Pipedrive vs Zendesk comparison

Pipedrive and Zendesk are both solutions in the CRM category. Pipedrive is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.8, while Zendesk is ranked #21 with an average rating of 7.2. Pipedrive holds a 1.2% mindshare in CRM, compared to Zendesk’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Pipedrive users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Zendesk users who would recommend it.

Pipedrive

Read 13 Pipedrive reviews

613 Views
263 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

Zendesk

Read 60 Zendesk reviews

548 Views
320 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Pipedrive

Zendesk

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Pipedrive and Zendesk are both prominent tools in the CRM and customer support sectors, respectively. Pipedrive seems to have the upper hand in ease of use and cost-effectiveness, while Zendesk offers superior integration capabilities and customer support features.

Features: Pipedrive is notable for its customizable CRM elements, ease of use, and comprehensive reporting capabilities. The Kanban-style view aids in managing sales processes by allowing users to effectively track deals and activities. Automation tools streamline email and communication management, enhancing productivity. Alternatively, Zendesk provides robust ticket management, extensive integration options, and a reliable self-service portal. It also features powerful reporting tools and SaaS product integrations, catering effectively to customer support management.

Room for Improvement: Pipedrive needs to improve its integration capabilities, documentation, and offer more automation choices. Users would also like to see advancements in reporting and pricing structures. Zendesk could benefit from enhanced customization, better ticket merging, and improved reporting tools. Flexibility in pricing and ease of setup are areas where users see room for development.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Pipedrive is mainly deployed on the public cloud and is recognized for its responsive customer service and technical support. Zendesk offers more varied deployment options, including private and hybrid clouds. Although its customer support is generally rated highly, its responsiveness can vary according to demand.

Pricing and ROI: Pipedrive is viewed as cost-effective, especially for small to medium-sized businesses, and provides substantial ROI despite potential challenges in transition. Conversely, Zendesk is considered more expensive, particularly at the enterprise level, with additional costs for extra features and support. Despite this, its comprehensive customer service capabilities justify the cost for many users, leading to improved efficiency and increased customer satisfaction.

To learn more, read our detailed Pipedrive vs. Zendesk Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Pipedrive vs. Zendesk

May 2025

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Helped 860,168 peers since 2012

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

Pipedrive

Ranking in CRM

18th

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Local Government CRM (10th), Opportunity Management (3rd)

Zendesk

Ranking in CRM

21st

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM Customer Engagement Centers (7th), Help Desk Software (9th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (9th), Reporting (16th), Knowledge Management Software (4th), Community Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the CRM category, the mindshare of Pipedrive is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 1.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CRM

Featured Reviews

Willem Lambrechts

Managing Director at Drebbel

Offers the ability to create multiple pipelines and the flexibility in filtering and reporting

We do a lot of analytics and reporting ourselves. We don't necessarily use all the features that Pipedrive provides, but it's very helpful at least. It has streamlined our deal-closing process. We use it for everything. When we create a lead, we put it into Pipedrive. That lead can be converted into an opportunity, which we manage through our whole pipeline. This includes having all data related to the opportunity in one place. Once the deal is closed, we use Pipedrive to follow up on the invoices until they are paid. We also manage sales commissions and payments to our salespeople through Pipedrive.

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JohanSkibdahl

CEO at Etcetera Networks

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 ( /products/klaviyo-reviews ), enhancing our workflows.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most useful stuff for me is that it's very flexible with all the data structures...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The usability of the solution is its valuable feature."

"Pipedrive's most valuable feature is reporting and insights. The CRM shows the database and lets the salespeople arrange their daily activities. The insights are essential from a management point of view because it helps the sales staff improve or adjust their whole sales cycle, activities, and quality."

"It's very flexible and we can really fit it into our business model."

"The solution is pretty easy to use and intuitive."

"The solution is very stable."

"The biggest and the best feature is the view that you get when you log in. You have a board like Kanban when you log in, and you've got a column on the left and several other columns that move to the right, depending on where you are in a particular deal. If it's a prospect or someone who is just looking, you move it along the process, and it really helps you keep track of where you are."

"The most useful thing is the ability to create multiple pipelines and the flexibility in filtering and reporting."

More Pipedrive pros

"Its agility and simplicity are the most valuable features. This tool is very user-friendly."

