Manager III at City of Union City Government
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is considered pricey, with flexible licensing but possible high costs for small to medium businesses.
Zendesk's pricing is high but flexible, justified by its value in saving time and enhancing customer experience.
The pricing of Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be complex due to Microsoft's complicated licensing model.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Dynamics CRM costs about $110 to $115 per user per month, following a recent price increase.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Although it is a good tool, it is costly.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
CEO at Etcetera Networks
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Zendesk was quite expensive.
Consultant and Startup Founder at AimHi Enterprises
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers customizable, user-friendly features with seamless Microsoft integration, robust security, and enhances customer management and operational efficiency.
Zendesk enhances productivity with customizable ticket management, CRM integrations, automation, and multi-channel support for improved customer satisfaction.
The backend storage integrates seamlessly with OneDrive, and the solution offers robust security features, including Azure integration, two-factor authentication (2FA), and comprehensive audit trails.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
The CRM is very fast, which is the most important aspect, and it's very handy.
Data Scientist at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is its integration with Outlook and other Microsoft products like Microsoft 365, which includes emails, Teams, and SharePoint.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
CEO at Etcetera Networks
Zendesk is way cheaper than other ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, providing a good platform at a lower price so we could offer good support with a low budget for the license.
Junior system analyst at Wevt clous
Being able to put response counters on certain tickets and have certain ones that are high priority and have a tighter SLA than lower priority items, being able to categorize them as a question versus an urgent request, and being able to bucket them as feature requests or product enhancements.
Consultant and Startup Founder at AimHi Enterprises
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers
1st
Ranking in CRM
2nd
Ranking in Sales Force Automation
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
Local Government CRM (1st), Marketing Management (2nd)
Zendesk
Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers
4th
Ranking in CRM
8th
Ranking in Sales Force Automation
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (4th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (6th), Reporting (10th), Knowledge Management Software (3rd), Community Platforms (1st), AI Customer Support (7th), AI IT Support (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category, the mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is 14.1%, down from 25.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 6.9%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
CRM Customer Engagement Centers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM14.1%
Zendesk6.9%
Other79.0%
CRM Customer Engagement Centers
 

Featured Reviews

NavinJacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Has enabled seamless integration across platforms while supporting advanced analytics for customer insights
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it. A lot of custom work is needed if you have to integrate heterogeneous technologies with the Microsoft suite, but if you are using the Microsoft suite, then it's quite seamless. Microsoft Dynamics CRM should add commercial models that allow smaller companies to use it because it can get pretty expensive. Better commercial options for smaller implementations may be helpful. There should be commercial options for smaller companies, as the overheads and costs of Dynamics can be quite high.
AmandaSanchez - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant and Startup Founder at AimHi Enterprises
Macros and automation have streamlined workflows and reduced manual effort across support teams
The ability to communicate on the Zendesk ticket through the actual user software, so TOPs, would have been helpful. Somehow seeing a user's ticket history within our app would have been beneficial. That is the only thing that I do not think existed at the time that might have been helpful. Some people struggled with Zendesk, but it was always easy enough to show them how to use it and what they were missing. The only times we really had people report concerns about it was when they did not understand that it could do that or how to use it in that way.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
The most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are all the filters and possible reports.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
I have been working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for five or six years for various customers. I work with CRM and some amount of Microsoft communication server to integrate it. I focus on the area o...
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?
From what I recall, the experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Zendesk was quite expensive and that is what prohibited us from expanding usage of it into more users and using more o...
What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?
I wish there was a more easily dynamic tool. Currently, it is quite difficult because not all the tools are labeled. A feature that would be beneficial is if hovering over an icon would tell you wh...
 

Also Known As

Dynamics CRM, MS Dynamics CRM
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Metro Bank, Nissan, Pandora, Delta, Haynes International, City of London, Trek and many more market leaders.
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.