ActiveCampaign vs Zendesk comparison

Read 61 Zendesk reviews

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93% willing to recommend

ActiveCampaign

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Zendesk and ActiveCampaign are competitive products in customer interaction, with Zendesk offering superior customer support features and ActiveCampaign focusing on marketing automation. Zendesk's feature-rich solutions and comprehensive support capabilities give it an edge in customer service management, while ActiveCampaign's marketing automation strengths position it as a leader in marketing efforts.

Features:Zendesk offers an intuitive ticketing system, robust analytics, and extensive integration options tailored for customer support. ActiveCampaign focuses on marketing automation tools, email marketing capabilities, and CRM functionalities, enhancing its marketing approaches.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Zendesk provides streamlined deployment with efficient ticketing and extensive support channels. ActiveCampaign offers straightforward deployment with detailed onboarding, ensuring ease of use in marketing implementations.

Pricing and ROI:Zendesk's pricing aligns with its comprehensive features, targeting enterprises and delivering ROI through enhanced customer service, despite higher initial costs. ActiveCampaign's competitive pricing appeals to smaller businesses, offering ROI through improved marketing reach and cost-effective solutions.

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

ActiveCampaign vs. Zendesk

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 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

ActiveCampaign

Ranking in CRM

35th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zendesk

Ranking in CRM

24th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM Customer Engagement Centers (7th), Help Desk Software (11th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (11th), Sales Force Automation (11th), Reporting (19th), Knowledge Management Software (4th), Community Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the CRM category, the mindshare of ActiveCampaign is 0.4%, up from 0.2% 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

Laura Oosterbroek

Head of Markting at Vanderkamp

Easy to use, efficient marketing automation and CRM tool

AI is upcoming, so for reporting and dashboarding, it would be nice to have some AI integrated into the system. Overall, some AI features can be added. For example, I can ask, like, we have imported conversion rates, and you can ask like, "What is the trend of the conversion of the last half year?" So, more on a reporting side you can get those kinds of AI skills. Not that you have to download an Excel and put it into another AI system to do the analysis, but that it would be possible to do it on its own.

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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, 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

"ActiveCampaign is for medium-sized companies is the better solution because it’s way less complex than the other solutions."

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

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

"It's very convenient to use."

"The product offers very good management. It has a great ability to assign tickets based on content."

"It is very easy to connect back and forth between the requester and the person fulfilling the ticket."

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

"The stability has been very good."

"I love how the tickets would auto-populate very quickly in Zendesk, especially when a call comes in."

More Zendesk pros

Cons

"AI is upcoming, so for reporting and dashboarding, it would be nice to have some AI integrated into the system."

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

"The support team is time-consuming, and they don't find the answer to our problem."

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

"The data you get when logged in to Zendesk Support differs from the data you get when you programmatically query Zendesk Support through its API because of a sync time delay."

"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 price of the solution should be reduced."

"It needs to improve in terms of its flexibility, price, and installation."

"The dashboard could be better."

More Zendesk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The development costs are lower because you don’t have to have consultants changing and all that stuff."

"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."

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

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

22%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ActiveCampaign?

The development costs are lower because you don’t have to have consultants changing and all that stuff. I feel that it’s a bit cheaper than the other systems.

What needs improvement with ActiveCampaign?

What is your primary use case for ActiveCampaign?

I use it For marketing automation purposes and for share repurpose purposes.

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 ActiveCampaign product report

CRM

August 2025

Download Zendesk product report

July 2025

Also Known As

No data available

Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell

Overview

ActiveCampaign provides marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM capabilities tailored for businesses looking to enhance customer engagement. Known for its rich feature set, it offers flexible solutions to help businesses streamline processes and improve marketing efforts.

ActiveCampaign serves as a key tool for businesses aiming to integrate automation with CRM functions. Its platform offers a robust range of features that help businesses engage effectively with their audience. Known for its flexibility, ActiveCampaign helps create personalized customer experiences. The platform is continually updated, reflecting feedback from a diverse user base. Some areas for improvement include intuitive navigation and analytics capabilities. Despite these, ActiveCampaign remains a popular choice among professionals who desire comprehensive marketing solutions.

What are the essential features of ActiveCampaign?

Marketing Automation: Offers sophisticated workflows for scheduling messages and segmenting contacts.
Email Marketing: Provides customizable templates and advanced reporting tools.
CRM Integration: Automates customer data management for efficient workflow processing.
Customer Experience Automation: Creates personalized experiences with data-driven insights.
Sales Automation: Streamlines sales processes through task management and deal updates.

What benefits should users look for in reviews of ActiveCampaign?

Enhanced Efficiency: Saves time through automation of repetitive tasks.
Improved Engagement: Increases interaction rates with personalized communications.
Scalable Solutions: Grows alongside business needs, adapting to larger campaigns.
Comprehensive Support: Provides extensive resources and support for seamless use.

In specific industries like e-commerce, ActiveCampaign is implemented to manage customer journeys from lead generation to purchase conversion. Retail businesses leverage its automation features to target promotions and optimize customer retention strategies. In the service sector, companies use its CRM functionality to maintain client relationships and streamline communication. These tailored approaches demonstrate the adaptability of ActiveCampaign across different market needs.

ActiveCampaign

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

Information Not Available

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