For SaaS companies, two names shoot to prominence when focusing on the right customer service and IT service management platform: Zendesk and ServiceNow. However, which one is the most value for money?
Source: https://www.zendesk.com/au/service/comparison/zendesk-vs-servicenow/
As for Zendesk, while encompassing many benefits of stronger extensibility, more adjustable, and customer-friendly approach, and ServiceNow with its core focus on the large-scale, predominately IT enterprises handling needs and potential, the choice of the platform to be adopted can dramatically affect the productivity, functional adaptability, and the level of user satisfaction.
Thus the question arises: which of the two suites is a better fit for SaaS businesses, Zendesk vs ServiceNow? Alright, let’s take a closer look at the main distinctions and decide where it is more effective to be positioned in today’s SaaS companies.
Zendesk vs ServiceNow: An Overview
Zendesk and ServiceNow are two popular solutions available that companies can bring into their organizations. While Zendesk is specialized in customer support, ServiceNow solutions has its centerpiece in IT service management. However, both platforms fit a different market demand that PCA Skin must consider when defining their value proposition and strategic focuses.
Zendesk
Source: https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/6450055635602-Zendesk-integration-Automatically-blocklist-unhappy-customers-from-your-marketing-emails
Origin and Target Audience
Zendesk was launched in 2007 with the purpose of customer support software. It is highly regarded as a solution that makes the customer service experience easy.
It initially served small businesses, but today, it caters to businesses of all sizes, including many SaaS companies.
Key Features and Strengths
| Feature | Description | Strengths |
| Omnichannel Support | Supports email, chat, phone, social media, and more in a single interface. | Provides seamless customer interaction across multiple channels. |
| Ticketing System | Allows efficient tracking and management of customer support tickets. | Centralized system for managing inquiries and resolutions. |
| Self-Service Portal | Offers a knowledge base, FAQs, and community forums for customers to find answers themselves. | Reduces support load and allows customers to solve issues on their own. |
| Automation & Workflow | Automates repetitive tasks like ticket routing, prioritization, and notifications. | Increases efficiency and reduces manual work. |
| Customizability | Highly flexible with themes, fields, and automation workflows to match specific business needs. | Tailored to suit a variety of business requirements. |
| Reporting & Analytics | Provides detailed reports and insights into customer service performance and trends. | Helps track KPIs and optimize customer support strategies. |
| Third-Party Integrations | Integrates apps like CRM, marketing, and productivity tools. | Easily connects with existing tools and systems. |
| Multi-language Support | Supports multiple languages for global customer base. | Enables support for diverse, international customers. |
| Mobile App | Offers a mobile app for agents to manage tickets and communicate with customers on-the-go. | Enhances flexibility and responsiveness for support teams. |
| Collaboration Tools | Provides internal notes, team dashboards, and group workflows to enhance teamwork within support teams. | Promotes effective internal communication and collaboration. |
Market Share and Popularity
Zendesk is one of the most popular customer service platforms in the world. It is highly loved within the SaaS industry because it is scalable and focuses on customer satisfaction.
ServiceNow
Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311005235/en/ServiceNow-Introduces-New-Version-of-the-Now-Platform-Giving-Businesses-Must-Have-Digital-Tools-to-Workflow-Disruptive-Change
Origins and Target Market
ServiceNow was founded in 2004 as an IT service management (ITSM) platform, which aimed to automate IT operations.
Over the years, ServiceNow has expanded its scope to include customer service, HR services, security operations, and more. Today, it is widely used by large enterprises and SaaS companies with complex IT and operational needs.
