Salesforce Sales Cloud vs Zendesk comparison

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Salesforce Sales Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Salesforce Sales Cloud and Zendesk compete in the CRM and customer service solutions category. Salesforce appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and extensive customization capabilities.

Features: Salesforce Sales Cloud offers extensive customization, robust CRM tracking, and flexible integration capabilities into the platform. Zendesk's valuable features include ease of use, intuitive ticket management, and integration with various SaaS products.

Room for Improvement: Salesforce Sales Cloud is criticized for its complexity, steep learning curve, and high cost. Challenges with integration and data management are noted. Zendesk needs improvements in pricing, enhanced analytics, and better integration flexibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Salesforce Sales Cloud is primarily deployed on the public cloud, offering varied levels of technical support. A strong community is available for assistance. Zendesk offers flexible deployment with praised customer service and technical support, providing both hybrid and private cloud solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Salesforce Sales Cloud is a premium solution with high licensing costs, offering significant productivity and efficiency boosts to large enterprises but challenging for smaller organizations. Zendesk's pricing is competitive, focusing on user satisfaction and efficiency gains though positioned high-end for enterprise solutions.

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

Salesforce Sales Cloud vs. Zendesk

May 2025

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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

7.2

Salesforce Sales Cloud enhances productivity, efficiency, and management, improving visibility, decision-making, and fundraising for non-profits.

Sentiment score

7.3

Zendesk offers cost efficiency and improved productivity, with ROI influenced by alignment with operational needs and process integration.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a fantastic tool but requires disciplined data entry by sales personnel and operations teams to maintain data quality.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

CTO at Cipher7

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Salesforce Sales Cloud offers varying support quality based on subscription level, with faster responses for premium users and valuable community resources.

Sentiment score

7.0

Zendesk receives praise for responsiveness and ease of use, but some users desire better chat features and human interaction.

Support requires a subscription and when taken, the service is pretty nice.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

CTO at Cipher7

The technical support provided by Zendesk has been very satisfactory.

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.8

Salesforce Sales Cloud offers scalable solutions, praised for flexibility and growth but noted for reporting and storage cost limitations.

Sentiment score

7.5

Zendesk is praised for scalability and customization, although some face initial setup challenges and structural integration issues.

Salesforce is highly scalable and operates efficiently.

AWS Cloud Engineer at Accenture

It scales effortlessly with user growth.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

CTO at Cipher7

Zendesk can scale from very small companies to very large ones.

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.2

Salesforce Sales Cloud is highly stable and reliable, with swift issue resolutions and high user satisfaction from regular updates.

Sentiment score

7.9

Zendesk is stable with minimal downtimes, reliable performance, occasional minor issues, and high reliability ratings, especially for smaller businesses.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is very stable.

CTO at Cipher7

I have not experienced any degradation in Salesforce's performance.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

AWS Cloud Engineer at Accenture

The stability has been quite reliable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Room For Improvement

Salesforce Sales Cloud needs better UI, cost, integration, reporting, mobile support, data handling, and automation with improved performance.

Zendesk faces challenges with data management, flexibility, integration, user-friendliness, and customer communication, while users are dissatisfied with support and pricing.

With today's generative AI capabilities like ChatGPT, it should be possible to directly communicate with the software rather than navigating through the entire system manually.

CTO at Cipher7

Compared to AWS, it is slower, which could be a hindrance.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

AWS Cloud Engineer at Accenture

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

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Setup Cost

Salesforce Sales Cloud is costly but valued for its customization, integration, and efficiency benefits for businesses despite high expenses.

Enterprise buyers find Zendesk's pricing high but valuable, with costs varying by agent count and business needs for tailored solutions.

Without negotiation, costs can become expensive.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

CTO at Cipher7

It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Valuable Features

Salesforce Sales Cloud provides customizable CRM solutions with seamless integration, automation, and advanced analytics for diverse business needs.

Zendesk offers user-friendly ticket management, seamless integrations, multi-channel support, and robust security for efficient and productive customer service.

Its easy-to-navigate interface aids in delivering clear vision and organization, especially for sales and business management.