"It's very convenient to use."

"The feature to move over my customer experience team tickets for different specialists is very valuable for my team."

"It's a very stable tool, very powerful."

"Zendesk Support has a lot of good APIs."

"The most valuable feature is the trackability of incoming requests. The system keeps a comprehensive history of work requests, making it a useful tool for our internal processes."

"Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls."

"We rarely had issues with Zendesk."

More Zendesk pros

Cons

"New features sometimes seem bolted on rather than being smooth."

"The form builder works even though it has some shortcomings...Also, the forms don't have the ability to avoid or stop people from signing up if they don't have a corporate email."

"We are using the lowest version of it. As we become more sophisticated, we might outgrow the tool, but there are features that are available in the higher-level versions, which I'm unfamiliar with, that might be able to meet the needs we would have in the future. They can maybe add some of the features to the basic version or make it more reasonably priced or free."

"The product is expensive."

"The automation process is challenging."

"The platform could be even more robust."

"You must pay more if you need an additional feature."

"Pipedrive has some weaknesses against Salesforce. The documentation of Pipedrive could improve. They need more qualified documentation because I had to fix my colleague's work to correct the reports because they did not find how they can do it, or develop reports. There are some misunderstandings about how to do reporting."

More Pipedrive cons

"Zendesk Guide's customization could be improved. I would like it to be easier and maybe open-sourced, so that if you have a developer in your company, you can do it yourself. Right now, that isn't allowed, so you need to have it done via the integrator. Another improvement—this is nit-picking—is that it could be less easy to make changes. Some things are so easy that they sometimes look a little amateur-ish. Most of the templates are built-in so they can be used directly, so they are very simple."

"Zendesk's stability on inbound calls could be improved as compared to Talkdesk."

"It wasn't easy to set up so we're only using a third of all of the features,"

"They have something called Zendesk Explore, which isn't as good as what they had in place previously."

"The solution could integrate better with QR codes from some websites such as Facebook."

"There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier."

"The dashboard could be better."

"Report generation is still slightly tricky and not very customizable as per my inquiries."

More Zendesk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing is excellant. It costs 65 dollars a month for top tier plan."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price, two or three. For us, everything is expensive because this is a startup, but for a normal company, it should be peanuts."

"As of now, the pricing and value are quite good."

"The solution is affordable."

"Pipedrive is relatively more affordable than other solutions."

"The price of Pipedrive has been reasonable."

"The product is expensive but provides valuable services."

"We pay $1000 a month for the tool."

More Pipedrive pricing and cost advice

"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."

"The price is very competitive."

"From what I hear, Zendesk's pricing is a little expensive."

"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."

"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

Educational Organization

28%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

24%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pipedrive?

The most valuable feature is the ability to create timelines and custom fields.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pipedrive?

The pricing is satisfactory.

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What needs improvement with Pipedrive?

New features sometimes seem bolted on rather than being smooth.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?

There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier ( /products/zapier-reviews ). However, easier integration could enhance the usability. Multilingual ...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pipedrive

June 2025

Download Pipedrive product report

Buyer's Guide

Zendesk

June 2025

Download Zendesk product report

Also Known As

No data available

Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell

Overview

Pipedrive CRM, a SOC 2 Certified Service Provider, is built around activity-based selling. It ensures total visibility through its Pipeline Management tool with a clear visual interface that prompts you to take action, remain organized and stay in control of a complex sales process, Sales Reporting that provides visual report, understands pipeline metrics, tracks and tests sales process and shows sales split by product. Pipedrive CRM boosts productivity, optimizes the Sales Process, It has an import/export feature that safeguards against human error. It is fully customizable, has multiple usage possibilities and can automatically creates contacts in your pipeline.

Pipedrive

Zendesk Support is intuitive, and it's built with support agents in mind. Everything they need lives in a single, dynamic help desk interface so it's easy to be productive and manage customer interactions.

Zendesk

Sample Customers

Samsung, Amazon, SkyScanner, TDW, Vimeo, ReMax, Festo

Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber

Buyer's Guide

Pipedrive vs. Zendesk

May 2025

Free Report: Pipedrive vs. Zendesk

Find out what your peers are saying about Pipedrive vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.

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