Key Features and Strengths
| Feature | Description | Strengths |
| Incident Management | Tracks and resolves IT-related incidents, ensuring minimal downtime and quick resolution. | Reduces disruptions by efficiently handling incidents. |
| Change Management | Manages the planning, approval, and deployment of IT changes to minimize risks. | Helps ensure controlled, safe, and seamless IT changes. |
| Service Catalog | Provides a user-friendly interface for employees to request IT services and resources. | Simplifies service requests and improves user experience. |
| Configuration Management Database (CMDB) | Centralized repository of all IT assets and configurations, helping track dependencies and relationships. | Enhances visibility into IT infrastructure and supports better decision-making. |
| Automated Workflows | Automates complex IT processes like approvals, task assignments, and notifications. | Boosts operational efficiency and reduces manual errors. |
| Knowledge Management | Provides access to a centralized knowledge base, enabling self-service and reducing support tickets. | Increases self-sufficiency and reduces workload for IT teams. |
| IT Asset Management | Tracks the lifecycle of IT assets, including hardware and software. | Optimizes asset utilization, tracking, and compliance. |
| Multi-Platform Integration | Integrates with various third-party tools and platforms, including cloud and on-premise systems. | Ensures seamless data exchange and enhances cross-platform collaboration. |
| Reporting & Analytics | Provides powerful analytics and insights on IT performance, incident trends, and service metrics. | Enables data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement. |
| Service Level Management (SLM) | Monitors and ensures IT services meet agreed-upon service level agreements (SLAs). | Ensures that IT services meet business expectations and drive accountability. |
Market Share and Relevance
ServiceNow Consulting is strong in enterprise IT management and is gaining popularity among SaaS companies that are looking for robust IT and customer support capabilities.
Features Comparison
While performing Zendesk ServiceNow comparison, we need to look at shared attributes to determine which of the platforms is more useful for your company. Below is a comparison of the core features offered by each platform:
| Feature | Zendesk | ServiceNow |
| Primary Focus | Customer Support | IT Service Management (ITSM) |
| Omnichannel Support | Yes, integrates support across email, chat, phone, social media, etc. | Limited to IT-related channels, can integrate with other systems. |
| Incident Management | Basic incident tracking and ticketing system. | Comprehensive incident management with automated workflows. |
| Change Management | Limited capabilities, often through third-party integrations. | Robust change management with approval workflows and risk mitigation. |
| Self-Service Portal | Knowledge base, community forums, and FAQs. | Service catalog and knowledge management for IT services. |
| Automation & Workflow | Task automation, ticket routing, and SLA management. | Extensive automation for IT workflows, approvals, and tasks. |
| Reporting & Analytics | Provides performance analytics and customer insights. | Advanced reporting and IT performance analytics across multiple areas. |
| Configuration Management Database (CMDB) | Not available. | Centralized CMDB for IT asset and configuration management. |
| Third-Party Integrations | Wide range of integrations with CRM, marketing, and other tools. | Deep integrations with enterprise IT systems, cloud, and on-premise tools. |
| Mobile App | Available for agents to manage tickets on-the-go. | Available with a focus on IT support and service management. |
| Multi-language Support | Yes, for global customer support. | Yes, for global IT service management. |
| Customizability | Highly customizable to match customer service needs. | Highly customizable for IT processes and workflows. |
Cost Comparison
In Zendesk ServiceNow comparison, we see that cost becomes one of the criteria that could be crucial in choosing between them, especially for SaaS businesses seeking cost-efficient ServiceNow admin’s toolkit that can be easily integrated. Both have paid and free versions, where prices depend on the organization size, needed features’ complexity, and necessary support level. Below are the comparison of the prices of the two platforms with the different plans they offer and their cost:
Zendesk Pricing Overview
Zendesk has different pricing plans, each for different types of business, from startup to large enterprise businesses. Their plan is subscription-based and flexible to the size and scale of a customer service operation.
Source: https://www.bigsur.ai/blog/zendesk-pricing
- Support Team: This is the lowest-pricing tier of Zendesk that starts at $19 per agent per month and offers:
- A ticketing system
- Support channels across email, Twitter, and Facebook
- Workflows based on business rules
- Reporting and analytics dashboard
- Support Professional: It starts at $55 per agent per month and provides the features below:
- Setting up business hours
- Customer satisfaction surveys (CSATs)
- Service level agreements (SLAs)
- Suite Team Plan: It costs $55 per agent per month; this includes:
- A ticketing system
- Support channels across email, chat, voice, social media, and knowledge bases
- 24×7 standard bots
- Reporting dashboards & CSATs
- Pre-defined responses for customers and workflows that are triggered by ticket changes or time-based
- Suite Growth Plan: This costs $89 per agent per month. Alongside the services offered in the Team plan, it includes features like
- Private internal collaboration
- Service level agreements (SLAs) and support for multiple languages
- Multiple ticket forms
- Light agents and more
- Suite Professional Plan: For $115 per agent per month, this plan includes additional features such as
- Reporting and dashboard customization
- Collaborate with the internal team from Slack and email
- Automatic ticket routing based on the skill set of an agent
- Compliant with HIPPA privacy rules
- Suite Enterprise Plan: The pricing of an Enterprise plan varies based on the needs and requirements of a business. On top of the previous tiers’ features, it includes advanced features such as
- Advanced data protection and privacy
- Sandbox to test workflow before rolling out for customers
- Access control for agents
ServiceNow Pricing Summary
ServiceNow does not post its pricing on the website as it usually quotes customers based on the size of the organization and the specific needs of service management requirements.