AWS Cloud Engineer at Accenture

The Einstein Analytics and the inbuilt reporting are very useful for keeping track of pipeline movement.

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Sales Cloud report

CTO at Cipher7

It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.

For more quotes and insights, download the Zendesk report

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Categories and Ranking

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Ranking in CRM

1st

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

115

Ranking in other categories

Opportunity Management (1st), Conversation Intelligence Software (2nd)

Zendesk

Ranking in CRM

19th

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

7th

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) (6th), Reporting (13th), Knowledge Management Software (4th), Community Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the CRM category, the mindshare of Salesforce Sales Cloud is 8.6%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 1.4%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CRM

Featured Reviews

Richard Mottershead

Enterprise Architect at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees

Infinitely customizable, good end-to-end sales and customer management processes but lacks good documentation

Essentially, it's the CRM solution for managing customers and leads. The features that had the most significant impact on our sales efficiency include flexibility, regular updates, and very good end-to-end sales and customer management processes. AI and machine learning are on the agenda for next year. Initially, it will be very silo-based, but eventually, we'll be integrating MIBI data into our solution. Sales Cloud's reporting and analytics capabilities influenced our sales strategy quite a lot. We can build every report as a dashboard, and there are various sorts of things. We are using Tableau as our MIBI analytic solution, which is also owned by Salesforce these days.

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Automating customer support with advanced AI capabilities and seamless communication

CEO at Etcetera Networks

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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

69%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

24%

Educational Organization

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Salesforce Sales Cloud?

The features of Sales Cloud most useful for testing and running email campaigns are highly valuable.

What needs improvement with Salesforce Sales Cloud?

Improving system performance and processing speed would enhance productivity and allow for even smoother workflows according to my view. Additionally, introducing faster data retrieval and real-tim...

What is your primary use case for Salesforce Sales Cloud?

My primary use case for Salesforce is to streamline sales strategies, define key sales parameters, and manage focus areas effectively. I leverage Salesforce to record, track, and optimize our sales...

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?

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 ...

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Product Reports

Download Salesforce Sales Cloud product report

Salesforce Sales Cloud

April 2025

Download Zendesk product report

April 2025

Also Known As

Sales Cloud, SFDC, Salesforce

Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell

Overview

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a comprehensive CRM platform designed for efficient lead management, sales forecasting, and customer engagement, offering extensive customization and cloud-based accessibility.

Aimed at enhancing business efficiency, Salesforce Sales Cloud supports core business processes like CRM, lead and opportunity management, sales forecasting, and customer engagement. Its robust integration capabilities allow seamless connectivity with ERP systems and various applications. The platform offers pipeline tracking, process automation, and advanced sales cycle management. Users appreciate its cloud-based accessibility, allowing teams to operate remotely and manage sales operations effectively. However, users highlight concerns about its complexity, cost, and the need for a more intuitive interface.

What features does Salesforce Sales Cloud offer?

Customization: Tailor the CRM to meet specific business requirements.
Robust Reporting: Comprehensive analytics and data insights.
Lead Management: Efficiently manage and convert leads.
API Integration: Seamless connectivity with multiple applications.
Cloud Accessibility: Work from anywhere with cloud-based access.

What benefits should be evaluated in Salesforce Sales Cloud reviews?

Enhanced Productivity: Streamline sales processes with automation.
Improved Collaboration: Facilitate team coordination and client engagement.
Accurate Forecasting: Make informed decisions with reliable sales forecasts.
Flexibility: Accommodate diverse industry needs with ease.
Legacy System Integration: Efficiently update and integrate with existing systems.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is widely implemented across industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail, supporting sales teams in tracking and managing sales operations. Its use extends to reporting, collaboration, and enhancing client interactions, allowing companies to tailor Salesforce to meet industry-specific requirements efficiently.

Salesforce

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.

Sample Customers

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Kuoni Global Travel Services, Financial Times, Just Eat, Jobsite, H.R. Owen, PlayerLayer, O2, DMGT, Philips, Xtreme.ie, Business Stream, Remote Asset Management, Dialogue Group

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