This is very typical for enterprise solutions that provide scalable, high-end solutions for big organizations.
Source: https://kanini.com/blog/servicenow-pricing/
ServiceNow’s pricing can be summed up based on the following factors:
1. IT Service Management (ITSM)
- Price: Ranges from about $20-$40 per user per month plus custom pricing for enterprise level companies.
- Features: Consists of basic ITSM components such as incident, change and problem management alongside various automation workflows as well as reporting. ServiceNow platform for ITSM is flexible to suit the business requirements and alignment with the size of the organizations.
2. Information technology operation management (ITOM)
- Price: From $40 to $100 per user per month, depending on the degree of configuration and extra options like configuration management, service mapping, event processing.
- Features: Intense IT infrastructure management skills, assessing, and intelligence.
3. Enterprise Service Management(ESM)
- Price: Pricing model is like ITSM, but often more costly given that it incorporates additional fields such as Human Resource, Customer service, and Security.
- Features: Considers other operations similar to IT aspects and brings principles of ITSM to be applied to humorous cases .
4. Custom Solutions and Add-Ons
- Price: ServiceNow also includes various plug-ins and sub-managers such as the Human Capital Management, the Security Operations, which are available at distinct cost profiles.
- Features: Such add-ons are often created for large businesses with comprehensive wants.
Cost Comparison
Zendesk has a very simple price model, with packages being defined by company size and functionality requirements. This is suitable for small businesses as well as big companies, literally from newcomers to the market.
Pricing begins from an incredibly low cost of $19 per agent/month and then is adjusted according to features and the number of agents.
ServiceNow has no public pricing, which also makes it hard to compare directly with Zendesk. However, since ServiceNow is an enterprise-level platform, its price is usually higher and meant for large organizations with vast IT service management needs.
Which Platform is More Cost-Effective?
Source: https://www.alphaservesp.com/blog/servicenow-vs-zendesk-what-is-the-difference
For small to medium-sized SaaS companies, Zendesk is typically more cost-effective, offering affordable entry-level pricing and a clear, tiered approach to scaling customer support operations.
The cost can rise as more advanced features and greater customization are required, but even at the enterprise level, Zendesk remains relatively affordable compared to ServiceNow.
On the other hand, ServiceNow is likely more suitable for large enterprises or organizations with complex IT service management needs that require a broad range of advanced features.
The pricing, however, is highly dependent on customizations and specific requirements, making it more difficult to determine without direct negotiation.
Benefits Comparison
Zendesk vs Servicenow benefits comparison is essential to choose the right fit for your business. Here are few key advantages discussed:
Zendesk advantages in SaaS organizations:
- Easy setup and usability: This is one of the main reasons why Zendesk is so great for SaaS business. It is very easy and fast to set up.
- Customer-centric features: The main features for a customer support team that can be obtained in Zendesk are live chat, ticketing, self-service portals, and so forth.
- Affordable for small to medium companies: With tiered pricing, Zendesk is pretty much the cost-effective solution for growing SaaS businesses.
ServiceNow Advantages for SaaS Companies:
- ITSM: This is perfect for managing large IT operations and will be very effective for complex SaaS companies.
- Enterprise workflow management: The cross-departmental integrations are seamless and perfect for a large SaaS company with complicated needs.
- Future-proof large-scale operations: It focuses on enterprise workflows and is built to scale with large organizations.
Success Rate Comparison
The success rate of Zendesk and ServiceNow is highly dependent on business needs, the type of industry, and even the size of the operation. Here’s a quick summary of Zendesk ServiceNow comparison on the basis of success rate:
Zendesk:
The use of Zendesk is more prominent in sectors that place significant value on customer service and experience.
User reviews and case studies point out that close to 90% of business firms notice higher customer satisfaction as well as reduced resolution times upon implementation.
It’s especially effective for small to medium-sized businesses and SaaS companies, with a user-friendly interface and customizable features that drive substantial operational efficiencies. The customer support teams are strong as well; most clients enjoy the seamless integration across channels.
ServiceNow:
ServiceNow is more focused on enterprise-level IT service management, but it’s also been remarkably successful, particularly in large businesses with complex IT infrastructures.
Its success rate stands out in enterprises where automation and compliance, together with end-to-end IT operation management, is in demand. ServiceNow can boast of achieving high adoption among large enterprises spread across various industry sectors, from finance to telecom and healthcare companies.
Success percentages are between 85 to 90, but it entirely depends on how the solution scales up and also how much is customized.
Client Satisfaction Ratio
A public opinion scorecard is a very important element of an overall assessment of the success of the platform. Studies from G2 and Capterra reviews show that users rate Zendesk highly based on its ease of use, flexibility, and exceptionally robust customer service features. It is most valued by businesses with a turnover of up to medium scale.
ServiceNow performs rather well, particularly when it is used in large enterprises, because it has multiple all-encompassing IT service management tools and high adaptability.
However for small businesses, the interface may be more complex and for implementation may be a bit difficult with ServiceNow.
In total, MA and MBB of both platforms remain at a high level – Zendesk is closer to being considered more straightforward, and ServiceNow – more enriched with enterprise-level functions
Future Growth and Roadmap
Zendesk focuses on providing automation that can be used to enhance customers’ experiences. It is also expanding multichannel capabilities and integrating much more with other SaaS platforms.
ServiceNow is innovating in areas around AI-driven ITSM and automation to help streamline operations. The company is also focusing on low-code capabilities for faster customization.
Maintenance and Ongoing Costs Comparison
Maintenance cost is relatively low for Zendesk. Upgrades and new features are done frequently, and the support community is huge.
ServiceNow requires more investments in maintenance and training. Given its complexity, companies need to dedicate resources for optimization of the platform.
Points to Consider When Choosing
When selecting a platform, the size and complexity of your business play a crucial role in determining the right fit. Here are some points to consider while choosing the right fit for your business:
- Business Size and Complexity: A smaller SaaS company may be able to work with Zendesk, but the larger organizations having complex IT requirements may prefer ServiceNow.
- Key Priorities: If your priority is customer support and satisfaction, Zendesk is likely a better fit. For comprehensive ITSM and cross-department workflows, ServiceNow excels.
- Budget Constraints: Zendesk offers a more cost-effective solution for growing companies, while ServiceNow is a betterl investment for large businesses.
- Implementation Challenges: Zendesk is quicker to implement, whereas ServiceNow is time consuming and requires technical expertise.
Alternatives and Complementary Tools
While Zendesk and ServiceNow are leading platforms, several alternatives and complementary tools can also meet your needs:
| Tool | Category | Key Features | Best For |
| Freshdesk | Customer Support | Multichannel support | Small to medium businesses looking for an affordable and easy-to-use support solution. |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Integrated Support & CRM | Helpdesk, ticketing, knowledge base, live chat, CRM integration. | Businesses needing an integrated platform for sales, marketing, and customer support. |
| Zoho Desk | Customer Support | Omnichannel support | SMBs looking for a cost-effective, feature-rich alternative to Zendesk. |
| Intercom | Customer Support | Live chat, ticketing, chatbots, knowledge base, customer engagement. | Businesses seeking a highly interactive customer support platform with strong messaging features. |
| Help Scout | Customer Support | Email-based ticketing, knowledge base, live chat, automation, reports. | Teams wanting a simple and collaborative solution for email-driven support. |
Conclusion
All these considerations mark the difference between Zendesk and ServiceNow. These factors may help Saas choose between Zendesk and ServiceNow based on aspects like their company’s size, their budget, and the primary areas of need, either customer service or IT.
Zendesk is great for teams that deal with customers directly, reaching out to clients, etc., while ServiceNow will better suit an enterprise with more intricate internal processes.
Finally, the choice of the platform for your SaaS company will depend on your needs and wants. From getting a perfect customer experience interface to a perfect IT management tool, both are well served by these platforms.
Out of all platforms, which one do you think has been most effective for your SaaS business? Let us know in the comments!
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